Castle.
I have decided to make a castle-style encounter map(s). I've always wanted a good castle backdrop for an RPG but existing examples were never exactly what I wanted. For this castle, I want to include the following:
1 drawbridge; 1 secret back entrance; at least 2 towers; a wall that you can walk on top of; a keep; narrow outdoor walkways; an outdoor courtyard; a throneroom; a dungeon.
I plan on firstly making a rough overall map then creating detailed views of individual locations (each one will be 2000 pixels by 2000 pixels representing 100 feet squared/30m2, then pasting them all together into one big overall map in the end. In addition, I want to make sure that the terrain on which the castle stands can be swapped out - ie so the castle can be placed in a springtime meadow; a wintery hill, or a seaside cliff.
In addition, I would ideally like to re-use some of the pieces I've already made; notably a gate house and drawbridge, and a couple of towers.
This project might be too ambitious for me, but I may as well try and start it.
Step 1 will be to come up with an overall castle plan. I want it to have a few key locations rather than a myriad of small rooms; however I also want something that looks more like the Disneyland castle (fantasy!) than a boringly realistic symmetrical square castle/keep.
If anyone has any ideas I'd be very grateful for any advice.
All maps and objects made by me in this thread can be used by anyone for non-commercial use only.
Last edited by Jacktannery; 04-03-2013 at 03:35 AM.
This sounds like a great project. With your skills I'm sure it will be amazing. I've been wanting to do something similar for my Castle Shendenflar so I'll be watching this eagerly for inspiration.![]()
I am the breath of Dragons...The Song of Mountains...The Stories of Rivers....The Heart of Cities.... I am A Cartographer....
Finished Maps
Kingdom Of Shendenflar Campaign Setting (WIP)
![]()
Everything I post is free for use and redistribution under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 licence, except where noted otherwise in the thread.
Well I don't know - I haven't tried something like this before - it could easily go horribly wrong. Anyway - a little bit at a time. I have some ideas for a basic ground plan which incorporates all the best bits of fantasy castles.
Right - here is the ground plan:
From the front it is based on the disneyland sleeping beauty castle. But from the back it is based on Castle Fairfax in Fable 2 (which I never heard of before but which I gather is some sort of computer game). Our castle has almost everything I was looking for, except for a high terrace overlooking everything (like the landing strip in the Lord of the Rings movie in Minas Tirith). On the plus side, its a compact plan. I calculate I can cover most of it with 14 100'x100' square encounter maps and then paste them all together in the end to make the overview map, adding in the missing bits.
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Last edited by Jacktannery; 10-13-2012 at 02:29 PM.
That looks like a good plan. Are the round objects towers? there seems to be a lot of them for a (relatively) small castle. In any case it looks like a sound foundation to start with.![]()
I am the breath of Dragons...The Song of Mountains...The Stories of Rivers....The Heart of Cities.... I am A Cartographer....
Finished Maps
Kingdom Of Shendenflar Campaign Setting (WIP)
![]()
Everything I post is free for use and redistribution under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 licence, except where noted otherwise in the thread.
Yes they are tower and yes there are LOADS of them because the images of castles I liked all have thousands of towers. I am designing it so it looks like the disneyland castle from the front - all towers and flags. I realise its not realistic but it is how I imagine fantasy castles.
I am the breath of Dragons...The Song of Mountains...The Stories of Rivers....The Heart of Cities.... I am A Cartographer....
Finished Maps
Kingdom Of Shendenflar Campaign Setting (WIP)
![]()
Everything I post is free for use and redistribution under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 licence, except where noted otherwise in the thread.
Looks like a great project.![]()
My Battlemaps Gallery http://www.cartographersguild.com/al...p?albumid=3407