I was asked about the process that goes into making a map like the map of Rhune: Dawn of Twilight
This walkthrough uses Photoshop and a graphics tablet. It can almost all be done in Gimp with the same settings (I use PS because it handles large files better – and has more advanced brush dynamics). The tablet is more critical. The line art can be done by hand drawing and scanning and setting the layer to multiply. The colouring can be done with a PS brush with the opacity down low and then lust built up multiple times – but I’d recommend spending the $80 and picking up a cheap Wacom. It makes all the difference.
I was asked to create a map of a (slightly) alternate France map for Interaction Point Games – for their product Kingdoms of Legend: Knights of France. It’s great fun to take a shot at real world locations. I previously did a map of the west coast of Scotland, but this time it was over the channel to Brittany and Orleans:
It’s the first of the month – and that means a new map pack! This month we’re starting off with the opening scene from the Breaking of Forstor Nagar. This is a chasm of icy water leading to the front gate of a city carved from a glacier. A great arching bridge spans the channel and a longship full of cold eyed killers and explosives hoves into view, heading for the frozen defences.
Here’s the map from the opening encounter as it appears in the adventure:
Of course the map pack does not assume you’re playing Breaking of Forstor Nagar. This could be the entrance to a Frost Giant stronghold, a white dragon lair or a viking clanhold. The pack is separated into pieces that allow you to use it in as many different ways as possible (lots more after the jump). Continue reading “New Map Pack – The Ice Bridge”
The Paizo blog today was all about the wonderful steampunk world of Zeitgeist from ENWorld and that reminded me that I need to post the rest of the Zeitgeist maps. I created these maps for the Island at the Axis of the World – the first module in the adventure path. You can download the adventure and the maps for free.
So some people who’ve been following this blog for a while may remember a project I’ve been developing with Rite Publishing for a while called the Breaking of Forstor Nagar. The adventure is an 8th level adventure for the Pathfinder game set in a city carved out of the living ice of the Forstorheim glacier. The city is under siege and the adventurers must break through the enemy lines, secure the target and escape. Of course, it’s never quite that simple…
Well I’m here to announce that the adventure is released tomorrow – in all it’s multi-format glory! You can already preview the pdf over on RPGNow and order print or pdf on Paizo (as well as reading some of the nice things people are saying about it). Continue reading “Breaking News”
So Brian (of Lone Tree Games) put together a (sped up) video of the him using the Fold-N-Go Castle Kit #1 to build the Watchfire Keep from Kobold Quarterly #18. It’s great to see the castle map coming together into a full 3D castle model! Note that the set is totally modular – so you can build any castle with this, not just the Watchfire Keep:
[youtube=http://youtu.be/lkdrYkUlQng]
In other (very cool news) the adventure “Who Watches the Watchfires” has been converted for the Dragon Age game by Josh Jarman and is being given away for free by the guys at Kobold Quarterly. Not only that, but you can now buy the Fold-n-Go Castle Kit over on the Kobold Quarterly store – an excellent way to support your local kobolds!
It’s been quiet around here for a few weeks – but that’s going to change. There will be updates on all sorts of fun developments through the week – so keep an eye out for new things. To start the week – two new products that spun off from the same idea. I pitched some map ideas for the back cover of Kobold Quarterly 18. Out of the collection the one that got picked up was a Keep guarding a Watchfire on the outskirts of the city of Friula in the world of Midgard. There’s a bit of Midgard lore in there, but the core of the adventure is that the adventurers have to storm the castle and light the watchfire. It’s a capture the flag adventure with lots of ways in to the keep.
Just before I go on to talk a little more about the map, let me just spare a few words for Kobold Quarterly 18. That cover is just astonishing. That stands up to the best Dragon covers I can think of. The Kobold is growing some very sharp claws indeed. The content stands up to the cover’s promise. It’s a fantastic balance of fluff and crunch, and continues to walk the line between the different games it supports (now Dragon Age, Pathfinder and 4E) with deft aplomb. Above all, every article can be easily repurposed for use with your own game. A great game idea is a great idea no matter what you play.
Zeitgeist is here. This week we heard all the buzz as the ENnie nominees were announced, but ENWorld has long ago ventured forth from just being the busiest D&D community on the net to publishing great content too. I picked up the job of illustrating the world map and several regional maps for the new campaign setting that’s coming out shortly – the world of Zeitgeist:
Virtual tabletops are wonderful things. My personal preference is maptool, but I’ve played with (and been really impressed by) Fantasy Grounds and TTopRPG.
This post is not about those.
Recently I was approached with a novel proposal – why not create dungeons that can be used on the tabletop? Now I’ve been creating map packs that can be used on the tabletop for some time (the Fantastic Maps store now has 23 map packs you can print and use at the table – or in virtual tabletops) but this was something more exciting. Brian Bartlow was suggesting we make 3D terrain. Continue reading “Getting dungeons back onto the tabletop”
