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Explore the map
A grid of unknown tiles. Tap one to explore and a location and an event roll in from your tables.
Made by the PaperCarnival team · Updated
Tap a tile to explore it.
How big the map is
Between 3 and 8 across. Changing the size blanks the map, because a trail through a different grid is not the same trail.
Where you may explore
With adjacency on, the first tile can be anywhere and everything after it has to touch a tile you have already explored, which is what turns a grid into a journey.
Places, 34 to draw from
On the way, 34 to draw from
Up to 60 lines each. Yours replace the built-in ones entirely, stay in this browser, and are never put into a link.
Tap a tile with a question mark on it, and the map grows outwards
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A map that arrives while you walk it
A drawn map is a promise about what is out there, which is useful and also a little dull: everything on it was decided before anybody set off. A map that arrives one tile at a time is a different experience. Nobody at the table knows what is over the hill, including the person running the game, and the next decision is genuinely a decision rather than a route.
Each tile gives two things: a place and something that happened getting there. The pairing is what makes it feel like travel rather than a list. A hill fort long abandoned is a location; a hill fort long abandoned, reached after a bridge was out and the ford was deep, is an afternoon.
For a board you paint yourself rather than one that arrives a tile at a time, the hex board is the page, and the fog of war hides a board you have already made until the players uncover it. For anything the journey asks you to roll, the dice pool is next door.
Kept in this browser under pph.map.tables, pph.map.state and pph.map.muted, and nowhere else. Accounts, printing, storage and what the page loads are answered on the FAQ.
Questions
- What does the adjacency rule do?
- With it on, the first tile can be anywhere and everything after it has to touch a tile you have already explored. That is what turns a grid into a journey: the map grows outwards from where you started rather than being filled in at random. Turn it off and any tile can be opened at any time, which suits a group splitting up.
- Can I write my own places and events?
- Yes, both, up to sixty lines each. Your lines replace the built-in ones entirely for that table, so you can keep the events and write places for your own setting. What you type stays in this browser and is never put into a link.
- What happens if I change the map size?
- The map is blanked. A trail through a five by five grid is not the same trail through a seven by seven one, and quietly reinterpreting the tile numbers would put your places in the wrong squares. Choose the size before you start.
- Does it draw a real map?
- It draws the grid and colours in what you have explored, with the most recent tile marked. The description of each tile is on the list underneath in the order you found them. Turning that into a map with a coastline on it is the table's job.
- Does it remember where I have been?
- Yes. The grid, the trail and any tables you wrote are kept in this browser, so a journey survives a refresh or a week between sessions. A share link carries the size and the adjacency rule, never the tables or the trail.
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