Why 3x5 Geomorphs?

Andrew of Fictive Fantasies, who has coined the phrase Prokopian, has commented:

I think these geomorphs are cool (obviously, as I'm making some.) I want to note, however, I don't have a problem with the regular geomorphs. I look at this map I did with the Dungeonmorph Dice fonts, for example. I did some in Word and Photoshop to touch it up, but the end result was evocative and cool. My players enjoyed it.

http://fictivefantasies.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/plusevian-plaza-map.jpg?w=436&h=500

The said file is, indeed, very cool. Like Andrew, I love geomorphs. All one has to do is go over to Dave's Mapper and click on FrDave to see how much effort I have put into the concept, and how cool the outcome can be.

However, as someone who has regularly run game sessions with players who like to wander all over the place and as someone who has attempted to put together a module for general consumption, I sometimes struggle with making those geomorphs make sense. I also say this in context of the whole "the first level of a megadungeon is boring" meme.

When I was writing The Slave Pits of Abhoth, I really struggled to come up with a map that spoke to me. I used several methods to try and generate that creative spark and nothing really satisfied. I then happened upon the idea of the 3x5 geomorph and it unlocked all that creative potential that was the initial idea of the Slave Pits.

Since then, I have found the whole concept to be truly liberating in terms of adventure writing. When I get to play around like this:

I can't help myself, the creative juices just begin to flow and the dungeons that this process produces are just better than the ones I used to produce using other methods. Therefore, I am trying to share my enthusiasm in hopes that my success will lead to others having success at overcoming the whole "megadungeons are boring" thing.

As such, here are four of my most recent 3x5s:

More 3x5 Geomorphs

Just a heads up that Gordon Cooper of Applied Phantasticality has taken up my challenge to make some 3x5 geomorphs here and here. Gordon complains that these are a bit rough; however, one of the very reasons that I so like the 3x5 format is that they produce a dungeon that feels organic in a way that graph paper-made and computer generated dungeons do not. Indeed, if one looks at extant underground structures, like the catacombs of Rome, they look nothing like the clean-lined, finished looking dungeons that have dominated the hobby for years:

Freeing oneself of the grid allows the geomorph to mimic the way a dungeon would naturally come to be: a little rough regardless of the skill of those who made it.

Gordon says he has more on the way (with named landmarks, no less). I, for one, look forward to seeing them. I also hope that Gordon is not the only one who takes up the challenge.

WH40K Campaign: Mapping B.R.7 Part 2

As much as I love geomorphs, I must admit that due to the limitations of the form, maps made from them can be a bit blocky. One of the most popular posts in the entire history of this blog took a bunch of Dyson Logos maps drawn on 3x5 cards and stitched them together. The result was a beautifully organic looking dungeon.

In turn, I started to produce some 3x5 “geomorphs” which resulted in some more beautifully organic dungeons — the kind that we might expect (and do) find in the real world. Though (to my knowledge) my challenge to other artists out there to produce a library of 3x5 geomorphs has yet to be answered, it did power my own (ongoing) attempt to create my own version of the Slave Pits of the Undercity.

However, as Kobold of Waystar Highport points out:

I would imagine that many parts, or subsections, of a Hive would be duplicated or of "standard" design. So, one could map a couple of floors of a residential block in some detail and then decide that the design repeats, both horizontally and vertically over the extent of the Residential subsection.

Indeed, there are many aspects of any modern city that are standardized.

In other words, a megadungeon based on a WH40K hive city is a perfect application for the good, old-fashioned geomorphic map with its blocky, standardized feel. Indeed, if one wanted to limit oneself to a set of a dozen or more for an entire section of the city, not only would it not feel wrong, but would become a realistic feature.

Thus, one aspect of mapping B.R.7 is going to be a very heavy dose of geomorphic madness. In part, this is why I have happily supported Dave Millar’s recent fundraising drive — to give myself a number of geomorphs that have the feel I am looking for in a hive city. The beauty of Dave’s Mapper is that it makes maps very quickly, and given my own experience with graphic design, I can pound out a bunch of maps in short order to accommodate play.

If and when players push off a map, I can always do my own version of the “Greyhawk Construction Company” in the form of a collapsed hallway. How and why are these passageways cleared later? All part of the adventure…

Here is a quick example of what kind of maps I can produce in a short period of time using Dave’s Mapper:

IBD Update

As I mentioned the other day, Dave Millar of Dave's Mapper is running a little fund drive for a good cause (the info can be found here). Since I've had a window of opportunity to stay ahead of the game, I've been doing my part and creating geomorphs in anticipation of having to make a bunch in support of the drive. Indeed, early response has me responsible for 22 in the coming days. Unfortunately, I am well on my way to being finished with all of them.

