The Castle of the Bloated One - Motte & Bailey Tower

August 25, 1977 Original Concept

The Motte & Bailey Tower at Vargas was originally designed as a storehouse of information, predating Crestfallen Library by some 400 years. In it's day, travelers came to seek the council of the sage - Miros Chanel, and spend time searching the large (for it's time) 800 book collection.

Miros designed the layout based on an early M&B South of Yggsburgh, adding in a few surprises and secrets of his own. The sub-level gave direct access to the dungeons, and another large collection of books, although the proper magic to open the doorway has long since been forgotten.

Presented below is the M&B Tower complex, with levels and furnishings:

 Cheers,

The Castle of the Bloated One - Mausoleum Complex

August 25, 1977 Original Concept

The Mausoleum was created to house the Helmgren and Linkholm clans, but it also came to be a place where the minor Lords (and Ladies) of the land found their final resting place. In 652, the last corridors were finished and the first Lord, Davish Penlin was laid to rest shortly thereafter. Davish had been the unfortunate victim of a ghast attack near the old village, and his head was buried separately from the body.

The first ceremony within the Mausoleum was laying the bones of Vargas Helmgren. Harrod Helmgren and Semias Linkholm felt he deserved a place of honor and his is the only tomb to have a separate chamber.

The finished Mausoleum Complex:

Cheers,

The Castle of the Bloated One

August 24, 1977 Original Concept

Having finished the town of Troyen, home to the Bloated Blowfish, my next task was to develop a castle befitting the events that led to part of the Crestfallen Mountains collapsing. I remembered reading on Motte & Bailey's in my Encyclopedia Britannica so I decided to create one that had a tower on the Motte instead of the traditional castle/manor. The manor proper would be more of a summer home and would be centralized on the Bailey - while the Motte's Tower would be a 5 level construction (with 2 levels below ground). At this point I was unsure whom would reside in the tower or even what it would contain.

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Motte & Bailey at Vargas Background:

Originally built in 326 by Vargas Helmgren as an outpost along the Salt Route, the M&B was caught in the middle of a war that broke out over land rights to the South. For 130 years peace was unattainable since both sides had a claim to the land - all based on a 800 year old scroll found in an abandoned Abbey.

In 515, the war ended when King Prothall ruled the land belonged to the freemen whom had lived there for a thousand years. This set precedence, and led to the Great Land Rush of 519. Harrod Helmgren, the great-grandson of Vargas and Semias Linkholm took advantage of the ruling and began construction on a larger fortification. The Motte & Bailey at Vargas circa 519:

In September of 1977 I imagined an outer and inner courtyard, with which a Prison, Church/Temple, and multiple buildings would slowly build up around Vargas as the years past. I first built the walls to the West, and extended them northward till they ran into a natural rock encampment that became a harbor point. From there, I used Medieval Demographics to promote the increased population, and added more housing around the Motte, slowly expanding outward.

The Motte & Bailey in 730, with outer walls and expanded road/housing

Finally, it came to me that a central Castle that could fade in and out of this existence/plane might be an interesting focal point for some of the oddities that one might find in the area. I wasn't quite sure how the castle would move about so I left it alone for a few years.

In between, I developed the prison, split the castle into upper and lower precincts, and decided that the area around the Motte would be considered Oldtown. Then, in 1984 N. Robin Crosby and his magnificent Harn introduced EarthMaster sites. The concept of special sites all over the world that could be activated by long forgotten magic/energy played directly into my hands, and I was able to finish the vision I had of a massive Castle that enveloped the original Vargas M&B.

Next the Motte & Bailey had a subterranean section added where "secret magics" could be performed and to the North an underground Mausoleum was created to house the Helmgren and Linkholm clans. Lastly, an underground entrance to the Prison was devised, which I decided early on would not have access within the castle's walls.

Below is an overlay of the Dungeon/Catacombs with the Castle proper outline visible:

Below is the finished Castle with elevation, roads, buildings and enclosed Motte:

Thus, The Castle of the Bloated One came to be...

Dungeonographer Quick-Review

For some time, I've been hailing the virtues of Fractal Mapper 8 http://www.nbos.com/products/mapper/mapper.htm to create solid fantasy worlds and dungeons. Few products on the market can match it for price and flexibility, and I've done plenty of work with it on this very blog.

From Overland maps:
Case Study Archipelago
Gone Fishing Module

to a 3 level Dungeon :
Well of Lost Souls, Level 1
Well of Lost Souls, Level 2
Well of Lost Souls, Level 3

*****
Now from Inkwell Ideas, the makers of Hexographer, comes Dungeonographer.

It's built to run via Java, and I've tried out the free version to test its capabilities on my Windows 7 laptop prior to investing in the full "Pro" version. Overall, there is a ton to like with the layout, from choosing the size of the base map to placing items and building your own dungeon.

A Random Dungeon Generator is included, and as you'll see in the screenshots, it has a solid design

After clicking Generate Map, the Random Map is displayed. I love that this can be used to inspire/give ideas, and you can fully edit the Generated map within the tools. Below is a map created using the default settings (as seen above).

