How to Use My Maps

I've been meaning to put this post together for a little while to help anyone new to my maps and content, or new to VTT DMing in general.  I've DMed on both Roll20 (with a Plus subscription) and just switched to Foundry (and am by no means an expert on it yet) but hope to give some tips for how I set up my files and how you can easily get them up and running for your game.

This post assumes you have my files already downloaded - either directly from Patreon or from my File Share, which you can read about how that works here. I'll use The Yawning Portal Map as my example to start.

Quick Note About Filenames:

A typical filename looks like: YawningPortal_Lvl1_26x29_Day_R2F.jpg

This tells you:

• the map name
• what level if it is a multilevel map (I try to use Lvl 1 as the ground level, with 0 being a below ground level and Lvl 2 being overhead).  This isn't always the case, and DotMM maps will just use the undermountain level numbers.
• Not Shown: _Variant_ if there is any seasonal variant or other changes between map versions that is NOT day and night based, ie. _Winter_ maps
• map size, shown as the number of 5 ft grid cells (width x height)
• Day or Night version
• VTT format where R2F = Roll20Free, R2P = Roll20Paid, and FVTT = dd2vtt files (Foundry or lots of other VTTs)

Roll20 - Map Sizing

I will assume you know how to get images uploaded and have a general understanding of how Roll20 works - if not you can start here and come back.

I produce two Roll20 map variants: Roll20 Free (under the 5 MB file size limit) and Roll20 Paid (under the 10 MB file size limit).  In most cases, Roll20 Free is a 70 px grid cell  and Roll20 Paid is a 140 px grid cell.

As long as you set your page settings with the right grid count for width and height (from the file name), you'll end up with a nicely aligned grid.  Using our Yawning Portal example, this map is 26x29.

If you are using Roll20 Paid (Plus or Pro), and using the R2P maps at 140 px per grid cell you can either double the size and then edit the Cell Width value farther down the page, or you can simply use it as is and shrink the image down to fit, which will give you a higher resolution image overall.

What often happens when you drag a map from your library onto the canvas is it will snap to the nearest grid cell - and then if you stretch it out proportionally, it will keep that snapped size.  With our example the map drops at 3x3 grid cells, and then stretches to 26x26, even though the map is 26x29.

As long as you have set your page size correctly, manually adjust the X and Y sizing independently, and you will have a map that aligns to the grid properly.

Roll20 - Working with Multi-level buildings

There are a few ways to handle multi-level buildings in Roll20.  Ultimately personal preference, you and your players computer hardware and connection speeds, and whether you are using dynamic lighting (line-of-sight, walls) will dictate how you set this up.

Option 1 - Separate Pages

This is pretty self explanatory - each level gets it's own map page.  It will be fastest to load as it's only loading 1 image, but it means you have to move back and forth between pages when your players move between levels.  You will also have to move tokens to the same location between levels - which in a map that has multiple ways to move between floors can be tricky to anticipate (but is easily fixed).

This is perhaps the best way to set up your maps if you are using Roll20 Free as you won't have Dynamic Lighting to add walls to divide your scene up.

Option 2 - Same Page, Tiled/Side-by-side

This one might be a little slower to load, but once it is loaded it will be easier for a DM to move tokens around - on big maps it might get to be too much however.  Set it up with all images beside each other on 1 page, and you can move tokens between floors as needed.  I would recommend tiling horizontally (as shown below) as most people are on a widescreen monitor these days - to do so you'd simply multiply the map grid with by the number of floors and keep the height the same.  The Yawning Portal would be a width of 26 multiplied by 3 = 78 as your new width, and still a height of 29 (total image 78x29) map size as shown below.  Make sure each map stays it's original size (ie. 26x29) when tiling! - it's easy to stretch an image too far in one direction and end up with wonky sizing everywhere.

If you are using Dynamic Lighting (Plus + Pro subscriptions), draw a wall between each image to prevent players from accidentally seeing what is above/below and confusing them.  When players move up or down, just drag their token to the adjacent image.

Option 3 - Stacked

A third option is to stack the images directly on top of each other - which works especially well if stairwells line up between images (which I typically aim to do when building maps). When players move up or down you can 'hide' a level by sending it to the back of the image stack.  This could easily get out of hand with more than 2 or 3 levels so I would advise caution there.

This won't work if you have dynamic lighting and walls/lights set up as the levels likely don't have the same wall layout.

As an added note - I often do this with Day and Night versions if I'm not sure when my party might be arriving at a scene: stack the day and night versions of the same scene on top of each other and then you can quickly swap to day or night as needed!  It will work with walls still too.

Roll20 Pro - Importing Walls and Lights (Advanced)

If you have a Roll20 Pro subscription, there is a community API Script that allows you to import the walls and lights for a scene.  It uses the dd2vtt files that can be found in the Foundry VTT map pack.

Here is the link for details on how to get it going

Note I have never actually tried this method as I wasn't a Pro subscriber for my own game so I can't help/comment too much on how to get it working - just mentioning it if you have the means to get it working as it would save a lot of time building walls for dynamic lighting!

A huge shoutout to one of my Patrons, DuskL for putting together this guide and allowing me to share it with everyone. You can see the original guide, with screenshots of every step here.

Note: you will need both the Roll20Paid image files AND the "FVTT" dd2vtt files for the scene you are trying to generate walls for.

