Judging from the most popular articles I've made so far, visitors like classic maps, edition rants, and download-able files. So, today I'm featuring my versions of two locations from the old "Slave Lord" series, which I updated for a 3.5E party running wild in Greyhawk. The first map that I thought needed changed was of the Highport temple, a hobgoblin stronghold hiding the secret stockade of prisoners. I considered the original too dilapidated, and filled with odd monsters that any occupation force would have expunged. I replaced this layout with a temple design from real history, the Sultan Hassan Mosque in Cairo. Most of the module components are still there, like the secret door entrance, false prison cells, and "Greek fire" machine.

The last spot on this tour of veritable D&D forts is the Province of Namur, in Belgium. This area, inhabited by fighting men since before the time of the Crusades, features a few castles still in excellent shape. Along the top of my image montage is the Castle of Lavaux-Sainte-Anne, with its odd bell-shaped tower roofs. The pictures to the bottom left are of Spontin Castle, with its fine moat and drawbridge. Lastly on the right I have a postcard shot of Castle Veves, where I bought a "discount" sword from the gift shop.

Marksburg Castle is a contender for the #1 Rhein River fort, and almost upsets my choice of Braunfels for the overall winner among "gamer" attractions. The compact structure is perched on a steep, conical hill that would be impossible to field a siege force upon. The narrow road snaking up to the castle is not for careless drivers! The minimal damage inflicted to the stonework over the centuries has long been repaired, and every area aside from the 100 foot center tower can be investigated. Unfortunately, most of the outer towers were adapted to support cannon batteries instead of medieval archers. The great halls and chapel are practically time-capsules of 15th century castle life.

For idyllic beauty, finding a better castle than Burg Eltz would be tough. Soaring out of the wooded hills near the Moselle River, it looks unblemished by over 500 years of history. You'd almost expect Gandalf to greet you at the gate, or maybe Fabio in plate mail. My memory of the place is a bit less rosy, since the directions I followed to get there were not the most convenient. I ended up having to hike down into the valley location, while suffering from a sinus infection. The bench that can be seen in the bottom right of the courtyard photo is the furthest I made it on the tour. Fortunately, health care in Germany is almost as nice as the beer.

Burg Eltz was built to host three branches of a noble family, which explains the "apartment-like" towers. This type of layout would be great for a Mage College, or magocracy capitol building. With at least 8 floors though, making the map could take weeks!

Earlier in my postings, I displayed a map and a monster for the RPG Blog Carnival. The map was a "tracing" of a hand-drawn scan, using the basic brush tools and line shapes found in Photoshop software. Now I'm thinking about how it would look on a hex grid, and if I can create something that appears straight out of a decades old TSR box. Before the convenience of desktop PC graphics, maps were likely made as film separations. Based on my graphic design training, I'm guessing that the map makers approached each color layer individually, cutting masks for tones, and overprinting with the black ink last, which would have the terrain art and calligraphy. Certainly difficult for something as huge as the World of Greyhawk map, but not really beyond the craftsmanship of the day by any means.

Today, the old stat cameras and rolls of rubylith film have been tossed in the garbage. A composite image must be made using design software, of which there are a few commercially available for RPG cartography. I'm not interested in buying one for a single map, so I'll be experimenting with my suite of Macromedia programs. Sadly, there is no button you can push to make a nice hex grid. Pictured below is a "hexified" version of my Photoshop map, which I made with the help of my light box and a blank sheet from here. Clearly, having to scan the grid (back into the computer) doesn't look professional.