Mini-Hex Stencils

I thought, "Hey, what if I turned my hexagonal geomorphs into stencils?"  So I did.  Most of the work was already done.  I just shrank them, edited a bit, and cut them out to test.  They worked okay.  I figured something cut by hand would be a little off and they were.  But still a fun idea to play around with.  Here is what I ended up with:

I cut the inner parts first, then the hexes:

I used whiteout to label the hexes and rolled to place them back in the template:

I don't know if it was just my shoddy job or if there is something different about shifting hexes, but the 3D definitely seems off in my test map.

Dwarven Outpost Kit

I was kinda wanting to enter something in this year's One-Page Dungeon contest, but the visual dungeon I had in mind has been requiring me to learn more to even be able to make it.  When I saw Roger's cool outdoor location he entered, though, it inspired me and I really wanted to submit something.  I made a push, but after working many hours yesterday and today I just didn't make it in time.  It wasn't a stocked dungeon anyway, and I still get to share it with you.  So onward.  Let's recap a little:

• To justify using a stencil it needs to do something extra for us or it would be faster and easier to just draw a dungeon by hand.
• I think a few things that stencils might help with are hard to draw shapes like perfect ovals and triangles and such, repetitive structures, and my latest discovery-- adding depth with a pseudo-isometric view.
• Keep in mind stamps and linocuts like here.  I think they would function similarly but be easier to use, while being harder to make.

I tried to combine all these ideas into a cool tool.  It still takes some time to use; it isn't for use at the table, really.  But I'm hoping it could make for some interesting location based explorations missions.  Here is what I came up with:

And here are some pics of me eatin' my own dogfood:

I used a discarded report cover that had a pretty tough but flexible black plastic back.

After the surgery.  Yeah, the fish ponds gave me some trouble.  The good thing is these should last a while so you only have to cut them out once.

Here's me trying them out.  I didn't finish the map, but you can see I added a hallway linking the Barracks to the Smithy.  I tried randomizing, but I think the best way to use these is just arrange one of each tetramorph to taste.  You could put more space between them and intersperse other rooms if you want.  Anyway, let me know if any of you try it out.

Visual Dungeon III - Stencil Rivers

I got very excited because I was going to mash together Roger's idea of tetramorphs with stencils and iso-like map making.  I made some mistakes, didn't exactly get what I wanted, but learned some stuff.

The five basic shapes from Wikipedia:

I like using stuff for these tools that is easy to get, so index cards etc. But I found index cards a little too thin to make good stencils. So, I cut out 3x5 bits of manilla folders instead, which I have a lot of at work:

The first thing I thought of was waterways, underground rivers. So I drew some and cut them out. I added a little register hole so that when I shift, I shift them all the same distance:

I remembered some blog commentator pointing out the d8 as a good way to have a pointer, so I number the tetramorphs 1-8:

So the idea was to throw the d8 on your paper, the tip at the top of the # would indicate how to lay the first tetramorph, the number would indicate which one:

Then I rolled and just matched up the later tetramorphs to the ends of the first one in a clockwise manner. Shifted, erase to make an iso-like waterway (sorry for crappy pics):

And, this is where, astute reader, you might be thinking, "Wait, why did they need to be tetramorphs, you didn't use their best feature which is fitting together in a puzzle-like way?"

Yep. I only realized that after making these. I want to do a second draft where I do just that, making the stencils actual tetramorphs that you fit together.  But I'm realizing size might be an issue. If you want to base the squares in the tetramorph on the 5 squares to an inch graph paper scale, and you want to make a stencil out of that, you start running out of space to draw rooms.

And as for using these shapes for waterways. I love underground rivers in dungeons. Love. Them. Not sure why, but yeah, forcing into these 5 shapes for something that can be so much more sinous seems too limiting. I'll be on the look out for better alternatives.

Visual Dungeon II - Simple Stencil

Last post, B king gave a link to a Jonathan Roberts tip on how to make isometric maps (I hope that link isn't G+ only, can't find it on his blog, here it is.).  Oddly, two example iso maps I was looking at were by Mr. Roberts but I didn't know they were by the same person.  Anyway, that tip was cool, but I wanted to know how to vary the appearance of steepness and wasn't sure how.  Last time I visited my dad I got to talking to him about it.  He was trained in drafting.  We fiddled around with the distort tool in Gimp as a pretty good way to get a look you want digitally, but he pointed out the D&D coloring book map was simply shifted up diagonally.  Aha, we like simple.

So, want to do something with your hands?  Here's a quick and dirty way to use a stencil to make iso-looking maps. Get some coins and trace them for quick circular rooms.  Cut them out:

You can do other room types too.  Stencil them onto your map:

Then shift it diagonally to a degree that looks good to you and stencil again:

Now erase the underground lines and shade the upper walls for your false perspective:

Not too shabby for a first try.

The Procedural Dungeon

Take the idea of index card geomorphs, geomorphs that are stencils, dungeons built by certain cultures, and I think you've got a recipe for quick, DIY dungeons with a sense of logic and history.

First, think of a culture that's left structures peppered around your game world.  Let's pick Dwarves.  Second, decide on some features their strongholds/outposts almost always have.  Let's say:

• cave fish pond
• barracks
• smithy
• ore storage
• smelting room with chimney
• throne room
• hidden gem storage
• secret emergency exit/bolt route

Now, decide on the most common design for each of these features-- and they can be tetronimo shaped as long as each fits on a single index card-- and cut them into stencils. I realize that step might be trickier than it sounds but am confident the gross features can be caught even if you have to hand draw in finer details.

Then you should be set for the next time players go off map or an encounter roll calls for creatures to be in lair.  You pull out your stack of stencils for Dwarven Outpost (you can keep different types bundled with rubberbands) roll dice, or shuffle and draw the cards, then trace them on your graph paper.  It might take a few minutes but you'll have a consistent dungeon with a map for your campaign folder.

If it works as I imagine players could learn things about these dungeons that would add a sense of verisimilitude to the imagined world:  "Wait, this looks to be a Dwarven outpost, they almost always have a secret gem room."  Or "These Dwarven outposts tend to have smelting rooms with chimneys, so we might find a small but definite exit to the surface there."

If the stencils work as I hope, the next design challenge would be to make sure all of your recurring dungeons have features that players would find interesting, like the examples above.  maybe cultists have libraries, outposts of the old magic-rich empire always have a brass head mounted somewhere, and tombs of the old empire tend to have map rooms with a diorama display of the surrounding countryside (and the location of more tombs).

(I plan to try to actually produce some of these but I'm currently house sitting for friends so it may be a while.)

Update: I had a hard time titling this, Procedural isn't right.  I think I probably should have called it Template dungeon (but that sounded kind of boring) . Oh, well. That makes me wonder what a true DIY procdeural dungeon would look like, too.