Jayquaysing the Caves of Chaos

That's a lot of little linear maps!

I just finished my first pass of another dungeon entrance - the Caves of Chaos. But I couldn't leave well enough alone. The original Caves are pretty cool in their layout, but it still has some issues.  For one, it's weird having a dozen different sentient species, some of whom are enemies, all living in one valley together. Another is that the caves don't interconnect as much as I prefer.

The first issue is easy for me to address. This is where the beast-men disciples of the Horned One live, so while it seems like there are a dozen different sentient races here, they're really just one big group. That coordinate. That should amp up the difficulty for the PCs.

The second required some redrawing, adding, and tweaking. That required drawing the entire map into InkScape for further manipulation.  Thankfully, once that was done, I moved a little bit around, stuffed in some secret doors in reasonable looking places, added in a corridor or two, and made the minotaur's labyrinth well, more of a labyrinth. I may also need to stat up David Bowie with horns. Finally, I am adding at least one more level below the caves that will lead to the main body of the megadungeon.

So as it stands, the PCs can access the Caves the normal way, and once they are inside, they can get to any other room on the entire map without going outside, if they want. This is as much for the monsters as it is for the PCs. Since the factions coordinate their defenses, this lets the monsters shift forces to reinforce points of attack, pass information, and move supplies in ways the PCs might not expect. It allows for a far more flexible defense of the caves, and that should make this less of a cakewalk.

After all, my job is to provide problems, not solutions.

3D Modeling and Mapping the Dungeon

As you probably know if you have followed this blog lately, I am mapping a dungeon again. Today, I'm going to talk about different approaches I've used to making 3-D maps and representations. But first, there are a few ways to produce these. I'll talk a little bit about them below.

CAD Software

Computer Aided Design Software is software used to create thee dimensional models of things in a computer. There are a great many of these, but the ones I am personally familiar with are SolidWorks and Pro-E. I have a passing acquaintance with SketchUp and access to YouTube, so I'll go out on a limb and claim to be able to use that, too.

The benefits of such software is that you can make a 3-D model of every room in your dungeon down to nails and brackets, if you want. The level of detail is up to you. And then you get move it around, hide walls, take screenshots, etc. SketchUp lets you do walk-throughs. Engineering software lets you do things you will never ever ever need to do like model the voticity of blood flowing through your dungeon. Well. Maybe that might be useful for some...

The drawback to using CAD software is twofold - there can be a rather steep learning curve to such software and it takes a while to produce a good model.

SketchUp

This probably falls under "CAD Software", but I'm going to break it out because it is cheaper, more popular, and doesn't seem to be nearly as sophisticated as the professional CAD programs I'm use to working with. Also, it was originally geared toward architectural applications, and not engineering ones.

SketchUp lets you build 3-D models of just about anything, but it was originally targeting architectural designs - buildings, landscaping, etc. This focus potentially makes for some excellent end products, complete with lighting, shadows, and everything. That can be really cool, if you go ham with it, but doing so takes time. I don't profess to be a SketchUp expert, so I doubt I'm any form of fast, but I can see where you can quickly bang out an important room or locale to get a nice visual for players. Just as with the CAD software mentioned above, I still think it's too cumbersome to use for an entire dungeon, at least unless you just love doing that sort of thing. Then good on ya!

Isometric Maps

These maps offer an isometric view (think Diablo and its clones) of the dungeon. They are fantastic for showing relative heights of rooms, but they require special graph paper - or more talent than I will ever have - to draw really well by hand. I haven't found a computer map-drawing tool that makes these, either, though I am probably just missing it.

The benefits of isometric maps is that they are simple to read if drawn well, display height differences well, and are far faster to make than using CAD software. Drawbacks are that you won't get the degree of detail and versatility as with CAD software, and it takes talent to make these look good. Moreover, some 3-D dungeon designs may not read well, no matter how good you are (try to imagine a 3D maze in isometric perspective).

