After running my latest group through Fort Rannick last week I noticed something that I never noticed before; one of the maps seemed rather familiar (and not just because I've ran the AP before). Then it hit me: Broken Spire Keep from the 2E AD&D Night Below box set. Pulling both modules out side by side- the second level of Fort Rannick and the main floor of Broken Spire Keep have only a few minor differences, but are otherwise very similar. It could just be that it is a rather basic floor plan for a fortress, I suppose (there are only so many few room layouts one can have), but has anyone else noticed this (does anyone still have Night Below to compare?).
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After running my latest group through Fort Rannick last week I noticed something that I never noticed before; one of the maps seemed rather familiar (and not just because I've ran the AP before). Then it hit me: Broken Spire Keep from the 2E AD&D Night Below box set. Pulling both modules out side by side- the second level of Fort Rannick and the main floor of Broken Spire Keep have only a few minor differences, but are otherwise very similar. It could just be that it is a rather basic floor plan for a fortress, I suppose (there are only so many few room layouts one can have), but has anyone else noticed this (does anyone still have Night Below to compare?).
Coincidence... but an interesting one! As you note, keep floor plans can quite easily start looking alike, especially since they're all built for the same reason, which kind of self-selects how some of the architecture gets laid out.
I suppose what's more likely is that the designers for both adventures looked at the same real world floorplans for inspiration and went from there?
I suppose what's more likely is that the designers for both adventures looked at the same real world floorplans for inspiration and went from there?
This also crossed my mind, since when I'm building maps for games my games I often use real floorplans for castles and lay a hexmap over it (after scaling it to be more suitable for gameplay). If this is what happened though, I'd be curious as to what floorplan was the basis for both; but I'm insatiable that way.