# TTRPG Tools: Maps - Distance Measurement ![[images/TTRPG-Tools-Maps-Distance-Measurement.webp]] [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5CBig1NVfU) · 36:34 · Josh Plunkett · 2026-01-31 ## Outline ### 00:00 Intro - Josh recalls the old method: measure with Leaflet, then feed the distance into a code-heavy travel calculator in the note. - The Zoom Maps plugin has been renamed **TTRPG Tools: Maps**. Its developer (Josh isn't sure how to say the name; the GitHub user is Jareika) has also built timeline and soundboard plugins and map publishing. - Features came from requests in the Obsidian TTRPG Community Discord, especially about Leaflet's hard-to-set bounds, which distance measurement depends on. ### 02:21 Installation - At recording the plugin wasn't in the community plugin list yet. Josh says Obsidian has a review backlog since AI made plugins faster to build. - Install it with **BRAT**: copy the GitHub repo URL (github.com/Jareika/zoom-map), click BRAT's ribbon icon, choose Add beta plugin for testing, paste the URL, pick the latest version, and click Add plugin. - Many people have tested it, and Josh knows of no problems with it. ### 03:46 Add New Map ![[images/TTRPG-Tools-Maps-Distance-Measurement-t0445.webp]] - In a new note, open the command palette, run *TTRPG Tools Maps: Insert new map*, and pick an image (a hex map) in the new picker. Josh usually saves without changing settings. - In Edit view, setting min zoom to **0.005** lets you zoom out to the whole map, since smaller values didn't seem to work. - The example is a hex map Josh made in 2018 in Campaign Cartographer 3+ for a monthly map challenge. ### 05:28 Calibrate Scale and Measure ![[images/TTRPG-Tools-Maps-Distance-Measurement-t0730.webp]] - Right-click, then Measure → Calibrate scale. Click two reference points (a map scale bar, or here one hex corner to the other) and enter the distance in km or miles. Josh uses 5 miles per hex. - Measure → Start measuring, then click waypoints. The running total shows (42 miles in his demo), and Stop measuring leaves the trail on the map. ### 08:28 Configure Travel Methods - Get your system's travel rules first. Josh Googled D&D 5e travel methods, used ChatGPT to list 5e travel speeds, and used Archives of Nethys (free) for Pathfinder 2e. - Under Settings → plugin → Travel rules, create or edit a **travel pack**: - **Max travel time presets**: hours you can travel per day, such as 8 hours in D&D 5e before exhaustion. The plugin uses this to turn hours into days (16 hours = 2 days). - **Custom units**: any unit you like (his joke is cucumbers). - **Terrains** (off by default): speed factors such as 1 for normal and 0.5 for difficult. - **Travel presets**: time per distance for each method (walking, donkey, riding horse, and so on). - Josh made D&D 5e and PF2E packs for his Patreon vault. Packs export to and import from JSON, so people can share them, for example for Daggerheart. - Enable the pack, then turn on *Enable Measure Pro terrain segments* under Preferences. ### 15:02 Calculate Travel Times ![[images/TTRPG-Tools-Maps-Distance-Measurement-t1600.webp]] - In the measure menu, pick a unit and tick one or more travel methods (walking pace, light horse, cart/wagon). Each method's time shows at top left as you measure. - In his PF2E numbers, the horse and cart came out slower than walking. Josh wasn't sure whether that's the rules or a typo. - **Terrains** splits the route into measured segments, so you can mark some (say the last three) as difficult. - If you've already stopped measuring, setting terrain doesn't recalculate. Set terrains while measuring, then stop. ### 20:26 Party Pins ![[images/TTRPG-Tools-Maps-Distance-Measurement-t2730.webp]] - A **party pin** marks where the party is and lists everything within a set range, with distances. - Demo: add markers linked to notes (test hub, star system, species, planet). - Setup: Settings → Marker libraries → Collections → Party pins → Add party pin. Choose an icon, the travel pack (PF2E), comma-separated distances, and a party note folder. - To get a custom icon, Josh used the built-in **RPG Awesome** download, extracted the SVGs, rescanned, and picked a dice icon (black was easier to see than white). - Right-click → Add marker here → Party pin creates an auto-generated note listing linked notes within 10 km (for example test hub 1.55 km, star system 5.21 km, species 6.51 km), notes with tags, and a table of in-range markers without notes, which Josh thinks is a Bases table. - After you drag the pin, Recalculate updates the note. Josh's wishes: a travel-time column and a "within X km of this pin" table for any location. ### 31:32 Ruler Settings - In settings you can change the ruler's color and width. The color shown didn't quite match what he picked. ### 32:07 Outro - "Zoom Maps" still appears in places because the plugin was already submitted to Obsidian under that name. - The developer has also got maps publishing to Obsidian Publish working, and Josh briefly shows a published map with a pin. Videos on Publish, Timeline, and Soundboard are coming. - He thanks the developer, warns them about scope creep, and asks them to set up a donation link. He calls it an upgrade over Obsidian Leaflet. - He gives a shout-out to Patreon supporters and the Obsidian TTRPG Community Discord (linked from obsidianttrpgtutorials.com). ## Things mentioned ### Obsidian plugins - [TTRPG Tools: Maps (formerly Zoom Maps)](https://github.com/Jareika/zoom-map) is free. At recording it was beta-only, installed through BRAT. - BRAT (free) installs beta plugins from GitHub URLs. - Obsidian Leaflet (free), the older map plugin this one replaces. - The developer's other TTRPG Tools plugins: Timeline, Soundboard, and Publish (map publishing). - Bases, Obsidian's core table views (Josh thinks the party-pin table uses it). ### Tools, websites, and assets - Campaign Cartographer 3+ (paid mapping software), used to make the 2018 hex map. - RPG Awesome, a free icon font downloaded from inside the plugin. - Archives of Nethys, free online PF2E rules. - ChatGPT, used to list D&D 5e travel speeds. - GitHub, for the plugin repo. - Obsidian Publish (paid), which can now host published maps. - The Obsidian TTRPG Community Discord and obsidianttrpgtutorials.com (free). - Josh's Patreon vault (paid), which will include his D&D 5e and PF2E travel packs. ### TTRPG systems - D&D 5e: 8 hours of travel per day before exhaustion. - Pathfinder 2e: Josh's own system, with a travel pack that includes terrain. - Daggerheart, given as an example of a system someone could make and share a pack for. ## Bios - **Josh Plunkett** is an Australian GM and YouTuber who runs Obsidian TTRPG Tutorials, teaching tabletop players and world builders to run campaigns in Obsidian. He plays Pathfinder 2e and runs a Patreon with a ready-made vault. - **Jareika** (GitHub handle; Josh is unsure how to say the name or which pronoun to use) develops the TTRPG Tools suite (Maps, Timeline, Soundboard, Publish) and is active in the Obsidian TTRPG Community Discord.