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Howdy y'all...
well, I was working late last night on a small campaign I hope to run next semester, and realized there was a glaring flaw to it: I have absolutely no idea what the inside of a typical gothic castle looks like. So here's my question: does anyone know where I can find blueprints or references to what an inside of a realistic castle looks like? With servants quarters, kitchens, and everything?
I would also look up tourist sites for castles in Europe. The maps they have there will be simplified maps for walkers, which may be easier to interpret for a broad sense of how the place is laid out (then go to the blueprints for the technical stuff).
Best book ever: Stonghold Builder's Guide. It was a WotC 3.0 book. I find it works wonders when designing strongholds for both players and NPCs. We have played campaigns based on that book alone.
The biggest thing I would point out is imperfection. Castles real ones are built over centuries. The central keep may be a small part of what is not a huge complexe desinged by multiple archetects. Also castles have a political purpose; they watch over something, they project power but at what or how, they are a garrison for how large a force in how remote a region.
I am an old school gamer and kept all my previous modules, magazines, and odd things. If you have access to the older modules they work great. The only draw back is you have to convert them since they used 10' for every square and not 5'. The link above for goodle images is great and I will be using that one. Also, type in gothic castle into google and then click images to the left. I use a lot of color photos in my game and they have many. I have even used pictures from Vlad the Impaler's castle!
The Pathfinder Database yields this Small Stronghold and Mansion. The stronghold is on ok castle in its own right, though a bit small as the name says. The mansion is more like the keep of a castle- you could easily add walls around it to get the right feel.
Also, MacAuley's "Castle" is a wonderful book- I remember reading that when I was just a tyke.
I am an old school gamer and kept all my previous modules, magazines, and odd things. If you have access to the older modules they work great. The only draw back is you have to convert them since they used 10' for every square and not 5'. The link above for goodle images is great and I will be using that one. Also, type in gothic castle into google and then click images to the left. I use a lot of color photos in my game and they have many. I have even used pictures from Vlad the Impaler's castle!
The most awesome castle from an old D&D module has to be from the original Ravenloft. It was an isometric view of every level of the castle that spanned 2 11x17" pages. It was very detailed, and had every level stacked on top of each other so it was easy to see where each staircase led. I'm glad I still have my copy - now I just have to convert it to Pathfinder rules!
The main thing to remember is that castles are fortresses and homes simultaneously. The whole thing has to be pleasant to live in, as well as be defensible.
Also: when you say "Gothic castle", what exactly do you mean? A castle in the time of the Goths (late classical), a castle in the Gothic building style (medieval) or one of those neo-gothic buildings (Victorian)?