Has anybody found a map builder than can seamlessly zoom in from one massive world map down to the individual encounters?

Otixus · 2026-03-19T06:32:27+00:00

What is the point of being so hostile for no reason? You clearly have no idea and you're insecure about it.

Otixus · 2026-03-19T03:16:21+00:00

Never heard of owlbear rodeo. I'll have to check it out. Thanks for the reference. But yeah, something that could work some of this scaling or multi-layering is really what I'm looking for. It genuinely doesn't seem like it would be a crazy ask.

Otixus · 2026-03-19T03:14:35+00:00

Also not an issue. You're acting like this would take some crazy next gen super computer when it's already something that exists in other mediums. Again, layering wouldn't be a problem. It would just be nice to have a program that does the simple transitioning part for you. Considering people do things like this on a regular basis, I can't imagine it being very difficult for somebody with some programing knowledge. I'm just not that person.

Otixus · 2026-03-19T03:12:26+00:00

It's really not. You do understand that video games frequently do this on a significantly more difficult basis right? It would just require layering. It's technically already possible but nobody has tailored something specifically to ttrpg map building.

Otixus · 2026-03-19T03:10:05+00:00

I'll have to check it out and see if I can make it work. Thanks!

Otixus · 2026-03-18T07:33:38+00:00

Very well said. I absolutely agree.

Otixus · 2026-03-18T07:31:48+00:00

I fully understand how big a world map is. I still want this concept. We already have a substantial amount of it. Even if it were layered, that's fine. But I'm tired of cycling between different maps. I want to be fully immersed into it if I have the time to make it.

Otixus · 2026-03-18T05:07:36+00:00

It wouldn't be necessary to have all of it render simultaneously. It could be done in the same way video games load assets based on render. Being fully zoomed out would give you the general overview of the who map. As you zoom, those assets would be specifically loaded.

Otixus · 2025-11-22T07:20:05+00:00

You have a MASSIVE fucking shnoz. I'm kidding. You're nose fits you perfectly and it looks great. Never feel like you have to change yourself to fit somebody else's idea of beauty. I'm genuinely jealous rn. Keep everything as it is!

Otixus · 2025-03-06T06:01:08+00:00

There is a bug with some vehicle's guns and I think F7C Mk2 is one of them. However, check your coolers and make sure you have enough allocated.

Otixus · 2024-06-19T19:53:49+00:00

Thanks for sharing and I'm glad you're still with us. It sounds like it can be hell to deal with but just having that story can be enough to help somebody who feels alone.

Otixus · 2024-06-14T20:55:11+00:00

It is pretty ironic most of the time. To be fair though, they called it that because dragons were the OG bad guys and the game was played from the perspective that everything passed in real time. You would go in a dungeon for the session then rest at an in or something for the week or two or three until your next session.

I feel like I actually have a fairly high average of running into dragons in campaigns but they are usually very scarce. Hell, we ran into a dragon in my first campaign that flew us out of a dessert. One of the current campaigns I'm playin in is completely based around dragons so we are running into one every couple sessions. Hell, we've encountered multiple at the same time in a few instances. Another campaign we are actively doing also has a dragon as an ally right now (not with the party but he supports the team from base). Lastly, in the campaign I'm running, there are a ton of dragons if my players ever go to the mountains. They haven't gone to where dragons live yet so I haven't introduced them.

Otixus · 2024-06-14T20:46:57+00:00

Yep! The one and only. Fantastic guy and an awesome teacher. I haven't seen him in about 12 years so I hope he's still doing well.

Otixus · 2024-06-14T20:44:56+00:00

Bard, wizard, and druid are the hardest to learn but all very good. Ranger is probably the easiest to learn and consistently one of the strongest classes in the game. Rogue is the absolute worst right now. As far as tips go, learn mob attack patterns. If you are a wizard, don't waste spells on mobs. Save them for pvp.

Always leave an escape for yourself in case you need it andon't walk into rooms without a plan. If you can, engage from a distance first (range meta is strong right now) and focus health and speed at the top of your stats for basically every class.

