Tips for map making (please give me some)

[DragonHead]

How do other people design their maps? Do they take perticualer care with each quest does anyone have special rules they use or a strategy? Please give me some advice.

[drathe]

Things to keep in mind:

Contents of the Game and expansions
Quests should be designed around the pieces available. Doors for example. The Game comes with 16 open doors and 5 closed doors. Therefore a Quest should have no more than 16 doors and no more than 5 possible closed doors at any point in the Quest. Same goes for furniture. The more a Quest fits into the basic components, the more likely it will be played. Requiring more than one Game System reduces the chances for a Quest being enjoyed.

Monsters
Similarly to contents, there are only a certain number of each monster type available. Some will be killed and reused, but the number of each should be closely considered. Especially for the Wandering Monster type. If a Quest has numerous amounts of Skeletons for example and the Skeleton is also the Wandering Monster, make sure there's enough in the pool to account for them all.

Also with Monsters, consider the rarity of miniatures exclusive to the expansions. Polar Warbears look cool, but the Barbarian Pack is extremely hard to come by unless one has great luck or deep pockets. Add them in if you like, but consider an alternative type to use instead, or to list as an alternate on an instruction, or appendix page. Images and links to miniatures that are easy to find are nice too. Especially if Monsters are used that don't exist in the official HQ world.

Difficulty
Plan your Quests based on where in the grand scheme it would properly fit. If it's really difficult, then it'll likely be played after the first couple expansions, which opens up more Monster types and game mechanics introduced in later expansions.

New Content
If you plan on having new cards in your Quest, they are simple to create, providing the willingness to use images already available, or easily found. If you're using new tiles other than those provided in the game, or available on Websites like http://www.yeoldeinn.com, then be sure you can either make them yourself, or already have someone willing to make them for you before starting. Odds are, you won't find someone able, or with enough free time to design a new tile to fit your needs.

New trap concepts are great additions, as are potions and other items that don't require new cards, or tiles. Traps do however require map icons most of the time, so keep that in mind.

Copyrights and Permissions
If you are hoping to include content made by others outside the official works, get permission from the authors, artists, etc. and ensure you give them proper credit.

Mapping
Check the Map Tools page for links to useful programs. HeroScribe is the best for making maps (icons for everything in all expansions and has a simple user interface). The Excel Creator is decent enough to do the job too, but the end result isn't as pretty. Excel also has an area for notes so you can keep track of things along the way.


Those are just some things I can think of off the top of my head. Should I think of anything else, I'll post it.

[torilen]

I understand and agree with nearly everything drathe has said here.
For me, though, there are a few things that I personally do:
First - I tend to worry less about the furniture issue. As I've told drathe before, I've always felt the furniture, while it
was a nice touch back when HeroQuest came out, it seems more to get in the way to me these days. I tend to create
quests, and simply allow the Evil Wizard to explain what is in the room - this allows for a little more role-playing than
the original game, and allows for more creativity as far as what can be found in each room. I mean, there are no
tapestry pieces, but you add in a tapestry on the wall - the players want to know what it depicts, and you can really
add some flavor with a tapestry showing the downfall of an ancient wizard or monster or something.

Second - I tend to REALLY TRY TO STAY AWAY FROM using materials that other people have created, unless absolutely
necessary. I use only those rules, spells, magic items, and such from the original game and the two expansions. Otherwise,
I make up my own stuff - I find trying to get permission to use other's materials is just too annoying.

AND - as far as using oddball monsters or rare monsters - I don't really use the figures from the expansions that much. I just
use the figures from the original game, and explain what they should be in each quest, if they are different from their intended use.

Those are my thoughts. Take it or leave it. As I said, this is just for me...how I run things.

[DragonHead]

I like that, thanks guys, Torilen I really like how much furniture affects the background and tone of the quest which can really affect the quets with treasures, secret doors and moving elements inside and around them.

[drathe]

Limiting yourself to game contents can be quite confining for some. Especially those coming from a D&D role-playing background. But the furniture is something that makes HeroQuest unique and it part of its charm.