A Bloody Hello

[dannad]

Hello!

Name's Dannad... long time lurker and appreciator, first time poster. I was just kicking around an idea for a upcoming series of DnD 4th ed stuff I will be running with some of my online buddies (we're using RpTool's Maptools as our virtual tabletop). It looks like they're interested in playing something I suggested just offhand... and now I'm in a pickle!

They got interested in playing, basically, a 4e version of Blood Bowl. Some of you are probably familiar with the concept... suffice to say, it's going to be quite different in rules and layout from the original - but I digress. Onto the problem.

I need to make Arenas. The basic size and scale of the arenas should be roughly the same - but with enough variation in the content and layout to provide some different challenges.

The concept - thus far - is that the emperor of the setting has re-opened the long-abandoned blood sport of "Blood Bowl" in a Bread-and-Circuses maneuver to keep the populace happy. The city states in that empire have eagerly scrambled to form teams to compete against one-another - to vie for status, revenue, and favor with the bloodthirsty emperor. Think of it like the NFL, for gladiators.

That said - My challenge is a tall order... I'll need about .. lets say 7 arenas. They have to have a baseline of similarity, so that the players get some familiarity with the tactics and layout - but have to be diverse enough to show the personality of the "home team" that resides therein.

Any thoughts as to where I could begin? I don't necessarily want handouts - I certainly wouldn't refuse them though (haha... gotta ask, or you never get!). More or less I am just using this place to get and bounce off ideas. Certainly any WIP I have I'll put up - and I'd encourage anyone interested in this project to do the same.

Thanks in advance, I hope to have some insightful and helpful discussion. I know this community is one of the best!

-Dannad

[Gandwarf]

Welcome Dannad!
If I understand correctly, you need maps like this:
http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=860

There are more arena maps on this forum. Maybe you can grab a few... most people won't mind if you ask them and use their maps in a private game (unless the author has placed additional restrictions of course).

[NeonKnight]

Welcome to the Guild!

[Steel General]

Welcome Aboard!

[Ascension]

Welcome to the guild.

[dannad]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome! I know this community is one of the best in the intertubes (and not the best for maps, just the best period... friendly helpful people!)

[Korash]

Wow....your Will Save must have been been sky high to resist the continual pressure to post SOMETHING before now. One more month and it would have been an entire year!!!

Nice to see you out of the shadows at last. Welcome aboard.

In all that time have you given mapping a try at all? What software you planning on using? Nice concept for a game setting, and once you have the first stadium done, you can then figure out what should stay the same (Field, First rows of stands, ect) and then use those as a template sort of thing. Would make creating the other stads much faster

[Turgenev]

Welcome to the Guild, dannad. You've come to the right place.

[icosahedron]

Hi Dannad,
A guy named Danbereth was recently asking for arenas in the requests forum. I think Maptools can create tilemaps, so your best idea might be to download something like Torstan's dungeon tile project from the VTT forum and put your own arena together.
Don't ask me what should goes in an arena, though, it's not my forte.