There's nothing better than seeing an expert at work. Really appreciate you sharing your process!
D&D 5E The Shadow in the Flame: A Workshop on Designing Dungeons, Monsters, and a Villain
There's nothing better than seeing an expert at work. Really appreciate you sharing your process!
Quickleaf
Legend
Step 6: Dungeon Mapping (part 3 – Sketches)
Sometimes, a sketch can do what several hundred words cannot, especially when dealing with vertical elements of a dungeon. One of the reasons I continuously go back to my DM sketchbook is that my sketches "don't lie." If I don't understand a particular area of the dungeon completely, then it will be reflected in my sketch – either it will come out confused or my lack of understanding will be reflected back to me when I flounder at how to convey something.
When you don't have a gaming friend or a skilled editor/layout person to ping-pong your ideas with, sketching can serve a similar purpose. Even just mapping out The Great Gardens, for example, I discovered a mistake – it's supposed to be a 3-story mezzanine space, but I'd written in a floor covering the center of the middle mezzanine level, cutting off the lower level from the "ceiling" above (which is enchanted with an illusory day-night cycle).
When you're communicating with an artist whose work you're commissioning or even just trying to convey a spatial description to your players, often a sketch can be your best friend. Here are some quick examples from my sketchbook...
Top left is a recurring area aptly named Vestibule. A room with 4 archways and a statue in each corner is hardly original. On one hand, I wanted a sort of iconic nod to classic dungeons & villain's lairs; it's the sort of room a player of old D&D adventures, a gamer into Dark Souls or Dragon Age, a viewer of fantasy series is going to recognize. On the other hand, sketching this space helped me to make it more interesting...
Top right is a recurring area - a torch in an alcove, possible a Hidden Elemental. What I gained from sketching this simple area out is...
Bottom is the Proving Grounds, a unique area which I choose to sketch in isometric view (instead of perspective view like the frequent encounter areas above) in order to convey the verticality of the center of the chamber. The inspiration for this space came from the assassin's lair in the movie Prince of Persia: Sands of Time; senior mages/mamluks/assassins look down on the training initiates from the walkway above. I realized several things sketching this area out:
The smaller sketches took 10 minutes each. The bottom sketch took about 25-30 minutes. Since I'm doing the sketches to communicate with artists, I probably spent twice as long as I would have if I were just sketching for my home game.
[SECTION]Resources: Sketching
How to Draw Fantasy Art & RPG Maps by Jared Blando (Amazon link)[/SECTION]
Sometimes, a sketch can do what several hundred words cannot, especially when dealing with vertical elements of a dungeon. One of the reasons I continuously go back to my DM sketchbook is that my sketches "don't lie." If I don't understand a particular area of the dungeon completely, then it will be reflected in my sketch – either it will come out confused or my lack of understanding will be reflected back to me when I flounder at how to convey something.
When you don't have a gaming friend or a skilled editor/layout person to ping-pong your ideas with, sketching can serve a similar purpose. Even just mapping out The Great Gardens, for example, I discovered a mistake – it's supposed to be a 3-story mezzanine space, but I'd written in a floor covering the center of the middle mezzanine level, cutting off the lower level from the "ceiling" above (which is enchanted with an illusory day-night cycle).
When you're communicating with an artist whose work you're commissioning or even just trying to convey a spatial description to your players, often a sketch can be your best friend. Here are some quick examples from my sketchbook...
Top left is a recurring area aptly named Vestibule. A room with 4 archways and a statue in each corner is hardly original. On one hand, I wanted a sort of iconic nod to classic dungeons & villain's lairs; it's the sort of room a player of old D&D adventures, a gamer into Dark Souls or Dragon Age, a viewer of fantasy series is going to recognize. On the other hand, sketching this space helped me to make it more interesting...
- While sketching I came up with the idea of lotus blossom murals above the doors... previously I'd written about a type of magic mouth appearing in this room, appearing in the continual flames in the statues' hands... but drawing in the lotus blossom mural made me imagine the blossom itself turning into the magic mouth which is just a cooler visual.
- Sketching evoked the pseudo-Persian/Arabian architectural style I am emulating with the unique archways, domed ceilings, and ornamentation around arches and along ceilings & floors.
