November 2016 Challenge: Crypt of the Witch King

[damonjynx]

Hi folks,

Decided to have a crack at this. If I get it finished in time it won't be as flash as some of the entries but I like to keep things simple

Anyhow, my dice rolls (computer generated in excel using randbetween function... hope that's ok) were; 4, 6, 5, 4 & 3 respectively. I know I've got a bit to do...

Nov Challenge.jpg

[Greg]

Welcome to the challenge damonjynx! Nice and old-school style so far.

I guess if you keep it simple, you can always do what I'm doing and add more to it if you have time.

[damonjynx]

Welcome to the challenge damonjynx! Nice and old-school style so far.

I guess if you keep it simple, you can always do what I'm doing and add more to it if you have time.

Thanks Greg. I've been feeling a bit nostalgic of late, hence the old-school style. Also, I don't believe I'm particularly artistic, and I'm "re-discovering" Photoshop, which is why I like to keep things simple while I practice known skills and learn new ones. Plus, IMO, old-school maps look cool, regardless of the level of artistry

[Diamond]

I love the trusty Ol' Blues. Just looking at a map like this brings back fond memories...

[damonjynx]

Hi folks,

Updated version with doors, and other stuff added, colour corrections made.

The northern room, is the main entrance.

The room running off this west, is a nasty trap. When PC's open the door without the key (safely tucked away in the sarcophagus containing the Witch Kings remains) they see what they believe to be a treasure vault. On entering past the illusory wall the trap springs; the door shuts and the contents of the room are revealed - dozens of skeletons from past victims. The poor unfortunates are left to either, starve or die of thirst, whichever comes first.

The door in the south east corner is another trap; opening the door without the key animates the 2 iron golems that relentlessly attack the PC's.

As for the rest...watch this space.
### Latest WIP ###

Nov Challenge WIP2.jpg

[damonjynx]

Hi folks,

Here is the finished Crypt of the Witch King.

A nasty little dungeon. As you might be able to guess, my group just finished a nasty, classic module, The Tomb of Horrors (3.5 version). I wasn't influenced by that at all...not much!

### Latest WIP ###

Nov Challenge Final.jpg

Edit: Just realised, I made a mistake with Room 3: The trap should be fire based, not a distracting illusion. Damn, I'll have to redo - thank heavens I've used layer upon layer...
Edit:2 I realised when I thought I made a mistake I was actually wrong. While I was doing my lunchtime walk, it occured to me that the die rolls I posted originally only included that 2 rooms were trapped, they didn't include the D6 roll for the traps which as I recall now were a 2 & 6. So all is right with the world and woe to any unprepared players entering the crypt

[Diamond]

Really solid work! I like it.

[damonjynx]

Thanks Diamond. It was a fun & cool challenge. I might, when I get time, convert my illustrator objects to PS brushes...

Hopefully Santa will bring me a graphics tablet which will make life much easier.

PS: Note my edited post above. My entry did comply with the brief after all.

[damonjynx]

Hi Folks,

Fixed up a spelling mistake on the room key - door, in every version of English I know, should have 2 o's not 1.

Also realised I forgot to add some stairs...flat dungeons aren't very interesting.

### Latest WIP ###

Nov Challenge Final.jpg

So what did I learn from this challenge? Lots.

1. You can never have enough layers, put every different element on it's own layer.
2. Creating icons in illustrator is fine, placing them as smart objects, not so much. Far easier and quicker to convert them to brushes, then you don't end up with 20 or more layers to rasterize/merge if you want to re-colour and so on.
3. Don't use icons with descriptors, locked and trapped doors & chests for example, put the standard icons in and add the descriptors on, you guessed it, a separate layer. Much easier to create player versions of your maps if you actually want to use them.

Good luck to all the entrants - there are some really good maps in this challenge!