Making an "explorable" world map (versus battle maps)

In my DnD campaign, exploration and using a world map are important elements of the gameplay. I'm drawing heavily from games that have discernible regions and zones and that the PCs then have agency in going to/exploring. The regional (and eventually world) maps will thereby play important roles in how they direct their play. I thought it'd be cool if the players have a regional map in their handout tab, though I can't quite seem to get that right for them (like the "show to players" doesn't seem to actually show it to them, but whatevs). What would be cooler  I think is if there's a map-page on the campaign ribbon that they can consult to decide where to go, though having something they can reference on their own would be more like the sandbox games this campaign is based on. The world map is hand-drawn using my iPad, which is pretty fun for me overall. BUT what would make it a bit easier since I can't say which direction they end up going in a region is if I were to, say, 1) draw the regional map, then 2) use dynamic lighting tools to make it so they can go through the sub-zones in the regional map and reveal those areas.  What I want to do is keep most of the regional map obscured/fogged until they explore it (think Civilization, WoW, Long Dark, etc), but once they explored it I'm kinda fine with it being left visible to them. At the same time, I don't want my PCs to just grab their token and whoosh around the map and suddenly reveal everything as they are wont to do. Any tips on the best way to go about making this kinda map?

Have you tried using a large map hidden with fog of war and only revealing as they explore?  This could be given it's own page.  Only go to that page ( drawback : requires the GM moving players to the page [ suggestion here ]) when traveling or referring to the large map.  More detailed regional maps could be handled similarly.

I played Tomb of Annhilation when it first came out, and we had a big table hex map for the continent we were exploring. We had to draw in what we found and it looked pretty goofy, but it worked! When I checked out ToA here, I loved the way it was set up. Each hex is covered by a blank token, so when adventurers enter that area, you can delete the blank token. I made a quick video which explains it better. I hope that inspires some ideas for you!

Thanks! These are helpful inputs, and much appreciated!

Use light-blocking lines to keep them from moving the group token onto parts of the map you want to keep hidden?

Is there a good way to let players mark up their own map or the shared map? Like if I could get them access to as folder of map icons or something.

Players can use the drawing tools on the page they are on.  I guess you could have a page with a map image for each player.  Again, players can only access a page if the GM moves the player ribbon to the page or drag/drop a single player's login avatar to a given page, ie splitting the party.  I really wish roll20 allowed a game's creator to assign permission to a game page that allows player access.

Aquaricorn said: Is there a good way to let players mark up their own map or the shared map? Like if I could get them access to as folder of map icons or something. One thing I have done is to create a few "characters" that are holders for rollable table tokens of map markers/pointers.  Since players have full permissions for them, they can drag out and place them, change the image used, and alter the token name as needed.  Once placed, you may want to lock the token position to help avoid things getting unintentionally moved.

vÍnce said: Similarly, I've seen card decks used as game art assets that are accessible by everyone. It's not appropriate for tis thread, but I've done this. Card decks are great for things you might only own briefly, like equipment, potions, or fate points, if you prepare them ahead of time.

Just before I deleted my post GiGs. lol

oops :)

It seems like I've purchased something from the Marketplace that used a card deck as a way to build maps.  Of course only the GM can resize...