Is It Worth It?

In my experience, isometric maps just look cool. They can also help give a sense of elevation, which for very vertical maps can be essential to understanding the flow. My only issue with using these is that I suck at drawing them. So I tend to gravitate to a computer-based approach.

I have used both SketchUp and SolidWorks to produce models of dungeon elements, rooms, etc. I am far more familiar with the likes of SolidWorks and Pro-E, so I tend to get faster and better results from those than SketchUp, but I can see where someone versed in the latter-most might be more productive than me.

What I find works well for me is breaking out CAD software to produce images like the one below. I created this to get a sense of scale between the towers, wall, and enclosed courtyard. I now have the dimensions of all of these elements in a way that makes visual sense to me and can begin drawing a map of the keep. I also have a spiffy visual for the players.

This took about 2 hours because I kept fiddling with dimensions to get the sizing just right.

Random Mapping Tip

I have come across something that is pretty obvious and I should have been doing this entire time, but hey, we aren't all perfect. So in case you're not perfect either, I thought I'd share this tip with you:

If you are mapping an area and think of what a room or group of rooms should be, WRITE IT DOWN!

Right now, at least half of you are probably shaking your heads thinking, "Man, this guy didn't do that before?" and I don't blame you. But I cannot explain how much faster mapping this abbey has been because I laid out all the rooms as I drew them. I know it won't always be this easy, and as I leave the more systematically-designed regions behind, it'll get harder, but that's all the more reason to follow this tip!

And I'm going to extend it to more than just what a room is. If I think of what goes somewhere, it get noted. If I think something needs an object or treasure or trick or trap, it gets noted. No more going back and sorting rooms later. My later pass will be to fill in the gaps and then check that everything makes sense.

I hope this helps someone out there!

Mapping around the Abbey

Today I worked on an overland map for the 60-mile area surrounding the abbey, largely to see how it connects to the outside world. Now I can definitively say that the abbey sits on a forested hill at the end of what would be generous to called a wooded road. Even trail might be generous. The nearest village is a day's hike away, and the trail ever got used to bring the monastics at the abbey food and supplies.

More Progress on Architect of Worlds Automation

I'm happy to report that I'm ever so closer to being up to date with what Jon Zeigler has already published. I've not completed Step Eleven (yikes! that was a mess) and finished off Step Twelve, as well. That just leaves a little more basic planetary information from Step Thirteen, and I can dig into the moon stuff.

If I am able to get this done before Jon drops the next portion of the system, I'll go back and try to clean up the mess I've made everywhere I making this work. I think I can get it much cleaner than it currently is. Then I'll start working on using the data generated to create a database I can further manipulate in a program like Access.

That or I'll get back to fleshing out mechanics and making setting content. Either one will work. But being able to generate systems quickly is key to making this game work at all. I want players to have the agency to just shoot off in a random direction or ask, "What's over here?" and I'm just a couple mouse clicks from some sort of answer.

Mapping an Abbey

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While it may not look it from my posts as of late, I have been trying to split my time between making progress on a science fiction setting and doing some mapping and worldbuilding for dungeon crawls. To will be a post on the latter.

So lately, I've been mapping up a small abbey to serve as the first level of a larger dungeon. Naturally, it is dominated by its cathedral that has two towers and a central dome. Unlike traditional catholic cathedrals, I decided the bells would go in this dome, and the entry-way towers would be spires. This just felt good when I was making the map.

The outlying buildings are a two-story affair with the usual rooms associated with a monastery - refectories, calefactories, scriptoriums, and lots of other churchy-sounding names. And like any good dungeon entrance, this abbey has a cellars and an underground burial catacomb so the monks and nuns that live there never need leave the walls of their sanctum.

