Review: Moleskin Maps Series

By Matt Jackson
Published by Chubby Monster Games
Price: Pay What You Want

The Moleskin Maps books contain nothing but maps, and lined sections for detailing those maps.

Each map comes in two sizes. One is a "One Page Dungeon" style version. This consists of 3.5" x 4.5" copy of the map in the corner, and a series of lined boxes to fill in vital information - Background, Key Locations, GM Notes, up to 4 Wandering Encounters, and 2 bits of Treasure.

The second map size is a full 8.5" x 11" version, suitable either to mark up as the GM, pass out as a treasure map to the players, or further blow up for use as a battlemap.

All of the maps are gridless and freehand. Notations are in Old Gygaxian - S for secret doors, smaller and smaller hash marks for stairs down, rectangles for doors, etc.

Each of these products has 11 maps in this style. They are a mix of caves/underground locations, campsites, and villages/towns.

Since these are "Pay What You Want" you can pay $0.00 and download them for free, but then always go back and pay some more when you realize how cool they are. (I won mine as a prize, so I feel less morally obligated to do this - but I'll cheerfully give Matt Jackson money for other stuff based on these.)

I highly recommend checking these out. Personally I'm not a huge fan of gridless maps - it's harder for me, as the GM, to describe stuff without clear measurement markings on them. But they are very attractive, and it's worth it for me to just dig out a ruler or stick an overlay on the GM's copy. The price point can't be beat, the quality is high, and they're so attractive you'll find yourself want to start filling in the sheets just as you flip through.

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