It’s Free RPG Day once more, and there is no higher to play a free roleplaying recreation than with free and open supply software program. In this digital period of pen-and-paper gaming, it is nonetheless comparatively uncommon for adventures to incorporate digital maps. In reality, it is also uncommon for paper adventures to incorporate maps which might be sized appropriately for miniatures, and many who do have vibrant and richly textured maps that look nice in a shiny e book however look murky when photocopied and enlarged for the tabletop. Long story quick: a tabletop gamer is usually in want of a fast and handy solution to produce maps. Mipui is an open supply net app that lets you create grid-based maps for role-playing video games, and it really works nice for digital and bodily tabletops alike.
No set up required
Mipui is primarily a hosted net app. If you employ it and revel in it, you can also make a donation to assist with operational prices at Mipui’s ko-fi page.
Installation
Alternately, you’ll be able to set up your individual Mipui occasion, as a result of it is distributed with an MIT license. It’s a Node.js utility, and so long as you have acquired expertise operating an online server, it is a fairly easy set up course of. I run mine on a pc I rescued from the tip to be used as a house server. The precise bundle names could differ relying in your distribution, however listed below are the steps I exploit.
First, set up Git, an online server, and Node.js. Then use Git to obtain Mipui to the net root listing. Web root directories differ relying in your net server defaults, so confirm the trail in case you’re not sure the place your net server appears to be like for recordsdata.
$ sudo dnf set up git nginx nodejs
$ sudo git clone https://github.com/amishne/mipui.git
/usr/share/nginx/html/
Next, set up the required Node packages with npm:
$ npm set up firebase eslint
Finally, begin the net server and open a port in your firewall to allow HTTP visitors:
$ sudo firewall-cmd --add-service http
$ sudo systemctl allow --now nginx
Navigate to /mipui/public/app/index.html in your server’s handle. For occasion, in case your server’s hostname is instance.native then the handle is instance.native/mipui/public/app/index.html.
As of this writing, Mipui is quickly gaining instruments that turns it right into a full-fledged interactive tabletop, full with digital miniatures within the type of tokens, line of sight calculation, and fog-of-war. However, I at the moment use Mipui for cartography.
Drawing a room
The high toolbar of Mipui present normal classes of duties. When you click on on one, a toolbox seems beneath the primary with additional choices.
You can set the theme you need utilized to your maps at any time. My favorite is Cross Hatch (with grid), however there are a number of different themes obtainable throughout the Map toolbox.
To begin drawing, click on the Walls button. Select the Rectangle Room instrument from the toolbox, hover over the grid house you need the room to begin, after which click on and maintain as you drag the rectangle to the need dimension. You can divide the room into smaller sections with the identical instrument. Walls that overlap are merged right into a steady form.
You can even add single partitions with Wall (auto) and Wall (handbook) instruments.
You can add different options, akin to doorways, secret doorways, home windows, and bars utilizing the Separators instrument.
You can add arbitrary options, like furnishings, crates, treasure chests, and so forth, utilizing the Shapes instrument.
For stairs, ramps, underground passages, and pits, use the Elevation instrument.
Open supply recreation maps
There are tons extra options in Mipui, together with instruments for the Game Master to hide secret doorways and textual content, and to obscure and reveal elements of the map. There’s a library of tokens to function participant characters, NPCs, and monsters. You can share a map in both read-only mode or editable mode, it can save you a map to native storage (and import it once more later), or export a map as a picture for printing or for importing to a digital tabletop like Mythic Table.
I’ve been in a position to reimplement maps from revealed adventures shortly and simply with Mipui. The easy UI appeals to me, and the straightforward themes for the maps let the maps outline the house however be sure that the gamers depend on creativeness to fill the house in. Try Mipui the following time you want a map to your recreation.
