I have recently decided to include map exploration system to my Forgotten Realms campaign. To my great surprise it turned out that the Grey Box I possess (I can't honestly say own as it is borrowed for an unlimited term) lacks the fantastic hex grid overlay sheets that would be so handy for that purpose. As it is not a popular product and as such is not commonly available I thought - let's make one. There surely must be a good template on the web. Surprise again! I could not find a single remark on the web about the actual template of the original hex grid overlay.
Fortunately, the authors of the box were kind enough to give some general indications of the scale. And as it is said in the "Running the Realms" manual that on "1 inch = 30 miles" map 5 hexes equal 1 inch, thus 1 hex equals 6 miles. Splendid. Now we should calculate a proper hex grid scale so that a flat-to-flat hex distance (or height) is equal 1/5 of an inch.
I will spare you the details of my laborious calculations, but thanks to an online hex generator Incompetech ,which I gladly present here, I was able to get the desired result.
But what now? You can print it on paper, but it will hardly do as a transparent plastic overlay now, will it?
"That's where some studio engineering comes in handy my hard-rocking amigos!"
You will need:
- A4 plastic sheet from your local graphic arts store
- A black alcohol marker, one that writes on CD's & DVD's
- some scotch tape
stick your hex grid printout with the scotch tape to the plastic sheet, so that you can see the hexes through the plastic. Now trace all hexes' sides with your marker. The hex printout serves as a pattern so that you can draw your hex grid flawlessly. Voila!
The milage controversy
Now, since I reviewed the map exploration system for Forgotten Realms 2E I noticed that the 1 hex = 6 miles scale is slightly flawed. In a nutshell, it implicates, that during a day of walking over a clear land, a man can cross a distance of 12 miles, while the PHB2E clearly states it should be 24 miles.
In Forgotten Realms 24 miles can be done only while using roads. I dare to disagree. I am used to cross country walking and there isn't much difference between walking on a dirt road and meadows or fields. Not twice the difference at least. So as an experiment I suggest you could use a different scale hex grid.
1 inch = 10 miles or in other words 3 hexes per 1 inch
This brings some improvement to the scaling and distance crossing. See for yourself.
For your convenience I provide both hex grids templates: original hex (5 hexes per 1 inch) and bigger hex (3 hexes per 1 inch).
Available at the Bibliotheca. Enjoy and good travelling!
Instead of hand drawing on the plastic sheet, why not print it directly? Laser printers can print on plastic sheets for overhead presentations without any problems. Just get the appropriate plastic sheet from an office supply store.
ReplyDeleteThat's my lazy side speaking: how to get the work done with less effort applied to the endeavour :D
I have got the plastic sheets. But I did not know that about the laser printers. Would the print hold well enough?
ReplyDeleteWhen I was asking in the office stores nobody told me that laser printers could orint on plastic.
Also, I understand that for such a print we would need the raw hex grid with no background. Otherwise it would print the not-transparent background on the plastic sheet and ruin the whole purpose of it :)
I probably need to play around with a graphic program.
Hah! No need as I have just found the missing hex grid overlays. They were in the Elminster Ecologies Appendix II. Rejoice!
ReplyDelete