Updated Map Grid Settings for VTTs and TV Display (Patreon)

Most of my maps are roughly 35x20 squares, with the edge squares slightly trimmed to fit standard Full HD and 4K TV resolutions. The square sizes are 55px for HD and 110px for 4K.

Starting in 2025, new maps are designed to fit a grid starting at coordinates 0–0, roughly 37×21 squares (52 px for HD and 104 px for 4K). This grid is no longer unique to each map, so to save both server space and my time, I no longer produce separate “with-grid” versions.

To add a grid I’d recommend using a VTT like Foundry (https://foundryvtt.com/) or DM Helper (https://www.dm-helper.com/). I also make foundry wall files for all the new maps, so you will be able to just import them and get the correct grid size plus walls for dynamic movement and line of sight.

Here are a few different grids in PNG in case you need: ADMaps GRID

Here you can read more about map grid settings for the following VTTs:

Foundry

Roll20

Tabletop Simulator

Owlbear Rodeo

DM Helper

You can grab some of my free maps for tests: Festive Streets, Town Walls.

1. Foundry

I already make foundry walls as .json files. To use them, first create an empty scene, then import the JSON file into it, then select the map file from your computer. For a visual guide, check out this video: https://youtu.be/M6fqjjlbXqY

All maps from 2022 onward include these setups, and I plan to add walls to older maps as well.

For now, you can use this .json file containing basic grid settings suitable for the older maps. If it doesn't fit perfectly, you can adjust the "offset background" parameters.

Here you can see the main settings:

The important parts here are:

Grid Size: 110

Scene Dimensions: 3840 x 2160

Offset Background: Horizontal -7 and Vertical -20

If you want to remove audio from the video background try this Foundry module that lets you remove sound from the background video: https://foundryvtt.com/packages/background-volume/ 

Also if that doesn't work you can use this website to remove sound from the video file: https://www.audioremover.com/

To use it on TV just log in as a player in a separate browser (like Firefox for example). Then put this browser on the TV. You can go full screen hitting F11 with almost every browser. As an advantage you'll get their grid, initiative tool, fog of war, etc. Here are some useful modules that you can add to make the TV experience better:

Simple Fog - to add manual fog of war and reveal screen slowly without having to use tokens

Material Plane Module - tracks the movement of physical minis on a TV

And you can also check out this extensive guide for an advanced setup: Using Foundry for In-Person Gaming

Moulinettee

Here's a video showing how to start using Moulinette:

2. Roll20

Roll20 doesn’t natively support animated maps, but you can enable this feature by using the VTT Enhancement Suite:

1) Install the VTT Enhancement Suite for your browser:

Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/roll20-enhancement-suite/

Chrome\Userscript: https://justas-d.github.io/roll20-enhancement-suite/chrome.html

2) Ensure all your players install this addon as well, or they won't see the maps.

3) Upload a video you want to use in Roll20 to one of these platforms:

Dropbox

Replace "?dl=0" with "?raw=1" in the end of the URL to the file. Make sure the file is public! Using ?dl=1 seems to cause issues after a few loops, so don't use it!

For example: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/rara4ruriiiztkxtokbax/ADMaps_FESTIVE-STREETS-WebM-vp8-snow-night.webm?rlkey=8aewvo0i5ym8houdxvt0b5nu8&st=vsemtkx3&raw=1

OpenDrive

See https://gist.github.com/Moutard3/b925b090ab1d6d20a5d20f054bae7bca

4) Go to Roll20 and paste the link into the Animated Background Setup -> Media URL (the orange film icon at the top of the Roll20 map area) Don't forget to check "Enabled" checkbox and click OK.

5) To align my maps with the Roll20 grid: Go to the "My Pages" tab, open Page Settings, and set the dimensions to 2450px in Width and 1378px in Height. The grid cells will automatically adjust to 35x19.68.

The newer maps have their dimensions listed in the file name, for example: ADMaps_ASTRAL DEPTHS Drifting Ruins HD 37x21. Older maps don’t include dimensions in the name, and are generally 35×20.

Done! You're breathtaking!

For more info check out the VTTES User Guide: https://wiki.tercept.net/en/VTTES/VTTES

To use it on TV just log in as DM in one browser (like Chrome for example) and as a guest in a different browser (like Edge for example). Then put the Edge browser on the TV and hide the tabs and whatnot. You can go full screen hitting F11 with almost every browser. As an advantage you'll get their grid, initiative tool, fog of war, etc.

3. Tabletop Simulator

The method for using animated maps in Roll20 also applies to Tabletop Simulator. Simply use the direct URL as a card face on a custom card!

4. Owlbear Rodeo

Just set columns to 35 or 37 when you import the map.

The newer maps have their dimensions listed in the file name, for example: ADMaps_ASTRAL DEPTHS Drifting Ruins HD 37x21. Older maps don’t include dimensions in the name, and are generally 35×20.

You can also adjust the map on the scene by double-clicking on the map and choosing the "align image" option in the drop down menu that will appear:

To use it on TV just open Owlbear Rodeo in a different browser as a player. You can go full screen hitting F11 (with almost every browser), and collapse all the HUD so that what remain is very minimal.

Also it's probably better to not use incognito mode, but a different browser for player view: for example use Chrome for dm view and Firefox for player view on the TV. This will avoid some errors especially if you use extensions on Owlbear, also Chrome tabs that are not actively used are throttled in performance so you could see images in low res after a while until you click on that tab. Firefox seems to not have this problem.

You can also open it without any UI by appending ?name=TV&presentation=true&join=true to your share URL. Then you have to use Sync View so it keeps updated. Got the tip from here: https://www.reddit.com/r/OwlbearRodeo/comments/177rp0m/help_with_linking_to_obs/

5. DM Helper

Made for a laptop + TV setup, the DM Helper has maps, fog of war, battles, tokens, area effects dndbeyond character import and a ton of other features. Everything can be published to a Player's Window that you can put on you external table TV and/or stream with your favorite video chat for remote players.

Available here: https://www.dm-helper.com/

To quickly put up a map on your TV, you can:

1. Create a new campaign (+New icon in the top left corner when you open the app).

2. Add a map to the campaign (+Media icon — third icon from the left in the Campaign tab). It will ask how many grid squares the map should have horizontally — enter 37 for newer maps or 35 for older ones. Then it will ask if you want to add the fog of war. Select No if you want the entire map visible to players.

The newer maps have their dimensions listed in the file name, for example: ADMaps_ASTRAL DEPTHS Drifting Ruins HD 37x21. Older maps don’t include dimensions in the name, and are generally 35×20.

3. To add a grid, click Edit Layers (in the top right corner) → plus (+) → grid. It will use the parameters you set in step 2.

4. The next button to the right of Layers lets you open the Player’s Window — drag this window onto your TV screen.

5. Finally, click the Publish button in the top right corner — this will send the current active map to the Player’s Window.

If you notice any mistakes or have discovered parameters for other VTTs, please share them here for the benefit of everyone!