Sunday, October 19, 2014

As Above, So Below?

Here is a quick 3D model of a dungeon level that I did last night. It looks like a cross between a Tron movie and a 1980's neon nightmare, but there is a reason.


This "level" is from a dungeon that is actually a magical tower. PC's climb up through the "manhole," marked red in the image. Each color is about 5-10' below the previous color. The colors by height: red, orange, yellow, brown, light green, dark green.


The light blue areas are ramps. As it happens, this structure was not built to cater to human type creatures. The grade on most of the ramps is extreme. Gentle enough to go down perhaps, but going back up will prove difficult. Imagine moving from the brown level to the green level via the ramp in the image above, only to discover an indigenous inhabitant(s) who chooses to behave aggressively in response to your trespassing. Going back the way you came will prove difficult.


This ramp is about twenty feet high. Maybe you could slide down. Maybe you're about to feed something nasty that has learned that sometimes dinner comes from above.


This idea could be used for pre-human cities buried beneath Portown, with the direction reversed. Non-human cities would have an infrastructure and geometry that looks very different from what we might be used to.

Best, A



IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING FILES

Since these files are large, there has been some difficulty in sharing them through email. Therefore I have set them up on Google Drive. If you are interested in downloading them, email or post and I will add you to the share drive.

Friday, October 17, 2014

The Green Dragon Inn, 3D model

Greetings All,

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

Green Dragon Release

Greetings All,

My 3D model of the Green Dragon will be released later today. I am trying to integrate it with the larger Portown model. True to form the Dragon model gave me trouble right up to the end. Now I'm having some difficulties getting Portown to do what I want, though all this might just mean I need a more powerful computer, as mine is "ancient" in computer years. Stay tuned!

Friday, October 10, 2014

GDI progress

Hello all,

The third floor/garret level is nearly complete. Too tired to finish it tonight. Some furnishings, a ceilings or two and it will be done. I will then move on to final assembly (sounds like a bomb, doesn't it?) and final cladding. I hope to release the jpg's for the models next Friday. It's looking pretty cool...

Best, A.

Friday, October 3, 2014

Update

Greetings,

The ground floor is complete, the second windows are in, and I expect to have the second floor complete by the end of this weekend. I figure a week before the model is complete, though there could always be unforeseen setbacks.

Regarding the Portown model, once you have the model, you can use the Sketchup tools to explore it. The orbit tool looks like a red and green top. Use this to change your perspective on the model. If you hold SHIFT while you are using the orbit tool, it activates the pan feature. You can use the zoom tool zoom into any part of the model. A wheel mouse makes this very easy. Otherwise, you'll have to use the zoom button, which can be cumbersome.

Doing this may raise questions about the model, and I've created a list of answers to what I expect are the common ones.

First, a word about the campaign. I have shamelessly borrowed, used, modified and grafted from many different sources. I use Tolkien's elvish languages in my campaign, but there are others. To avoid copyright infringement, I will 'translate' any names or copyrighted material into something of approximate meaning that will keep me from being sued. These will be preceded with an asterisk.

In Kemen, Portown is busy port city, as it is one of only two cities along 500 miles of coastline that has both a natural deep water harbor and soil compact and stable enough to support building. There are trade routes to the south, and these connect Portown to a number of other centers of trade. The difference of course is that Portown has access to the sea. The climate is similar to Florida or the Caribbean, and the winds blow from the west-southwest. Though not as destitute as some villages, it is only the abundance provided by its position on the trade routes that allow for some of the luxuries the town enjoys. Though not the dressed stone extravagance of Minax Daro to the east, Portown's building are of brick or wood planks with wooden shingles rather than thatch. Architectural features are very limited.
 
There are three main sources of legitimate industry in Portown: the sea, trade, and local shops. “The sea” includes fishermen, sailors and seamen on vessels of all types, and all associated trades such as ship building, sail making, and hook and linemen. “Trade” refers to merchants in charge of overseeing the transportation and storage of goods and commodities, owners of warehouses, caravan organizers etc. “Local shops” includes local carpenters stonemasons, taverns and inns, and any local trades.

Almost no raw food production occurs in Portown. Most is brought in by merchants. In addition to trade, Portown in known for some manufactured goods. In addition to hooks, lines and sails, candles, pig iron, and some textiles occur here as well.

There are, of course, illegitimate industries as well. These are robbery and theft, underground slave trade, and magic.

The “quarter” directly south of the warehouse district is the least affluent, and most buildings include several residences. In fact, the larger buildings are apartments and tenements (Roman insulae [apartment buildings] were often ten stories high, and medieval Egyptian apartments have been reported to be 14 stories high – for those who are concerned about historical accuracy), with many rooms on upper floors. Often, there are external staircases, usually of dubious construction and maintenance. Hand rails are considered a luxury ( and, I didn't feel like doing them). Others have interior staircases.

Notes

  • Why do the buildings have siding? For variety. Pretend it is unfinished wood.
  • Why do most of the buildings have the same roof material? Guilds and available materials. In my campaign, Portown is a warm water port and lumber is plentiful. Where there are similarities, assume guilds or convenience.
  • Why are there no windows on the west walls? In my campaign, Portown is located in a warm weather region. Western windows are limited to keep out the heat. Mostly where they occur it is on upper levels to help create cross ventilation.
  • Why are the buildings in the merchant quarter so low? Most to the merchants have their shop on the main level, and a sleeping loft above. This loft is not usually large enough to stand up in.
  • Warehouses: These are made of brick. Inside, many have second levels many of tightly fitted oak. This usually for the storage of foodstuffs like grain and the like, and is designed to keep rodents out.
  • Shipwright: This building has a lower floor that is designed for shipbuilding. There is a cradle inside, rather than a true drydock , but this is on rollers so that a vessel in progress can be rolled outside to be finished. Stairs along the west wall lead to a cross shaped living and storage area. It is cross ventilated by octagonal windows.
  • Sailmaker's: There are in fact a number of sailmakers here, and more than one project going on at a time. There second floor is accessed from the outside stairs. It is a cross shaped space that is used by the sailmakers and their apprentices. The position includes room and board.
  • What's going on with that trench? This is intended to be more representational than accurately to scale. I thought it might be useful for those intending to run a Shadow Over Innsmouth type adventure. Pretend it's further out to sea if you like. I didn't intend it to be quite as deep as it turned out, but when I attempted to change it, the model started to unravel so I left it. It's possible that it may have some breakwater effect upon the inlet, but I'm no expert. Have fun with it. Or change it. Whatever. (This feature is covered by the “sea.” It may possible to 'zoom' beneath the sea, or perhaps make the layer not visible to view the trench. I don't know, I haven't had the chance to try).
  • What can you tell me about the scale of the model? Not much. I imported the original map into Sketchup, and used the scale from that map. I converted the distance into pixels and then into inches. Three inches in Sketchup works out to about 3.5 feet. I may have screwed this up, but I screwed it up consistently and used the same scale throughout.
  • How come it looks all perfect? I would love it if there was a tool that would weather things, beat them up a bit. I imagine that all the buildings along the water are covered in a layer of salt from the sea, and that certain houses are less maintained than others. Perhaps, if I were Rembrandt and were willing to make custom materials for all these places, and I were willing to devote more time to this, that would be possible. But I'm not. Besides, this file is already large and ungainly.
Feel free to post any other questions you may have and I'll answer as soon as I can.
 
Best, A.