Some additions. There are 3 partitions. A monster could hide behind one of them, then the players expect more behind the rest, or the monster is behind the last one they find.
Using more spiked barricades, and some wooden palisades this time around. The blue object is a shield with an ocean and a dolphin painted on it (CSUAC) it could give water breathing to the owner.
I was going to put a water feature in the circular room, but I have done enough of that for the time being.
The basement and sub-basement will attach to this map, off to the west so they don't have to deal with water from the northeast side of this map. Water sheets don't currently have effects. Yes, the East-West passageway goes under the main entrance passageway.
Okay, this is it for the day. The white marble floor areas are where a would be Lord of the local elves convinced this group to make for him. Let yawned and said okay. Then they found him bathing in the drinking water lake. Out he went.
But they left the rooms be, in case a very nice guest came by. Lorldy manners, but didn't want to bathe in the drinking water.
ground level. same size. Ground level needs symbols, etc.
room 5 leads down to the basement. same size.
room 7 leads down into the sub-basement. Looks like I'll have to add a room for the spiral stair case from the ground level to wind up at, or add it to the above map. Or just says the spiral stair case oin room 7 connects all 3 levels.
same size. room 1 spiral staircase connects up to the basement.
room 1) 30' x 60' x 10' Original use, unknown. Three straw pallets, with pillows. Two chests. Not made by elves.
room 2) 30' x 60' x 12' empty of all but dust.
room 3) 40' x 30' x 10' guard ready room.
room 4) 30' x 50' x 10' guard barracks
room 5) 40' x 30' x 10' spiral stairs down to basement. Last stand by one elf, behind 4 barrels.
room 6) 40' x 30' x 15' Might have been a room for an elf leader. The two pits are crude and veery likely added later.
room 7) 40' x 40' x 20' Two chairs, a rug, and a fireplace. The table and the items on it are an illusion. A candle stand and a bowl of fruit.
room 8) 50' x 30' x 10' west door is gone. Three piles of wood debris, and a fireplace. Could have been a one person room at one time in the past.
room 9) 110' x 50' x 15' Entrance area. Looks like a last stand happened here.
Spike barriers, skeletons, wood debris, 6 barrels. The secret door, push on the left side.
Stone door on west side leads to the guard ready room.
There is a 10' gap of stone between the tunnel that goes under the entrance tunnel.
room 9A) 30' x 20' x 10' 3 skeletons, and opened chest
room 9B) 30' x 20' x 10' 3 skeletons
room 10) and room 10C) is the kitchen.
room 10A) Someone moved one of the portable pantries not realizing they were blocking a secret door. Push on the right side of the secret door to open it.
room 10B) dining area.
room 11) dining area. No dust, but the tables look nice.
room 12) 20' x 70' x 10' storage for the former alleged lord.
room 12A) 20' x 20' x 10' bedroom. Bed, rug, and a side table, with a lit candle on it.
room 12B) 20' x 20' x 10' bedroom. Bed, rug, and a side table, with a lit candle on it.
room 13) 50' x 50' x 30' former almost throne room. A throne, and 3 smaller cushioned chairs. A large chest and 2 dmaller chests. Don't look like they have ever been opened. No dust on them, but there is dust on everything else.
The chariot was made by demand, but assembled here. too big to get out of the room. It has traces of gold on it.
A campfire and a basket near the south wall.
room 14) 50' x 30' x 12' straw covered floor. Crunchy underfoot. Three chairs with blue seat cushions. And open chest and wood debris. The wood entrance doors look broken.
room 15) cave, approximately 145' x 70' x 30' drinking water. When they caught the would be Lord bathing in their drinking water, they kicked him out.
Wood chest in the water.
room 16) 20' x 60' x 10' store room. Wood debris. Faint smell of various foods.
room 17) 30' x 10' x 10' secret passageway, one skeleton.
room 18) 40' x 10' x 10' quick passage for the ready guards to defend the entrance.
I'll skip the ground floor in the following list as I put it up yesterday.
Area map.
the_mithlas_holes_area.fcw
The Gathering Place. Nomadic tents of elves. They tell anyone who sees them, they are merchants. They might even sell you something. Or say they are on their way to buy more goods and are currently out.
