Wolfcreek Crossover

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Plenty of trees provide cover for people moving across the land near Wolfcreek Crossing as the party move to cross the river and try to lose the hunters that have been following them. The other reason for travelling through this part of the woods is the standing stones that lay half buried throughout the area. These stones are known to interrupt with the flow of magic and could provide some much needed respite for the party from those who use the divination wards to spy on them.

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A fun map tonight bringing out the layering (digging?) tool again to create most of the map as foreground and the river as a background. Giving a natural riverbank helps create depth that I believe is harder to do with the other art assets and textures.

There are a few textures at work here including the dirt one that helped to bury the rocks throughout the mission. This technique I use sparingly as it can make the assets look really dirty if you use it too often. Trees provide cover and the Rune Stones add a bit of character to this map. A small gully was made from the rocky hills asset that can provide an interesting opportunity for combat or a place to hide in.

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Starkhaven Castle Vault

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As the alarm bell tolled the party moved through the halls of the castle just as their new ally, Skall, had said it would work. He had created a small fire in the stables – after the animals and people had been moved of course but the discussion was enough that they could slip through the castle to stop the person who set them up from getting what they were after. Thanks to the bounty on their head no one would take them seriously and even if they tried they would find out quickly enough that people would value the gold that’s on their head more than a hunch.

But an anonymous letter had been sent to the king by their ally warning of the attack and they hoped that it would not be too late. They passed by the barracks – which was empty as the guards had been called to deal with the fire and had made their way to the vault hall – according to a map they had acquired. Pushing through the last door two guards lay unconscious on the floor and the great vault door lay open on its hinges.

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A decently long map this week with a few twists and turns in tonight’s adventure. A few different (and new) textures made up the backdrop for this weeks adventure for this internal castle map (as only castles would have this much space, surely. A few art assets really bring the vault and surrounding areas to life with adding context to the map.

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Goblin Way Camp

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The fire was meant to be dug deep enough that it provided some light, some warmth but not enough to be seen for a long way away. However Reginald too matters into his own hands and decided to build the fire higher to get the climatic fight that he wanted.

The light shines through the trees like a beacon to those hunting for the hardest of game to find, adventurers, and with a trail of supplies leading them to the wagon and its guardians its only a matter of time.

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A quick one tonight with a few layers for texture and use of layering items to get a broader sense of depth. It’s no secret that I enjoy Forest and night scenes so this was easy to make with trees, bioluminescent insects and the use of light from the camp fire to build atmosphere.

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Battle for the Skimmer

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The distance between the ships will make a lot of the combat hard – that is before boarding lines and boats come out to play. The party then can take the fight to the bigger ship or remain on the deck of the shorter, smaller ship to fight from there if need be.

The ships are moving fast enough that only quick thinking or magic will prevent people from disappearing into open ocean behind the ships. So that’s a hazard the party will need to brave as they fight it out during the Battle for the Skimmer.

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A simple one tonight with some small modifications to existing ships. Four textures were put into the waves, three colour variations and then something to add a bit more depth into the water that dulled some of the choppy wave parts.

The ships were luckily existing assets that I added more rope. Masts and sails to to get to where I wanted them to look. Barrels suit the narrative this week with them slowing down and impacting on the hull of the skimmer.

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Imgard Sanctum

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The grave stones to the north of the area pay homage to the heroes once lost. These appear be graves but there are no bodies buried here – its just a memorial. The gardens were built around the memorials and have grown to be a place to reflect. However, many people use this as a place to meet to exchange information, goods or other nefarious things which has become its main use over the years.

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A simple map using some of my favourite assets. A single texture with this one (for quick use) to create the grassy background and the night filter placed over the top makes it a bit darker. Two types of trees gives variety to create more visual appeal when looking at the repeated assets of the graves and tombstones. Lanterns on pillars and a fountain add another item to create both a light source as well as something to provide cover other than trees.

Small orbs of coloured light could reflect a magical effect or fire flies that flitter through the gardens at night. Either way the Imgard Sanctum was a fun and quick map to create.

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Gorthhollow Peak Cave

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The party had pushed passed the wooden structures that had been burnt and smashed apart and were passing deeper into the cave system. Finding the right path was not too difficult as various creatures had been left to defend the path as well as frequent traps. The smell increased but so did the noise – a kind of Yipping that carried through the caves.

Kobolds.

The party pressed on as a clan of Kobolds this size could post a threat if one of their larger cousins, a dragon, were to take interest in the cave system. And with so many willing servants to tend to its needs it could threaten a wider area than a cave full of goblins. As they pressed deeper they came to a wider cavern that had several lava tubes that connected to the outside much further up, based on the light and presence of a breeze.

As they looked around several goblin tents were current teeming with kobolds and their animal pets. Large scorpions, spiders, a dire wolf and other creatures were caged or tied to the tents as the kobolds went about their business. It appears like the party found the heart of those who had displaced the goblins deep within the Gorthhollow Peak cave.

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A rather simple map with a few different textures this week. The main call out is the pre-made tents that fitted well with the theme of this adventure as well as the cave walls that made it a lot easier. Some interesting other art assets for points of interest (like a cave in and some treasure) as well as a main central loot horde – perhaps a potential offering or established horde for a dragon – this cave is pretty scalable to what the party could need it for.

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Lumos Temple Dais

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The pillars that held up the roof were frequent enough that there was good lighting during the night and the day. It’s a big space but the fighting will mainly take place around the dais in the middle. Heavily defended steps enable the defenders to place barricades, magical or mundane, up to defend the oracle from friend or foe.

With such a simple battlefield its important that the battlefield changes as the battle goes on, cracks in the marble form, barriers of earth, fire, wind and water appear to control how the party or the opponents move about the battlefield and beyond.

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A real simple map tonight with some re-shaded textures and art assets stacked on each other tonight. Nothing really to even write home about as the real components for this weeks map is the outcome of the mage and priest fights that occur within the temple.

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Messota River

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The heavily forested area was evidently not used to having this much rapid water rushing at its hilly soil and great chunks of soft soil and rocks had already been claimed by the water. The rough shoreline led to shallow water that quickly deepened as the lake grew out form where they stood.

Some plants and trees could be seen standing strong but there was evidence that many trees, old or young, had been lifted from the soil by the rain… or something else.

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A relaxing one tonight using the ability to create a foreground and background this week. The layered water textures is probably the highlight of this week with some of the water painting over the art assets like logs, trees and even plants to give a partially submerged look. The grassy areas are pretty simple but effective in giving a feeling of how forested this area normally would be.

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The Hooting Owl Tavern

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The creatures scuttled across the ground with surprising speed as each one of them looked for an opportunity to feed. As they moved about the table legs the ruckus caused one of the tavern patrons to come to investigate ‘Glenda, we heard some noise…’ was all he got out before he was best upon by the creature, falling down to twitch in the hallway. Now that the door was open the other creatures rushed out to prey upon others in their feeding frenzy.

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A more detailed one this week with three levels to potentially play with. A mapped middle layer but room for the second top and pantry (Basement) to be explored.

Only three texture packs were used this week for a simple look to the flooring. On top though a wide range of various art assets were used to create the kitchen, bar and the surrounding area to give it depth and a field of combat instead of something static and boxed in.

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