DD3 Battlemat Tutorials - By Shessar
Shessar
🖼️ 34 images Mapmaker
On multiple occasions I've been asked to explain the techniques I used to make battlemaps. Here are some of the ways that I add details to my maps. Most of these methods are fast and easy to implement because - what DM has hours to spend creating just one map? Simple but effective is my mapping mantra.
The tutorials are in PDF format and the links will take you to the download on my google drive.
The Stream tutorial can be downloaded from this link: Streams Tutorial
The Cliffs tutorial can be downloaded from this link: Cliffs Tutorial
The Contours tutorial can be downloaded from this link: Contours Tutorial
I hope that you find this useful.
The tutorials are in PDF format and the links will take you to the download on my google drive.
The Stream tutorial can be downloaded from this link: Streams Tutorial
The Cliffs tutorial can be downloaded from this link: Cliffs Tutorial
The Contours tutorial can be downloaded from this link: Contours Tutorial
I hope that you find this useful.
Comments
You do rock, indeed!
~Dogtag
It is not the most professional looking document and I'm sure there are typos because typing is not one of my better skills...but if it is useful then I'm happy
I'll be doing "Part 2:Cliffs" this week, so if you're interested, stay tuned.
hey, I just voiced what we were all thinking! lol
If I post the map in using these tutorials for, do I have your permission to link back to your thread for the tutorials? I would, of course, give you full credit for the techniques you use.
Oh, and I should probably ask the owners/moderators for this forum... Is that allowed?
I'm a gamer, not a mapper. I only post mapping stuff here, and on the rare occasion, on the Dundjinni forums. I learned long ago to not spread my interests between too many forums. There are only so many hours in the day. You are free to link back to this thread if you want, but I would prefer that you not share the direct link to the PDF since I don't really have the time to answer any questions or respond to any comments that might arise on other sites.
I really appreciate your asking LS. Thanks!
Oh, and I have already started working on this, and I did notice something. I started with a bigger map size than you did, because the riverbed I'm making is for a town for my campaign. I did just fine, until I set up the transparency sheet. If I understand the tutorial correctly, I'm supposed to give the copied stream the transparency, set to 85%. I did that, but nothing happened. No transparency. I shifted the transparency all the way up to 100% and all the way down to 0... No change at all.
I'm wondering g if it's because my map is larger? I notice something similar on my inner edge fades when I'm using larger map sizes. I sometimes have to go up much higher to get the fades I want. Could it be the same for the transparency effect? Can I even add an opaqueness higher than 100%?
Note that while the effect is called transparency, the setting is actually opaqueness. So, 100% opaque is solid. 0% opaque is completely transparent, that is not able to be seen. Have you tried splitting the difference at 50%? And no you can't have something be more than 100% opaque..unless maybe in quantum Mechanics?...Heh!
Have you zoomed in far enough to see the effect? This is a battlemap meant to be printed to scale, so it will be much larger when printed and the effects will be more apparent. which is the reason for subtlety in the settings.
As for the edge fade, yes, a larger map will need a wider edge if you are using Map Units to determine the settings . See the last page of the tutorial for how I determine how many units the edge should be.
I may do a part three that will contain hints and tips on roads and vegetation, but it will be a while before I'll be able to complete it.
Feel free to ask if you have any questions and happy mapping.