Free GM Resource: Sketchup & Mr. Hook's GENERICA Project

Today's Free GM Resource is a bit of a twofer, depending on your point of view.

First up is the popular, free, 3D rendering program. Yes, there is a paid Pro version, but the basic version is still free for non-commercial use. You can get SketchUp for downloading here.

For a few folks, SketchUp might be the ultimate in mapping. Even I have to admit that being able to render a map in 3D is wicked cool. I've seen some game products done in SketchUp in a style that makes it look like it was drafted by hand and given an artist's once-over.

Me....I'm a bit too lazy to play with SketchUp, at least for now. I have enough problems mapping in 2D, much less in 3D. Given my predilection for using the computer to stitch together assorted map parts you'd think this would be the perfect thing for me.

I can, however totally get behind SketchUp if I get to download some wonderful renderings that other people have already created, which is really my main point in today's post. Mr. Hook, a graphic designer/illustrator from Nebraska, put together an awesome sampling of 3D RPG renderings. He calls it his GENERICA Project and I think the results are amazing. I'm only going to share one picture of his work, the quintessential tavern:

Seriously, don't you want to start off your adventure in a place like this? Since it is 3D you can move about the space virtually and change things however you want. Too many tables? Easily fixed. Needs a larger fireplace....done.

Even if you don't want to make your own models, I think you'll get a ton of mileage out of SketchUp and Mr. Hook's GENERICA Project files.

Free Map 009

I've already shared the basement levels of my adventure map, which is a little bit of putting the cart before the horse, but I liked those maps better than the above ground levels.

This map is the 1st floor of a private temple/residence of a High Priest of an evil god. The church's holy symbol is a closed, mailed fist and that symbol is used as the basis for this building.

The first floor is the temple portion which is used primarily by the
High Priest and his entourage. It is important to note that there was no attempt to make the well in this map placed accurately in relation to the stairwell. On this map I didn't see the point in wasting so much space.

The smaller version to the right has some numbered areas, but the larger version does not. I'm not a huge fan of this map if for no other reason I don't feel good about mapping out buildings in general.

Hopefully some of you might find this map useful......especially if you consider yourself as bad as doing buildings as I am.

Frugal GM Review: Plate Mail Games Background Loops

I've featured a couple different methods for putting sounds into your game and this last week I decided to go with a somewhat different track than I've played with before.

While I've been collecting sounds and music for some time I wanted something simple to use at the game table. Downloading an app and tweaking settings is more prep than I wanted. Nothing wrong with going that route if it works for you, but I often have enough going on that I don't want another "thing" to distract me.

Last week when I was browsing DriveThruRPG I came across this free Volcanic Cavern background loop from Plate Mail Games. Now I've been to the Plate Mail Games website before and wasn't particularly impressed, for a couple of reasons. They do have audio examples of their background loops, but some are a bit on the short side. I mentally filed them away as something to check in on later. When I got the full 10' Volcanic Cavern loop, well that was the "later".

Now I really don't think I'll get much use out of the Volcanic Cavern, much less a good portion of their current titles, but the sample did give me a good idea of what they offered. A quick purchase later and I had the Daytime Medieval City loop. At $1.50 I figured it would be worth checking out that night in-game.

All I did was transfer it to my iTunes collection and then my iPad. Coupled with a wireless bluetooth speaker I was able to toggle it on and off with a single press. Both loops are ten minutes long and if you set the player to loop you can have the background playing for as long as you like. The long length and varying noises doesn't give the soundtrack defining moments that make it seem like a file being looped.

I was quite impressed.

My only "extra" work for this was to play with my settings in iTunes to put all (both) background
loops into one album. As I add more tracks I'll add them to the one album just to make playing easier. Since I also use my iPad to look up PDF information I like how I can use one device to do multiple things. As long as the program I'm using doesn't compete for the speaker I can have the background loops going as I multi-task the device.

Plate Mail Games has a decent variety of background loop tracks and has just successfully funded a Kickstarter campaign for more sound effect tracks. I know I'll be picking up some more loops to use in my home game.

Free GM Resource: Handwriting Font Creator

A couple weeks ago I put up a free cuneiform-style font that I thought some folks might like. That was just me messing around a bit.

A couple of times I've used a custom font as a game prop. In addition to notes and letters in foreign fantasy languages, I've made a magical notation font so I can "write" spells out to form a spellbook of sorts.

Now, to make things easy I generally use English to type my stuff out and then use the custom font to simply change letters out. For example, if I was making a Russian-language game prop I wouldn't necessarily actually use Russian (Cyrillic) but instead have Cyrillic letters mapped out on the English alphabet. In this case I'm going more for a look rather than readability in the original language. Then, depending on the PC's language skill (and mechanics) I can simply change back some/all of the text back to English.

