Something fun, something small, somehing free

Good morning campers!

I was bored this morning and wanted to play with making a different style of map this morning...so I did. What this means for you is a nice smallish map for free to use if you would please just give credit (if you like it...if ya don't, say it was the 'other guy', hahaha).

I wanted to play with the edge a little bit...squares and rectangles are nice, but a circle seemed not only like fun, but indeed a good challenge! An inner shadow was added at the end in photoshop, but the map itself was made in Tiled, using tile and object layers.

Enjoy!

If you like what you see here, check out my other Old World Style sets on Roll20's marketplace!

Desert planet, water planet in Tiled

I've not put anything up for a few days on Tiled, so here is just a simple reminder:


If you're designing a world, perhaps use fault lines, crevices and varying mountains to create some play in the landscape. Here, in several layers using Tiled, I've created multiple levels of ridge lines -

Below the top ridge line, I've created an ocean layer, with the world below at full opacity in the Old World Style sets

And here, taken the opacity of the lower levels to approx 50%.

Just another idea as you create maps, how to create much more depth and excitement in your basic map. 

Happy Mapping!

Using your Tiled map in other programs

One of the more frustrating things is creating a map and not being able to use it elsewhere. Tiled however, does not add to that frustration. It's pretty easy to export and save your map data to be used online, offline or in conjunction with other programs.

First, let's pull up our map from before:

Next, go to 'File' - 'Save as Image'. You will see a small center box pop up on the screen.

In the box, you can see the various option:

• Include only visible layers - basically what is shown on the screen
• Use Current Zoom Level - I never check this one unless doing a zoom in on an area and don't need the other parts
• Draw the grid - includes a grid in the graphic saved
• Include background color - which includes the background color

Use 'Browse' to let the program know where you wish to store the image.

Tiled saves images as PNG by default, but you can also change it to jpg, txt or gif.

You can also export your work (different from saving as image) in various formats as well: .tmx, .dat,.txt., .json, .js, and .bin

It was a quick lesson but one that will help out immensely when you want to use the map for other programs, online or offline.

Happy Mapping!

Tiled - duplicating, rotating, and moving things about

Hello Geek fans!
 The sets used in these tutorials are from R. A. Hapke, and currently on sale at Roll20 marketplace.

This evening we're going to use a few more features of Tiled:

So first, if you started a map with the initial lesson, open that up:

Here is the one I left off with last session. You can see the tile and object layers, the tile sheets and the map.

For this lesson, let's add to that frame first. In the lower right box, right click and "Add Tile Layer". Now, I've selected a different frame, and in the second frame layer, added it right on top.

For the purpose of this tutorial, that second frame layer will be just named, "frame2". Here's a close up of those layers and how they are presently ordered:

Because my design elements are usually centered, especially if they have transparent background, I can also switch to the first frame layer and quickly add in some black circles for one design element. Next, in that lower right hand area, right click and add an 'object layer'. 

Why? because,.. that's why..no, really because I want to add a bit more decor to the outer frame - as well as show you some little tricks to make mapping easier.

So, here is the geometric wave element placed (by selecting the little picture in the object layer). 

Now comes more fun bits - using the Select Object tool, select the geometric wave...

While it is selected, you can either use the mouse, or the directional arrow keys to move the object. And, you can also right select the object and choose "Duplicate Object":

Bam! it duplicated directly on top of the last piece and you can just use the mouse or arrow keys to move it over. But wait! There's more!

Select them both by holding the left mouse button and dragging across them in the object layer, and they both select. Right click again, and choose 'Duplicate - although now you see it has '2' objects instead of just 'object'. 

Again, the duplicates are placed directly on top of the old ones, and while they are still selected, move them into position. If grabbing with the mouse, grab the multiple objects by selecting an open area WITHIN the selected areas, not the line. If you select a line, then the selection is broken and you end up moving tile by tile instead of as a group.

In theory, you should now be able to select all four, right click and duplicate 4 objects...you can!

Below you can see once I finished elements on one edge, they were simply right clicked, 16 elements were duplicated at a time and then rotated and moved into the other three areas.

Neat, huh!?!

And, you can continue to add detail in this same fashion. In Frame 2, once again using the grid I added the circles and boxes; in frame 1 changed out the first frame by simply clicking right on top with a new one; and then added the corner and center elements in the upper object layer.

Let's do a little more with groups...

In the upper object layer, let's quickly add some palm trees or towers or whatnots along a route somewhere. Now let's see how well the grouping works in Tiled.

