Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Beatrix Kiddo 01-22-04, 06:47 PM	Hello, it's me again, the old-timer 1st-edition gamer learning 3rd edition. I remember that maping campaigns using hex maps was the fashion back in the day. I've been looking around and I can't find evidence of hexmaps being used very much by modern DMs. What's changed? Do people still use hex maps? How do DMs figure travel times and acount for terrain types? I always had an admiration for Darlene's Flanaess map (30 miles/hex) that helped to define the Greyhawk campaign. I'm just starting up an original campaign using that exact same scale, but I'm having a few second thoughts. What are your thoughts? :)
Hengwrt Ellesmere 01-22-04, 07:02 PM	The standard practice now is to do everything in squares and count diagonal moves as 1.5 moves, or every second diagonal move as double. Now you have the distance accuracy of the hex map, but you can move in eight directions instead of six.
Kiva 01-23-04, 01:05 PM	We have a battlemat we use for combat that has hexes on one side and squares on the other. We've always used the hexed side -- drawing the battle scene from my square map as closely as possible. I think my players that started with 1st edition prefer it that way.
airhead 01-23-04, 03:01 PM	Originally posted by Beatrix Kiddo I remember that maping campaigns using hex maps was the fashion back in the day. I've been looking around and I can't find evidence of hexmaps being used very much by modern DMs. What's changed? Do people still use hex maps? How do DMs figure travel times and acount for terrain types? Here's a link for a hex sheet maker. here (http://www.incompetech.com/beta/hexGraphPaper/create.pl)
Cortez Carbon 01-23-04, 03:39 PM	Originally posted by Hengwrt Ellesmere The standard practice now is to do everything in squares and count diagonal moves as 1.5 moves, or every second diagonal move as double. Now you have the distance accuracy of the hex map, but you can move in eight directions instead of six. Well that's really for tactical movement. The original post was about large scale land maps. I think the reason DM's don't use hex paper anymore is because in the original books, particularly the Blue Boxed Basic edition they actually showed how to draw a hex map, but since 2nd Edition, at least, the is no mention of hex maps, so the newer DM's don't even know they existed. All that being said. I still like hex maps, and even in my world, I'm mapping everything out with hexes. They just look too cool.
Beatrix Kiddo 01-23-04, 07:07 PM	Originally posted by Cortez Carbon Well that's really for tactical movement. The original post was about large scale land maps. Yes, that is what I was talking about. For combat, I use squares because that's what's in the rules. I think I will stick with hex maps because it helps me plan travel times. Once I have them online, I'll show them off. :D
celloshane 01-23-04, 07:32 PM	Originally posted by Beatrix Kiddo Yes, that is what I was talking about. For combat, I use squares because that's what's in the rules. I think I will stick with hex maps because it helps me plan travel times. Once I have them online, I'll show them off. :D Absolutely, you should stick with what works for you. As a newer DM, I have heard of hex maps (I make sure to look at stuff from 2e) but I've never used them. I did find a pdf online that is hex graph paper, perhaps I'll print it on transparency and place it over my overland maps. Thanks for the mention that 1 hex = 30 miles, but how do you figure rates for erratic movement or following a winding river, ect.
SputnikCorp 01-23-04, 09:31 PM	i remember how silly the first dragonlance campaign maps were, the geography conformed to the borders of the hex. the first maps of the old D&D basic games were also drawn like that. i think every world published by TSR used hexes because it was easier to count the hex from one location to another. when forgotten realms came out, it's map was clean without a hex overlay or the horrible hex geography. it gave you a clear plastic sheet, with hexes, which i still have and use, to lay over what two locations you wanted a distance for. as for tactical maps, it was an issue between squares and hexes. hex won out, it was thought to be more realistic, i guess it was more organic than straight lines. my friend still has old ral partha minis with balsa bases carved in hexes.
Beatrix Kiddo 01-26-04, 10:39 AM	Originally posted by celloshane Thanks for the mention that 1 hex = 30 miles, but how do you figure rates for erratic movement or following a winding river, ect. Darlene's Flanaess map of the Greyhawk campaign didn't have the rivers follow the edges of the hexes. Instead, they were drawn through the center of each hex. This was probably to make them easier to see. As for following rivers, your movement rate would be equal to the predominant terrain. If the river was in a plains hex, the movement rate would be equal to that of traveling in a plains region. Likewise if it was mountainous.