- I realized that there should be heavy scorch marks on the floor, maybe so many the stone floor appears char black, something I went back and included in the boxed text.
Top right is a recurring area - a torch in an alcove, possible a Hidden Elemental. What I gained from sketching this simple area out is...
- It helped me to visualize the style of the bronze torches used, and the quality of light they would provide.
- Again, sketching the pseudo-Persian/Arabian architectural style, I realized I included an arcade (supporting columns built into the walls of a longer hallway) which helped make an otherwise "bog standard D&D dungeon hallway" stand out.
- It helped me to brainstorm about subtle clues I might include to tip off savvy players to the presence of a hidden elemental. While the approach I took in the art – a shadow of an elemental cast by the torch – is a bit too on the nose, it does give me an idea for describing detect evil and good revealing a hidden elemental. Sometimes the art tells you where you need to change ideas.
Bottom is the Proving Grounds, a unique area which I choose to sketch in isometric view (instead of perspective view like the frequent encounter areas above) in order to convey the verticality of the center of the chamber. The inspiration for this space came from the assassin's lair in the movie Prince of Persia: Sands of Time; senior mages/mamluks/assassins look down on the training initiates from the walkway above. I realized several things sketching this area out:
- Conveying verticality on an isometric map is tricky, and really needs supporting art elements to make it read clearly to the reader. While I'm enlisting the help of a real cartographer for my adventure, in the sketches I drew in a levitating mage to make it clear that the central space above the stone goes up to another level of the dungeon (the Sorcellment Chamber where mages practice spells).
- Sketching it helped me realize the realities of the walkway, and also showed me where I haven't gotten clear on my design yet: the mechanisms of the portcullis and where the winch is located for each portcullis.
The smaller sketches took 10 minutes each. The bottom sketch took about 25-30 minutes. Since I'm doing the sketches to communicate with artists, I probably spent twice as long as I would have if I were just sketching for my home game.
[SECTION]Resources: Sketching
How to Draw Fantasy Art & RPG Maps by Jared Blando (Amazon link)[/SECTION]
Last edited:
Imaculata
Hero
Fantastic work Quickleaf. I'm sure this will all be very useful to a lot of DM's (new and old). My current campaign is moving towards a point where I may need to design two new dungeons, both with very interesting themes. As you know, I'm running a 3.5 pirate campaign, in which water is the main focus (not something a lot of campaigns seem to do).
If you like, I could share my design process in this same thread when I start on it.
If you like, I could share my design process in this same thread when I start on it.
Quickleaf
Legend
Fire and water, as it were?
I'm of two minds...
I actually encourage you to start your own thread! I think you are doing some very interesting things with dungeon design & water, and your maps are an excellent example for aspiring DMs. I've personally benefited from hearing you talk about your adventures, and I think you do have a unique perspective that deserves to be shared on its own merits.
My concern about putting both our methods into one thread is that it could turn out we have substantial differences in our process. Nothing wrong with that of course, but it could make my efforts to be a good "thread custodian" keeping a table-of-contents on the first page a challenge.
OTOH, our potential differences as DMs/designers could be very interesting to explore, providing DMs with different perspectives on adventure/dungeon design topics. I'd definitely enjoy an ongoing dialogue in that regard. And you gotta admit "fire and water" writes itself...
What are your thoughts?
Imaculata
Hero
You make a good point. I guess it would be better to put them in separate threads. And I'm flattered to hear you were inspired by my adventures/maps. But I don't want to hijack someone elses thread, so I'll make a new one when I start on those maps. It would be interesting perhaps for other DM's to read both methods, and see the differences. Also, I'm so using the title "Fire and water" when I make that thread.
Quickleaf
Legend
You make a good point. I guess it would be better to put them in separate threads. And I'm flattered to hear you were inspired by my adventures/maps. But I don't want to hijack someone elses thread, so I'll make a new one when I start on those maps. It would be interesting perhaps for other DM's to read both methods, and see the differences. Also, I'm so using the title "Fire and water" when I make that thread.
OK, let me know when you start your thread and I'll link to it in my OP.