Step 1: from your game's homepage, open the settings and select "Mod (API) Scripts" from the drop-down menu

Step 2: open the "Roll20 Mod Library" and select "UniversalVTTImporter" from the drop-down menu

Step 3: select "Add Script" to save the "UniversalVTTImporter" to your game

Step 4: "Launch Game" in Roll20 and set up the map on a new page using the R2P image file

Step 5: open http://roll20api.net/uvtti.html, click on "Choose File" and select the .dd2vtt file that corresponds to your map

Step 6: copy the file text from the website...

...then double-click your map in Roll20 to open the "Token Settings" and paste the file text into the "GM Notes"

Step 7: type "!uvTT" into the Roll20 chat box while still having the map image selected

Step 8: profit

Note: to change the size or the color of the light barriers, simply type "!uvtt --help" into the chat box to open the configuration menu.

Foundry VTT - Basic Importing

For instructions on using my Foundry VTT modules (which save a massive amount of DM prep time), check out this post

I will assume you are familiar with installing and enabling modules in your game world - if not, check out one of the many tutorials available.

By using the Universal Battlemap Importer module, you can import my maps (dd2vtt files) with all walls, doors, and lighting loaded into a scene.  Once you install the module you will get a Universal Battlemap Import button on the Scenes tab.

Once you click the newly added button you will be prompted for:

Scene Name: give your scene an easy to understand name (leaving it blank will default to the filename)

Storage Type: User data, assuming you store content locally on your computer

Convert to webp: I would advise you check this box as this will save you in the long run on file sizes and make your scenes load faster for players.  Otherwise it uses an uncompressed .png image for the scene - which can be quite large.

Upload Path: where within your Foundry folders to store the uploaded (and converted) file.  Typically all files are stored on your computer under FoundryVTT\data and scene data is stored within that at FoundryVTT\data\worlds\worldname\scenes.  Assuming this is how your folders are set up on your computer, the path you enter here would be worlds\worldname\scenes   Note: if you get a map that imports only walls and lights, you probably forgot to set the path! Also note the path shown in the screenshot below doesn't use a scenes folder - but you might want to.

Fidelity: how detailed the wall lines are - I would keep it at low to save performance

Object walls: I sometimes set objects to block light when building maps within Dungeondraft.  I try to use it sparingly so you should be okay to keep this box checked - it will draw additional walls around these objects (you may need to switch wall type after).  If running a lower end system you may NOT want to select this for performance.

Padding: how much extra space is drawn around the map - I usually set it to 0 or 0.1 as you don't really need a lot

File path: where your map files are coming from (ie. wherever you downloaded my maps to).  Not to be confused with the upload path above, this is where the maps come from (source) and the path set above is where they are going (destination) path.

All of my Foundry files use a 100 px grid cell size.

Foundry VTT - Multi-Level Maps (Advanced)

I won't go into a full tutorial/walkthrough here as there are some fantastic community resources available for how to set these up - I will simply provide a few options/suggestions for more advanced Foundry setups.

Universal Battlemap Importer - Multiple Files

The battlemap importer module allows you to select multiple files to import and once, and it will automatically tile them within a scene.  Select "add another file" and select a second file and you will get additional options for multiple files including separating the different images with walls and how you want to layout the different files (Grid, Horizontal, Vertical).

Teleport between Map Levels with Multi-Level Token Module

Whether you set up your scenes with only 1 level of a map on it or with multiple levels tiled using the importer method mentioned above, you can automate movement between these images using the Multi-Level Token module.

Once installed, the module adds a tab to the drawing tool (you draw basic shapes as teleport zones on 2 separate locations and set a matching identifier and tokens will automatically move between the locations when they enter the zone).  This works between scenes or 'scene-local'.

If you are looking to dip your toes in more advanced Foundry options, this would be a great one to try out with my maps as they are built for this type of functionality.

Levels/Better Roofs Module (Advanced - Not directly 'supported')

The other module worth mentioning is the Levels module (along with Better Roofs).  A majority of my Waterdeep Dragon Heist maps ARE NOT built with these modules in mind - my apologies, as they are very cool modules.  Some of the later maps from WDH will work better, but you will need to access the Dungeondraft files/software as well to get it fully up and running - I don't export files for use with this up front.

The basic explanation is that most of my maps are exported with the upper levels overlaid on the lower level/ground level -  this gives a nice visual with a slight darkening or blur to to the lower level and the 'active' upper level 'popping out' visually.  To work with the Levels module, you need these upper levels to be transparent except where an actual building is and let Foundry do the overlay work.

My early maps unfortunately were not built this way at all (coincidentally, in a way that also caused way more work for me - I was still learning!) The image below shows what I mean - the image on the left is my original Yawning Portal map, the 3rd level, with no overlays turned on in Dungeondraft.  All of those roofs, terrain, and assets were duplicated from the lower layer to the upper layer, and then new walls/floors/assets were added on top.  The image on the right is from my Yawning Portal revisited map, also the 3rd level - as you can see, it's actually just the 3rd level elements, and then I use the Dungeondraft overlay on export to create the finished visual.

For my newer maps, from I think Cassalanter Villa onwards in release order, the Dungeondraft map files should be built 'properly' - with transparency for upper levels.

More Help

I hope this guide helps - whether to clarify some steps of the process or to get you thinking about different ways to set up your scenes for your players (or just to make your DM life easier!) I've tried to present options and pros/cons of each - but there are probably other ways to set this up and there are certainly other VTT software options available.

Be sure to join us on Discord as it's much easier to provide support and have a conversation back and forth.  I want my content to be accessible, functional, and support different platforms as best as I can - let me know if you have ideas how I can better do this!

Cheers!