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This PDF file (approx. 20kb) is a huge giant enormous A1 hex-grid layout (25mm hexes) suitable for printing on to giant huge A1 sheets of paper, laminating, and using to keep track of where everyone is in relation to everyone else.
For those benighted souls who are unfamiliar with metric page sizes, A1 is approximately 600mm x 840mm, or 24" x 33"
This PDF file (approx. 40kb) is a huge giant ultra-enormous A0 hex-grid layout (25mm hexes) suitable for printing on to giant huge A0 sheets of paper, laminating, and using to keep track of where everyone is in relation to everyone else. Very similar in many respects to the grid in the entry immediately above, but even bigger.
Again, for those unfamiliar with metric page sizes, A0 is approximately 840mm x 1190mm, or 33" x 48"
This PDF file (approximately 25 kilobytes) consists of a single A4 page containing a layout for an icosohedron (20-sided form) overlaid with a 5mm hex grid. The idea is that you can draw the shapes of your continents and what-not on to the hexes, and then cut it out and fold it into a roughly spherical form. I've included tabs along the sides of the faces for this purpose.
It can also be used as a flat map, of course, if you can't be bothered assembling it.
The horizontal dotted lines are there to assist you in aligning coastlines etc. which span across more than one face of the icosohedron.
A compromise between a true hex-grid and a standard square grid, these PDF files consist of an offset square grid which provide the advantages of each type. I've taken to using it in preference to an actual hex-grid because it makes drawing regular forms (like rooms, for example) easier. So far I haven't found any real down-side to it, and if I ever get any spare cash again I intend to create a gigantic A1 layout and get it printed and laminated for use as a reusable battlemat.
All the above files have been laid out to fit within the borders of a hybrid A4-Letter page size. If you want to maintain true 5mm/10mm/15mm etc. grid sizes, make sure you have Acrobat Reader's "Fit To Page" printing option turned off. Naturally, the smaller the grid size, the greater the number of squares you'll get per page of printout.
Isometric grids are useful for presenting a pseudo-3d view of an area, as shown in the example to the right. Here are a bunch of options for isometric mapping:
If you're printing to some weird non-international paper size (such as US Letter), and maintaining a 5mm line separation is important to you, make sure Acrobat's "Fit to Page" printing option is OFF.
Rough sandstone flooring with a 1" hex grid overlaid. This image can be easily cut up into any floor shapes that you desire. The thumbnail is linked to a PDF file; you will need Acrobat Reader to view and/or print it. (File size: approx. 75 KB)
If you prefer, you can get the same sort of thing in a single JPG image here. The detail in the stonework is higher, but the file size is substantially larger at about 275 KB.
Stone spiral staircase, overlaid with the same hex-grid used on the flooring image above. (Image size: approx. 34 KB)
Textured 1" offset square flagstone flooring. This is a low-resolution (72dpi) greyscale JPEG file which should print just fine on both inkjet and laser printers. Most browsers seem to assume that any graphics should be printed at 72dpi, so in theory if you print it straight from the web the squares will end up 1" by 1". I'd recommend doing a test first to see if I'm right. It's about 45 kilobytes.
These A4-sized 150ppi images are each covered with a terrain type superimposed with a hexagonal grid of dots 25mm apart. The thumbnails below link to the full-page images, which will open in a new browser window (or tab). The sheets can be printed, spray-glued to card (or not), and cut to whatever size or shape you require.