Their real reason is to head, not bunched up nor all at once but to eventually all arrive in the same week, to The Gathering Place. A ruined tower, all that is left of what they believe was once a might elf city.
There aren't enough ruins to justify such a claim, but they just 'know' that the stones that were there were carried off by evil forces to build something Evil. This could even be true. This has been passed down to them and their relatives. Is it true ? Well, they have found traces of foundations a mile away from this tower. And sometimes late at night they been awakened by a distant elf flute playing mournfully. Those that seek where the sound comes from, and never heard of again.
900 pixel jpg
the_mithlas_holes_hillentrance.fcw
Ebereth is just off to the Northeast. A small thriving community. Years ago some folks went to The Mithlas Holes to see why they hadn't been to town. The survivors of this trip said no one lived there anymore.
Giants' Garden. A supposed area where giant's once grew food. The occasional ear of corn brought to town are usually ignored. Corn on the cob cannot grow to be as big as a house.
Elf Encampment. A group of elves who travel about this area, keeping a distant eye on MIthlas Holes.
The Mithlas Holes. A series of rooms that once had a thriving community of elves.
900 pixel jpg.
the_mithlas_holes_entrance.fcw
various broken up rocks. Dead trees. Two felled trees. An abandoned and falling down keep. All surround the entrance to these caves.
The Mithas Holes Entrance area map do look a bit featureless. Have you considered spicing it up with a few symbols from the structures catalog, like monoliths, cairns, obelisks and maybe a ruin or two?
I used some overhead ruins from CA138, but I cannot seem to find overhead views of cairns or henges. I'll keep looking. I think there are some in CSUAC.
But that map is a standard overland map. The standard isometric-like symbols from the Mike Schley structure catalog should fit just fine there, the existing hills and trees are already in that view.
Symbols are on the same sheet as the hills, so they will cast a shadow from the combined shape, not from the individual symbols.
Also, perhaps making the symbols a bit larger? This map covers a very small area, and enlarging the symbols (quite a bit) will help illustrate that point. (Goes for most of the symbols on the map, except for the hills themselves. I noticed there are lots of more symbol on the map than I thought, they're just too tiny to see at all)
Did some measurements, and for example that elf encampment symbol is only about 60 feet wide. That's not much space for an encampment, unless it is a really tiny group of elves. Symbols aren't usually to scale in overland maps, but they are usually larger than the thing they represent (to make them visible), not smaller.
Getting a bit of a "Magic Eye book" impression from that mass of hills on this one Jim. Didn't really think too much about it till I saw the thumbnail for your Gallery shot of this map, and it looks a bit too "busy" overall to me at that scale; and now coming back to this, here as well.
Not sure what the better solution might be; maybe larger but a lot fewer symbols overall? To represent the main hill peaks only say (in which case, they could perhaps be named to give the map a bit more "life"?).
Comments
Some additions. There are 3 partitions. A monster could hide behind one of them, then the players expect more behind the rest, or the monster is behind the last one they find.
Using more spiked barricades, and some wooden palisades this time around. The blue object is a shield with an ocean and a dolphin painted on it (CSUAC) it could give water breathing to the owner.
I was going to put a water feature in the circular room, but I have done enough of that for the time being.
900 pixel jpg, 2000 in gallery.
Here is the next version. I think 3 empty rooms are okay.
I think I just need to write all of this up, and submit.
Any suggestions, please let me know.
900 pixel jpg, 200 in gallery.
No ground level, but I do have a basement and a sub-basement.
Well, I need to map a ground floor. I had been all set to start typing up descriptions and posting maps. Egad.
Well, the file is named basement, but the text on the map says ground floor.
So I'll make a ground floor and correct the text on the basement map.
Preliminary ground floor. 500' x 400'
The basement and sub-basement will attach to this map, off to the west so they don't have to deal with water from the northeast side of this map. Water sheets don't currently have effects. Yes, the East-West passageway goes under the main entrance passageway.
900 pixel jpg.
