Reply With Quote@wthrasherb You are doing the gods work, and I thank you. Take your time! Hopefully, it'll take awhile before my group wants to storm the castle.
Personally, I like the new mosaic. A bit of beauty in the dark castle.
Doors and Alternate Mosaic
Hey folks! Just a quick progress update. Here are the front doors (area K7). I'm not sure I'm going to keep the "torch glow" on the map since I will be using "dynamic lighting" in Roll20, but for now it is there just to see how it looks. How does the fire and such look?
And here is an alternate mosaic for room K20. My Real Life friends were split... some liked one, some like the other. I personally like the map better without the mosaic on there... but maybe once I get some more decor added it won't look so out of place.
Sorry, I know this isn't much progress, but slow and steady wins the race
@wthrasherb You are doing the gods work, and I thank you. Take your time! Hopefully, it'll take awhile before my group wants to storm the castle.
Personally, I like the new mosaic. A bit of beauty in the dark castle.
Progress Update
Hey folks! Sorry I've been quiet for a while... Just a lot going on! Anyway, here is my progress so far. I've cleaned up a few elements like wall edges and the grid. I added a better texture to the rocky cliff edges and touched up the dirt a bit (although I know these aren't crucial elements, they were just bothering me). I've also added the doors for this level.
I have a question for the community: Should I bother with windows/arrow slits? There are not a whole lot of windows, but there are a few "arrow slits" here and there. I can take the time to add them even though they are mentioned in the text, but do I really NEED to? Tell me what you think!
That's all I've got for now. I'm going to keep working and you'll see more when I have more! Stay tuned!
If your have players or enemies that can conceivably use them for entrances and exits (bat and human sized clouds of mist come to mind), spot events, or attack through them then that's information important to have on the map. I'm really enjoying watching your progress. Keep up the good work.
I would put some kind of indicator of where the arrow slits are on the map, even if you don't break the wall like you might for a window. A darker or lighter gray triangle would do nicely.
the mosaic looks amazing. Nicely done.
Clarifying the maps
wthrasherb, I love what you and Shindig have done with the castle maps. I joined this forum mainly to let you know about the inconsistencies I've found in the maps. I'll reference 3 maps: the original (I6), the reproductions in Curse of Strahd (CoS), and Shindig's (SD). I may have misinterpreted some of these details, so if anyone disagrees about any of it, please let us all know.
-----
Main Floor (map 3), at ground level:
The stairs K29 show a landing halfway up. This makes the stairs ridiculously steep! The landing is shown to be 10' wide, so that means each leg of the stairs needs to rise 25' vertically in 10' of horizontal space. That means the stairs rise at an angle of 68 degrees, which is basically a ladder. There are two options: (1) keep the landing as is and make the stairs that steep; could be interesting for the players. (2) get rid of the landing and make the stairs conitue upward where tha landing would be; that gives 40' of horizontal room to ascend 50' vertically, which is a more managable angle of 51 degrees (although still steep).
The stairs K20a are likewise quite steep, although the maps seem to show a landing that is only 5' wide, so each leg of the stairs descends 20' vertically in 15' of horizontal space, for an angle of 53 degrees (pretty steep). If you look at the I6 map 11, though, it looks like these stairs curve up instead of having a landing. That would give us a total of 40' horizontal room for the 40' of vertical, which gives us our standard 45-degree staircase that we find throughout the castle. I'm in favor of having the stairs behave this way, with no landing.
SD map makes it look like a wall blocks the K64 stairs from descending; the wall should not be there.
-----
2nd Floor (map 4), 50' above ground level:
Again, SD map makes it look like a wall blocks the K64 stairs from descending; the wall should not be there.
SD map for K34 is missing the ladder. (Probably on purpose, since it's in a secret area.) Would be nice to have a PNG layover that shows the ladder.
-----
3rd Floor (map 5), 40' above 2nd floor, 90' above ground level:
SD map is missing the ladders to the rooptops of the 2 western towers of K46. Based upon the I6 map that shows the vertical heights, I believe the tower rooftops are 40' above the floor of K46, with the tower battlements rising to alternating heights of 4' and 7' above the rooftop floor.
Small obvious typo in CoS, where K21 goes up 40' to map 6 (not map 5).
There are 5 windows in the upper reaches (but below the rafters) of the belfry, K40. Map 6 of CoS and I6 clearly shows them (3 of them, with 2 more on the side of the belfry we can't see from the map). I think the best way to show these windows is to do so on the map for the 4th floor.