So that's a quick rundown on the abbey, but how does it sit within the region? Well, for starters, it is an ancient complex perched upon a forested hill about a day's ride from what remains of the village that once supported it. Both are now abandoned, but the abbey has fared far better than the village. Many legends and superstitions attribute the abbey's well-preserved condition to any number of supernatural causes - none of them particularly holy or good.

This is what I'm currently working off of. I'm sure it will grow deeper as time progresses, just as Alnwich did when I worked on it. For now, though, I can definitively say that there is an abbey - with a map! - that definitely qualifies as a Bad Place, and under it is some sort of dungeon. How mega it will be is up in the air.

Mapping Update: Placing Locations - not Encounters

I have been working to place interesting locations on my hex map, and I've come to a conclusion. I am placing locations, not encounters. Why make that distinction? Because "encounters" has a specific connotation that revolves around conflict and implies a degree of railroading. If you enter this hex, the GM rolls and if the dice come up Encounter, the players have to deal with something predetermined by the GM. That isn't good GMing, in my view.

So instead of placing encounters that unfold a predetermined way, I place locations where something might be happening. I will roll to see if the players stumble on the location, and if so, give them information based on what they witness. What happens from there is 100% up to them. It might be a dungeon entrance. It might be a gnarled tree with a rope tied about its trunk. It might be a pile of rotting corpses. Whatever.

That doesn't mean there aren't random encounters rolled for hexes. These represent stumbling on an event that potentially provokes action. These could be combat-oriented like a dozen orcs charging a wagon with drawn swords, or they could just be creepiness like catching a glimpse of fish-men playing pipes in the distant fog. Again, these provide the opportunity for the players to make decisions. They don't exist to force players into a specific course of action...unless they really mess up a Perception check and get ambushed by a hostile encounter. But even then, there is a string of rolls that create that situation - Reaction rolls by the hostile party that indicate it will attack, opposed Stealth checks to see if they can sneak up and waylay the party, failed Perception rolls by the party, etc. The players get their chance to avoid it, dice gods willing.

So that's a whole lot of ranting about a concept, but how has it been implemented in the hex map? I have placed several locales in the uncivilized parts of the map so far. These are, for the most part, stationary (with one fun exception that might move once per week). I'm generally picking locations that scream out for something initially and then going back to fill in other ideas afterward. So far, Alnwich is pretty well covered, so I'm starting to expand the adventure bubble outward.  This method seems to be working well, so far.

Mapping Update: Alnwich

I have finished filling in terrain and towns for the entire northeast corner of my hex map. I started out going this direction because it provides natural barriers to PC exploration. To the north are the Skaldafjoll, which as subarctic to arctic mountains, present something few prepared high level PCs will easily cross, let alone starting PCs. Of course, the foothills and forests to their south are definitely good adventuring sites.

Mapping this corner first also gives me some ideas about how Alnwich relates back to Northmarch and Usk. It has already become apparent that there is a main road that leads back southeast toward civilization, and there is a full-blown town town around a week or two away.

I'm also starting to see what the edge of civilization looks like in Usk. There are a string of fortified villages that run along the wilderlands' edge in the north and the west. These are largely supported by market villages one to two day's ride away, depending on the sparsity of the local forest. Trails connect these village-forts to each other, and roads connect them to their supporting market villages. this suggests that they can shift resources to support each other as needed, but not very quickly.

We also see that where the forest has been cleared or grows thin, dirt roads tend to replace footpaths and trails and villages tend to be about five miles apart, instead of ten or more. Furthermore, the land tends to be cultivated with small patches of woodland still presenting physical barriers to travel.

I suspect that as one travels deeper into Usk, villages tend to reach their maximum packing density and the map becomes far less interesting from an adventuring standpoint. This also provides a barrier to PCs. If you move into Usk, there are fewer opportunities to get rich, achieve glory, etc. because there just aren't many monsters sitting on hordes of treasure left. So if players want a game of intrigue and cunning, head to Usk. If they want game of exploration, violence, and adventure, head to the wilderlands. And that's exactly the point!

