My personal preference for this map is for the second one, where the hex grid only appears in the playable areas.

I love how map-mapping teaches us so much about so many things we might not have ever heard about otherwise - geology and cartography, of course, but also random bits of history, mythology, and more.

I'm glad you posted the larger one in the gallery because my aging eyes would have missed so many wonderful details.

Things I love:

• The wooden palisade. How did you make them? I believe Schley's symbols are straight segments.
• The rocky outcrop (like a natural pier?) that the Dalvik Tower is on.
• How you've done your legend. I've seen Ralf do that approach but I haven't done it myself yet. It's...legendary.
• Your creatively-shaped buildings like #59, Excellent Carts by Bardsson.
• Halfling neighborhood near Delvik Mere.
• The Zavebog Henge!
• Use of the latest symbols at Potter's Field.

Things I don't love:

• Nothing. I love everything.

I have a question about the best practices for creating/using larger maps for Virtual Tabletop systems (VTTs).

I am in the process of preparing some of my maps to be used in all sorts of VTTs, so I'm looking for information that can be applied generally to all systems, rather than advice that is specific to Roll20, or to DNDBeyond, or to other specific system. I've never personally used a VTT yet, not as GM loading maps nor even as a player using one, so this is all new to me.

I've been getting advice from ChatGPT but I know its information is sometimes out of date or unreliable, so I wanted to get expertise from folks here, especially advice specific to CC3 exports.

• ChatGPT says it's best to have two output versions, one at 150 pixels per inch and the other for slower connections at 70 pixels per inch. Does that seem like the best approach?
• As I understand it, 1 inch should be 5 feet in map units. And the pixel dimensions for the file should be designed with pixels per inch times number of inches (which would be the map units divided by 5). So for example: a map that is 40 feet x 80 feet would be (on the 80 foot side): 80/5 for the number of inches (16), and multiply that by the number of pixels per inch, so at a resolution of 150px, the 40x80 map should be 1200x2400 px? Is my math correct?
• ChatGPT recommended that the VTT output include one version that includes a 5-foot-per-inch grid and another version without a grid. (I gather that VTTs can add a grid but some GMs want a pre-gridded map.) These maps should be the player-facing map that doesn't have labels, and things like traps and secret doors are not shown. I'm wondering, though, if I should also have a version that does show the secret doors and passageways (but not the traps)?

But the big question is about Large Outputs.

• I'm trying to prepare a dungeon map prepared in Forest Trail that is 480x400 map units (imperial feet). By my math, that would be 6720 x 5600 px for a 70px/inch scale, and 14400 x 12000 px for the 150px/inch scale. I was able to create an output for the 70px version but when I tried to create it for the 150px version, CC3 balked and said it was too big.
• I'm reading the instructions in CA129 annual about large outputs, and it's very helpful. I'm sure I can get it to work, but my question is less about how to do it and more about should I do it? Would the resulting file be too big for typical VTT services?
• Alternatively, should I have a 70px/inch version of the entire map, and then 150px versions of parts of the map (like one section of a crypt, or one neighborhood of a town)?

Anyone who has experience with using VTTs or creating maps for them, I would really appreciate any advice. (I think it was hinted that Kurt was working on something about this for CC4, but in the meantime, I'll need an approach I can use with CC3.)

Thank you!

I literally gasped out loud when I saw this. It's amazing. And to do it with the symbols on the same sheet...that requires such discipline and such a clear mental image of what you're working towards. Very impressive.

Is the Maker's Mark very high resolution? Could you try with a lower res version?

I love the snakeskin-looking road, too, but I really like how you did the cliff walls by the road.

Click on the Text Specs icon (next to the A icon that Sue posted) to confirm that your font size is large enough. Make it something super big just to confirm.

Oh! That's a good tip. I have been omitting room numbers on player versions, figuring the players could just point to the room they have a question about, but that could be tricky in a large map like this. Good suggestion.

In a different thread, @Ricko was asking for advice on how mappers approach adding numeric labels on a map:

I thought I would add my two cents in a new thread for the topic, to make the discussion easier to find later.

I am certainly no expert on the matter, but when I am labeling things, I try to think of how it would be presented in a purchased campaign supplement. I try to make it flow in the order the party would be traveling, starting with #1 at the entrance and flowing from there to where they'd go next.

Of course, the party may have choices on which direction to go, so there may not be an obvious answer for what comes next after they enter. I just pick one direction and try to label things as contiguously as possible, clustering the numbering as best I can. So it's not necessarily clockwise, or left to right, or up or down -- it's just the route the way things the adventurers may go.

With cities and towns, it can vary. Sometimes I pick a road or city gate where the party may enter the city and then flow from there. Other times, I may start in a central area like a market square or town hall as the starting point. My numbering also clusters (like, every shop around a town square gets numbered before moving to the next area), and go neighborhood by neighborhood.

For overland maps...to be honest, I've never numbered overland maps. I've only used text labels, where it isn't the same issue.

I'd love to hear other people's ideas for how they approach.