Cities of the Black Scroll 2 Review

 Review copy courtesy of Black Scroll Games.

Pros

• The art continues to be great. Really, it’s amazing what is able to be done here. I particularly like these sorts of sets due to my lack of drawing ability, and they always get a good reception.

• Day and night tiles are provided as we’ve come to expect.

• Printable and Virtual Table Top versions are ready out of the download.

• Lines can be toggled in the PDF.

• Many items are provided in the sets too. So we can further populate the maps we generate. The Docks and Canals set also has some boats. And open water tiles. So you could even build an open water map with it.

• The whole series is incredibly complete with these tiles. Just about everything you could want to build a city or town is here. What’s left in that’s not covered now? Open forest? Though not in this series, Black Scroll Games has a set that can be used for underground dungeons.

Could Go Either Way

• It’s still a matter of taste with the art. I absolutely adore this style still. And so do my players. I think many others will too. So take a look at some of the images to make sure it’s a good art style for you.

• Some sets use PNG, some use JPG, and some use both for the Virtual Table Top (VTT) files. I’d ideally like one format throughout, and it’s a bit odd to have both formats in one set. But it’s not a big deal.

• The items in some sets have small amounts of the background on them as a border. So the boats have a border of water. In some cases, it can be fairly large. This only affects Virtual Table Top (VTT) files, as the physical files can always be trimmed to a sharp edge.

Cons

• Some tiles, such as the village set, lack empty building tiles. Ones that come to mind as very useful are the houses in particular. The sets also provide many items, so we could populate the interior ourselves if we had some empty building tiles.

• The sets can be inconsistent in how the tiles are provided. Some have PDF files for day and night, as well as folders for the Virtual Table Top (VTT) day and night (Village and Docks and Canals). This is what I’d like to see. The Cemetery Set and Moats Set provided day and night folders for the VTT, but no separate PDF files for printing. In these cases, you can toggle them in Adobe Acrobat Reader as they are provided as layers. I just wish it was consistent, and my personal preference would be for all the sets to have separate files. That way different software, or even browsers, can be used.

* Denotes nitpicking.

Introduction

I reviewed the original release of tiles for Cities of the Black Scroll. But my work there isn’t done, as more sets in the series have come out. For the sake of brevity, and due to much overlap, I’ll be covering them here all at the same time. And put simply, I really like it. As a series I think the tiles are an amazing product, and I imagine the backers behind the Kickstarter are very happy right now. While my review is based on a review copy, I have used previous tiles from Black Scroll Games almost exclusively in my online D&D campaigns due to their appearance and convenience. And generally, these tiles continue to meet or exceed my expectations.

Four sets will be summarized here. They are: COTBS Cathedral Modular Map Tiles, COTBS Cemetery Modular Map Tiles, COTBS Docks and Canals Modular Map Tiles, and COTBS Moat Modular Map Tiles.

What’s In A Set

Sets are well organized. Inside there are draft tiles, which can be used to plan which tiles are needed for your designs. They are smaller than real tiles, and grey scale. So you save on ink. I’ve liked this feature since I first saw it, and I’m glad they continue doing this.

A PDF of basic instructions is included. They also detail what’s found inside, and often also include sample layouts using the tiles.

The tiles themselves are provided in PDF form, ready for printing. If you print regular sized paper, it will come out perfectly to scale. If you’re using Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can also toggle on and off the grid lines.

Finally, Virtual Table Top (VTT) files are also provided in PNG and JPG form within specially labeled folders. The delivery is nice, however, the mix of formats is a bit strange. Some sets have both formats mixed together. I’d ideally like one format used throughout, and that being PNG. I wonder if worries of file size occurred.

Files for outdoor tiles often also have day and night versions, for both printing and Virtual Table Top (VTT). These are provided for all the outdoor sets.

All in all, they are very complete sets. In fact, the most complete Virtual Table Top (VTT) and printable sets I’ve seen.

The Art

The art continues to be great. As far as tiles for Virtual Table Top (VTT), the sets are the most complete I’ve seen. The art style is also wonderful. If there are comparable sets in this area, tell me in the comments. I’d be happy to hear about them.

