Modified Keep Level 1

[TFWoods3]

This is for my game so I have changed the story a bit from "Keep on the Shadowfell". I removed areas 9, 10, and 11 completely (I will be using the XP budget earlier in the adventure.) I also completely changed what is found in area 7 and 8 for my game.

Hope you all like it.

[Leonal]

Sweet. The blood effects on the floor turned out really well I think. I put it in my map inspiration folder^^

[TFWoods3]

Thanks L, yes you have to zoom in to full size or you will miss the detail :)

I'm thinking about adding lighting and light sources but I don't know if that is good or if it's better to keep lighting neutral. Modules seem to keep it neutral but I don't know if that is because they are lazy or if there are gameplay reasons to.

[Leonal]

True, I'd say it depends on how you want it to look.
The last dungeon map I created (a dungeon from the Red Hand of Doom adventure, which also was my first one:)) had no natural lighting at all, so it fully depended on PCs either seeing in the dark or providing their own light.

Adding light sources can help adding to the feel of the various rooms though, especially if the light isn't from a 'normal' light source. Nothing like the sickly green/yellow light from cave fungi or the bright purple of a magical crystal.

edit: You should post it at the Cartographer's Guild (https://forum.cartographersguild.com/)^^

[Griogre]

It's best to keep lighting out unless you really want the light there all the time. Otherwise the players are going to assume that any light source on the map is there and on all the time and call you on it. This can get you into trouble if/when the monsters put out the light, unless you keep track of which lights are on or off - with is tedious.

It's always a trade off, but the more detailed stuff you put on a map the more important the players tend to think it is. Thus if you don't watch it you will have players waste a lot of time on things you don't want them to, but it breaks immersion (which is the whole point of the detail) if you tell them to ignore the stuff. This happened to me with a map I was using in H2 where the players are looking for a knife, and lo and behold the map had knives on each of all the altar graphics when there wasn't actually any there in the module.

[TFWoods3]

Good points, thanks for the comments. I will keep torchlight and other easily altered lights out (only describing it) and only add permanent or unnatural lighting when appropriate.

[TFWoods3]

Updated:

Improved the room being dug up
Added grit and cracks to floors in various places.

[Zoso]

Looks great!

[Griogre]

I'm surprised you didn't put a wall up there to hide the secret door on the Goblin Boss' side of the stairs. When I ran KotS one time he got away because the ran away through that secret and the characters took too long to find it.

It's a very good looking map though.

[TFWoods3]

I'm surprised you didn't put a wall up there to hide the secret door on the Goblin Boss' side of the stairs. When I ran KotS one time he got away because the ran away through that secret and the characters took too long to find it.

It's a very good looking map though.


There is a secret door there, I just didn't indicate it from the hallway. Do you mean put one at the top of the stairs too?

[Griogre]

There is a secret door there, I just didn't indicate it from the hallway. Do you mean put one at the top of the stairs too?
Yeah, that's what I was thinking, it seemed strange to me you did that at the bottom of the stair but not at the top.