OH NOES!!!! when selecting, some deciduous trees were selected alongside the palm trees!!! Aghhh Panic!!! - actually no. In Tiled, while everything is selected, simply hold down the "Shift" key, and click on the element you don't want selected.

Ta-Da! Now we have our group and no extras hanging about...

So, in Tiled, while the group is selected, you will notice that instead of the four directional arrows on the corners of one box, they appear in the four corners around the perimeter of all of the selected elements. Now, by holding the mouse button on one of those and moving the mouse, we can rotate the entire selection...

move the selection...

And as long as the entire selection is selected, the elements will move as one. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: Although Tiled works beautifully with layers, objects and tiles alike, when selecting objects in one layer - objects in OTHER layers can be grabbed at the same time. 

To prevent this, if you are moving a lot of objects in one layer, 'un-check' the other layers in the lower right so they are not visible. The selection will not pick up the invisible objects. 

You can move things about, then quickly turn everything back on!

Happy Mapping!

Happy Valentine's Day Gamers!

Greetings one and all! A Valentine's Day gift to you GM's and players alike from Paul Ooshun and Russ Hapke. A mini map and encounter ideas for your group this holiday!

Encounter Concepts: Paul Ooshun and Russ Hapke (Love Stings)

Fools Rush In

Your Guide through the harsh lands of the ancient crumbling civilisation of the Elder Ones received a message by eagle.  Panic stricken he declares that his betrothed is the sacrificed to the Kraken by the nearby seafaring men of N'aatath.  He tells you at once that he must journey to the Kraken's Lair and save her, but ahead of him lie the tricky lands of the Goblin Horde.  Fools Rush In, but what choice do you have if you are to save her and your Guide's lives?  The clock is ticking, and the Goblin lands are no place for the unwary...(GM Notes: Vary the amount of goblins to suit your needs. Sure they're easy to kill...but when there's a 100? 1000?)

Grab Hold

Arriving at the Kraken's Lair, you see it's terrifying tentacles lashing lazily back and forth as the men of N'aarath pound on ceremonial drums ahead of their sacrifice.  Can you save the girl from the grip of the beast, or will you be too late? As you make your plan of attack, you realize all may not be as it seems, and the tragic truth behind the Kraken and it's loneliness is revealed. (GM notes: to make sure the Kraken is not too OP, he is past venerable and really very non-combative. He wont fight unless the players REALLY push it. This guy is incredibly lonely and the girl came onto him first). 

Love Stings Sometimes

Constant trampling of the earth by the goblins to the north have caused extreme unrest in a scorpion nest. Seemingly bred by the hundreds, and more arriving on the surface every day, can your group find a way to put them back at rest? Tall tales of the region tell of two plants: a joshua tree and a cactus. Burning the sap of one causes rage, while the other calms; but then again, it was a tall tale...or was it...? (GM Notes: A great opportunity for alchemists and/or druids to shine. Or, test someone's cooking skills to get more variation)

Worm Your Way Through

The Isle of Wyrms is home to the Tentacled Horrors, a race of blind, burrowing monsters that can sense the vibration in the soil above them.  Rumour has it that the Elder Ones used to cross their land by moving in time to the heartbeat of the Great Wyrm.  Discover the monstrous mother and learn how to walk without waking the slumbering worms below. (GM Notes: Shamans, Rangers and trackers will be your main attractions here - Don't let 'em get away with that one die roll..make 'em earn it! :D)

Mending Bridges

The Orcish Ziggurat can only be reached safely by crossing the Bridge of Sorrow, high above the raging waters that surround it. The giant runestone on the Isle of Wyrms contains the secret words that will grant a traveler passage to the bridge.  There's just one problem.  The only one powerful enough to unlock the magic of the stone is the Sorceress, and the only one who can read the runes is the Seer.  They used to be man and wife until a bitter jealousy drove them apart.  Can you convince them to forgive one another, or have they burned their bridges and doomed you in the process? (GM Notes; Do your players need a lesson in diplomacy? What a great way to practice - settle romantic differences or die...see? simple)

Heart of Ages

The barbaric Orcs of this land sacrifice human hearts to power their wicked rituals and grant divine might to their hulking warriors.  Now you find yourself in a race against time, as the Orcs have a new captive - a young dragon!