Okay, this is it for the day. The white marble floor areas are where a would be Lord of the local elves convinced this group to make for him. Let yawned and said okay. Then they found him bathing in the drinking water lake. Out he went.
But they left the rooms be, in case a very nice guest came by. Lorldy manners, but didn't want to bathe in the drinking water.
900 pixel jpg, 2000 in gallery.
I'll post the maps in order, some aren't finished, please let me know what you think.
Wide area map. 900 pixels jpg.
closer in, 900 pixel jpg. The Giants' Garden is likely in the wrong location.
entrance area map. same size.
ground level. same size. Ground level needs symbols, etc.
room 5 leads down to the basement. same size.
room 7 leads down into the sub-basement. Looks like I'll have to add a room for the spiral stair case from the ground level to wind up at, or add it to the above map. Or just says the spiral stair case oin room 7 connects all 3 levels.
same size. room 1 spiral staircase connects up to the basement.
Very good Jim. I guess you will be adding symbols to the Mithlas Hole Entrance region - perhaps even using some of the new elven settlement symbols?
Thanks. I'll have to look at them. The entrance ... I wanted to show some sort of activity, and had settled on the two cut down trees.
The ground level map is still in progress.
Just woke up. Hope that makes sense. Sunrise.
ground level map, with text and symbols.
the_mithlas_holes_ground_floor.fcw
room 1) 30' x 60' x 10' Original use, unknown. Three straw pallets, with pillows. Two chests. Not made by elves.
room 2) 30' x 60' x 12' empty of all but dust.
room 3) 40' x 30' x 10' guard ready room.
room 4) 30' x 50' x 10' guard barracks
room 5) 40' x 30' x 10' spiral stairs down to basement. Last stand by one elf, behind 4 barrels.
room 6) 40' x 30' x 15' Might have been a room for an elf leader. The two pits are crude and veery likely added later.
room 7) 40' x 40' x 20' Two chairs, a rug, and a fireplace. The table and the items on it are an illusion. A candle stand and a bowl of fruit.
room 8) 50' x 30' x 10' west door is gone. Three piles of wood debris, and a fireplace. Could have been a one person room at one time in the past.
room 9) 110' x 50' x 15' Entrance area. Looks like a last stand happened here.
Spike barriers, skeletons, wood debris, 6 barrels. The secret door, push on the left side.
Stone door on west side leads to the guard ready room.
There is a 10' gap of stone between the tunnel that goes under the entrance tunnel.
room 9A) 30' x 20' x 10' 3 skeletons, and opened chest
room 9B) 30' x 20' x 10' 3 skeletons
room 10) and room 10C) is the kitchen.
room 10A) Someone moved one of the portable pantries not realizing they were blocking a secret door. Push on the right side of the secret door to open it.
room 10B) dining area.
room 11) dining area. No dust, but the tables look nice.
room 12) 20' x 70' x 10' storage for the former alleged lord.
room 12A) 20' x 20' x 10' bedroom. Bed, rug, and a side table, with a lit candle on it.
room 12B) 20' x 20' x 10' bedroom. Bed, rug, and a side table, with a lit candle on it.
room 13) 50' x 50' x 30' former almost throne room. A throne, and 3 smaller cushioned chairs. A large chest and 2 dmaller chests. Don't look like they have ever been opened. No dust on them, but there is dust on everything else.
The chariot was made by demand, but assembled here. too big to get out of the room. It has traces of gold on it.
A campfire and a basket near the south wall.
room 14) 50' x 30' x 12' straw covered floor. Crunchy underfoot. Three chairs with blue seat cushions. And open chest and wood debris. The wood entrance doors look broken.
room 15) cave, approximately 145' x 70' x 30' drinking water. When they caught the would be Lord bathing in their drinking water, they kicked him out.
Wood chest in the water.
room 16) 20' x 60' x 10' store room. Wood debris. Faint smell of various foods.
room 17) 30' x 10' x 10' secret passageway, one skeleton.
room 18) 40' x 10' x 10' quick passage for the ready guards to defend the entrance.
900 pixel jpg, 2000 in gallery.
Looking over these maps, the environs and hill entrance one, look very similar. So I am dropping the environs map.
Working on the text for the rest.
