Is there any good, easy to use map creation programmes available for use with Roll20.

I'm just starting out on here, as a long time rpger, first time virtual tabletop user. I have always GMed games in my group, but since then we have split due to 'real-life' commitments (marriage, kids, jobs etc). I want to get together a new group, and thought that as I don't know many people in mt (new) local area, the best way would be to try out some online role play options. What I really need is a way of creating good, detailed maps that I can then drop into Roll20, and use in my games, as I am currently working on a game idea, and mapping it up before getting started. Something that will enable me to modern, sci fi and fantasy maps would be even better, as I have a vast range of RPGs that I use, from All Flesh Must Be Eaten and Dark Heresy/Only War/etc to PAthfinder and Jovian Chronicles. Any help and advice will be greatly appreciated Thank You Leigh

I'm rather fond of this one: <a href="http://pyromancers.com/dungeon-painter-online/" rel="nofollow">http://pyromancers.com/dungeon-painter-online/</a> Wizards of the coast has their "dungeon tile mapper" which has some rather good looking tiles: <a href="http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20061121t" rel="nofollow">http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20061121t</a> And, of course, there's TONS of map items and tiles and even whole maps in our Roll20 Marketplace .

Thank you, are all of those options viable to make modern and sci fi maps though, as I can only seem to find map makers suitable for fantasy settings.

Depends on how technical you want to get and how much effort you want to put in to learn. The ProFantasy software kits are great but have a steep learning curve. I own them and can´t get anything done as I do not have the time to learn the ins and outs. Dundjinni was the easiest and best out there, but that is dead sadly. You could always use the GIMP with tiles and objects from the Dundjinni Forum to create maps from scratch.

Aha... My girlfriend has GIMP installed, I might see if she can give me a crash course in it. And what about some good textures and the like for use, or do you reckon I can 'acquire' them from Google Images?

RPTools makes a virtual tabletop called MapTool: <a href="http://www.rptools.net/?page=maptool" rel="nofollow">http://www.rptools.net/?page=maptool</a> My understanding is that it is a non-internet virtual tabletop. But I don't use it for that. It _is_ a nice, grid-based (hex or square) map building tool. And because it's been around for so long, there are tons of resources (tiles, textures and tokens) available for it. And it's free. And when you're done making your map, you can export it as a single jpg, then upload that jpg to Roll20.

Leigh H. said: Aha... My girlfriend has GIMP installed, I might see if she can give me a crash course in it. And what about some good textures and the like for use, or do you reckon I can 'acquire' them from Google Images? You can visit <a href="http://www.cgtextures.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.cgtextures.com/</a> and create a free account. It will only allow you to download 15mb worth of textures per day, but that is more than enough, believe me! All sorts of modern day textures, such as metal floors, walls, glass, blood splatters.... you name it: it is there. Note however that you cannot create commercial texture packages (read the fine print), but if you are planning only to use them for your own campaing that's no problem.

Campaign Cartographer 3, if you enjoy a steep learning curve. However the final product does look absolutely stunning.

Thanks guys, just this alone has reminded me why us geeks get together and do things like this. Massively helpful, and all you guys are welcome to join any Open Game I run on here. Leigh

I was able to click the links on the Roll20 search for some sci-fi stuff I like and find some good tiles. Took me about half a day to clean it up in Paint.Net into a usable tile set. Once you have a set of tiles Roll20 is actually a good map maker. This random map maker is clearly fantasy based, but with the right settings it makes undecorated maps suitaible for ship layouts, factories, etc.