February Mapping Challenge, several dungeon floors

This is the Efreeti Volcano area for B4, The Lost City. We could also put it in The Bleakness for the Atlas. ( So I'm also using this for the arcology bits. )

Preliminary map. I was trying for levels of a volcano, but to me its just looks like different meltedness, if thats a word, of lava.

The above is no longer true. This is a 500' x 400' dungeon, preliminary map. Entrance and exit for level are shown. The passage between them is not necessairly straight forward. Each square is 10 feet across.
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Comments

  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer
    That's a great idea.

    Which way is it going, Jim? Higher is lighter, or lower is lighter?
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    edited January 2019
    Always loving me a new dungeon for the atlas.

    I don't think a volcano map fits very well with the whole mega-dungeon setup for the February challenge though, as it kind of imposes a structure on all the other levels. Don't let me dissuade you from making the map though, looking forward to seeing what you can do here, and it will easily fit in the atlas, just pointing out the issues related to the challenge.
  • Lighter is higher. Dark lava is the bottom of it. This is more of a sketch of the area, I'll use regular CD3 mapping as I can then show lava areas easier.

    This particular dungeon has multiple levels. Some efreetis, some humanoids who are trying to keep away frm the efreetis and not get killed by the lava or heat.
  • Okay, I'll just start over and relabel this thread and make a new map.

    Kinda busy Thursday evening.
  • JimPJimP 🖼️ 280 images Cartographer
    edited January 2019
    Okay, on the new track. The grayish wide line is a tunnel going over to the exit room. Two rooms upper left, I"ll work on getting a castle wall and a small tower into there.

    The water feature is a trap. The wide corridor is a distraction. Using Bogie items for dungeon dressing. map is 500' x 400'.

    Room lower right has boulders for a hopeful rampart.
  • Looking forward to seeing what you do here. You are our resident master of dungeon design and I just know that it will be intricate and filled with nasty traps. :)
  • The cracks in the two rooms are a 'false trap door trap'. They drop the person stepping on them about 2 feet. Not the expected 10 feet onto spikes.
  • Circular room: nice shiny silver pieces in the water, 15 feet deep. Not all of them are coins, some are 'coin mites' that like to chew on anyone or thing that bothers their coin hoard.

    The rectangular room upper left, the cracks drop the character stepping on them 15 feet. And 20% they are full of water.

    The small mushrooms near the spiral stairs down don't attack. There is a magic mouth that whispers a smal lquiet phrase 'come closer. please come closer'. If a character gets within5 feet of the mushrooms they will spray Be Happy spores on the character. The spores do no fdamage, but the character will grin for hours, and want to find a place to shed hair and skin so more mushroom spores will grow. So other people will become happy.

    The corridor leading to the room, the stairs go down 10 feet and have 5 feet of water in the passageway. Then stairs go up. There is a mixed trasure of various items in the lower left corner.

    Only 2 wooden doors, the rest are stone or metal. I'll mark them in the last map.
  • Map is 500' x 400'

    Note that the room dimensions were chosen so a ad&d 1e bullseye lantern wouldn't light up the opposite walls for rooms larger than 80 feet.

    Room 1) 50' x 60' Spiral stairs form above level. A) fountain B) cracked floor. Stepping on it drops the character one to two feet.

    East door) reinforced wood.

    South Door) reinforced metal, is open but can be closed.

    Water area between rooms 1 and 8 is a ditch. The water looks swift but is illusional.

    Room 2) Circular, 80 across. Coin mites mixed in with the silver coin pile. water is about 15 feet deep. Coin mites will attack anyone disturbing their coins. 1 hit point damage per bite. Hit with something flat, or Cure Disease, will get id of them. A) small box. It might have a monster, a trap, or a treasure in it. Or all three.

    Room 3) 10' x 20', has three empty barrels. Scribbled on the side: "We beat you to the treasure !"

    Room 4) 40' x 120' Two small piles of wood. Apparently a monster died defending the wood piles, and two adventurers died trying to take them.

    South door) metal, swung open, cannot be moved.

    West door) secret

    Room 5) 100' x 90' Boulders and rocks looks they are set up for a defense line. A) A window, with the sunlight shining through. An illusion depicts a nice field with some trees. B) A large sawblade, 10' awide, protruds from the wall. It is a fake, but is made of metal. One of the smaller rocks piles has a small chest under it.

    North door) One not otherwise marked is a secret door.

    Between room 5 and room 6 is a puddle of water. It could be shallow, it could be 20 feet deep. Up to the referee.

    Room 6) 70' x 60' empty. A ranger might find tracks leading back towards the puddle.

    Room 7) 30' x 70' Inside the cage is a spiral stair going down. A ' wide tunnel leads to room 11.

    Metal door on east side, can be closed, but it is very squeaky.

    Room 8) 70' x 60' A) cage partially covers a trap door. Drop is less than 5 feet, no secret doors. B) Cracks in floor drop anyone stepping on them 5 feet into 2 feet of water. The lever on the west wall, could activate the trap door, or just make noises to attrack monsters.

    East and West doors are wood. The door leading to the steps down into water is a secret door.

    Room 9) 70' x 70' A castle wall, with crenolations. The two square towers are solid rock, except one of the viewed from the north side looks like someone dug a hole and then hastily covered it up. Digging into it reveals a small wood chest with small gems and a few coins in it. The round tower has stairs leading down to the back ot the wall. The two small stairs lead up to the wall top.

