Kobold Lair (aka my first map)

Hi everyone!

Thanks to various tips and tutorials, I think I'm at the point where I can upload my first map for critique without embarrassing myself. :P

This is the first dungeon in a Pathfinder campaign I'm writing - a kobold lair in a forest cave. Put it together in GIMP from a scanned drawing on graph paper... uploaded a version with the grid and without.

My thoughts... I'm not sure I like the abrupt line between the floor and the walls. I tried using a drop shadow to ease the transition, but not sure if it's enough... any tips there would be greatly appreciated! ;) I'd also like to add some features... traps, secret passages, tables, etc., but finding that to be a little more difficult than just a floor plan.

Very good first map.
I don't use Gimp so I can't tell you exactly how to improve the transition but it looks like it needs more / wider wall shadow.

technically, you don't need a drop shadow(which implies light direction) as opposed to an inner/outer glow. You can make this fairly easily by making a selection so that the "outside" of the cave "rooms" is editable. Then shrink the selection by a few pixels(assuming this is the original size and not reduced) and fill a new layer with black. So it would look like the black was covering the entire walls of the cave. Then use Gaussian blur to soften it up. This layer needs to be below the rock (solid rock areas) and above the floor texture. You might need to play with the blur amount or the size of the shrunk selection to get it looking just right.

Thanks for the tips! I tried the inner/outer glow method, but I think my A5 room makes it difficult. When I fill the selection, the narrow corridors are all filled in to the point blurring it doesn't help. :(

The way I was doing a drop shadow was giving it 0 for the offset so it was as if the light was straight above the image. I played around with that some more... made them wider and added a couple... looks a bit better now, IMO. :)

An odd way I do the shadows sometimes is to erase the floor, turn the walls one solid color like red. Then do an outer glow and after saving, closing and then re opening I can select and erase all the red leaving just a shadow overlay which I place on top of the original finished map. In this case, with the A5 issue, I just erased them and didn't use the shadow for that section.
Attachment 41464

Looking good. I'd change the color of the mountain rock surrounding the cave so it looks less blue. Right now, I see a cave in a lake. (could just be me :P) Other than what's already been said, it's a nice colorful map. :)