There really are so many more useful RPG products out there than just rulebooks and setting modules. Certainly, rulebooks and settings represent the core products of nearly all role-playing game systems, but there’s a ton of other products which are often taken for granted that can really enhance the gaming experience for GM and Players alike. And while the main focus of this review column has historically been looking at “written” RPG products, one cannot deny that game aides and other accessories can be an important part of running and playing in a campaign for many gaming fans. Such products deserve a moment in the spotlight as much as a core rulebook or adventure module, and this particular review aims to address that oversight.
Just this month, Dramascape (check out the Google+ site) released a new RPG map pack, adding another item to a growing list of gaming accessories available for download and printing for any game system. Dramascape: Hall of Statues offers a ready-to-print and ready-to-use battlemap, brimming with details and untold adventure possibilities for a GM to unleash.
Hall of Statues (Fantasy Volume #52)
Hall of Statues is a Fantasy Role-Playing Game map accessory depicting a necropolis full of strange statues and columns, ready to be printed and used at the gaming table. The PDF contains an 18 tile map set printed three ways – square overlay, hex overlay, and no overlay at all. There are also instructions on how best to print and set up the map, as well as a description of the map features and tips on types of adventures could be run there. And finally, the map collection also comes with a file in a Virtual Table Top (VTT) format which can be imported and utilized in moments.
Production Quality
The production quality of Hall of Statues is quite good, with a considerable amount of details on the maps and a decent write-up by the designer on how the battlemap might be used in an FRPG. The designers writing style is straightforward and factual, without much embellishment, but not too surprising given that the main point of the product is the maps themselves.
Navigation through the product is handled by the PDF page view mainly. There is a table of contents to the start of each map type – square, hex, or no overlay – and it is hot linked to the first page of the appropriate map type.
The art quality of the Hall of Statues is remarkably good, with a nice looking cover but some incredibly detailed maps of the necropolis itself. Close inspection of the maps reveal some lovely texturing, like cracks in the stone walls and on the flagstone floor. The classical pillars, wall sconces, urns, and the statues themselves are clearly identifiable, and zooming into the map definitely gives an illusion of three dimensions to the halls and corridors.
And around this corner, you see…
Hall of Statues is a pretty straightforward product – print the version of the map desired onto card stock or as paper pasted to card board - and you have a ready-made dungeon locale for fantasy gaming.
The designer provides a couple paragraphs of descriptions about the map and recommends some creatures that might inhabit the place. Skeletons are an obvious choice here given the detailed skeletal remains and the one wing of the necropolis literally piled high with bones and skulls. And of course the statues themselves can be used as monsters, whether golems or animated stone creations - or perhaps even creatures which come to life. The latter might be a small problem given that one of the statues looks like a dolphin cresting a wave – not a particularly threatening beastie if it came to life in a dry catacomb.
As for scale, the maps themselves are designed for one inch to five feet according to the designer, and that fits with most standard miniatures and monster pogs. Having the option for square or hex overlays provides good options for nearly any game system, and the non-overlayed map could be used in systems with a wargamer “tape-measure” style of movement.
Instructions for printing and trimming the maps are a nice inclusion but fairly unnecessary for most gamers. Overall, it would take very little time to get this map ready to use for a night of gaming.
Overall Score: 6.9 out of 10.0
Conclusions
Dreamscape: Hall of Statues is a pretty sharp looking map accessory for just about any roleplaying game system. Although ostensibly designed for a fantasy setting, there’s nothing stopping a GM from using it as an ancient ruin in a Horror or SciFi genre game. The details on the map are very well rendered, and just looking at the map will be enough for many GMs to be inspired with all kinds of stories and plots on what this place is in their campaign – and what foul creatures might be lurking there.
While it is true that a GM will have to print and assemble the map themselves to fully utilize it, the price is set at a bargain for a lovely rendered map - even if it takes a little extra effort to get it to the gaming table!
Editorial Note: This Reviewer purchased a copy of the product in PDF format from which this review was written.
Grade Card (Ratings 0 to 10)
Hall of Statues (Fantasy Volume #52)
- Written by: Steven J. Black
- Art/Cartography: Simon Powell
- Publisher: Dramascape
- Year: 2015
- Media: PDF (60 pages)
- Price: $3.99 (Available in PDF format from RPGNow!)
Hall of Statues is a Fantasy Role-Playing Game map accessory depicting a necropolis full of strange statues and columns, ready to be printed and used at the gaming table. The PDF contains an 18 tile map set printed three ways – square overlay, hex overlay, and no overlay at all. There are also instructions on how best to print and set up the map, as well as a description of the map features and tips on types of adventures could be run there. And finally, the map collection also comes with a file in a Virtual Table Top (VTT) format which can be imported and utilized in moments.
Production Quality
Navigation through the product is handled by the PDF page view mainly. There is a table of contents to the start of each map type – square, hex, or no overlay – and it is hot linked to the first page of the appropriate map type.
The art quality of the Hall of Statues is remarkably good, with a nice looking cover but some incredibly detailed maps of the necropolis itself. Close inspection of the maps reveal some lovely texturing, like cracks in the stone walls and on the flagstone floor. The classical pillars, wall sconces, urns, and the statues themselves are clearly identifiable, and zooming into the map definitely gives an illusion of three dimensions to the halls and corridors.
And around this corner, you see…
The designer provides a couple paragraphs of descriptions about the map and recommends some creatures that might inhabit the place. Skeletons are an obvious choice here given the detailed skeletal remains and the one wing of the necropolis literally piled high with bones and skulls. And of course the statues themselves can be used as monsters, whether golems or animated stone creations - or perhaps even creatures which come to life. The latter might be a small problem given that one of the statues looks like a dolphin cresting a wave – not a particularly threatening beastie if it came to life in a dry catacomb.
Instructions for printing and trimming the maps are a nice inclusion but fairly unnecessary for most gamers. Overall, it would take very little time to get this map ready to use for a night of gaming.
Overall Score: 6.9 out of 10.0
Conclusions
Dreamscape: Hall of Statues is a pretty sharp looking map accessory for just about any roleplaying game system. Although ostensibly designed for a fantasy setting, there’s nothing stopping a GM from using it as an ancient ruin in a Horror or SciFi genre game. The details on the map are very well rendered, and just looking at the map will be enough for many GMs to be inspired with all kinds of stories and plots on what this place is in their campaign – and what foul creatures might be lurking there.
While it is true that a GM will have to print and assemble the map themselves to fully utilize it, the price is set at a bargain for a lovely rendered map - even if it takes a little extra effort to get it to the gaming table!
Editorial Note: This Reviewer purchased a copy of the product in PDF format from which this review was written.
Grade Card (Ratings 0 to 10)
- Presentation: 6.75
- - Design: 6.0 (Decent writing; utilitarian layout; fairly user-friendly)
- - Illustrations: 7.5 (Good looking maps; pretty cover; lots of little details!)
- Content: 6.5
- - Crunch: NA (Not applicable – system neutral)
- - Fluff: 6.5 (Some nice ideas for dungeon design; most GMs can create even more details on their own!)
- Value: 7.5 (Very cheap for a lovely dungeon map set!)