Quickleaf
Legend
Step 6: Dungeon Mapping (part 4 – Mapping in Three Dimensions)
One of the challenges in D&D is evoking dungeons with vertical elements. They can be challenging to describe to players. They often are challenging to map. They can be challenging to write boxed text for. So what makes including vertical design in a dungeon worth the potential headache?
In my opinion, many things! Vertical design...
Here are two hand-drawn maps I've been working on which demonstrate some elements of verticality in different ways.
This work-in-progress map depicts a 3-level mezzanine space, a central hub for the dungeon I'm working on. Pretty simple vertical connection using a hole running through the center of the space and spiral staircases on the right. There's also meant to be a pair of winding staircases (to the left) that's supposed to connect the main and upper levels of the gardens, but I realized I may need to revise that due to dimensions...
Warning: I'm about to go into a level of mapping detail that may not appeal to some gamers. So in this Great Garden I have a roughly 20-foot (240") long staircase that's supposed to ascend a total rise of 30 feet (360"). You can see that more clearly in the map below.
Stairs in modern carpentry usually have a run of 9" (often more) and a rise of about 8.25". Leaving out the complexities of carpentry like riser heights (thanks to a stone-hewn dungeon)...
If I assume each stair has a run of 9", then I divide my total run (240") by 9" and get 26.67 stairs. I'll call it a run of 27 stairs.
The rise always is 1 greater than the run. So the rise if 28 stairs
But is a total of 28 rises enough to ascend those 30 feet (360")? If I divide 360" by 28, I get a required rise height for each stair of 12.86"! Those would be STEEP stairs indeed, considering the modern standard of 8.25" rise! That reminds me of the challenging stairs from Angkor Wat!
So, if I keep those measurements, that's an indicator to me that I should make notation in the adventure about the extreme stairs. These are the kinds of stairs that at least require 2 feet, maybe even 3 feet, of movement to be spent for every 1 foot moved. These are the kinds of stairs that pose a serious risk of taking falling damage if knocked down them. I kind of like that feel for an ancient citadel in the desert.
This map has a few interesting vertical elements. For starters, in the upper right you can see a crude side profile of the entire dungeon, showing where the upper level in red rests in relation to the other levels.
The watchtower in the upper left has 3 stories to it connected by an outer perimeter stair.
I've included hints of topographic lines to indicate the surface above parts of the dungeon – I could do a better job there.
There are two fumaroles - the two chasms running top-to-bottom - which provide a connection to the surface and the lower levels of the dungeon. If you look closely at the chasms you'll see penciled-shaded areas; these represent bridges spanning the chasm on lower levels of the dungeon - useful to the DM when describing the area (and to me as a writer when writing boxed text), and if a creature jumps or falls.
The shadow wyvern aerie (left) is open-air, so that is a potential entry point into the dungeon.
The sorcellment chamber (left) has a pit in the floor than opens down into the proving grounds, allowing mages to levitate between the two areas.
The wells (W) are like small stepped wells of the kind found in India, connecting all three levels of the dungeon.
The oculus (O) areas actually open up to the surface of the ridge the dungeon is hewn into, which suggests how light interacts with the room, and offers a potential point of ingress/egress.
[SECTION]Resources: Verticality in Dungeons
The Architect DM: Give It Some Height
Dyson's Dodecahedron: Vertical Morphology
Strolen's Citadel: Sanctum of Water[/SECTION]
One of the challenges in D&D is evoking dungeons with vertical elements. They can be challenging to describe to players. They often are challenging to map. They can be challenging to write boxed text for. So what makes including vertical design in a dungeon worth the potential headache?
In my opinion, many things! Vertical design...
- ...opens up new angles of attack, which can be exciting. A wizard might blow up a turret built into the side of a chasm well to drop the enemies firing from the turret's arrow slit screaming into the chasm below. Ranged attacks might get more play in the dungeon.
- ...provides sight lines to PCs of unexplored areas, offering a bit of foreshadowing or enticement to explore. Depending on the PCs' spellcasting abilities this can offer a bit of a challenge, if they see a place but are uncertain how to reach it.
- ...reduces the potential for flat dungeons to feel claustrophobic and opens new avenues of movement. The dungeon can do more with ceilings. A fighter might leap off a bridge spanning a chasm, descending from the main dungeon level to a bridge crossing the same chasm on a lower dungeon level. Falling in a pit might lead to a lower level area. Flight, levitation, and climbing might have greater value.