There are already a lot of custom fantasy fonts on the interwebs that you can download and use. This free online tool for creating your own font (from http://www.myscriptfont.com/) is real easy to use, but you need a scanner. There are only a few steps:

• Download & print the template sheet
• Fill it out with a good pen
• Scan the filled out template
• Upload the scanned file
• Download & install your new font

Creating your own fonts can go a long way in making it possible to put a personal touch on a lot of gaming projects. On hand-drawn maps, for example, you can dispense with having to label everything as you draw the map and instead scan it in and then use your font to type out the labels. Since you can manipulate the text, it is a lot easier than trying to incorporate it into the drawing.

Free Maps 007 & 008

This week I find myself still working on my tavern map. I'm having fun with it and don't mind taking my time. For some reason I keep getting interrupted, mostly by life and Call of Duty: Ghosts, but the interruptions are giving me breaks which inspire new thoughts on how to accomplish certain things more efficiently and effectively.

I really want to go back to some earlier maps and try these new ideas out....

Click for link to full-sized map

Speaking of earlier maps, this week I have two smaller maps to share. Both of these are part of the dungeon/tunnel complex of a small eeeeevil church. Last week's map was the 1st sub-level and this week's maps are the second sub-level and a smaller "sub level" of tunnel. That day's part of the multi-session tournament adventure actually ends descending into the depths below from this second section of semi-natural tunnel.

Technically this map lines up with last week's map, as far as the stairs and the well are concerned. The way I put this adventure together these pictures were tweaked and used to create stamps for use in my adventure template PDF. The end result is that the maps aren't at the same scale as printed. Luckily I did put graph squares in the maps so they should line up.

For some reason I still have my Photoshop (PSD) files for when I made these maps, which meant I might still have everything set-up on the original scale. I really don't want to try and fix the scaling manually because I know I'll get something off and it shouldn't be that big of a deal. Of course, when I went to go look at the PSD file I see I have little more than my original scan. I thought some might find it interesting because you can get a bot of

an insight on how I do my maps.

Almost all of my work is done with the computer. I usually draw my outline and all of the individual elements on drawing pads and then scan them at 600 dpi. I clean the scans up and then start adding elements from my resource files. I do not consider myself an artist in any way, shape, or form. My tolerance for drawing something out is quite low because I simply cannot make anything look like I want it to. Sure, I can envision something quite cool, but forcing my hands to produce something remotely accurate to what I'm thinking.....not really possible.

Fortunately I can attempt a reasonable facsimile by breaking down the task into smaller drawings and using the computer to stitch elements together. I end up with a simpler style that I think has a more pleasing aesthetic anyway. This is one of the reasons I'm a fan of Dyson Logos (seriously, I think you should Patreonize the guy). If I'm lucky I can come close (enough) to his style, which I like.

Click for link to full-sized map

I might put up the two maps for the eeeeeevil temple situated above these sub-levels, but I'm not very fond of that map-making effort. If I don't have my tavern map done yet I may just toss them up. Of course if I do get the tavern map made up, and it comes out better than expected I may have to keep it for a special project.

Free GM Resource: Storybook

This week's Free GM Resource is a rather interesting, if not small, stand-alone generator from the folks over at Treasure Trove.

Storybook is available online and as a download. The download has two versions, an HTML version and an Adobe Flash Player version. Basically they are the same because the HTML just opens up the Flash player.....the real difference is just the window the program runs in.

There are 15 different generators and a full set of RPG dice that you can click on to generate results. With the generators you get one result per click, but with the dice there is a small set of five blocks were you can indicate the number of dice you want rolled. Then you click on the die picture and that many dice are rolled.

All of the die results are quite short. For example, if you roll on the gem chart you would get a result like "Sapphire".  In my opinion some of the generators are a bit better than others, but the fact that you can download or run the program online might be useful.

Free Map 006

If there is anything I have learned in my map-making endeavors it isn't necessarily what I'm "good" or "bad" at making, because I think those are judgments for others to make, but I can say I absolutely suck at getting my ideas for interiors onto paper.

I've had this idea for a tavern map floating in my head for well over a week now, but I simply cannot get pen to paper in any reasonable fashion. I've tried playing with Photoshop, drawing things out free-hand, & even breaking out some graph-paper. What meager stuff I've come up with isn't fit to be shredded and added to my compost pile.

The funny thing is, even though I have a solid idea for a tavern, one of my attempts is actually starting to yield fruit. The map I'm working on now looks nothing like what I had in mind and this "great" idea I had is being pushed aside by an emerging concept that is coming together around the map I am able to get down on paper.

I don't try to understand these things......

This map is a basement level I used for an adventure a couple of years ago. The basement broke into a natural tunnel complex and that section was walled off, but not before a secret entrance to this complex was created. The well actually goes all the way to the surface. From within the tunnels it looks like a pillar made of river stone.

Click on either graphic in this post to download the high-rez map. It is 300 dpi and roughly 8" x 6".

Patreonize a RPG Artist

I've lost count of the flip-flopping I've done over the last year or two over Kickstarter when it comes to assorted projects. Of course my opinion usually depends on how this potential funding source is used.