First, some genealogy. In 1977, J. Eric Holmes wrote the Basic Rules edition of Dungeons and Dragons. Included in it was a sample dungeon near a town called Portown.
Later, a person known to me only as Paleologos created and published on the web a map of a Portown, which he or she based off of a port on the island of Crete (2012). With the permission of Paleologos, R.C. Pinnell published his own version of the town (2013), complete with a user expandable key.
In 2014, with Mr. Pinnell's permission, I published a 3D model of Portown using Sketchup ( a free 3D modeling tool - get it here ). The current model of the Green Dragon is based on Pinnell's floorplans.
Now for the fun! I had intended to imbed this model into the Portown model and provide a view of Portown from inside the Green Dragon. I have been unsuccessful. I'll keep trying and maybe one day I can do that.
Below is the exterior of the assembled model.
Note, that this includes the cellar and a third floor. The third floor is my own addition. It includes an additional Common Room (because as a large and popular inn, the Dragon is popular with sailors, and one ship's crew can easily use up the limited bunks; and it is sometimes advisable to separate crews...), some more private rooms and suites, a maid's quarters, and a secret library for magical research accessed from the second floor. The kegs and casks in the cellar are pretty heavy, and summoning a demon or devil to work the Friday night barback shift would draw unwanted attention, so I imagine the owners hire help. The upstairs maids' quarters is for the young peasant girls who are working until they are married off (or whatever other scenario is convenient). The door is located around the corner and out of site of the Common Room and the door locks from the inside; a precaution against drunken sailors.
Here is an exploded view.
Once you have downloaded and installed Sketchup, send me an email or post a comment here and I will send you the file. Then you can explore it all you wish, including the third floor which is under the roof. Use the Orbit tool (looks like a red and green top) to examine the model from any angle. Use the Zoom tool (magnifying glass; if you have a wheel mouse this is much easier) to push through the window and explore the inside. Also, the Pan tool is helpful (looks like a hand). The images posted here are JPEGs, and can be clicked to enlarge. Unfortunately, I cannot post the Sketchup file here.
Feel free to post any questions about the model or Sketchup here, and I was answer as best as I can. Over the next week or so I will post Errata: things I wanted to do but couldn't figure out how, things I might try one day, things I thought of too late, and perhaps some fun background. Remember, this is all free.
Have fun and best wishes,
-A
This is WAY COOL! I love being able to rotate the model, but how do you use this in a game?
ReplyDeleteThanks, and what a great question. I imagine it as being useful in a game as much as any visual aid. how you choose to use it is of course up to you, but I think that it provides a new perspective on the encounter area. Being able to see the space gives the DM more accurate data for writing the adventure. The questions it raises helps to demand creativity in responding to those questions. The more details you can give without being too tedious in doing it, the greater the suspension of disbelief. So I see it as more of a DM tool, but I'm sure you can find other ways to use it. If you come up with some, I'd love to hear about them. Thanks for your question!
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