As a bit of encouragement, I am posting some of my favorites in hopes that it will inspire some folks to increase my workload:

On Dungeon Building with 3x5 Index Cards

Over the weekend I was fiddling with my 3x5 index card map idea when my children started to take a keen interest in what dad was doing. When I explained the concept, all three got super excited and insisted on helping. To my pleasant surprise, the three of them are well on their way to becoming creative dungeon masters. I am not ashamed to say that I swiped some of their ideas and cleaned them up.

At this point, I have to make an admission. I have been struggling with making a map for the dungeon underneath Hucwind Castle for my re-imagined Slave Pits of the Undercity. Random generation, geomorphs and just doodling were not giving me the results I wanted. Not that I didn’t get good maps, they just weren’t evoking the kind of atmosphere that I wanted.

When my kids came to me with some of their sketches and ideas, I realized that some of them would make great additions to the very dungeon I was struggling with. It then dawned on me how powerful 3x5 index cards can be at making dungeon maps.

Imagine wanting a dungeon level with the following features:

• A Throne Room
• Catacombs
• Alchemist Lab
• Giant Hornet Lair

Draw each feature on separate 3x5 card. Grab some of your favorite geomorphs, draw a couple other generic 3x5 cards plus a few “dead end” 3x5 cards (that have only one exit) and then start fiddling. Rather than having to re-draw a map every time you don’t like it, all you have to do is rearrange some 3x5 cards. The result is almost like a mini-game of dungeon building. The end result is far more organic (and therefore makes more sense) than simply drawing a map. It is also, at least for me, really satisfying.

As an example, here is one of my favorite incarnations of the dungeon that resulted from using this technique (and including some of my kid’s ideas):

I still have some fiddling to do, but this is vastly superior to anything I had come up with before.

A 3x5 Map Experiment

Those who have read my blog know that I am a big fan of geomorphs. They are a fantastic tool for coming up with dungeons on the fly — especially those with a distinctly old-school flair. There are those, however, that balk at the seeming "uniformity" of maps generated by such a method. Since essentially all of the geomorphs over at Dave's Mapper are 100' x 100' all of the maps tend to be the same overall shape, even though the interiors might be radically different.

Enter the map I stitched together of maps drawn by Dyson. There have been a lot of positive comments about it. One that jumped out at me was that it seems more organic than other types of maps (the blocky nature of geomorphs, for example). This got me thinking of another way to implement the geomorph concept while getting a more organic outcome.

Most of the maps I used to generate this map were originally on 3x5 index cards. What if mappers out there produced a slew of 3x5 map areas with one or more ways to connect their map to other 3x5 maps. Here's the kicker: don't use a graph grid and don't worry how or where the connection happens. The result will be that the 3x5 card can connect, but not necessarily in a block — it creates a greater possibility to produce organic looking maps.

So, I quickly drew some up myself:

I then placed them together in order to create this:

Though not as organic as my inspiration, I don't think anyone could accuse it of being blocky. This being my first attempt, one thing I would do in the future is avoid getting too close to the edge of the card save for one or two rooms.

Anybody out there willing to take up the challenge?

Edges and Corners

Awhile back, I gave Dave of Dave's Mapper a number of geomorphs to add to his awesome website and tool that he happily provides for our use and inspiration. All this time my name did not have the code EC next to it because I had not yet contributed any edge or corner geomorphs. Truth be told, I had, but for a variety of reasons Dave has been unable to add them to his site...until now.

Thus, I wanted to give everybody a heads up that Dave has added not only my edges and corners, but a bunch of other geomorphs for our perusal and use. I would also like to publicly thank Dave and all the other contributors for providing such a great resource.

Finally, I thought I'd share the first map generated by Dave's Mapper using my old geomorphs combined with my edges and corners:

Enjoy!

Fun with Vertical Geomorphs

Back in April, Jeff Rients threw down a challenge to all the geomorph artists of the OSR to make a vertical style of geomorph for the purposes of creating cross-sections of dungeons. A few months on, and there are now a plethora of "vertical geomorphs" available. As I move forward in working on my own version of the Chateau des Faussesflammes, it occurs to me that using this new OSR resource will be a huge boon.

