Roleplaying
Na nana nana nananana na Texture time!
Textures needs to tile, have a decent resolution and look like we want them to. Lets start with the walls, which are what is left of the ground when the cellar was dug out. I usually use a standard stone texture for that, either search for one at CGTextures, or more recently, render one in FilterForge.
Good to be back for some good old mapmaking.
I think I will use OmniGraffle for this map, just to show you a different technique. OmniGraffle is not a map making software, but a pretty generic but very powerful object oriented drawing tool, for Mac OS X. I have no clue what you might use on Windows that works the same way?
This is how the cellar map looked in the original adventure.
I decided we the maps first instead as you all know how to stat baddies. I’ll to the baddies some boring afternoon when it rains. So, it’s time to define what parts of the first map that we need to create in scale battle maps from?
The best way to do this is to look at the map, and define what areas are most likely to get some action in them.
So, back to some map making then. This time, we’re gonna look how our dark backyard turned out, in full.
I did some small changes to it, so it would fit on two papers, nicely, which is the estate footprint I think we must set for this map. Read more
So, we’re gonna make the DM map, and write info on all important points on the map, so our DM will know how to run the adventure.
Ok, we got a map, how about the plot?
I know, but the plot is already in place, so lets wrap up the plot and get working.
Now it’s time for the backyard, this is the original backyard map, it won’t make anyone happy, I promise you.
So, I’ve already decided the ground should be grassy, and the stone walkway a little longer. The door to the left is the kitchen door, and the door to the right is an iron door with a small hatch, large enough to talk and see through, and that door is locked, from the other side.
Where were we? Yes, I remember now, “propulating” the Golden Fox Inn with more furniture and more props. Today I will use mostly prefabricated props from both Dundjinni forum and Greytale’s Nook. Greytale is one of my favorite artists, his work is always top notch.
Time to get our self dirty with the nitty gritty of map decorations. For map mapmakers, the internet is a good resource, and for Dundjinni users, the forum has tens of thousands of images that you can use, most of them even in commercial adventures.But I will start as I usually do, to create a table and some stools to fill up the first room, where they Bladdish game is held. Yes, I know, I will explain what kind of game that is, later on, when we come to the adventure part of this story, so far it is about making the maps that goes with the story, one thing at a time.
So, we’re gonna make an adventure now, complete with full color battle maps, a nice layout, packaged and ready to be electronically distributed.
OK, this is the introduction to the adventure we are going to recreate:
It’s Marda-Zam, the traditional yearly carnival in the city. It is the day when everyone are dressed in fantastic costumes, even the mayor and the city guards. Eating, drinking and enjoying a good game or two of the traditional game of Bladdish. This is the day when rich and poor, side by side, will escape the burdens of daily life and enjoy Marda-Zam.