# Dwarven Hall Maps (contd...)



## Kris (Mar 16, 2007)

A while ago I started a thread where I posted the beginnings of a few maps that could be used to represent an abandoned dwarf hall (or something similar). At the time I was basically asking my players what direction they were going to head next (at the end of each session), and then concentrating my time between games on the detailed maps for that area (and the area around it) - referring to a rough sketch map I had made of the overall layout.

Anyway, dragonlordofpoondari recently expressed an interest in some Moria style maps over in this thread:
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=190934

...but rather than derail his thread any further, I thought I would post all the maps that I did (covering the route the PC's took, and the areas they might have ventured into) in a thread of their own.

So I'll start with those I already posted over in dragonlordofpoondari's original thread:
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l159/csp_kris/entrance_halls.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l159/csp_kris/great_halls.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l159/csp_kris/rift.jpg


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## Kris (Mar 16, 2007)

And here's the rest.
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l159/csp_kris/lowerstair.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l159/csp_kris/cave.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l159/csp_kris/shrine.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l159/csp_kris/stairs.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l159/csp_kris/offices.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l159/csp_kris/chambers.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l159/csp_kris/treasury.jpg

If anyone's interested I could try and put a pdf together with them all included - and put colour coded arrows on the passages to show how they connected together.

Anyway, if you can get some use out of them in your own personal games ...then cool


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## dragonlordofpoondari (Mar 16, 2007)

Kris said:
			
		

> If anyone's interested I could try and put a pdf together with them all included - and put colour coded arrows on the passages to show how they connected together.
> 
> Anyway, if you can get some use out of them in your own personal games ...then cool




Thanks again, Kris! I will most certainly make use of these. If you have the time, it would be great to have the arrow guide. No rush, my friend! Take your time.


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## Kris (Mar 16, 2007)

No problem 

(oh... you might have to try the last one again, I posted the same link twice :\  but I have corrected it now  ).


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## Mouseferatu (Mar 16, 2007)

Wow. Very nice.

Put me down as another who'd be interested in a compilation PDF, if you have the time and inclination.


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## Kris (Mar 18, 2007)

> If anyone's interested I could try and put a pdf together with them all included - and put colour coded arrows on the passages to show how they connected together.



I've just put it together as a quick jpeg image for the time being ...but it should give you a rough idea.

Sometimes the shading will not match up (as in some cases I've butted two areas together that are actually on different levels - but it should be obvious that they are different levels as they are connected by stairs).

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l159/csp_kris/total.jpg

I hope that helps.


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## rom90125 (Mar 18, 2007)

Kris,

These look great!  What tool did you use to create the maps?


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## Lhorgrim (Mar 18, 2007)

I second the request to know what you used to create the maps.  

I'm looking to buy my first mapping software, and your maps have the "look" that I'm searching for.


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## Mean DM (Mar 18, 2007)

These maps are fantastic, Kris.  Just looking at what you have here makes me want to run a dwarven dungeon crawl. Absolutely great stuff!

Mark


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## Kris (Mar 19, 2007)

Thanks for the kind words.

They are mostly drawn with photoshop.

I know that there are some dedicated map making tools and software packages out there ...but I kinda prefer drawing my own from scratch (even if it does take me way too long to get anything finished    ).


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## Dog Moon (Mar 19, 2007)

Looks neat.  Looking forward to more.


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## Lhorgrim (Mar 19, 2007)

Kris said:
			
		

> Thanks for the kind words.
> 
> They are mostly drawn with photoshop.
> 
> I know that there are some dedicated map making tools and software packages out there ...but I kinda prefer drawing my own from scratch (even if it does take me way too long to get anything finished    ).




Once again, your maps look great.  Sorry (for me) to hear that they were made with Photoshop.  Even if I had the resources to buy Photoshop, I don't have the skills to create anything that attractive with it.  

I guess I'll just have to "steal" your maps.


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## ZombieButch (Mar 19, 2007)

Lhorgrim said:
			
		

> Once again, your maps look great.  Sorry (for me) to hear that they were made with Photoshop.  Even if I had the resources to buy Photoshop, I don't have the skills to create anything that attractive with it.
> 
> I guess I'll just have to "steal" your maps.




Actually, Adobe has been talking about releasing a free, ad-supported online version of Photoshop, similar to Googles Docs & Spreadsheets. I don't imagine it'll be as full-featured as the for-pay version (probably closer to Photoshop Elements) but I imagine it'll be more than enough for most folks. With a few techniques, you can crank out some perfectly usable maps in no time. Once you've got a template set up for them, you can make one of those old blue D&D style maps in a flash, for example, and folks have been using those for years!


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## Kris (Mar 19, 2007)

For folks wanting to create their own layouts, I have been adding smaller rooms and passages to this page of my website:

http://www.enworld.org/CrookedStaffProductions/page19.html

I have designed them primarily to be loaded into the OpenRPG map window (software for playing rpg's online), but I suppose there is nothing stopping you using them to layout a dungeon map for your own notes (piecing them together could be done in something as simple as windows paint).

And I suppose I should apologise for all the annoying copyright stuff I have included on all the images   

I'm not fond of adding it (as it spoils them a little), but some folks have tried passing my maps off as their own work in the past (which is kinda annoying) ...so it's left me little choice if I want to continue sharing the stuff  I create.

(as you can see, I went overboard on a few of them ...probably when I was considering pulling all my stuff off the internet. So I should probably go back and make the copyright stuff a little less in your face on some of them    ).


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## -SIN- (Mar 20, 2007)

The maps are excellent! One question - How can I print them to battlemap scale??


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## Kris (Mar 20, 2007)

> How can I print them to battlemap scale?



The easiest way would be to save one of the images (try one of the small 6x6 tiles on the website) to your computer.

Then open that tile with windows paint (or whatever). 

From the menu along the top choose - Image > Stretch/Skew > and then stretch the image by 430% in each direction.

However they will look very blocky and not very good at all when printed at this scale


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## GeorgeFields (Mar 21, 2007)

Great maps. I hope to use them in my upcoming campaign.


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