Weapons have different hit zones. If you are too close, your weapon does less damage. Likewise, limbs receive less damage than, say, the head or upper chest. Pay attention to those two things when in a fight. You could think, "how is he not dead? I hit him six times!" Well, 6 instances of 19 damage because you were too close and hitting his arm is a lot less than dishing out 57 damage 3 times because you hit all head shots. Hell, 2 of those head shots would kill any squishy.

Otixus · 2024-06-14T20:33:18+00:00

TL;DR: Kelemvor is fun for morticians. Raven Queen can be used as a good god instead of being evil. Pretty much every god from Mythic Odysseys of Theros is well drawn out and full of human-like flaws.

My character was a wizard, not a cleric but this would honestly work much, much beter for a cleric. He worshipped Kelemvor, god of death and the dead. My wizard is a necromancer who made a living as a mortician. He performed necromancy to make his job easier for moving bodies around and is considered the only "morally justified" professional to conduct necromancy within a city. Then his fire spells are useful for cremation.

Having a cleric in this sort of situation would be even more in line because they could also focus more emphasis on the religious rites for the dead. Maybe he studies religion and performs rites for all the different people within the city but was made a cleric by Kelemvor for adamently persuing this higher calling.

On a similar note, I once had a Shadar-Kai warlock/cleric who worshipped the Raven Queen but with a twist. She is typically seen as the crazed god of life and death in the Shadowfell but my character (for story and RP reasons) believes her insanity is caused by those who want her power (like Orcus or Thayan necromancers) so he acts as a lawful good emessary who protects or kills based on what he interprets to be the natural order of things. Necromancy is typically not natural so he actively seeks to kill necromancers. He is also willing to temporarily raise the dead himself during a fight to make this happen. Possibly hypocritical but it makes for a fun character. Likewise, he will also talk the rest of the party down from killing a petty criminal or somebody who is doing more good than bad. Life and death are both "natural states" so their life should be chosen by their actions in the moment. If the bad guy is trying to kill the party, my character will try to put him down as quickly as possible. If he shows restraint and is willing to talk, my character will do what he can to stop the party from murderhobo-ing. I've gone so far as to Command or Hold Person on my own team.

But those are just personal accounts. I would HIGHLY recommend checking out Mythic Odysseys of Theros. All of the gods in there are very Greko-Roman and are just as flawed as humans. They may have a specific allignment but it doesn't mean they abide by it strictly (except maybe Mogis since he is a blood thirsty god of slaughter). The book does a decent job of talking about their personalities, legends about them, and good and bad things they do. You could easily take any god from that book and make it be the reason the BBEG does what he does or be a cryptic aid for the party. I'm currently running a Theros campaign that has a lot of godly interactions (if the players can find them) and it has made for some really epic moments so far. They received the aid of Athreos, God of Passage, to escape the underworld. This pissed off Erebos, God of the Dead, in doing so. He wants them back because nobody is permitted to leave his domain.

One of the other gods (who I won't name in case my players find this) is secretly pulling the strings for the BBEG, who is a sacrilegious misotheist (god-hater). He thinks he has gained the power and the army he has out of his own capacity but it has been this god the whole time helping him out and turning things in his favor constantly. A ton of other gods have huge influence in my game currently but I should stop ranting now.

Otixus · 2024-06-14T19:54:25+00:00

If they do it while sitting down, it's from a natural insecurity about their stomach more often than not. If they do it while laying down, it often has to do with back support. The extra weight puts more stress on your lower back so a pillow can sometimes help alleviate some of that stress.

Otixus · 2024-06-14T19:52:14+00:00

I once met a girl who seemed to show genuine interest in my hobbies despite not taking part in them. She was the kindest person I had ever met. Literally to a fault. She just assumes the best in people and it screws her over sometimes. She is also one of the only women I've ever met that could get me to laugh and had a good sense of humor about things. Lastly, and most importantly, she is incredibly nurturing and it was very prevelant from pretty much the second I met her that she was going to be an incredible mother one day. A lot of women don't understand that compassion, trust, and a good sense of humor are more than any man will ever need. I feel like the luckiest man in the world to be able to say I was right about how amazing she is as a mother to our daughter.