Historically, the lighting has been one of the big highlights for sets done by Black Scroll Games. The way it was shown flowing into rooms, as well as light from torches and light sources in the night tiles always looked great. What they’ve done before, but they’ve done gain with the outdoor sets, is night versions of the tiles. Given that I often run horror themed games, and Halloween is right around the corner, it’s a very nice feature. Don’t care? Don’t use the tiles. If you do, you can make day and night versions of the maps. And these maps live up to the quality Black Scroll Games have done in the past. They’re absolutely lovely.

What I felt was Missing

It’d be nice to see more items and props provided. The ones provided for the docks set is perfect. But I wish the village set in particular had more items. Chairs, tables, scarecrows, horses, plows. It’s a lot to ask, and probably unreasonable, but such would make the sets absolutely perfect. Though it could also make for a good prop set in the future on its own. And would be compatible with other maps.

The item tiles in themselves have small borders of background. So for example, the boat will have some water around the edge. These look amazing when placed on the board with no background, or to make it easy to see on a water tile. Some may not like this, and would prefer sharp edged items instead. There doesn’t appear to be an option for this without doing the trimming work yourself. This of course would only come up for Virtual Table Top (VTT) use as no-one can control how you cut out the items. An option could be provided here, but I’m also not sure it’s worth the trouble or extra download size for the set.

Consistency between the sets would be nice. This comes from the multiple file formats, but also from some sets using layers for day/night and others having separate files. Everything is there, and it’s mostly consistent. But a little more would help it be less confusing for customers.

Summary

All in all, these sets continue to be my favourites out there. Each new sets makes the system more complete, and the appearance and quality continues to be outstanding. I look forward to seeing more from Black Scroll Games, and I’m sure I’ll use these tiles often in the future. The only things I can think of is more items, particularly in the sets missing them. This would be more work, and the sets are already very complete and useful. And more consistency in file format and how the day/night tiles are accessed. This is quite minor. I continue to be impressed with what I’ve seen here. I’ve used these sets quite a bit already, and will continue to do so. My most used are the Docks and Village sets, as I feel they are the most plentiful. Maybe it says something about my campaigns that docks or boat rides happen so often. The boats and items provided in the Docks set in particular are useful just for naval campaigns.

Cities of the Black Scroll Tiles Review

Review copy courtesy of Black Scroll Games.

Pros:

• There are three sets, giving a wide variety of tiles. From fortresses, to the internals of a castle, to city streets, everything is here.
• Day and night tiles provided. This was one of my few complaints with their inn set, so seeing night tiles provided is absolutely great to see. It’s even more useful in this case because night time changes the appearance of a city more than the inside of an inn.
• Want to add some additional features to your map like stalls and doors? Well, they have cut outs for those.
• Want to use 3D printed items for some custom rooms? Well, they also provides empty versions for you too.
• Their are tiles provided for the roofs of buildings as well. This lets you take them off as your players entered, and recover when they leave. It’s about as close to a Divinity: Original Sin (that’s a video game) map as you can get in the real world.
• Planning tiles are provided too. So you can go ahead and plot your maps ahead of time. Rooms change? Quickly re-arrange your tiles based on your layout page. I personally use them as a planning tool when designing maps. I don’t usually re-arrange a map since I try to have them all laid out and taped to a backing page.
• Oh? What’s this? You usually play online? Well, Black Scroll Games saw you coming and already has everything prepared for a Virtual Table Top application.
• Don’t like lines on your map? No problem! They provide multiple layers on the PDF document for you to toggle.
• There’s even transition tiles to allow you to combine your tile sets. And the transition tiles are available for free.
• There are PDF instructions for every set.

Could Go Either Way:

• The beautiful 3D style Black Scroll Games is known for. Since this depends heavily on taste I recommend looking at the samples provided. However, I absolutely adore them.

Cons:

• Uhhh. Sorry, I’m really trying here. I think that if you like the art style and like to use tiles, the only thing that might dissuade you is the price or if you already got a set you like to use, and aren’t in the market for another one. Otherwise, there might be some tiles felt were missed? I think he has provided almost everything you could want, and you can read the full tile listing on their page. The only thing I feel is really missing, is that if you want to build a large undercroft dungeon, you’ll need a different dungeon set. The undercroft tile provided, while nice, isn’t very flexible.

* Denotes nitpicking.

Fortress set without the grid lines. Image courtesy of BSG.