The Chateau and the Court of the Crimson King have a demi-planar existence that makes it appear as if several different times and places co-exist in the same place. On certain days and certain times, it might be possible to find whole sections of dungeon that are not accessible at other days and times. A fantastic way to simulate this easily is with vertical geomorphs. Using several produced by Dyson Logos, here is the basic layout for an ongoing Chateau-megadungeon:

Since this is generated entirely out of vertical geomorphs, it will be an easy thing to substitute other geomorphs in one or more sections to produce dungeon levels that co-exist in the same space but are only accessible at certain times. Thus, there will be an entire class of treasure maps (which I plan to generously seed all over the dungeon) that will map out time rather than space.

As an aside, there are two things I really like about this particular cross-section:

• At first glance, the dungeon is really very small. Despite there being multiple entrances to multiple parts of the megadungeon, most are secret. This gives me the ability to peek player curiosity about the rest of the dungeon through treasure maps.
• I also like the fact that there is a section of the megadungeon (keyed areas 28-31) where going up results in finding a more dangerous area of the dungeon.

Dave's Mapper

I just wanted to let folks know that I contacted Dave of Dave's Mapper and he was kind enough to include my Holmesian geomorphs into his ever expanding and very cool resource. Go check it out. Here are a couple of examples, the first using just using my own geomorphs, and the second one using a combo of mine with those of Risus Monkey. Enjoy:

More Holmesian Geomorphs: Caverns, Odd Shapes and 45° Angles

Here are the last two "sheets" of geomorphs I plan to do for the time being. Every dungeon needs caverns and every old-school dungeon needs odd shaped rooms and at least a few 45° angles. Enjoy:

More Holmesian Geomorphs: The Great Chasm

Another of my favorite dungeon design tropes is The Pit, seen here in the Sample Cross Section found in Holmes:

The idea is to give an adventuring party easy access to lower levels without having to trudge through all those levels in between. My favorite iteration of this is what I like to call The Great Chasm. In essence, it is a giant crack in the earth that cannot be crossed without aid — such as a bridge or a spell. What I really like about this iteration is the image of looking down (or up) and seeing various bridges below (and/or above) connecting different parts of different levels. Thus, I wanted some geomorphs that would allow me the ability to have The Great Chasm be a part of my version of the Chateau des Faussesflammes. Using these, I'll be able to include it on several dungeon levels. Enjoy:

More Holmesian Geomorphs: Tombs and Rivers

Here is another set. HPL mentions that there are crypts underneath the Chateau des Faussesflammes, so I need some geomorphs that double as catacombs. One of the tropes of dungeon exploration that I truly love is the underground river. Therefore, I supplied myself with several geomorphs that can connect to make one or more of them. Enjoy:

Holmesian Geomorphs

Yesterday, I mentioned that I would not be using geomorphs for creating my version of the Chateau des Faussesflammes. This is a decision I am not at all fond of, not only because of the ease with which one can make dungeons with geomorphs, but also because of the nature of The Dungeon as suggested in Holmes. If The Dungeon is a constantly shifting semi-intelligent NPC in the campaign, geomorphs are the easiest way I know of to represent it. If I proceeded with normal dungeon maps, shifting and changing bits and pieces would mean having to re-do these maps every time I want to make a change. Ultimately, this choice would discourage making changes and The Dungeon would have less impact on the game.

Geomorphs, on the other hand, would allow 100 x 100 sections to be easily removed, added or changed. It would even be easy to randomize the changes. For example, there could be a standard 1 in 6 chance for every geomorph explored by the characters to change in-between dungeon-delves.

Therefore, I bit the bullet and started making up some of my own geomorphs using the 100 x 100 template; however, note that there are "open" sections on the edges. When connected, these "open" edges allow for some truly colossal room sizes. Enjoy:

Fun with Geomorphs

For those of you who are interested in mapping with geomorphs, Dyson of A character for every game has released a .pdf of 100 of his hand drawn geomorphs that he has been producing over the last year or so. It can be found here.

In addition, Dave Millar has put together an awesome little tool to use these geomorphs and those of Stonewerks and Risus Monkey. Very good stuff. Many, many thanks.

I never used geopmorphs back in the day. I can't really explain why (other than maybe the technology was clunky). As I've been running my Lost Colonies campaign, however, I have found them to be an invaluable tool. Given my own background in graphic design, I am am now able to fully take advantage of the work done by folks like Dyson, et al. A big thanks to all their work. Here is an example of some the fruit of that work:

Kudos. This is great and very useful stuff.