Simon Collins
Explorer
Battlemaps: Floorplans, Inn Vol. 1 is the second in a 0one Games' Battlemap series, providing series' of maps for standard locations in adventures.
Battlemaps: Floorplans, Inn Vol. 1 is a 23 page .pdf file, 4.75 MB in size, and costs $6. The file is bookmarked to each colour map. Immediately after each colour map is its equivalent in mono for those who wish to save their colour ink. Each map has a natural 1" grid effect in the form of tiles or flagstones, which can be used as a battle map for miniatures. Some of the maps can be printed on a single A4 piece of paper, whilst a couple must be printed on 2 sheets and then meshed together. The view on all maps is top down. A couple of the pages are a bit wasted - comprising an ad and some repeated information on the final page which doesn't make too much sense out of its proper context at the beginning of the product.
The inn portrayed in the maps links to 0one's 'Deadly Ice' adventure but can be used independently of it. The featured inn is known as the Fang, due to its distinctive appearance as it juts from a cliff face in a snowbound pass - this is shown in the view from the front and side given before the main maps. There is also a complete map of the inn with hyperlinks to the different rooms.
The maps offered in Inn Vol 1 are as follows:
* Brewery - this is a light room showing brewing vats and barrels with a tiled floor acting as the grid.
* Common Room - this map is spread over two sheets. It features a fireplace in the shape of a huge stone axe, rugs with a similar axe motif, as well as the bar and standard tables and chairs strewn around the room. The use of light and shadow is excellent.
* Kitchen - showing a plethora of pots, pans and other culinary equipment as well as featuring a large stone chimney breast for the kitchen fire.
* Warehouse - a slightly more gloomy scene than the previous maps but displaying the shadow from an overhead wheel-shaped window on the floor below cleverly. Features a huge barrel jutting from the cliff face as well as numerous barrels, planks, and boxes.
* Bedroom with toilet - cleverly lit bedroom and bathroom, also showing some of the outside hallway. Again, we see the axe motif on the tiled floor used as a grid.
* Master Bedroom - similarly lit larger bedroom with some weapons leaning against the wall, a chest and bookshelves, as well as a staircase running up two of the walls.
* Genius' Room - a bit of an oddity that only makes sense if you own Deadly Ice - this is actually the room of a mad gnome inventor and shows papers strewn everywhere and a huge machine working away mysteriously in the corner.
Conclusion:
The maps are superbly detailed and should be useful in running any scenario in an inn, and would be even more useful used in tandem with 0one's Deadly Ice adventure. Unlike the previous Battlemaps: Dungeon Rooms, the maps here are lighter and airier, in keeping with their subject matter, though the use of light and shadow is not quite as striking as the previous product in the series. My only complaint would be that there is too little to stimulate the imagination in a couple of the maps - the kitchen and bedroom with toilet most obviously. However, this aspect makes it easy to use as a generic inn. The use of 1" grid on each map makes the maps very practical and they should add colour and flare to a GM's handouts.
If you intend to use these maps long-term, investing in a see-through plastic covering might be worthwhile, but for once-offs they're fine and could be re-printed for recurrent use if necessary.
Battlemaps: Floorplans, Inn Vol. 1 is a 23 page .pdf file, 4.75 MB in size, and costs $6. The file is bookmarked to each colour map. Immediately after each colour map is its equivalent in mono for those who wish to save their colour ink. Each map has a natural 1" grid effect in the form of tiles or flagstones, which can be used as a battle map for miniatures. Some of the maps can be printed on a single A4 piece of paper, whilst a couple must be printed on 2 sheets and then meshed together. The view on all maps is top down. A couple of the pages are a bit wasted - comprising an ad and some repeated information on the final page which doesn't make too much sense out of its proper context at the beginning of the product.
The inn portrayed in the maps links to 0one's 'Deadly Ice' adventure but can be used independently of it. The featured inn is known as the Fang, due to its distinctive appearance as it juts from a cliff face in a snowbound pass - this is shown in the view from the front and side given before the main maps. There is also a complete map of the inn with hyperlinks to the different rooms.
The maps offered in Inn Vol 1 are as follows:
* Brewery - this is a light room showing brewing vats and barrels with a tiled floor acting as the grid.
* Common Room - this map is spread over two sheets. It features a fireplace in the shape of a huge stone axe, rugs with a similar axe motif, as well as the bar and standard tables and chairs strewn around the room. The use of light and shadow is excellent.
* Kitchen - showing a plethora of pots, pans and other culinary equipment as well as featuring a large stone chimney breast for the kitchen fire.
* Warehouse - a slightly more gloomy scene than the previous maps but displaying the shadow from an overhead wheel-shaped window on the floor below cleverly. Features a huge barrel jutting from the cliff face as well as numerous barrels, planks, and boxes.
* Bedroom with toilet - cleverly lit bedroom and bathroom, also showing some of the outside hallway. Again, we see the axe motif on the tiled floor used as a grid.
* Master Bedroom - similarly lit larger bedroom with some weapons leaning against the wall, a chest and bookshelves, as well as a staircase running up two of the walls.
* Genius' Room - a bit of an oddity that only makes sense if you own Deadly Ice - this is actually the room of a mad gnome inventor and shows papers strewn everywhere and a huge machine working away mysteriously in the corner.
Conclusion:
The maps are superbly detailed and should be useful in running any scenario in an inn, and would be even more useful used in tandem with 0one's Deadly Ice adventure. Unlike the previous Battlemaps: Dungeon Rooms, the maps here are lighter and airier, in keeping with their subject matter, though the use of light and shadow is not quite as striking as the previous product in the series. My only complaint would be that there is too little to stimulate the imagination in a couple of the maps - the kitchen and bedroom with toilet most obviously. However, this aspect makes it easy to use as a generic inn. The use of 1" grid on each map makes the maps very practical and they should add colour and flare to a GM's handouts.
If you intend to use these maps long-term, investing in a see-through plastic covering might be worthwhile, but for once-offs they're fine and could be re-printed for recurrent use if necessary.
