Trepindian Sea God Hall

[pyrandon]

Thank you for the comments, everyone! I had a lot of fun making these visuals, and as always I learned a lot. Keeping up with all of you is a tough call!!

Do you use such visual aids at the beginning of a new area to present the right mood and feel or is it a reward for story completion toward the end of a chapter?

Well, in an ideal world I'd show them the image as they enter the area to, as you say, set the mood; the map I'd also show as much as in eyeshot (I use OpenRPG's "fog" function for this, so only the portions I want them to see are visible, the rest is black. A great feature.) Unfortunately, time bit me on this one, so when they actually entered the room I only had a b&W version of the above pic & no map. I relied on words and some marks right on the b&w sketch to relay the mood. I completed the images after the players had exited, which is nowhere near ideal, but I got a bug up you-know-where to finish them anyway. (And even then I ran out of oompf--as if evidenced from the "quick job" on the statue(s), which I'm not happy with, but oh well.)

One question, is there any type of map for the underground/buried part of the island or is it something you keep in your head until the players come to an encounter area?

Well, I have hand-drawn sketches & notes, but generally I am lazy & don't finish mapping until the players are all but stepping into the area. I wish I was more organized & not a procrastinator, but I tend to fly by my pant seat instead. As for written descriptions, I generally write things down only right before--or AS--the guys enter the room(s).

Take care.