I'll skip the ground floor in the following list as I put it up yesterday.
Area map.
the_mithlas_holes_area.fcw
The Gathering Place. Nomadic tents of elves. They tell anyone who sees them, they are merchants. They might even sell you something. Or say they are on their way to buy more goods and are currently out.
Their real reason is to head, not bunched up nor all at once but to eventually all arrive in the same week, to The Gathering Place. A ruined tower, all that is left of what they believe was once a might elf city.
There aren't enough ruins to justify such a claim, but they just 'know' that the stones that were there were carried off by evil forces to build something Evil. This could even be true. This has been passed down to them and their relatives. Is it true ? Well, they have found traces of foundations a mile away from this tower. And sometimes late at night they been awakened by a distant elf flute playing mournfully. Those that seek where the sound comes from, and never heard of again.
900 pixel jpg
the_mithlas_holes_hillentrance.fcw
Ebereth is just off to the Northeast. A small thriving community. Years ago some folks went to The Mithlas Holes to see why they hadn't been to town. The survivors of this trip said no one lived there anymore.
Giants' Garden. A supposed area where giant's once grew food. The occasional ear of corn brought to town are usually ignored. Corn on the cob cannot grow to be as big as a house.
Elf Encampment. A group of elves who travel about this area, keeping a distant eye on MIthlas Holes.
The Mithlas Holes. A series of rooms that once had a thriving community of elves.
900 pixel jpg.
the_mithlas_holes_entrance.fcw
various broken up rocks. Dead trees. Two felled trees. An abandoned and falling down keep. All surround the entrance to these caves.
skipping the ground floor.
the_mithlas_holes_basement.fcw
room 1) 50' x 30' x 10' A smoke filled cage. An obvious pit with spikes. Appears to have been added to the original construction.
Three chairs with their backs to the pit. The nice rug and fireplace bekons visitors to sit.
Crate by the north wall.
Lantern on the west wall. Fresh oil in it.
room 2) 50' x 30' x 10' A fountain with something growing on it. A table and chairs with a candle set on the table.
A barrel and a chest.
Passageway between room 2 and rooms 3 and 6 has some wood debris in it.
room 3) a 2' wide passage leads into this room. 10' x 10' x 8'
A skeleton and some wood debris.
room 4) 30' x 30' x 10' A minotaur head and a goblin head attached to the Northwest wall.
A skeleton in front of a set of wood drawers.
A bone and skull pillar on the east side.
An obvious pit in the Northeast corner.
room 5) 30' x 29' x 10' Two ornate pillars. A green statue that is clean and slightly polished.
A skeleton and wood debris.
room 6) 30' x 30' x 12'
A pond with a wooden crate floating on the water.
room 7) 33' x 30' x 10' spiral stairs goes down to the sub-basement.
wood debris.
A plate mail gauntlet.
And a sickle.
900 pixel jpg.
the_mithlas_holes_sub_basement.fcw
from time to time, a distant sound of painful moans and/or low screams of pain can be heard. No source can be found.
room 1) 60' circle, 10' high.
Spiral stair case going up.
wood debris.
Two skeletons under some rocks block access to the secret door. To open, push on the right side.
room 2) 29' x 36' x 9'
Wooden pallisades blocking access to the partially dug passageway.
room 3) 56' x 47' x 10'
wood barricades. Three stacks of lumber. A table with 3 skeletons nearby.
room 4) 28' x 36' x 10' A cloth partition didn't save them.
an open chest.
room 5) Two folded barricades and 3 open and empty barrels.
room 6) 31' x 38' x 7'
Two skeletons behind 5 mining carts.
Wood debris. Two loose floor stones.
room 7) 27' x 35' x 10'
Stone debris, but the ceiling is smooth rock.
Wood debris with fungi growing on it.
room 8) 47' x 38' x 10'
A dragon head trophy on the wall.
Cloth partition.
Two chest of drawers, empty of clothing, only dust.
room 9) 27' x 27' x 10'
Lots of wood debris, broken tables.
Chest at the bottom of a pit.
room 10) 28' x 36' x 7' Treasure room.
