Monday, July 23, 2018

Barrowmounds anyone?

I have been reading the excellent Barrowmaze and the initial section really has got me thinking. My own game has been floundering due to player inability to make the scheduled game and I have paused the full campaign and switched over to running shorter, 1on1 adventures. So far I have ran two, with another planned for this week. With the game happening only relying on me and one other (possibly two) being available, these tend to happen more regularly. Plus, this gives the players the option of trying out a new character without the deep connection the ones in the campaign tend to be.

As such, I have started drawing out shorter, quick, one session maps inspired by the idea found in the pages of Barrowmaze. I created a template in Inkscape so I can easily slap in the map (and ensure that 5' actually matches 5') and spit out a PDF for printing. I have tested out each one and so far, I totally dig it. I think it would be useful in planning a quick game.

Here is the first one, you can get the PNG or PDF here.
For second one, I made the mistake of drawing it far too linear, so while the squares DO actually match up with the grid, it pretty much makes the grid useless in describing the rooms (duh, rookie map maker mistake!) You can get the PNG and PDF here.
Over the weekend I received a Samsung Galazy S3 tablet, for the explicit use of drawing maps and reading books (my two year old Kindle is ok, but has speed and battery life issues). So about seven minutes after I signed into the new toy, I started drawing a map. The result is below, I like drawing digitally (almost as much as on paper....nostalgia) because it allows for error correction, line thickness control and the best part? I do not have to use my sucky ass scanner. I think it produces a more consistent and solid look across the entire piece. You can find the PNG and PDF here.

Feel free to visit my Patreon, download and print out those PDFs for your game. Give them a spin, tell me how you like them, what I could do better/different, and if you found them useful. If you like them, consider adding your name to my supporters. Their support allowed me to purchase the tools that allow me to continue to make maps for everyone.