The modern GameMaster is always looking for online tools to help make their campaign more immersive. After all, many of us have been relegated to playing online - the pandemic pushed it, but so did adulting, now parents can take a short break to put their kids to bed, etc. in the middle of a session, no problem - and GMs have to create the immediacy of the in-person experience somehow. A lot of online tools are subscription-based, and that interests me less. Over the course of a few articles, I want to look at a few, neat, online tools that can make a difference in keeping the players engaged, the equivalent of the props and hand-outs you might have crafted and passed around in the old days.
Up first, Google's MyMaps.
Now, this isn't the map builder you're looking for if you're creating a fantasy world or alien planet. I've yet to find one of those that's free to use (help me out if you have and we'll talk about it here). Rather, it's your own copy of GoogleMaps to use for contemporary Earth campaigns. as you'll see here, I use it for my Torg Eternity campaign, which is why there are "zones" that show where each invading Cosm has put up boundaries.
As you can see when we zoom in on Europe, drawing straight lines (which will curve with the planet) is easy. Amorphous shapes are more difficult (each curve is a point you need to add), but still possible. You can also create a path (there's one from St-Petersburg to Tver, then to Minsk) to show an adventure that was mostly travel, and give your "zones" names, colors, opacity... For Torg, it means that realities can be pure, dominant or mixed, and the tool allows for all this. By creating amorphous zones, you can even create elements that don't exist on the map, say if you wanted to plonk Atlantis somewhere, or in my case, Al Amarja from Over the Edge:
As you can see, it's still a far cry from creating new "geography". But when I click on the object (indeed any created zone or point), I can add one or several images, and so I've included the actual map from the game. And that sort of brings us to what use a non-Torg GM might have for MyMaps: Tracking the party's adventures. Points on a map can easily be added (and even found just like on GoogleMaps, by search addresses) and then given an icon. I you look up at the map of Europe, you'll see I have little Towers of Babel (Maelstrom Bridges through which the invading forces entered our world), Stars (hard points where Earth reality remains), Temples (friendly bases for the PCs' organization), but also, Snowflakes (these look like the game's Delphi Council logo) which represent ADVENTURES. Here's what happens when you click on an adventure:
Players who have access to the map can go down memory lane and see one of more pictures relevant to the adventure and there's room for text. In French here, but it's basically Episode X: What happened and on what day of the campaign. Important events that happen outside the PCs' purview are also marked with a point, and you could also create points for rumors or adventure hooks, letting the players in an X-Files game, for example, choose what to go investigate based on that. "Oh, there's been a cryptid sighting in Lakewood, New Jersey! Let's check it out!" Your rumor icon becomes an adventure icon on the next pass.
As you saw up top, I've got a bunch of maps and they're just the same game world on different days. It's a way to track what the invasion looked like on Day 90 compared to today (currently Day 173) - there's a certain frisson when players notice one Cosm or other has made great strides. You can totally just evolve the same map over and over, especially if you don't draw territory. However, it may be useful to have YOUR map, with extra layers of stuff THEY don't need to know about. After you update, you copy the map, which will create a clone of it under the name you choose, go in an delete the secret layers, then share THAT with the players.
Oh and by the way, you don't need to use the style I have. You'd like it sepia toned for your Victorian explorers game? You want to see more of a satellite, real-color view? Something dark and techy? MyMaps has options:
It's at the bottom of the layers sidebar. For me, this is almost necessary to keep track of the invasions, but I think I'd use it for any campaign that takes place in the modern world or the near-now. A place where players can check on their progress, remember the good times, and plan for the future.
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