Mapping Technique: Cavern Walls

Adam walks us through the common situation of having to move from worked stone dungeons to those unworked areas that authors love to toss in!
This is a map from our home campaign, The Crown Academy, which features Crown of the Kobold King as the main series of adventures. We use the academy as a way to vet new players, test builds, and join our patrons at the table.
To see additional videos, photos, and more from The Abomination Arsenal, follow us on Patreon: / orderoftheamberdie

[@SheppiTSRodriguez]

I could listen to Adam talk for hours - Such love for the craft is always inspiring

[@OrderoftheAmberDie]

Glad you like these map vids! I know they are becoming less relevant as the game continues to shift from tabletop to more virtual experiences. We love the game every which way, but playing around the table and drawing crazy maps will always be how the Order prefers to go. --Adam

[@OfficialDjTalksick]

This is cool commenting to boost the algorithm

[@OrderoftheAmberDie]

Thanks, it's worth giving this adventure a look, either in the 2007 or 2E version! --Adam, GM

[@Jader7777]

I've already done this for my home games, some issues I have is that American TTRPG companies use weird measurements like feet and inches or whatever, but what I did is create a pixel to DPI set grid that always prints out 9 3x3 A4 pages which are then cut out and stuck together to perfectly recreate the map for play at a table without having to worry about drawing the map perfectly myself. Ran several modules with maps as presented, Curse Of The Crimson Throne, Skull & Shackles, Abomination Vaults, Honour's Echo etc. Some maps are designed with specific distances or segregations in mind, for example there may be two very dangerous encounters that would be impossible if both were triggered so maps are designed to help isolate encounters. Other times maps are bespoke and tell a very specific story, like a room might have been a crime scene that has to be picked apart to avoid a dangerous trap or creature later on. Other times, specifically with their society play scenarios, the maps are generic reusable maps that have to recontextualize the layout for each encounter- in this instance the maps accuracy is less important and can even be improved with the practiced hand of a GM moving a few things around. Great video overall, have a good one!

[@OrderoftheAmberDie]

Great stuff! As a professional roleplaying group, we are confined to certain parameters for our projects, and presentation is also a concern for each endeavor. I've been in love with drawing maps on vinyl since 1987, and hanging out in our map room to hand-draw a map is an experience I'll miss when my arm gets tired someday. In the meantime, expect some more insane draws like the level 10 map from the end of The Abomination Arsenal! --Adam, GM/Project Admin.