Introduction

This review will be a little different than usually. I typically look at one product at a time. However, today I’ll look at the 3 sets (plus transition set) that were part of Black Scroll Games’ Kickstarter campaign. This included a city set, a fortress set, a castle set, a transition set, and there was an arena thrown in for good measure. If the pros and cons above weren’t a clear indication, I love these sets. It feels like just about every complaint I ever had with previous sets has been addressed, and they were rather minor to begin with. However, let’s jump into the specifics.

The Art

I think you should just take a look at it to truly understand, and get a feel for it. Honestly, it’s the sort of thing I like. It’s done in a 3D perspective with fine details and lighting coming from torches and windows. I was impressed with the art style when I first reviewed their inn set (link to my review), but they continue to impress. This use of lighting is even more impressive in the night versions of the tiles. Yes, there are night versions of the outdoor tiles. Indoor tiles have one version. It’s hard to describe aesthetics and art styles, but I think one look will tell you all you need to know. For me, this hits the notes I like to see. If you prefer tiles that look more like paintings or sketches, it may not hit every note for you. However, I think most people would agree that they look great, even if it doesn’t perfectly match their preferred style.

The Tile Sets

There are 4 sets here. They are a castle set, a fortress set, a city set, and a free transition set. I’ll layout what’s present before going further. They all share an art style and can be nicely blended using the transition tiles. However, some have more night tiles than others, as well as bonus items.

Transition Set

The transition set is free, and is meant to allow you to combine the other 3 sets. This means that the tiles really amount to corridor pieces that when used make things blend together seamlessly. Honestly, I’d recommend taking a look at them to get a feel for the style of tiles.

Streets Set

The city tiles allow you to create city layouts, and even provide roofs for the buildings. This means you can reveal the interiors in a fashion similar to a video game such as Divinity: Origin Sin. I unfortunately find myself having to run more games online recently, but even in a Virtual Table Top the tiles work amazingly well.

The great thing about this set is that the interiors have a night version, as well as the roof tiles. These night versions are far darker in appearance, but have light sources such as candles and torches. They really look good.

They’ve also included cutouts. Want a gallows in your city? Or to add more cargo boxes? Or maybe a bush or two? They’ve got them. Outside of what I just listed, there are also additional cutouts for tables and stalls. There’s even burning roofs for the tavern and a random house.

Oh, and this one has tiles for making custom combat arenas. Think gladiators and coliseum style stuff. I wasn’t expecting this to be here, so it’s a very nice surprise.

There is one empty house, but otherwise the interiors are populated. If you had gotten used to basically all of the tiles having an empty version, be aware that this set doesn’t have that.

Castle set example of a door cutout. Image courtesy of BSG.

Castle Set

This set is all about creating the interiors of a castle. Bedrooms, undercrofts, theatres, throne rooms and more are here. They are made in the same style as the rest of the sets. There are no outdoor related tiles in this set. However, for what it does it does a really good job.

Again, night versions are provided. This time they are only for the balconies. The interior tiles are lit by fire. Again, we have draft tiles and everything is ready out-of-the-box for use with Virtual Table Tops. I wish they had a night version with no lights for use with abandoned castles, but it’s a minor complaint.

This set also has empty versions of the rooms provided. I have always loved this option, since it lets you use your 3D/3D printed props on the map as well. It also lets you have empty rooms in your castle for story reasons.

They seem to hit all of the tiles I’d think of when talking about a castle. From bedroom, to bathroom, to prison, they are included. I suggest giving the Castle set page a read over just in case it’s missing something you expect, but it seems to be complete.

Fortress Set

Remember how I said the castle set didn’t have external views? Well, this set is where the walls and towers are. And I find this one impressive. It has walls, it has ruined and caved in sections, it has siege machines such as ballista and catapult, and it has multiple level tower tiles (both square and round).

Oh yeah, it also has many other extras. Besides the ballista, and catapult tiles I mentioned it also has barrels, targets, stair cases, doors, and gates. The defenses you can make with these with low effort on your part are amazing.

And as expected, there are night versions of the tiles too. In this case this is really saying something, since unlike the castle set, there are a lot of outdoor tiles and as such a lot of night tiles. And we also have draft tiles. And everything is again broken up for use with Virtual Table Top programs. Need to build a fortress for your players to assault with their army? I can’t even thing of a set in this niche to rival it.