-----
4th Floor (map 6), 40' above 3rd floor, 130' above ground level:
Belfry windows: In the SD map, I think you could show an open space (with cobwebs) where the belfry is (rather than showing the belfry rooftoop). Then show the 5 windows here. Note that the belfry rafters and bell are above these windows. Also, the peak of the belfry rooftop looks to be at least even (if not higher) to the smokestack K52, which is listed as being 30' above the roof peak.
SD map for the smokestack: since it's top is 30' above this level, I think you should show just the smokestack space here (filled with smoke), but not show any smoke blowing out of the stack until the map for the next level higher.
K52 typo in I6 and CoS: if the smokestack is 30' above the peak of the roof, and the 4th floor is level with this peak (which it seems to be in map 6), then it's a 70' drop down the smokestack (not 60').
Shindig: brilliant work on showing the western tower rooftops at this level! I feel that map 6 of both I6 and CoS miss showing this detail.
-----
5th Floor (map 7), 40' above 4th floor, 170' above ground level:
Typo in I6 and CoS: at K48 the stairs go down 40' (not 20') to map 6.
I like what Shindig did with keeping all 3 towers in their correct positions, but instead of a black background all around I would prefer to see the rooftops below. This is where you would show the roof of the belfry and the smoke blowing out of the smokestack. I think that by showing the rooftops below, it helps people understand where these towers are in the castle at this height.
-----
6th Floor (map 8 ), 20' above 5th floor, 190' above ground level:
SD map: I love the floating gem in the center of K20--it matches the text and looks much better than the ridiculous heart shown in I6 and CoS.
To be clear, even though the central shaft of K20 drops 190' to map 3 (ground level), the stairs go down only 100' before the players can exit them, in K46 on map 5 (3rd floor).
Again, I would show the rooftops below, a bit more out of focus than what was shown on map 7.
-----
7th Floor (map 9), 50' above 6th floor, 240' above ground level:
SD map: very wrong (considering the attention to detail in his maps, I'm assuming the description in the 3.5 Expedition to Castle Ravenloft is different from the description in I6 and CoS). There are no coffins or separate room in the north tower peak at this level. There are manacles on the wall and a ladder that leads to the roof of the tower (10' above: 9' ceiling + 1' thick floor).
We're now 110' above the rooftops, which is probably too high to see them anymore. But some sort of foggy, blurry hint that they are below might be cool and keep the towers in context with the rest of the castle. Also, the roof of the fat tower (K57) is only 50' below and should be shown out of focus below.
How do you want to show the roof of the north tower (K60a)? You could show it as part of map 10, but it would be 50' below that level, so that's a bit misleading. Does it deserve its own level? (I think it does.)
----
7.5th floor, 10' above 7th floor, 250' above ground level:
K60a, the roof of the north tower, is at this level. Tops of the battlements are again about 4' and 7' above the floor (same as western towers).
The roof of the fat tower (K57) is now 60' below, so I think it should still be shown (out of focus), but I think at this point everyone understands that there are roofs below that we can no longer see.
-----
8th Floor (map 10), 60' above 7th floor, 50' above the 7.5th floor, 300' above ground level:
Typo in I6 and CoS: the shaft of K18a drops 390' (not 380') to map 12. Also the arrow in CoS should be pointing to the shaft, not the stairs. The stairs go down 300' before the players can exit at map 3 (ground level). Finally, the text in CoS for K59 should say that the shaft descends 390' (not 450').
The roof of the north tower is 50' below, so we should see it (out of focus). The roof of the fat tower (K57) is now 110' below so if we show that tower roof it should be with the same foggy, blurry hint that was used in map 9.
SD map: the shaft is the wrong size relative to the walkway of the floor. The walkway is only 5' wide, while the shaft is 15' in diameter.
Note that the tip of the roof of this high tower is still 60' above this level! Looking at the castle map with all the heights, I estimate the rafters (where Pidlwick II is hiding) being 20' aboove the floor, with the tiled roof then going up another 40' beyond that; maybe it's 25' and 35', respectively, but I don't think it's 30' and 30'. And I certainly don't think the rafters are any higher than 30'.
