widdershins's page

Wow. Both sides are pretty much the same. What a con.

What is wrong in having a side dedicated to unrelenting scorching sand like a desert should be? With this the Dungeon Master is lumbered with rocks, shrubs and even an oasis. "Oh, um... Ignore the oasis it's just a mirage!" Features that are inescapable on both sides. And then you've got a sphinx, but not a whole sphinx just half a sphinx. This would've been better with one side as plain sand and the other an oasis encounter with a pool of water surrounded by palm trees and some ruins. Or the flip side being a tented caravan maybe.

This is how I like my flip-mats to be; detailed on one side and featureless terrain on the other side. I'm so glad Paizo gave us a big expanse of sea without cluttering it up with stuff like rocks, seaweed and whirlpools. When I first saw this I thought the idea of four ships in a row was pretty strange until I realised that they were the four decks of the same ship laid out side by side, which is genius. I suppose you could also use it as four separate docked ships at a quay too.

Urgh. This looks so rubbish and the flames are tiny. I use the Lego flame blocks instead (see link); they look much better and can be slotted into cones and pipes and head-shaped blocks for bases. You can also get the flames in different colours if you want to designate where mystical torches are.

http://oi56.tinypic.com/qyzswj.jpg

I really like this. The prison is generic enough that you can use it again as another sort of building. It could be a prison but again the cells could be the dormitory of a monastery or a garrison.

I've never liked floor plans that are too detailed or specific that you can only use them once. I think the level of detail is balanced enough that you can get away with slapping this down quite a few times over a campaign without your players quietly thinking "Oh, we're here... again." (Although I would've ditched the carpeted throne room for something sparser.)

I also like reverse sides that are a big expanse of something free from detail. Here we have flagstones but perhaps grass to match the prison's environment would've been better.

This looks good but I'm divided about whether the flip side really needed a waterlogged arena.

It's an interesting idea for nautical battles or even having hapless gladiators wading through the waters defending themselves from aquatic monsters, and might inspire an adventure on the idea alone.

I would've liked to have seen the other side being something like the basement below the area with slave prisons and pens for the gladiatorial animals.

What's the point of this product in a deck of cards format? All the information's in text with no illustrations so it may as well have been a randomly rolled table. I can understand the reasoning behind the item decks because you have beautiful artwork accompanying the artefacts but this just seems to be cards for the sake of cards.