…..Friday’s “Mystery Meat”…..

~ Attention. Here’s an update on tonight’s dinner. It was veal. I repeat, veal. The winner of tonight’s mystery meat contest is Jeffrey Corbin who guessed “some kind of beef.”~

     I’m back, Welcome to the New Year’s Eve Edition of Friday’s “Mystery Meat”.  This episode brings you a complete, mostly keyed Mini-Dungeon. I found this in some of my old stuff this morning, and amazingly I actually have the hand-written key to the map, including a wandering monster table.  Stone Spire Mountain (Level 1), I’m pretty sure this is from 1981 or 82, I don’t think I ever made a level 2. Like I said the key is handwritten, so if you can read my handwritting (cursive no less) you will get a glimpse into my style of Dungeons & Dragons at that time. I always played loose with the Holmes rules and AD&D at the time, sort of a mish-mash of both, but that is how we rolled back then.  I had a preference for humanoids then, we have Orcs and Ogres of the Red Demon Tribe.  They have  Kobold slaves (some in chain gangs) mining the mountain. Reading through it again, I see I have Gnolls (from a nearby hill) in negotiations with the Red Demon Tribe. All of the little x’s you see sprinkled about the map, are the locations of the individual orcs, ogres, etc. that are listed in the key. It was a lot of fun looking this over again.  I scanned it all in and bumped up the contrast to make it a little easier to read. Adjusting the contrast on the map, yellowed it a lot, which makes it look older like a piece of parchment paper. I combined everything into a single PDF file. Like I said it’s all just hand-written notes….but to me it’s a interesting look back into the past of my D&D style. Hope you all enjoy it….and I wish everyone a very Happy New Year.  

Click Here for the full PDF of Stone Spire Mountain.

…..Friday’s “Mystery Meat”…..

~ Attention. Here’s an update on tonight’s dinner. It was veal. I repeat, veal. The winner of tonight’s mystery meat contest is Jeffrey Corbin who guessed “some kind of beef.”~

     Welcome to the Christmas Eve Edition of the Friday “Mystery Meat”. I wasn’t sure if I would get any time to actually post this today, seeing as how tis the season,    …..but here it is. This week we have an old map, an Ogre’s Lair. I did this one on some engineering graph paper I discovered in while studying mech engineering in college. I loved this graph paper at the time. The actual grid is on the other side of the page, but is easy enough to see through the other side to map with. Plus it has holes punched for a binder and boxes at the top for labeling. I have a lot of maps done on this stuff. 

      As far as the ogre’s lair itself, the abanded mines are timber supported and were original mined by gnomes. There is a Gnome engineered elevator to the caves below. I also see a large cavern that is a crypt/graveyard. The undead there will not animate unless the sarcophagus in N is disturbed. I wish I could find the original key to this thing as it looks like a lot of fun. I seem to remember it was a lot of fun to play. Merry Christmas everyone…..I wish all of you and your families a very wonderful holiday season.

Click Here for a full page PDF of this map.

Geomorph Set 4

    Here is the complete set of Geomorphs for Set 4. Click Here for a full page PDF.

Geomorph 24 (Set 4)

    Presenting the last geomorph in this set. Nothing too spectacular,  just rooms and corridors….with a sprinking of some secret rooms. It’s funny, when I look at this geomorph now, it doesn’t really do anything for me. It was a while ago when I actually drew it, so I don’t even know what I was thinking when I drew it. I just know that I need to make sure future geomorphs have more interesting features. Fortunately, a set that I’ve been working on is much more interesting, the next set even has a “theme”. Stay Tuned and keep the faith.

Geomorph 23 (Set 4)

    A new geomorph. This one’s a little more interesting. Corridors with stairs leading down to archways that open into a large room. There is an upper balcony in the upper level of the room looking out over the lower part. The balcony can be entered by the double doors, stairs from the lower level, or the short secret passage. Balconies are great for ambushes.

Geomorph 22 (Set-4)

     Here’s a new geomorph, some more large rooms or hals with lots-o-pillars. There is a secret tunnel that is the only access to a small room. Also some other secret rooms in this one as well.  Have Fun.

A new Pocket Full of Peril from Sword & Shield

    Fenway5 at Sword & Shield posted  Pocket Full of Peril #5 based on this week’s Friday “Mystery Meat”. All I have to say is “Freaking Awesome….Rock on Fenway5…!!!!” Check out Pocket Full of Peril #4 based on some of Dyson’s geomorphs too.

Geomorph 21 (Set 4)

        Here’s Geomorph 21, this one is more interesting than the last. We have a large rooom surround by archway entrances and full of pillars. I see this as a great place for a tactical running battle.

Geomorph 20 (Set 4)

      Here is the next geomorph in the set. Nothing really special here,  just some simple rooms and some corridors. Have no fear, some of the next geomorphs in this set are a little more interesting. 

UPDATE: Fixed the Line in the upper left passage. Thank you PseudoFenton for catching that for me.

 

…..Friday’s “Mystery Meat”…..

~ Attention. Here’s an update on tonight’s dinner. It was veal. I repeat, veal. The winner of tonight’s mystery meat contest is Jeffrey Corbin who guessed “some kind of beef.”~

 

      Here is something I’ve worked on in the recent past. Geomorph Strips, Long geomorphs, to which you can add the regular geomorphs, three to a side and one on either end, to these. These are an example of two different strips, a large cavern\crevasse and a large room\rooms and hallways strip.  These strips give me a little more creative freedom, yet still work well with the regular 100′ x 100′ standard tile. I can do larger areas, caverns, rooms, special areas to enhance the use of the regular tiles.  I plan on making some more of these as I go. Please let me know what you think. Is it a good idea or…… not so good?

Click Here for a full page PDF.