    A grappling hook tossed up to the round tower will remain secure for climbers, but the crenolations will let go, possibly when the character is over the illusionary moat.

    Room 10) 50' x 90' A) step on the cracked rock and plunge into 15 feet of water. The moat is a painting. Programmed water gurgling sounds. B) Cracked floor drops anyone walking on it into 10 feet of water. The treasure is of mixed type; coins, gems, and magic items.

    The small green trunk may or may not have a treasure, monster, or a trap.

    The wall and towers conceal no treasures.

    Room 11) 80' x 110' Large spiral stairs goes down to next level. The mushrooms upper left want everyone to be happy. So they spray Happy Spores onto anyone coming with 5 feet. The character so affected will want others to be happy to. Character can save vs. disease, or Cure Disease to get rid of the spores infecting them.

    The two wood piles on the west side are torches guarded by two statues.
  • JimPJimP 🖼️ 280 images Cartographer
    edited January 2019
    I can add more rooms to more obfuscate the exit's location. How difficult this level is would depend on the traps and the types of monsters placed here.
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    More rooms are always good. We are building a mega-dungeon after all (Although that doesn't mean each individual level have to be enormous or overly complicated).

    You still have a lot of time though, the month of February hasn't even begun yet.
  • I know. I was just tossing that out there. My large dungeons have lots of small rooms and passageways going all over.
  • I'd guess that anyone using these dungeon levels wouldn't be using them in the context of the mega-dungeon anyway, given they can't be pre-stocked with major treasures or monsters for the Atlas version (given you can't guess where any given map might end up in the whole dungeon, nor what game system people might wish to use it with).

    Nice-looking drawing so far Jim! Maybe the scale needs tweaking at some point though?
  • The symbols should okay. I will likely make the text smaller but right now I need it this size so I can see it.

    The default text for this template this size map was tiny and unreadable even at 1200 picels.
  • Text for rooms reduced from height of 12 to 9. Added letters for some other rooms. The new rooms are mostly hidden behind secret doors.

    Ideas for new rooms. Portraits along the walls, room 14, that are frowning. If a character smiles at one of them, they will smile back. If a character then smiles at a third paininting, or a third time, the human looking portrait will smile will then have large teeth. Then the portrait appears to ge reacing for the character then disappears from the painting.
  • I might make three unconnected levels for this. I'll see if I have the time as February goes by. Yes, I remember we can add to it later.
  • I think I may have run out of ideas for the first floor I drew above.

    Here is the second one. The dark floor corridors are gravel, not smooth at all like the others.
  • JimPJimP 🖼️ 280 images Cartographer
    edited January 2019
    More of the second one. The corridor on the left is a rough granite floor. Brown path is 10 feet down with spiral stair cases connecting to it. This is sort of the 'Level of Confusing Corridors' or 'The Mapper who Wandered off'.

    And The Lake Room on the lower right. With either real, or illusional, coins on the bottom of the clear cool water.

    Yes, the way I phrased that last sentence above could be a warning.

    Things to do this evening, so I'm uncertain when I'll map more today.
  • Here is my second level map. Room 1 is like a Grand Ball Room. I'll reduce the text size in rooms 1 and 2, add a few more doodads in the rooms.

    My next maps will be 250' x 200' using a different template.
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer
    My goodness Jim! Just how big is this complex?
  • JimPJimP 🖼️ 280 images Cartographer
    edited January 2019
    The first two levels are 500' x 400'.

    This map is 250' x 200'. I'll be making several of these.

    I may adapt some of these for Dwarf Home as well as submit to the Atlas and February Challenge.

    These tile floors are experimental... a bit busy to my eyes. But they are a big change for my maps.
  • Thanks. I'll keep them then.
  • JimPJimP 🖼️ 280 images Cartographer
    edited February 2019
    Map is 250' x 200' I'll probably make one or two more of these smaller maps. If anyone has sugestions for the maps I've posted so far, please let me know.

    Note that the room dimensions were chosen so a ad&d 1e bullseye lantern wouldn't light up the opposite walls for rooms larger than 80 feet.

    The different tiles could have different smoothness or roughness. Example: The terracota ones could have a nice walking surface, the gray ones could have slippery surfaces, and the light brown could be crumbly and require careful walking to move on them.

    Room 1) Entrance from above

    Room 2) Debris room

    Room 6) Cool clear water behind secret doors.

    Room 10) Down stairs to next level.
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer
    The tiles are very pretty, certainly, but are you going to use any sheet effects like a subtle dark glow set to inner on the floors sheet to sink them into the map and simultaneously raise the walls?
  • I keep forgetting to use effects... I'll look into that.
  • JimPJimP 🖼️ 280 images Cartographer
    edited February 2019
    Here they are with effects. I have to move a scale on one map, and add effects to the tunnels, etc.
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer
    That already brings it to life, but how about swapping out those wall shadow effects on the wall sheet for a dark glow set to inside in the floor sheet? That way the floors would sink back from the walls, and you wouldn't get any shadows outside the walls.
  • I agree with Sue. Glow (inside) is better than Wall Shadow.
  • The template had Glow and Wall Shadow for the floors and walls

    I deleted those and added Inner Glow. The raised walls are gone. So I am unsure how to get the look you mention.
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