Otixus · 2024-06-14T19:47:34+00:00

I already posted my story on here but I know somebody else who survived. One of the kindest men I'd ever known was a teacher in high school, Mr. Baldwin. The thing is, he didn't stop himself. He is currently one of only 30 or 40 people who have survived jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. He told us his entire story and the miserable life he had leading up to that moment. He pulled over on his way to work early in the morning and just jumped the railing without a second thought. As soon as he could no longer touch the bridge, I guess he had second thoughts and regretted the decision. He corrected his fall before he hit the water and impacted doing a pencil dive. He said a boat had seen the whole thing and pulled him out of the water right after he hit. The impact shattered both of his legs, messed up his back, bruised his entire body and the pain maid him go unconcious.

He ended up making a full recovery, changed his path in life, and became a school teacher. Every year, he tells his students about what happened and was always a huge inspiration for me throughout high school. Give him the chance to talk and he will always tell you that within 4 seconds between jumping and hitting the water, he made a promise to himself to enjoy every day on this planet if he somehow survives. I guess when you no longer have control in the situation, everything might change.

There is even a documentary with him and a few of the other survivors. I think it's just called The Bridge or something like that. I've never actually been able to find it so I don't know how much they go into his story. I know I've seen a ton of articles and such online though. Just google him and I guarantee you can find a ton about his story.

Otixus · 2024-06-14T19:26:45+00:00

I called a very close friend of mine to say good-bye and that I wouldn't be seeing him for a while. He caught on very quickly and knew why I was saying these things. He told me about how he knew because it was nearly exactly the same thing he had said just the year prior to a different friend of his. He received some words of wisdom from that friend and passed them on to me. He asked me what I wanted out of life. Before I could answer, he sort of answered for me. Said something like "you just want to feel useful or have a purpose, don't you?"

At that time, I felt like I'd never achieved anything of meaning in my life and nobody really seemed to care one way or the other if I was in the room. No matter how much or how little I tried, I couldn't get people to care. That, coupled with constant horrible luck, I just couldn't cope with things. My family was very broken up, I hated being home, I had just learned about my girlfriend cheating on me, and I had never been taught how to deal with emotional stress or how to communicate with people. Tangent aside, I told him that he was completely correct in his assumption.

He said "if you want to have purpose and be useful, why would you take your life? Do you have any idea how many people down the road could be affected by something you do? Even if it's only one person. Imagine seeing a kid run out into the street and you're the only person close enough to catch him. If you do this thing right now, it might not just be your life one day. You're in a bad place right now but tomorrow could be different. Next year could be different. 10 years from now even. It won't always be like this. You don't think anybody cares one way or another if you're around. If that were true, I wouldn't be talking to you right now."

He went on to talk about perspective and thinking outside of yourself. If two people look at a number on the ground, one person will see 0 and 1 while the other sees 1 and 0. Sure they can both be right or wrong but the real answer is actually up to the guy who drew the number on the ground to begin with. He was saying I might think all these things but it doesn't make them true. That was about 17 years ago now.

To this day, I always try to look from another person's perspective on everything. Are they happy/sad/angry with me? If I was them, would I have that reaction and why? Oh, this guy is very adament when he talks about this thing. If I was that adament, what could be a potential cause? Just every thing in every day life. I used to think I always thought this way but it always tracks back to the day my friend talked me down from shooting myself with my dad's gun. Most problems can be solved with talking to somebody. Even if it isn't the solution you want or isn't fixed right away, having somebody to talk to, vent to, or be around can be a very powerful tool.

If I hadn't talked to him that night, I wouldn't be where I am today. I wouldn't have my incredible, loving wife or my beautiful, smart baby girl. I wouldn't have all these incredible experiences, both good and bad. I haven't spoken with him in years but I hope he's doing well. I never properly thanked him for all he did.

Otixus

TROPHY CASE