Tweaked the second basement level. The edge fade effects that I had added to the mountain for the interior rooms (similar the effects Sue created for Creepy Crypts) had a weird effect on the cliffside steps, so I added a "Mountain Mask" layer below it to have a sharper edge to the cliff steps area.

Over a year ago, I posted the exterior map of a lighthouse on a rocky hill on a small island overlooking sunken ruins. I was experimenting with using the CA209 Stairs and Steps annual (2024), but it was also an opportunity to use the CA175/180 Marine Dungeons annuals (2021) properly, as I had taken advantage of the marine features in previous uses of it.

I decided to revisit it to design the interiors.

In revisiting a map I did in my early months of mapping, I can see so many areas where I have learned so much since then. For example, I wasn't using snaps very effectively, and that meant that when I used a circular array to place crenellations (also a new technique for me), they were a little off. It's kind of gratifying to see these early mistakes to help me gauge my progress.

The lighthouse tower itself is pretty simple: just three stories, each a single room. But of course, I couldn't resist doing a little excavation to create some dungeon spaces as well.

Here's the overview map again, slightly tweaked (for example, I removed the bits of land on the right side of the map because I wanted the lighthouse island to be a little more removed from the mainland).

Tower

Floor 1 (Ground Floor)

This floor is meant to be at the same level as the courtyard, and therefore there are no exterior doors here, as the entrance is one flight up. I used the spiral staircase from Creepy Crypts rather than Marine Dungeons, because CC has one that spirals up and down. I could stack the Marine Dungeons one, but with my snap points being off, that was trickier -- plus it never looks quite as good as a symbol designed for the purpose.

This is the sleeping area for the lighthouse attendants. As each floor is a single room, they've used curtains to partition private spaces.

Floor 2 (Entryway)

The exterior stairs lead to the entrance here. This is the common area, including a kitchen area with a stove vented outside.

Floor 3 (Parapet)

The interior space on this floor is minimal: most of the level is a crenellated parapet. The spiral staircase continues up a bit (unshown) to the lighthouse fire that the workers must regularly refuel. (Woodburning? Oil? What would have been standard? Magical luminescent crystals would be nice, but wouldn't need much of a lighthouse staff for that.)

Basement 1

The spiral staircase also descends to a basement, where it ends. Much of this chamber is used to store provisions brought in from the mainland. A pair of double doors leads to a hallway that connects to three rooms. One is the wine cellar, amply stocked with wine, ale, rum, and probably barrels of water, as the island likely doesn't have its own source of fresh water. A second room has a latrine and bath, with saltwater for invigorating bathing (code for cold bathing) brought up from a well. A third room is used as barracks when the lighthouse needs to be garrisoned in times of strife, as the small island would be a strategic location for an invading naval force.

There's also a secret door off of the hallway that leads to a narrow series of stairs leading deeper inside the cliffs.

Basement 2

The secret stairs continue to wind down, where the end up at a long forgotten shrine to a forgotten sea god. Another secret door leads to a roughly hewn passageway with stairs that lead eventually to underwater tunnels that lead directly into the sea. Perhaps this was a secret emergency exit built when the lighthouse was created. Or perhaps some sort of amphibious humanoids built a shrine here long ago that the lighthouse constructors knew nothing about.

I think I found a good approach.

1. Save a high resolution PNG file following the VTT specs Remy laid out in this blog post from 2020.
2. Upload the image to an image splicer app that can automate splicing in a grid that you specify with customizable horizontal and vertical dimensions. I used Imagy.app.
3. Take the spliced images and drop them in a desktop publishing or word processing program. I tried it in MS Word with margins set at 0.25", but with the images centered. Printed perfectly (nothing cut off and every square is 1 inch by 1 inch.)

So helpful with larger maps, like a town where you never know where the battle may go.

Love, love, love those craters. My family has a cabin less than 2 miles from the rim of Crater Lake, Oregon, so I have an abiding love of calderas.

Below

No toggles.

Description

Sakherma Ruins

Below

1.     Temple Stairs Entrance: Here, the stairs from the temple ruins above descend to human-created chambers. The northern staircase is blocked by sand, but a glass wall keeps the sand from filling the chamber below. The southern staircase is relatively unobstructed.

2.    Monks’ Cells: These three chambers appear to once have been home to the monks who maintained the original temple. Game Masters: At the Game Master’s discretion, one or more of these rooms may be occupied by the dragon’s humanoid allies – kobolds, dragonborn, or perhaps sorcerers with a draconic bloodline.

3.    Treasure Display: This room is practically cluttered with statues and tapestries. Game Masters: Here the dragon has created a veritable museum showing off its favorite treasures, including a display of magical armaments.

4.    Pond Entrance: At the base of the pond, a mighty glass wall keeps the pond’s water from flooding into the tunnels. Game Masters: The dragon can magically pass through the glass without harming it to bathe in the pond, or for another escape route to the outside surface.

5.    Dunes Entrance: A great glass wall keeps the sand dunes from pouring into the caverns. Game Masters: The dragon can pass through the glass without harming it in order to reach the surface of the desert, or to devoir travelers camping there.

6.    Tunnel Entrance: This tunnel connects the upper and lower caverns.

7.    Main Lair: It is readily apparent, if visitors haven’t already figured it out, that this is a dragon’s lair. Piles of coins, particularly copper ones, form its bed.

8.    Egg Nest: A blue dragon’s egg lies on top of a pile of coins infused with the dragon’s magic to keep the egg warm when the dragon is away.

9.    Ritual Chamber & Treasures: Here the dragon keeps most of its magical treasures. The dragon may also shift into human form to conduct arcane rituals from time to time.

10. Wyrmling Lair: The bedroom for the dragon’s “teenage” child.