- ...offers cover and potential shortcuts, making stealth and overhearing conversations a stronger option than in most flat dungeons.
- ...presents a risk of falling (and a use for feather fall, the monk's slow fall, and certain magic items!), and I've found that players love to exploit knocking enemies off things, and just as often are likely to become their own worst enemies (I've seen PC death by falling damage more than any other kind of death).
- ...creates interesting connections between dungeon levels...and potentially within the same dungeon level itself, providing the PCs with more choices for how they might navigate the dungeon.
Here are two hand-drawn maps I've been working on which demonstrate some elements of verticality in different ways.
This work-in-progress map depicts a 3-level mezzanine space, a central hub for the dungeon I'm working on. Pretty simple vertical connection using a hole running through the center of the space and spiral staircases on the right. There's also meant to be a pair of winding staircases (to the left) that's supposed to connect the main and upper levels of the gardens, but I realized I may need to revise that due to dimensions...
Warning: I'm about to go into a level of mapping detail that may not appeal to some gamers. So in this Great Garden I have a roughly 20-foot (240") long staircase that's supposed to ascend a total rise of 30 feet (360"). You can see that more clearly in the map below.
Stairs in modern carpentry usually have a run of 9" (often more) and a rise of about 8.25". Leaving out the complexities of carpentry like riser heights (thanks to a stone-hewn dungeon)...
If I assume each stair has a run of 9", then I divide my total run (240") by 9" and get 26.67 stairs. I'll call it a run of 27 stairs.
The rise always is 1 greater than the run. So the rise if 28 stairs
But is a total of 28 rises enough to ascend those 30 feet (360")? If I divide 360" by 28, I get a required rise height for each stair of 12.86"! Those would be STEEP stairs indeed, considering the modern standard of 8.25" rise! That reminds me of the challenging stairs from Angkor Wat!
So, if I keep those measurements, that's an indicator to me that I should make notation in the adventure about the extreme stairs. These are the kinds of stairs that at least require 2 feet, maybe even 3 feet, of movement to be spent for every 1 foot moved. These are the kinds of stairs that pose a serious risk of taking falling damage if knocked down them. I kind of like that feel for an ancient citadel in the desert.
This map has a few interesting vertical elements. For starters, in the upper right you can see a crude side profile of the entire dungeon, showing where the upper level in red rests in relation to the other levels.
The watchtower in the upper left has 3 stories to it connected by an outer perimeter stair.
I've included hints of topographic lines to indicate the surface above parts of the dungeon – I could do a better job there.
There are two fumaroles - the two chasms running top-to-bottom - which provide a connection to the surface and the lower levels of the dungeon. If you look closely at the chasms you'll see penciled-shaded areas; these represent bridges spanning the chasm on lower levels of the dungeon - useful to the DM when describing the area (and to me as a writer when writing boxed text), and if a creature jumps or falls.
The shadow wyvern aerie (left) is open-air, so that is a potential entry point into the dungeon.
The sorcellment chamber (left) has a pit in the floor than opens down into the proving grounds, allowing mages to levitate between the two areas.
The wells (W) are like small stepped wells of the kind found in India, connecting all three levels of the dungeon.
The oculus (O) areas actually open up to the surface of the ridge the dungeon is hewn into, which suggests how light interacts with the room, and offers a potential point of ingress/egress.
[SECTION]Resources: Verticality in Dungeons
The Architect DM: Give It Some Height
Dyson's Dodecahedron: Vertical Morphology
Strolen's Citadel: Sanctum of Water[/SECTION]
Last edited:
Imaculata
Hero
I suspect that many DM's often leave out vertical elements, simply because its easier to draw a flat dungeon. But that can quickly make all dungeons very flat and boring. The last map I made was entirely vertical, and I drew it from the side. It's much easier to understand the lay out of a tower from a side view, rather than a topview.
I find this a brilliant example of how a bit of extra attention to detail can basically create a very interesting terrain feature, which not only adds color to the description, but may affect player movement, and thus also combat. I bet most DM's would not think very hard about what their stairs look like.
Last edited:
LordEntrails
Hero
Excellent article!
