Battlemaps?

How do you guys use/make battlemaps?
Is there a stash you use for each campaign, do you draw them, or make them out of an image?

Also post your battlemaps I guess

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I tend to just wing it ahead of a session if I can get away with it. I tend to use distances drawn by ruler, so for exteriors and urban areas I usually just take screencaps from google maps.

bumping for maps...
i need urban maps, please
modern prefered

I draw things on paper. Then I translate them to a mat.

I just describe the setting and use a dry erase board for relaying information to the players like the starting positions in combat or a rough map of their surroundings. Most of the encounters take place is dungeons or otherwise confined areas so its pretty simple stuff.

I am an autistic perfectionist when it comes to creative visual mediums so I just don't try at all. If I did it any other way making maps would be a time consuming and ultimately pointless hobby since most depth a GM comes up with is pointless.

I might dump a few just to perk this dead thread up.
My game is VTM20 set in the second world war.
I try to go for a mix of usability and a little bit of historical accuracy for immersion.
For example. A map derived from an aerial photograph.
First I paint the area.

And then I filter it and add markers for the players to refer to in a rough, in-universe style.

I've only just started running my first game on roll20, and while I've got a stash of maps downloaded from Veeky Forums over the years I'm still looking for more, or collections of them. Wargame maps would honestly be better, large scale high quality backdrops, I'm running a mecha game so being able to just drop specific things on a wargame map would be great.

I did buy a roll20 asset pack, it was $6 and it had loads of stuff that was directly relevant to the game I wanted to run, and I use the site enough that I figured tossing them and an independent artist some cash wasn't a bad thing.

I should note that I use these maps mostly strategically. Actual combat done at a closer level is hand-drawn by necessity, due to the large scope of most of my areas.

I also found a pdf of Wehrmacht tactical iconography and was able to use those instead of the NATO standard above.

In some cases I've had maps made in-universe, such as this reconnaissance map scrawled on a loose sheet of paper (which Irl I crumpled and stained)

And a few made with a slightly more 'skilled' hand.

As I mentioned before, close range combat is hand-drawn; unfortunately dungeons are entirely close range and therefore must be entirely hand-drawn.
To do this I simply create a rough reference for myself and then print a version with none of the map data but for grid and coordinate, but sketch it in a little more aesthetically when the players reveal it.

When large-scale historical locations are used, I simply find an appropriate reference and crudely smear over it.
Finding a balance between 'what reasonably looks like somebody did in a hurry in-universe' and 'doesn't look like hot garbage to the players' is often quite vexing.

Anyway, since this thread is still way dead, I might just leave it there. Gotta prepare for another game this evening.

I (naturally) use Mipui for battlemaps: mipui.net/app
It's a free (and open-source) web app I'm developing, and it's easy enough that you can chart a map on-the-fly during a session.

Neat

>Wanted to see if I could get a decent cave map out of some tutorials
>Spent like 2 hours
>Came out with this
What do you think Veeky Forums, how shit is it? I had some real trouble with trying to convey the height differences in the center of the cave, and I'm not really satisfied with it at all. Made in GIMP by the way.

Can't gather any multiple levels, but the texturing and the shadow effect of the walls is top-tier.

Arcane Mapper on steam is a cool resource to have for this.

Thanks for the feedback, I really need to work on the shading and shadow stuff some more.

Making the cave system, walls, floor, textures and wall shadows was super simple actually, using downloaded rock textures and a noise map with a drop shadow effect.

Bookmarked.

I just draw it up on a battlemat with wet-erase.

I dont. I sketch things out on a whiteboard if necessary. Honestly, a grid whiteboard with magnetic cutouts is your best friend.