-----
Basement 1 (map 11), 40' below ground level:
CoS: the stairs up from K71 (which are stairs K20a) turn the wrong way. If there is a landing in K20a, the stairs continue up after moving south along the landing (not north, as shown in CoS). I like how the stairs K20a is shown in I6, with no landing and the stairs just twisting upward. I think Shindig did an awesome job of showing this in his map.
SD map: Shindig nails all the stairs here. Marvelous work.
K61 (elevator trap): SD map is different here, and doesn't match I6 or CoS. Map 11 in I6 and CoS are correct, but the bottom figure of the Elevator Trap diagram in CoS (p. 76) shows the stair up twisting the wrong way; they should continue twisting the same way that the stairs down twist (which is CCW when going up), not change to going up CW.
-----
Basement 2 (map 12), catacombs are 50' below B1, 90' below ground level; some other areas are lower:
Lots of levels! Shindig did it right by splitting this up into a few maps. You should split it into at least 2 maps: the west side (which is mostly lower than the catacombs) and the east side (which contains the catacombs and some other lower tomb areas).
The I6 and CoS 3D perspectives in map 12 can cause things to look weird because of the changing heights. Both maps are correct. But the 3D perspective makes it look like Crypt 24 of the catacombs (K84) is north of the K21 staircase, when actually it is south of it. If you look at the previous levels, you can see that the south walls of the stairs for K21 and stairs for K18 are level (i.e. neither stairs' wall is further south than the other). This means that Crypt 24 must be southeast of the K21 stairs, but the changing heights of the 3D maps makes it look like it's north of the K21 stairs instead. So don't go crazy wondering how the K21 stairs magically changed positions on you!
The stairs from K80 to K78 go down 20', at a 45-degree angle.
Typo in CoS: the stairs K79 are labeled correctly at its landing, but labeled incorrectly as K72 at their bottom (where they enter K78).
The stairs K79 go up 40' to a landing, then turn to the east and go up another 30', all at a 45-degree angle.
Room K78 has a brazier in it, not a fountain (or whatever that thing is supposed to be on the CoS map).
K74 and K75 (where the water is 5' deep) are only 2' lower than K73 and K76 (where the water is 3' deep). Therefore I think the stairs going down to K74 and K75 should be shorter than what Shindig shows in his maps.
The slide trap K82 is not the edge of a right triangle, as shown in the I6 and CoS maps (that would be too shallow of a slide). Instead, it's a bloody slide! Steep at the top part and getting shallower at the bottom end. That's a slide that will work nicely for the trap.
The 3D perspective of the I6 and CoS maps kinda messes up the look of K85 (especially along its southeast wall). The dimensions of K85 mirror those of K86, which is clearer in the maps.
K85, K86, and K87 are each 10' lower than the catacombs of K84. Stairs at a 45-degree angle.
K88 is then 10' lower than K87. Stairs again at a 45-degree angle. I love Shindig's windows in this room.
-----
I hope all this info helps people better understand the maps, especially with the few typos and incosistencies in them. I also hope it helps you with your creation of these maps. And thanks again for taking on this project! I can't wait to see the end results!
Quick Update
Sorry I've been quiet folks! I've been busy preparing other parts of the Curse of Strahd adventure. Thanks for the kind words and feedback! I really appreciate everyone that has taken the time to stop by and comment.
@DownDeep: I appreciate you pointing out things you've noticed. I obviously have not started working on most of the stuff you are talking about, but I WILL keep an eye out for the issues you mention once I make it to those points. As for the Main Floor map that I'm currently working on, I'm not really concerned with how realistic the stairs are or their angels and such. It's like the old debate about the old Lara Croft's measurements if she were a real woman and how unrealistic she was... Lara Croft is not real, neither is Castle Ravenloft. I will ATTEMPT to make it a good looking map, but it ain't gonna be perfect and I don't care if it is realistic.
That's all I have for now folks. I have been devoting my time to putting together a custom player's guide for my gaming group and it has been taking my "creative" time. I will get back to work on the map soon!
Stay tuned!
Back on the Job!
Ok, my Curse of Strahd game has officially started, so now I really have to get things going with this map!
I plan to work on it all weekend, so I will hopefully have some updates to post.
Stay tuned!
These are awesome and such a great job/effort. Sucks Wizards didn't release the Castle Map or make one that is usable in a game. Any update on your progress . Would love to get my hands on these for my upcoming COS .Originally Posted by wthrasherb
Posting Permissions
