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I could not find any suitable maps online that came close to matching the description of the Nomen Burial Mounds (Area F) in the Varnhold Vanishing, so I decided to give it a stab with my complete lack (no lie) of knowledge/expertise of virtual map-making by cobbling together bits and pieces from here and there online. Here is the link for the map with only the burial mounds (all 29 of them as described in an unspecified spiral pattern in Varnhold Vanishing).
I hope I have not violated any IP here with the link to the base map I made. (I have not added any of the stuff I'd like to insert to match Dudemeister's Cemtaur Graves mod to the Varnhold Vanishing.) Literally everything on that map is cobbled together from stuff I found with images from Google searches. If I am violating some IP rules or net etiquette here, let me know (I am not going to be a jerk about it), and I will delete the upload I added as soon as possible.
Hope this helps other GMs too!
Happy New Year, and happy gaming!
Cheers,
CB out
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O.k., here is the link to the 2nd version of the Centaur Burial Mounds. This one has rivers, fancier terrain, and forests on the outskirts.
In my campaign, the rivers are mostly 15 feet wide, typically averaging over 2 feet deep; the centaur dug deep and wide as an inconvenience for non-centaurs while the centaurs themselves can easily jump across the rivers.
Given that the steppes (where the centaurs live) are on a higher elevation the further east and north you go, I think that it is fairly easy (and cool!) to imagine that the burial mounds are on a plateau of sorts (with small cliffs on the south side) that can only be reached via a partially hidden path (well, that's what I am doing to give that secluded vibe to the location so that my players will feel like the centaur tribe take the burial and protection of their dead quite seriously).
Now, you may be wondering just where the heck are the sources of water coming from. In my campaign, the long answer is "A few springs not far beyond the burial mounds location are occasionally replenished by a faint breach to the Realm of Elemental Water, where the flow of water is ample enough to keep the rivers full whenever required. If it rains in the region, the breach shut down temporarily, only to open when the rivers begin to dry up."
The short answer is "Magic. What more do you really need to know?"
;)
Cheers!
CB out.
Finished the burial mounds map and will be working on the map of Varnhold. Ideally, it will be similar to the close up map featured in The Varnhold Vanishing but I wanted to make it usable as a battlemap for vtt use as I forsee my players fighting the spriggans and the twigjacks (another Dudemeiser's addition) all over town via series of skirmishes.
If this interest anyone, feel free to pm me and I will send you a copy of the map once I am done (might be a while though, just to let you know ahead of time). :)
Cheers!
CB out.
It occurred to me that I did not share the link to the final centaur burial mounds map that I made, so here is the link! As you can see, the Moon Fruit Tree is on the top left corner. On the top right corner is where the buried disgraced centaurs is supposed to be. I originally had the fog overlay there but I realised if I left it there, you wouldn't really see the decaying tree there (it's supposed to be a hangman tree, if I remember the mod from Dudemeiser correctly). The bridge has four gargoyles (two on either end of the bridge) but it's pretty hard to see them though due to the overall quality/resolution of the image (sorry!). Finally, at the bottom, there are the two "monoliths" that serve as the entrance (alas, I could not find an image of a monolith online with a hoofprint on it).
Oh, I also restored the shared settings on the maps so that people can actually download a copy for themselves so that they can edit it as they like. You can always use it as a blueprint for your own centaur burial mounds map, :)
I understand that the quality of the maps are not very sharp and that is because I made the maps in Roll20 (uploaded several different pieces and put them together like a jigsaw puzzle). I do have Photoshop but I am not that knowledgeable in using it to put multiple images together. With ROll20, I can easily move around the pieces, adding, deleting, and playing around with the pieces as I go.
As a result, the linked images are print-screen captures I did of the actual maps on Roll20; thus, the images are not the best quality or resolution (they do look much nicer on Roll20 when you zoom in). I wish I was savvy enough to give you all better images. :(
Cheers!
CB out.
p.s., I noticed that I accidentally left one of the pc tokens on the map in the 2nd image when I took the print-screen capture. Oops! Talk about a photobomb! ;)
Thanks for all your work on this, CB! I'll definitely be yoinking your map.
I'm planning on dropping in a conversion of Crucible of Chaos during VV, so I'd like to substitute a small tribe of Derhii for DM's gargoyles at the burial mounds. Not sure I can pull it off though, given the CRs of Derhii vs. Manticores...
Would using the Young simple template help in managing the CRs?
I pretty much stopped worrying too much about CRs and instead focus more on story and whether or not the encounter is a challenge or fun for the players. If I had stayed with giving out XP (instead of letting the players level at key points in the game), the PCs would probably be at least 1 level higher than they currently are. I like for my players to get enough mileage out of every character level and they enjoy this particular gaming style too.
Glad I could help, Rob! I hope you can improve the quality/resolution of the image enough for you to use it without your players wondering what's up with the fuzzy details, lol.
Cheers!
CB out.
My concern with the CRs is that a few Derhii could probably deal with the Manticores without help from the players.
I was not familiar with the Derhii but having looked at them, yes, I see what you mean. The Derhii have a higher AC, better attack and damage modifiers, a better fly speed (with better maneuverability too), more HP, and an ability to knock down grounded opponents. Barring bad rolls, an equal number of Derhii should beat an equal number of manticores most of the time.
Maybe swap out the manticores for something else? I'm going to use either a mated pair of mythic manticores (because my campaign is mythic and I want to reinforce the fey theme) who are from the First World or another flying type of creature, with possible connections to the fey or the shadow plane. Still tinkering with the ideas.
Thing is though the manticores are able to control/boss around the mound guardians not because they're tougher or too dangerous to fight, but because the manticores are holding the eggs hostage. Maybe that's more than enough reason for the mound guardians to back off?
True, although the Derhii don't lay eggs. Still, a hostage situation with their young trapped inside a mound where they can't fly away would definitely give the Manticores leverage... especially if one of the Manticores could poison them, which the Derhii couldn't cure.
Anyway, thanks for the discussion! I should probably stop derailing your thread now :-)
Here is One I made
DS1. Nomen Burial Mounds.