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Art Directing the Shackled City Adventure Path

One of my first art direction tasks at Paizo was ordering the cover of Dungeon #98. That cover featured one of the villains of the Adventure Path, Triel Eldurast. I then went on to order the art for my first installment of this massive adventure -- Flood Season. Ten adventures later, the whole thing is wrapped up, but I couldn’t help but think about how we could have done it better. I always wanted more art, and to show the great art that we had much larger.

When we started planning for the compilation book, I was really elated. We decided early on that it was going to be an expanded version of the campaign, with a completely new adventure and expanded content in many of the other adventures. We came up with a crazy plan to add a bunch of new art, and decided very early on in the planning process to have enough pages to show the art very large.

Working with many of the same artists we had on the original Adventure Path was great. Chris West turned in another exceptional set of maps. Attila Adorjany did a fantastic job on Drakthar’s Way. Chris Stevens created all of our new full-page chapter openers, and turned in just absolutely stunning work. Jeff Carlisle went above and beyond in creating a dozen or so new head sketches of NPCs important to the campaign.

The new page design was aided by wonderful work from CGI artist Jonathan Hill. The chains that form the border of the pages get progressively more and more corroded and broken, as the chaos level in the city gets higher and higher. This was a really fun thing to add to the book. I really enjoy doing work that asks the audience to participate a little. Finding a (somewhat) hidden design element is a great way to encourage that.

The production of the book was a challenge. We had a compressed deadline for the book, made more difficult by the choice to redesign so much of the interior, as well as writing, developing, and editing all the new content. We had a rough guess at the amount of space the adventure would take up, but as in any large project, surprises crop up. Erik Mona, James Jacobs, James Sutter, and I worked some very long hours on the book (I stopped counting at 160 hours for myself), but in the end, all the blood, sweat, and tears were worth it.

Since Erik and James provided cool little sneak peeks at the book, I’ve decided to show you a few things that aren’t in the book.

First up is a few of the sketches we got from Chris Stevens. You can see his wonderful pencil technique here, and see how well it translates into a color illustration as well.

As my final bonus, I’m presenting a map done by Christopher West that didn’t make it into the book. This is the complete Fiery Sanctum dungeon, showing the intricate connections between the different areas. We never had room the first time around to present this version, so now we have a chance to show it off.

-- Sean Glenn

Gary Teter (PostMonster General) Jul 27, 2005, 01:33 PM

Wondering just how this book got to be so danged gorgeous? This installment of the Shackled City Design Diary gives you an insider's view of how to make the best RPG products in the industry.

delvesdeep Jul 27, 2005, 09:25 PM

Even the small example sketches and artwork look great. I am beginning to itch with anticipation. Well done to everyone at Paizo!

Delvesdeep

Dryder (Pathfinder Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Battles Case, GameMastery Maps Subscriber) Jul 28, 2005, 04:02 AM

My gaming store has it already, but can't sent it to me, because I ordered a couple of things more which will arrive next week earliest!
Man, I can't wait to sit down in the garden, some icetea next to me and this huge monster of a book on my knees, opening up the first page. And when I am done reading, the next installement of AoW is already waiting for me - What a wonderful world for us roleplayers this is...

Big Jake Jul 28, 2005, 04:05 PM

Alright! The complete map of the Fiery Sanctum!

I actually copied the jpg files from the on-line supplement into PowerPoint, resized them and made my own "master map." It looked okay, and most of the lines lined up, but this is outstanding!

Thanks for this one.

Christopher West (Cartographer) Aug 6, 2005, 06:22 PM

Glad you like the map!

The funny thing about this composite map of the Fiery Sanctum is that it was never commissioned. The map order called for separate maps of each area, and I decided as I began working on the finished maps to do them as one big image initially, to save time and ensure consistency between the separate pieces. Once finished, I saved out copies of the separate pieces at the appropriate sizes, added text, and passed them on to Sean.

Since I had the composite image also finished, though, I figured it might be useful and sent it along to Sean as well. I wasn't sure if he'd have room for it or not, and it turned out not, but I'm glad he's made it available for you guys here. :)

Big Jake Aug 6, 2005, 08:36 PM

I take it that Mapmaker = Christopher West?!

I used to say that I didn't pay much attention to who drew what in any gaming publication, but I have to admit that you have my respect.

I love all of the cartography that you've put together for Dungeon, and I also have both Theives' Quarter (PDF and print) and Temple Quarter (waiting for the print version). Oustanding job. I hope you get another Ennie.

Christopher West (Cartographer) Aug 7, 2005, 12:53 PM

Thanks, Big Jake!

Yep, this is Christopher West...sorry I forgot to sign that previous message! Temple Quarter is up against some pretty hefty competition for Best Cartography in this year's ENnies, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. As it was last year, it's an honor just to have been nominated.

I'm glad you enjoy my work! Thanks again! :)

Zaister (Paizo Charter Superscriber, Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber) Aug 7, 2005, 03:51 PM

Christopher, did you do the underground map for "Drakhtar's Way" in one piece, too? Or was that three different maps from the beginning?

Big Jake Aug 7, 2005, 06:19 PM

Mapmaker wrote:

Temple Quarter is up against some pretty hefty competition for Best Cartography in this year's ENnies...

...inlcuding the 4-part Greyhawk maps from Paizo. I kinda felt bad rooting against Paizo on their own boards, so I came back to give 'em props!

Shackled City Design Diary, Part 3

Art Directing the Shackled City Adventure Path

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