Maps and Traps

Two posts! Is this a real blog now?  In keeping with the rest of my creative output, I'm late with this one.  I am mostly caught up with #Dungeon23, but various other obligations have kept me from sitting down to type.  

In my mind, one of the most important parts of a megadungeon, and this particular design challenge, is the map.  When I pick up an adventure or setting book, especially a megadungeon, it's the first thing I look for, and the first thing I judge.  If the map is boring, (or worse, small!) I'm more likely to pay less attention to the rest of it.  For instance, Doug Kovacs' DCC maps are detailed and evocative and make me want to explore them!  Skullfungus does incredible things with simple lines and small spaces. Boring squares and lines don't do much for me and the rest of the adventure better be cool to catch my attention.

A decent amount of my new side-hustle in RPG illustration has been maps.  I've had the opportunity to get paid to work on some things for my old buddy Max Moon, and I've been forced to learn a lot quickly.  I'm very slow and spend agonizing amounts of time on details, but I've realized that I have little interest in drawing simple maps.  I want a map to feel like a real space, and I want it to prompt adventure and roleplaying.  I'm not interested in maps for tactical combat or VTT play. Here are a couple of examples I've done recently.

Fairyland: The House of The Sunken Stars

The Abyss of Hallucinations, Vol 2 (upcoming!)

So, how does that apply to OCCLUSION?  I'm still figuring that out. I've chosen to use the recommended Hobonichi Techo Weeks MEGA to organize my dungeon. For a daily writing challenge, it makes sense.  Days of the week on the left, grid on the right. Perfect.  The pages are tall and narrow, which puts an interesting constraint on the map.  I've given myself an additional challenge by nature of the first level trap/puzzle, which is best described and viewed vertically.  As I move into other areas and levels, I'm shifting to a top view at times and increasing the scale as I move into Level 2 to give a sense of vast dark emptiness.  

As I write, I realize I'm likely going to need to add things to this after the exercise is complete if I want to flesh it out fully and eventually publish it.  I don't think the final version will contain the level of detail I've put into the maps above.  But, this is a Rough Draft, remember?  So the goal is to get something down and keep grinding. It isn't perfect and it isn't final.  As the levels get deeper and more complex, with lots of interconnectivity and secret passages, it's harder to keep track of the connections.  So I'm doing my best to keep an "accurate" map of each room for size and form considerations, but I've also begun a very nebulous point-crawl style map just to keep on top of those connections.  More on that to come.  You will notice as I share my weekly pages that I am adding small details, keeping things very loose, but enough that it keeps the maps interesting to me and helps me imagine the setting and feel of the spaces here.  I still haven't settled on a style for this and it will likely continue to evolve as I go.  Which brings us to the good stuff...

Week 3: Deeper into bandit territory.  What sort of strange people would live in a place like this?  Having fun thinking of some new flora and fauna with which to stock the dungeon (to be written later.) Playing around with elevation, open spaces and more water features.  Each new area should prompt at least as many questions as it answers.  As is good megadungeon form, we find a new secret exit/entrance to the dungeon and a passage to another level!  In notebook news, I'm disappointed to learn all the heavily smudged pencil on this paper causes my Pilot Precise to smudge when trying to erase, even after thorough drying.

Week 4: Backtracking here to the other side of the Pit, so we're back to a side view of this strange area (this is why I need a point-crawl map.)  Things start to get a little weirder here, but brave adventurers may find one of the entrances to Level 2.  The real question is: are they prepared?  Spoiler: Level 2 is entirely underwater.  If the party has not yet acquired the means to proceed, this expedition won't last long.  I've got some good ideas for General Dungeon Procedures that will need to be used to make this all playable, but it will by no means be easy.

That's all for now, please follow and share!  I welcome questions and comments.  I will also be playtesting some of this in the near future, likely using The Black Hack 2e for simplicity.  If you are interested in trying it out, email me! (adwebber AT gmail) 

And if you're into solo RPGs, please back Twelve Years: Demon Lord Expansion!  I will be contributing some illustrations and would be overjoyed if we hit the stretch goals to increase creator pay!