Automating Architect of Worlds

I've been using the Architect of Worlds system as a small side project to get some extra experience doing non-numerical-solving things in Python, and I am up to Step Eight of the Star System Creation bit. So far, its going amoothly, but I think I'm reaching a point where I need to sort out how to handle all the data being generated.

I'm currently thinking that I'd like some sort of parent-child structure so moons belong to their planets, and planets belong to their primaries, which in turn belong to their systems. I've never had to do this sort of data handling before, so this will be a good learning experience.

I'm also hoping to round out the sequence by generating as much of the non-gaming-information available on a typical Wikipedia page as possible - stuff like flattening, surface area, etc. Ultimately, I'd love for this to output a database I can keep in Access and use to generate pretty system reports for players with a couple of button clicks. I have no idea if I can pull that off, but I'll definitely learn a lot trying.

Architect of Worlds

If you don't know about this, you should. Jon Zeigler, author of GURPS Space has been updating his system generation...um...system to conform with modern research. He hasn't posted all of it yet - it is still in the works - but for those of you who love science fiction and need to generate worlds, it is fantastic. What's even crazier is that he has posted it on his blog for free.

The entire Architect of Worlds system to date can be found here in PDF form:
Architect of Worlds

You can find the individual steps here:

Step One: Primary Star Mass

Steps Two and Three: Multiple Stars

Steps Four and Five: Star System Age and Metallicity

Step Six: Stellar Evolution

Step Seven: Stellar Classification

Step Eight: Orbital Parameters

Step Nine: Structure of Protoplanetary Disk

Step Ten: Place Dominant Gas Giant

Step Eleven: Place Planets

Step Twelve: Determine Eccentricity of Planetary Orbits

Step Thirteen: Determine Planetary Density, Radius, and Surface Gravity

Step Fourteen: Place Natural Satellites

So if you love science fiction gaming, world building (literally!) or generally want to see this amazing work come to fruition, make sure you go check out his blog. I know I'll be using this creation sequence the next time I run a science fiction game.

How I'm Drawing My Maps

I’ve been mapping this dungeon now for about a month or so, and I thought I’d talk a little about what tools I’m using. At this point, you’re probably thinking, “graph paper and a pencil, duh!” But that’s not how I roll.

I find it most convenient to make my maps digitally using InkScape. This has a number of advantages, I find:

• Digital files don’t have edges like paper does.
• Mapping to scale is beyond easy, if you set some consistent pixel/foot scaling ratio.
• Layers enable GM and Player maps in one file.
• It’s extremely easy to ensure level entrances line up from one map to the next.
• Digital maps are always with me via cloud storage.
• InkScape is free; paper is not.

I’m sure there are other reasons I do this, but these are the main ones that come to mind right now.

Mapping the Surface

I've been working on the main entrance to the megadungeon, starting with the surface level, and I gotta say, crap this is big. It's roughly box-shaped due to geography and architecture, and it's a complex nearly a quarter mile on a side. That's about 40 acres of surface complex, and it's not the only surface site related to the megadungeon; I'm planning at least two more. One of those won't be ginormous, but the other actually has justification to be.

Let the Mapping Begin!

I have begun mapping the megadungeon I'll be making for the game I hope to eventually run when life gives me back some free time. So far, I've drawn about 75 rooms across four levels/sub-levels and I'm trying to add at least a few rooms every day. I'm not stocking yet, and frankly, I'm not even sure where in the overall megadungeon these rooms are. I simply had an idea and decided I better put pencil to paper while the inspiration lasted.

Really, the first thing I should really do is get a side view map drawn, so I have something to work off of. I should probably get more of an idea of what this megadungeon is, why it exists, and so on, but that doesn't sound fun right this instant. So instead, I'm going to do what has me motivated and keep drawing rooms and reading modules.

