A legacy map hides itself behind a coloured overlay, and each tile's status decides how much of the picture underneath shows through. This is the exploration mechanic, and it is the main thing that makes a legacy map feel like a campaign artefact rather than a JPEG.
The three statuses
| Status | What players see | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Unexplored | Fully covered — the image is completely hidden | Everywhere the party has not been. This is the default. |
| Discovered | Visible but shaded | Places they have heard of, seen from a distance, or been told about but not visited. |
| Explored | Fully visible | Ground they have actually covered. |
The "Discovered" middle tier is more useful than it first looks. It lets you reward information as well as travel — a rumour in a tavern, a map bought from a merchant, a mountain range visible from a ridge. Your players can see there is something there without knowing what.
Opening the map up as the campaign moves
After a session, open the map and right-click your way along the route the party took, setting tiles to Explored or Discovered as appropriate. It takes seconds, and players see the change the next time they open the map.
If you would rather not run exploration at all — a map of the city everyone lives in, say — switch on Disable Color Overlay in the map's settings. The whole image is visible to everyone and status stops mattering.
Checking what your players actually see
A legacy map opens in Player View for you — so what you see when you first arrive is close to what your players see. Flip the toggle to GM View to lift the overlay and see the secret tiles and the full image underneath.
Flipping back to Player View before a session is the quickest way to catch a tile you meant to hide but didn't, or a region you meant to reveal and forgot. One thing to know: even in Player View, Chronica still marks your secret tiles with a small eye icon so you can find them. Your players do not see that icon — it is there for you.
Sharing notes about the map
If a map has notes, a blue message button appears in its header. Players can click it to read the map's Notes — the in-world description, travel times, whatever context the region needs. Game Masters see a second tab in that same window for GM Secrets, which players never see and never know exists.
15.0 World & Region Maps
- 15.1 Choosing Between Legacy and Dynamic Maps
- 15.2 Organizing Maps with Folders
- 15.3 Legacy Maps: Creating Your Grid
- 15.4 Legacy Maps: Aligning the Image and Grid
- 15.5 Legacy Maps: Working with Tiles
- 15.6 Legacy Maps: Revealing the Map to Players
- 15.7 Dynamic Maps: Getting Started
- 15.8 Dynamic Maps: Pins, Shapes, and Labels
- 15.9 Dynamic Maps: Linking Maps to Your Campaign
- 15.10 Dynamic Maps: Fog of War
- 15.11 Secrets and Player Visibility