If they sacrifice its immortal heart to the Dark Powers, their tribe shall become ten times more powerful, and sweep across the surrounding lands laying waste.  Only you can navigate the perilous lands surrounding them and stop them from performing the sacrificial ritual of the Heart of Ages. (GM Notes: the dragon is a very young to infant dragon, chosen because of the weaker hide and scales. Saving the infant dragon will surely lead to potential rewards with its kind later)

Visit Roll20's marketplace for more of our work!
Russ Hapke: https://marketplace.roll20.net/browse/hapke/1
Paul Ooshun: https://marketplace.roll20.net/browse/search/Ooshun/1

An Introduction to Tiled

Tiled from our friends at www.mapeditor.org, is a wonderful tool when creating maps off line. I believe the program is intentionally used for designing backdrops for video games; however, this open source editor works beautifully for creating maps with multiple layers - on and off grid, importing graphic tile sheets, and exporting maps in png format to be altered or used in other programs online, offline, or for print! Although Tiled is open source and free, we've donated to the creators and have begun setting up a fund to donate on a regular basis quarterly.

Let's begin with an introduction to Tiled:

Once you've downloaded and installed, you can create a quick start icon for your desktop:

Double click and you should see a screen similar to this:

In mine, it looks something like this, because I have numerous maps going at any given time:

So, let's go to 'File' and click on 'New'. A small box will center itself on the screen that will look like this:

As you can see, in the bottom left, you can adjust the width and height, using either the arrow buttons or just type in the amount of grid rows and columns you want (width and height). You can also see to the lower right, the size of the grid squares. I design primarily at a 140 x 140 pixel grid layout, so that is what I normally use. 

Once again, after you've set your map size and grid sizes, you will see this:

Tiled can use individual tiles, but it is far more effective (and quicker) to create tilesheets to pull in for your map. To grab a tile, design element or tilesheet, click on 'Map' and select 'New Tileset'. Another small center box will appear. Click on 'browse' to grab your tile or tilesheet. Then click 'Ok'

IMPORTANT!!!: When you set up your graphics, try to not move them around too much. Tiled doesn't like when you move things from one spot to another. So once you've established where your graphic files are on the computer, keep them there. Tiled cannot track them down for you.

So, now we've imported a tilesheet:

Along the top, you can see the tool buttons. To the bottom right you will see the box for Tile Layers, Image Layers and Object Layers listings. The top right box will show your tiles and tile sheets you are currently using.

In the tools, on the back layer, I want to get a quick scope of how big my map will be, so clicking on the spilling bucket/fill tool, I click on a land base tile within the tilesheet and hover over the page. The whole map area will 'flood' with that tile selected. Click once and it all fills in for you.

Now I'm going to add a layer. Right click in the lower right box and you will get three options:

• Add tile layer
• Add object layer
• Add image layer

Let's add a tile layer, select the stamp tool and select a tile or design element.

You can quickly fill in with a design element/tile by holding down the left mouse button and dragging. Here, a frame is made.

I've repeated the new tile sheet, bringing in more tiles, added another tile layer, and started layout some of the basics of my map. I've also made the map background layer go behind the frame by simply selecting the layer in the bottom right box, and moving it up or down with the two arrow buttons.

Now let's place some objects! Object layers break the grid, or are completely free of the grid. Tile layers suggest just that...they are soldiered or tiled to the grid. You can use tiles in the object layer and vice versa. 

Right click in the lower right to add an object layer, and pull in some more design elements. There are two main buttons for the Object layer that make life easy - the 'Select objects' button (the two overlapping purple shapes) and the 'Insert tile' button (itty bitty picture frame).

Select the little picture icon and select a design element to begin placing: 

You can quickly place a lot in a very small amount of time. In this case, when I added the object layer, as mountains were added, they began to overlap the frame. Oh Noes!!! Not a problem!

Remember the layers box in the right? Simply select the object layer, and move it down below the frame layer. You can do this constantly to play with the layering.

 I've made maps with near 30 layers, just to see how complex a map Tiled could handle...and it does so beautifully! Here's an example really quick of another map made recently with many tile and object layers:

An interesting thing you will notice when placing objects, is the overlapping that occurs. Tiled doesn't always build from back to front. Front tiles are those with the most surface area exposed, so even placing a tile on top, may still end up partially covered by a previously placed element. It's pretty fun and adds a lot to the organic nature of this work. 

If you want to make sure a particular element or object stays in front, simply add a new layer...

For the end of our first Tiled lesson, Let's discuss the 'Select object' button. This is used for elements within object layers. As you can see from the picture below, an element is selected, and a dotted line box appears with four directional arrows in the corners. You can grab one of these and rotate simply by holding down the left mouse button. You can also right click once an object is selected and flip horizontal, flip vertical, or change which layer the object is to rest on. Fun!

Now go forth and happy mapping! Thank you for reading the tutorial and we will have more soon!

Time for a little Lost Worlds!

Old World Style set 8: Lost Worlds has arrived at the Roll20 marketplace!