Tabs run along the top of the main window. Here you can switch to each and custom set the look of colors for your specific needs. Remember to click APPLY when finished otherwise the settings will not be applied to your current design.

Choose a floor tile, left click on it to highlight it and then simply click in the main window, or left drag to fill a larger area. I would like to see the ability to flood fill a chosen section, for larger maps, but this is quick and very easy to use.

The right side of Dungeonographers main window is dedicated to buttons that provide you access to the various tools you'll need. Below I'm showing each with some highlights.

The Map Items tab gives you access to a wide range of items, all broken down by a Filter. Need doors, choose doors from the drop down filter and your set. I would like to see a separate category or folder structure to help me isolate just Medieval/Fantasy style items, but this shortcoming is minimal compared to the ability to import your own custom items.

You can draw freehand (Erol Otus style), or use the Snap-to-Vertex mode. To delete a line, choose the Select Line and choose it then hit delete. I would like to see the ability to move an entire line, or even a single vertex point., but very versatile tools are included here

Being able to combine smooth walls and caverns together is a breeze within Dungeonographer., as shown below.

Some odds and ends here, highlights include being able to save as png and also choose the exact scale I need. Boom, winner, winner, Beholder dinner!. This is far and away a feature that every tool should have, and this one pushes Dungeonographer way up the scale of goodness.

The two previous posts on this blog, "Old Reaver's Tomb" and "Cult of the Owlbear" feature maps that were created in 15 minutes with Dungeonographer. What I find to be the best reason to upgrade to the full "pro" version is the amount of time you'll save in creating a dungeon complex.

Joe has done a brilliant job in the design of Dungeonographer, and it is indeed a very versatile product. The full Pro version is $25.99, and should be, in this persons opinion, the defacto search when you type Dungeon Designer in Google. It's that good!

Cheers,

Cult of the Owlbear

August 9th, 1977 Original Concept

The upper level of Old Reaver's Tomb came about due to my grandmother's love for owls and my fascination with a creature from D&D that never seems to get much love, the Owlbear.

*****
 The central stairs lead upward to the level proper, where cultists live and "play" as it were. Two separate exits lead to the surface, both of which share buildings in the small village of Reaver's Bridge. This gives the cultists prime access to the River, Salt Route and Forest for victims and escape into the night.

The main cavern has a triple set of statues; two smaller at the base of the natural steps (on either side of the lava pool) and a large central statue to Osh'gystue, God of the Owlbears. 

Old Reaver's Tomb

August 9th, 1977 Original Concept

This long forgotten tomb was originally conceived after a neighborhood friend and I spent the day underneath the bridge at my grandfather's house. We built up some boards in the creek, and as the water slowly built up, it became our own little wading pond - with enough depth to sit on the shelf under the bridge proper. I had some hex paper in my drawing kit and as part of the original design of Isolde Delta, I felt that placing tombs/barrows/stone circles would be an integral part of the layout, and also gave the world more depth.

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The Brown River begins in the Crestfallen Mountains, and has a gentle journey before falling downward 4800 feet to an upper plateau near a precipice. From there the river runs to the Southeast and plummets at Landsdrop, forming the sister rivers; Plume and Soulease.

Here, the sisters split, the Soulease runs westward around the basin of Landsdrop, while the Plume drops into the Vale of Shadows. The rapids in this region plunge downward to the East, bringing up deep ore deposits as it rips through the hardened upper regions, and finally calms as the Plume joins with Reaver's Gorge at Corvis. 

Reaver's Gorge meanders to the Southwest dropping some 200 feet over the course of the 20 mile journey to Reaver's Bridge. The river then flows into Andelain and splits again, part of it dropping ever South, while a slower vein travels Westward before joining with it's sister, the Soulease South of Coppice.

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Most of the shoreline near Reaver's Bridge is manageable only in the Fall and dead of Winter, in part due to the height of the river during the rest of the year. Some of the locals fish these regions, and tales speak of caves that contain more than the dead carcass of unfortunate animals looking for a warm place to sleep.

Combined World Map

As part of an ongoing Campaign Design/History I've been assembling, our group - the Foaming Flagons decided to create a single world map that we will adventure in. John was kind enough to assemble the main layout, with the only pieces missing being Harn and The Land. I added those in, and currently:

John has his 0E campaign in the Wilderlands
Brett has his 2E campaign in Faerun
I have my 1E campaign in The Land/Harn

The benefit of such a world is that there is the very real possibility that the players from different campaigns may well meet each other/adventure together. But more-so was the concept that we all agreed upon of a "Living City within a Dungeon" complex.

The group in my campaign is at a point that they might well descend into one of these Living City levels within Castle Zagyg (depending on which of the 3 sets of stairs they choose).

Lastly, in the very near future, I'm gearing up to run a Middle Earth campaign set during the 2nd Age - just forget any reference to the ring and you've got the correct mindset.

Cheers,