2 chests.
a barrel.
two tables with a roll of blue silk on them.
an unlit brazier
skeleton who might have been a guard.
room 11) 38' x 45' x 10'
Three red painted chairs facing a bubbling cauldron with some sort of green liquid in it.
Three bookshelves in the room.
A campfire, cold, apparently not used for some time.
room 12) 48' x 36' x 10'
A mine cart on part of a mine railway.
The two chests cannot be reached due some sort of field in the inside of the area covered by the mine tracks.
room 13) 30' x 27' x 10'
A blue shield with a painting of a dolphin on it. Glows slightly.
Chest.
an old campfire ring.
room 14) 47' x 27' x 9'
empty, no dust.
Secret door, push on the left side to open.
room 15) 54' x 46' x 10'
Three carts behind the cloth partition.
A bubbling mud pot... Could there be a volcano under this dungeon ?
( it is a location of mud bubbling due to heat rising up from below. )
room 16) 28' x 36' x 7'
A red comfy chair in the room.
room 17) 34' circle x 10' high
wood debris
A skeleton
Two sets of human footprints
Two cold campfires.
Two portcullis iron pegged to the stone floor.
900 pixel jpg.
Ones I have made changes to the map, I'll upload a 2000 pixel one to my gallery.
Looks great - but no symbol for Elf encampment in the Mithlas Hole region map.
The Mithas Holes Entrance area map do look a bit featureless. Have you considered spicing it up with a few symbols from the structures catalog, like monoliths, cairns, obelisks and maybe a ruin or two?
@Quenten there is one in the hill entrance map.
@Monsen I'll work on that later in the week. I have to get my car tag renewed and other personal items.
I used some overhead ruins from CA138, but I cannot seem to find overhead views of cairns or henges. I'll keep looking. I think there are some in CSUAC.
edit: I couldn't find any.
I was thinking about the overland map, the_mithlas_holes_hillentrance.fcw
Me to. I could only find oblique symbols.
I have drawn an overhead view, in cc2pro, of a location like the New Grange. I might try that in cc3+.
But that map is a standard overland map. The standard isometric-like symbols from the Mike Schley structure catalog should fit just fine there, the existing hills and trees are already in that view.
I was looking at the wrong map.
I now have the correct map. I have added some ruined keeps and two burial mounds. Tried adding shadows to the symbols, but they aren't showing.
900 pixel jpg
I'll attach the fcw. Someone please check the Symbol shadows.
Symbols are on the same sheet as the hills, so they will cast a shadow from the combined shape, not from the individual symbols.
Also, perhaps making the symbols a bit larger? This map covers a very small area, and enlarging the symbols (quite a bit) will help illustrate that point. (Goes for most of the symbols on the map, except for the hills themselves. I noticed there are lots of more symbol on the map than I thought, they're just too tiny to see at all)
Did some measurements, and for example that elf encampment symbol is only about 60 feet wide. That's not much space for an encampment, unless it is a really tiny group of elves. Symbols aren't usually to scale in overland maps, but they are usually larger than the thing they represent (to make them visible), not smaller.
Okay, I'll work on that.
Changed the scale of structures and trees from 1.0 to 2.o. And put them on a new sheet, Symbols, Structures.
900 pixel jpg. 2000 in gallery.
Getting a bit of a "Magic Eye book" impression from that mass of hills on this one Jim. Didn't really think too much about it till I saw the thumbnail for your Gallery shot of this map, and it looks a bit too "busy" overall to me at that scale; and now coming back to this, here as well.
Not sure what the better solution might be; maybe larger but a lot fewer symbols overall? To represent the main hill peaks only say (in which case, they could perhaps be named to give the map a bit more "life"?).
I'll try scale of 1.5 then, and 2.5, on the hills. Separate maps of course.
Sometime today. On my cell.
Maybe tomorrow. Got my dental surgery appointment done. On my cell.
first one, hills at 1.5
900 pixel, 2000 in gallery.
second one at 2.5 for the hills.
900 pixel jpg, 2000 in gallery.
I prefer the 2.5 one
Okay. I'll work on it Friday or Saturday.
@Wyvern What do you think ?