So where are we going again?

GMs always need maps and I will not be any different, so over time I'll going to start collecting links to useful mapping resources for the time period that we're playing in (1938-1950).

Obviously there are two types of maps that people may want to use... First up there are grid based tiles like those used in miniature games, then there are the more hand-out style maps that you'd get in a normal RPG book. From now on I'll be referring to the game-style tiles as Tiles and the handout ones as simply maps.

Tiles

Fantasy flight Games' Mansions of Madness has some great looking floor tiles for a 1930s mansion, with some of the expansions adding on some additional location boards. The building looks to be very American, so if you're picky about being accurate, possibly not the one for you if you're fighting evils outside of the US. On the plus side, you also get a nice selection of monsters and some civilian investigators

Handout maps

The Wizards of the Coast D&D 3.5 archive has some useful maps that, although fantasy based, are mostly of castles and caves, which works well in the European warzone as we've got our fair share of both kicking around. Some of them, such as the Sandstorm map pack would work well for any region as it includes ruins and a tomb. I am mildly amused that the Sandstorm Temple of Three map looks like a cartoon Cthulhu peeking over a wall.

The National Park Service in America has a nice little site designed to provide tours around world war 2 locations in the San Francisco Bay area. The maps are fairly high level, but give you a great idea of what was happening during the war and where military installations were. This could be very useful if we ever make it as far as San Francisco when defending the world

There's also a neat house planning site, http://www.eplans.com, in America that allows people to browse a vast number of different architectural styles. The site includes photos, illustrations and floorplans of all the different styles, which is perfect for American based adventuring; not so good for the rest of the world... but it's a start! The best section to look in is the Victorian House Plans section as these seem quite evocative of your typical haunted house, or run-down, cult filled wreck.

http://mansionfloorplans.blogspot.co.uk also has a neat selection of mansions from across the US and Europe. there are only 13 available, but it's useful none the less.

Hurstmonceux Castle in the UK is detailed on http://www.bigdaysout.com, including some history and the floorplan. I can certainly see this one being a base for a British paranormal investigation team as it has easy access to the south coast as it isn't that far from Hastings.

Other things

http://www.british-history.ac.uk has a wide selection of historical information about Britain throughout the ages, including floorplans of famous buildings, ordinance survey maps form different time periods etc. etc... more than enough fodder for the constructive GM.