Fantasy maps created using Xara Xtreme

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I'm still creating sci-fi stuff, but I needed a weekend break from all the ship deck plans I've been creating, so I made me a map of some seedy bar, I call Joe's Place, in the bad part of town in some city... I wanted to include my recently created flying/hover car map objects to populate the street outside. Inside I include a holographic exotic dancer machine, called Holo-Gogo, just for fun. This was entirely created in Xara Designer Pro x11 using photo image fills. I've been using the 3D extrude tool more and more in my Xara created maps.

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I've never created canon Spelljammer ship deck plans before, that's what has been asked of me, so I started working on an Elven Warbird. Spelljammer, for those who don't know is an old Dungeons & Dragons exotic setting of space fantasy, but outer space is different than our own. There is a gravity plane there, atmospheres surround any object in space, and things living in those spaces can breath for about a week without dying of oxygen deprevation, though you need to enter planetary atmospheres to refresh your air bubble. These odd rules allow airships to sail the solar winds of space in open deck ships. Wizards wearing spelljammer helms use magic to power these ships.

I will definitely complete the deck plans, though I've just learned, starting tomorrow, I'll be creating 20 maps for a youth oriented adventure path for Legendary Games.

Here's the two top decks, I've created so far. An elven warbird is a live plant based ship grown in batches - kind of like a rose, and colors can differentiate models based on which batch they were grown. I need to create 4 versions of each deck, if not actual differences, then I need to offer alternate interior furnishings placed, as these ships are often stolen by pirates for their use instead of purely for elven communities. One is a typical elven warbird, the other created so far is a cursed one, I'm calling the Autumn Warbird - the undead version with banshee (elf ghosts) crewing it for some creepy fun.

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Here's the second map of the 20 map commission I am currently working on. The adventure path is called Trail of the Apprentice, by Paris Crenshaw for Legendary Games, and is a series of modules targeted to a young player audience. Interestingly, based on the author's reference text and rough draft of the map, he mentioned 14 specific, named locations - Lord Mayor's residence, City Council Hall, County Seat, Barracks, Wizard's College, Port Authority and six taverns and inns, the author and publisher hadn't anticipated being able to label specific buildings. Since I created specific structures for those named locations, before populating the city with the rest of the buildings, they are now opting to label those structures.

Okay, 18 maps to go...

Michael

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Have nice stroll through a sewer - map 5 done, working on number 6... enjoy!

If you ask, "Are those fish in the water?", I can honestly say, there are four fish in the water, but more than likely what you're seeing is probably not fish...!?

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Map 10 of 20 complete for this commission. This is the ruins of a castle greathall. You'll notice that some of these maps have a grid and some don't, in actuality I am just posting one of each of three versions for each map: one with labels and a 1 inch square grid for the publication, one with without labels but with a grid as a player map, and one without a grid for use in virtual tabletop applications which as a grid built into the system that are laid over maps. In virtual tabletop the icons for characters and monsters, etc are snapped to the grid for game use (so do not me to add an additional grid.)

Oh, and as aside to this post, my previous post of my contest entry of the space station dungeon, while still not judged for the contest yet, my free version posted online has earned a 5 star rating and review, as well as having gotten hundreds of downloads of it already. I hope the contest judges hold the same opinion.

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With a momentary break from my commission job while I wait on the adventure author to complete the last 6 rough drafts so I finish, I opted to create an entire village of say 12 to 15 buildings with interior floor plans (at encounter scale: 1 inch = 5 feet). So far a chapel that can serve as a school house or village hall when needed, a smithy, a miller/bakery with water wheel, and a well, and the Blue Buck Tavern and Inn with stables. Working on a armory with a single jail cell and a general store, next.

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Village update: small manor ground floor and grounds completed. Note the stairs at the end of the central hallway bottom, going up to the second level is on the right side, however it fades out before reaching the top of the stairs. I did this to show the kitchen (room to right of stairs) has a back door that goes under the stairs then out the back door). I needed to show this part. Next upper floor, attic, and cellar - almost done. Then done with the series and release this as a product.

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Second floor and attic level of the small manor previously posted. Master bedroom top left, central hall with observation room over the foyer, teenage daughter's chamber on top right. Bottom left is the guarderobe (lavatory), nursury to the right of that, stairs down/up, child son's room, linen closet - I've since added some shelves and cabinets (not shown). Attic with large peaked roof overhead, doors on either side access flat open roofs beyond. A rookery sits on the top of the right open roof.

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I found a couple of maps of a lair for a bog witch deep in a swamp that I did a couple years ago, but I only have the exported JPG files and not the original Xara file, though I've been compelled to release it as a map set with square and without. So I decided to redo those maps, especially as I've learned new techniques and newly created map symbols that would be ideal for this map. I will release this as a downloadable PDF map set tomorrow. Here are those updated encounter scale maps.

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So I've been creating more starship deck plans and releasing them as products. This one started as a private commission for an individual for their personal game. What was needed was essentially the fastest ship available using Traveller RPG ship design rules. In this case with a crew of 8 (3 shifts of pilots/8 hours each), a navigator, and 4 engineers (one/50 tons of drives), and a diplomat and 2 aids (body guard and steward/administrative assistant). Most everything else is bridge, power plant, drive engines, and massive amounts of fuel (768 tons of hydrogen). Also the lines of yellow boxes seen on the lateral portions of the upper deck are fuel processors. After a hyperspace jump with the expenditure of 720 tons of fuel to accomplish, the ship searches for a hydrogen rich star or gas giant to skim the surface of, drawing unrefined hydrogen into fuel scoops, then 36 tons of fuel processors converts that to 720 tons of refined fuel in 24 hours (processed while flying at maneuver/6 (top sublight speed), then makes another jump/6 - this process repeats until the starship arrives at its destination. I opted to emulate its namesake in design - this is the Peregrine class 1200 ton Fast Diplomatic Sloop. Next I'll be working on a orbiting space station map.