[WW] Using Spreadsheets for Maps in RPGs

[mock@springmail.com]

Hey all-

Hope this isn't too off topic.  I've GM'ed a couple PBEM games (combat heavy ones, like Shadowrun) in the past, and the biggest problem I ran into was mapping.  I was using Paintbrush to generate simple maps, and mailing them out every turn, but that was a huge pain in the tail.

The other day, I hit upon an idea that seems to solve the problem: if you have it, use a spreadsheet program as a mapping tool.  Since the height and width of the cells can be adjusted, you can create a grid of squares.  You can also add drawing elements, cell shading, or cell borders to represent walls, objects, and terrain, and finally, to place a character, just type a symbol in one of the cells.  

Spreadsheets have a built in coordinate system, so your players can tell you exactly where they are moving to, for example, "I jump out of the foxhole and make a run for the nearest bomb crater (move from B4 to H7)."  Finally, if all players have the same program, they can update their maps individually as the game progresses.  If not, there's probably a program that will let you view the map, if not edit it (for instance, Microsoft has a free program called XLView that lets you look at Excel spreadsheets, but not edit them).

I've been playing around with it for a couple days, and I think it will work pretty well.  Also, file sizes are small, so the maps will be easy to email.

Hope this tip is useful - let me know if you've got any questions, or if you'd like to see an example.

Best regards,
Chris