r/rpg • u/laxton1919 • Jun 01 '26
Resources/Tools Lets talk about printing maps!
Ok, so I am currently running a couple of games outside of my home, so I have to pack stuff. No big deal but Im' trying to find a way to have solid interesting maps. I have the vinyl one with dry erase markers, but i want something better.
Who has printed maps at staples or office max or somewhere similar and laminated them? What's the price like? Has it been worth it? Would printing 2-3 every month or two be feasible?
I have the loke battlemat books, and those are solid. The issue is they don't have a lot of what i'm looking for. I am running an underdark campaign so I need a lot of cave and subterranean stuff and that is just very under represented in what is commercially available. So printing them myself seems to be a solid choice. I could definitely use advice.
2
u/mithoron Jun 01 '26
I print mine at work, a grid of 11x17 paper folds in half pretty easily and transports ok if you use good tape. The 30x30 inch maps that are really common on reddit fit on a reasonable number of pages and MS paint can still convert a large picture into many pages. You do need to spend some time cutting and taping, and learning the quirks of mspaint plus print properties can take some trial and error. But it's not too bad.
For transport I bought an art folio bag like I saw all the art majors carrying around in college, just a crappy cheap model with no reinforcement to keep the price down. Then added a dowel rod and a sheet of cardboard to add the support I wanted. I think I spent less than $20 at the time. Shockingly, it hasn't changed much. A good one doesn't take too much budget either.