Because potential players may be reading this, my posts about the megadungeon will remain vague and no maps will be posted. Hopefully, I'll learn something about mapping and make some posts on that, too. In the meantime, I'll just keep plodding along and see what happens.

Unnamed Mapping Project Continues

As I was working on the map from my last post, I starting thinking about the people that live there. And the first thing that sprung to mind is that this is an isolated area. The more I thought on it, the more I liked that idea. I also love the inland-ish sea. But after looking at the map I made, I noticed that the people aren't that isolated. In fact,t here's this open piece of continent to west that could lead to anything. So what did I do? I started over.

This time, I made sure the entire western coast is shown, and then continued with a similar idea. I did a better job scaling the mountains, this time, too, and am currently in mortal combat with that jagged little compass rose. I've also made a number of map symbols for placement, once I get a better idea of what is going on this map. And even better, I think I've figured out how I will blend the symbols and labels onto the map and keep things legible. Of course, time will tell if that actually pans out.

So enough rambling. Here's a map! Make sure you zoom in to see it at full detail.

What sort of land is this? What mysteries and wonders dot the region?

On Mapping the World

Early on in the creation of Starfall, I found I needed a map, so I could begin fleshing out potential campaign locations. I am not much of a cartographer, but I knew that I wanted something realistic that denoted height and terrain changes. From that, thanks to the Climate Cookbook, I could derive current, seasonal weather patterns, and climate zones.

As I said, I am not much of a cartographer, but I knew that I wanted something realistic that denoted height and terrain changes. From that, thanks to the Climate Cookbook, I could derive current, seasonal weather patterns, and climate zones.

As I said, I am not much of a cartographer, so I began by scouring Google Images for some topographical maps. Thankfully, NASA has quite a few wonderful maps of other worlds. I eventually settled on one of Venus because it showed a good deal of variation, has a lot of interesting geographic characteristics, and is not nearly as instantly recognizable as Mars.

From there, I used GIMP and some techniques from RobA's tutorial, How to Create an Artistic Regional RPG Map, up through the point where he creates the seas.  To create the land mask, I used color selection to grab all of the colors below a given elevation and paint bucket them white. After finishing up the steps to create the seas, I spent at least two months going pixel by pixel along the coasts in the land mask, tidying up what the color selection left messy. Then it was on to get some temporary labels (I just used the actual Venusian names) and work through the cookbook.

By now, I'm sure people are wondering why I would go through all of this trouble. For me, all of these little details have widespread ramifications. Trade winds determine sailing seasons and trade routes, and climates dictate weather patterns, which dictate flora and fauna. Want to know what lives and grows in a region, you need its climate. Want to know its trade partners, you need currents and wind patterns. All of these are interrelated, so for me, this is a huge part of laying the groundwork for later worldbuilding.

The Maps

What follows are a handful of maps of Starfall.  These are cylindrical projects, so scales grow increasingly distorted as locations leave the equator. The scale is 4 miles per pixel at the equator. This is an entire planet, so it is kind of large.

The World of Starfall

Temperature Maps

 January Temperatures: Summer in the North

 July Temperatures: Summer in the South

 

Trade Winds Maps

January Trade Winds

 July Trade Winds

Annual Precipitation Changes

This map uses 50% gray to represent no change between January and July, while darker grays represent increasingly high precipitation in January and lighter grays have increasing precipitation in July.

Oceanic Surface Currents

This map displays warm currents in red and cool ones in blue. Such currents add a nominal boost to the speed of any sailing vessel, a couple of miles per hour or so. Still, winds play a far more important role in driving sailing ships.

So What Comes Next?

The next step I need to take is to map out climate zones. Ideally, I would have far more programming skill than I do and write software to interpolate the temperature and precipitation maps according to a table and output a pixel by pixel climate map for me.  Unfortunately, I do not have this capability, so I will have to eyeball things. The downside is that I will likely miss out on many interesting microclimates, but on the upside, I'll have a climate map long before I learned how to program.