The Journey from Podcasting to TTRPG Battlemaps

I spin too many plates… but if you know me or have been following me long enough now, that comes as no surprise. Once I stopped wrestling after my ankle injury in the mid-2000s, I started picking up creative outlet after creative outlet. I may have mentioned this in my Wrestlemania blog a few months ago (if not, it’s somewhere out on the Internet), but wrestling hit so many different creative outlets at once. There’s writing, acting, performance, and improv just to name a few off the top of my head. When you go from putting together entire events to your own matches to nothing, well that’s quite a void to fill. Podcasting has always been the closest, for me, thing to wrestling I’ve done creatively, but I’m always spinning other plates–writing [both a novel and for entertainment sites], dreaming up films to direct, designing games, etc. Designing maps, specifically battlemaps, for tabletop roleplaying games has become the newest thing.

From Podcasting to Battlemaps

To say I’m moving away from podcasting isn’t entirely true–I’m gearing up to release two episodes of Avatar State Radio, the Avatar: The Last Airbender rewatch podcast I do with Mike DeAngelo (rewatch for Mike, first time watch for me) this Friday and continuing Season 2 of Everything is Awesome next week. I’m also pushing more into the pre-production of Single Player, my Solo TTRPG actual play podcast, with hopes of releasing it before the end of the year. But I’ve been admiring what Mike and his brother have been doing with maps for some time and started tinkering away on my own. I’ve received enough compliments on them that I decided it’s something I should move forward with–both as a side hustle and to hone my craft further.

That’s not to say it’s been easy to spin this additional plate. Time is a factor, but it’s also not just an easy project to jump into. I tend to shy away from things that require an artistic, and I’m talking legitimate art–sketching, drawing, painting, etc. because I simply don’t have that eye. With a podcast, all I need is the ability to record my own voice. Sure, there is more to podcasting than that, but it doesn’t have to be either. Designing a visual piece on the other hand, oh, that’s nerve-racking. There’s a reason I’ve stayed away from it for so long. And even with the platform I use, where I’m using pre-made stamps and textures, it’s still a challenge to make it look authentic.

Authenticity

You may think that designing maps for TTRPGs doesn’t require authenticity, but you’d be wrong! Game masters and players want to be immersed while they play and battlemaps are a piece of that process. Typically, a 1-inch square on a map is 5 feet–is that table you’re placing in the dining hall of the castle map you’re working on sized correctly? How about those chairs? Well, now these trees look off. Oh, and don’t forget that trees aren’t all the same in nature! Now we have to make sure we’re adding a mix of trees that look natural on the map. They need to be sized correctly, they need to not overlap too much, but not NOT overlap at all. There are so many things going through your head when deciding which tree, couch, animal, or whatever stamp for your design you’re placing on the map. I’m incredibly thankful that I’ve had Mike to go to for advice because he’s made all these mistakes already!

It’s Not All Bad

The pros of getting into designing battlemaps far outweigh the cons–otherwise, I wouldn’t be diving into it as hard as I am. While I’m just beginning, I’m already getting paid opportunities to create maps which has led to revamping my Patreon to be focused on battlemaps. It’s nothing substantial, but I’m hopeful that as I hone my craft, more opportunities will arise. The most important thing to come from designing battlemaps is how much more storytelling I can do. Yes, the map itself is used to inspire others to tell a story, but there is a story I’m telling in each map I design.

What’s even more reinvigorating for my own creativity is crafting an even bigger story. How does this map work into the universe I created for the novel I’m working on? What species may live in this type of environment? How do the points of interest and story hooks I developed for each map work together? How do they work within the grander universe? Listen, I should be writing my novel, but I’ve created so much deep lore for it that I have a pile of ideas to explore for short stories, novellas, and additional novels.

Ok, I’ve been spinning the blogging plate long enough, I need to give some attention to other projects! Until next time…

Slánte!