Do you fa/tg/uys have any tips on drawing scenes or perspective maps for areas in RPGs to show to players? I've been thinking that it would be nice to have a 3/4ths perspective of my areas instead of just a top-down map, sort of like what you see in CRPGs, but I haven't done any art since I graduated high school.
I've also been thinking about making props, both simple things like paper showing clues or interesting documents, but also about getting stuff for loot and whatnot. Any recommendations on where I could buy stuff like that? Is it difficult to print plastic jewelry and gems on a Makerbot?
>>46231473
Isometric tiles for TTRPGs are really, really hard to deal with, in no small part because the top-down perspective serves to abstract a three-dimensional space by simplifying it. Anything with elevation is what makes Iso look interesting, but Iso makes dealing with rules governing said perspectives hellish.
Also, a lot of dungeons and adventures are underground and it's hard to represent that three-dimensionally in meatspace.
>>46231630
Well, not tiles per se, but an isometric region to show stuff like streets or interior rooms to just give my players a better sense of the area.
>>46231630
>three-dimensionally in meatspace.
I kind of feel like it's not that hard, if only because there are a lot of 3d building sets available for dungeons and things. And I'm not a big fan of "dungeon" dungeons in my RPGs; I don't run them unless it's relevant to the quest, and usually do more buildings in villages or fortresses in the wilderness and stuff.
>>46231473
Wew, this is all over the place...
If you want iso maps your best bet is finding a video game with a map editor which fits your genre and style. It's not easy, but anything else is real work.
You can of course learn SketchUp Make, Blender, or simply SweetHome 3D. There are interior design web pages with web tools. If you're not married to iso then puzzle together Skeleton Key tiles in Gimp. Or build terrain, there's threads for that.
Now props are great. It makes the game literally tangible. Tokens can be a start, but real things just work. Of course this depends a lot on your genre.
Do you own a fountain pen? How about nibs? How many colors of ink do you have ready? And paper? No laid sheets of rough fiber? Papyrus? Vellum?
What is the lighting like at your game table?
Have you considered setting consistent food or snacks?
>>46234864
I figured I could make simple ISO maps like this in Illustrator or Photoshop at a pinch, since I have both. Then I could just overlay a grid for tactical battles if I really needed to, like in video game concept art.
I like to use Illustrator and Photoshop for simple props, since I have a table that's pretty good. Anything 2D I can do fine.
My calligraphy is crap, but I do actually have about a dozen nibs for ink pens. And I can get paper or canvas easily from a gallery I know.
>Setting consistent food or snacks
I've considered it, but ruled it out because that's fattening.