Price

Each set is priced for $10 USD on www.drivethrurpg.com for the digital versions. Getting pre-printed tiles varies from set to set. Find the City Modular Map-Tilesset here, the Castle Modular Map-Tiles here, and the Fortress Modular Map-Tileshere. I’ve honestly never bought one of the printed sets since I like to be able to print as many as I need, and tape them together into throwaway maps for one-shots.

City set tile examples. Image courtesy of BSG.

What I felt was Missing

These sets are as complete as I can recall seeing. They have draft tiles, they’ve broken the tiles up into files for use with Virtual Table Top applications, they provide night versions, they provide extras such as doors and street stalls for the city maps. They provide just about everything I can reasonably expect from them.

What’s left in the realm of unreasonable? Well, the buildings in the city set are stone and as such give an impression of a more affluent city. Someone who is setting their game in a poorer village may want something that looks more like wattle and daub. Well, that’s what I would’ve said, but Black Scroll Games have made a new set for such a situation. It’s like they saw my complaint coming. Just be aware you’ll need to pay for that separately.

When I used these tiles, my players were exploring an abandoned and weathered castle, with the spirits of the slain still haunting the grounds, and events of the past being replayed like echoes. In such a situation, I would’ve liked there to be a night version of the tiles without the light sources like torches. These would probably make the most sense in the digital version only.

Tiles such as the throne room can’t be extended or expanded to be even more grand. Instead, you get the standard but impressive 2 tile layouts.

Free Stuff

As mentioned above, the transition set is free. You probably won’t get much use for it without the other sets, but I’ve always felt that it is far easier to make the right choice when you have a sample. If you’re interested but still find yourself on the fence, look at that set to see if you like the tiles.

Summary

Black Scroll Games have really made a great series of sets here. If you like their 3D style, I think you’ll like them. They provide daytime and night time tiles, draft tiles, 3D rendered visual aids, cut outs for stalls and similar details, and instructions. In terms of what’s provided, I find Black Scroll Games gives the most complete sets. There aren’t many artists that provide night versions of their maps as well. Having everything ready to go for Virtual Table Tops is greatly convenient. I’d imagine if you see these tiles and thought they looked good, you’d be happy with them.

If you don’t like the art style, aren’t in the market for tiles because you have your a favourite set already, or prefer to use 3D tiles, the tiles won’t be nearly as tempting. However, even if any of those are true I think there cases where you’ll find these sets tempting. If you find yourself running a game using a Virtual Table Top, these sorts of tiles are a great convenience and help bring the action to life. Even if you use 3D tiles, such sets can be very convenient. Instead of needing to carry a city worth of miniature buildings, all you need are the tiles. I also don’t know about you, but I lack 3D tiles for arenas. If it isn’t clear by now, I think these are a great series of tiles.

Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage Maps and Miscellany

Review copy courtesy of Wizards of the Coast.

Pros:

• Nice glossy pages featuring the maps from Waterdeep: Dungeons of the Mad Mage. They are glossy like this because they are intended for use with dry erase markers.
• Has a nice folder to keep everything.
• Cards are included.

Could Go Either Way:

• There are no battle maps here. These are the maps that you find in the adventure book. This is nice since you don’t need to flip back and forth, but you won't be putting minis on these. 
• These are meant for the Dungeon Master. Know how I know? The secret doors are listed.Want some for your players? Too bad!

Cons:

• You won’t be giving these to your players short of them getting divine intervention reveal the location. These are meant for the Dungeon Master. Know how I know? The secret doors are listed.
• No PDF*

* Denotes nitpicking.

Cover of the package.

Introduction

We’ve had a new adventure released recently, and along with it we got a maps and miscellany pack. I’m always happy to see this sort of thing, since they give us a way to advance our game if we so wish. Want the tarot cards for Ravenloft? Or all of the maps in the adventure? You can get them! Don’t want them? Easy. You already don’t. However, being offered the choice doesn’t hurt, especially when including it in the core book would further drive costs up. So is this pack worth getting? Let’s jump in.

The Package

You get every map in the adventure in a nice folder. Inside the folder there is a summary of each map found within. As a package, it’s rather nice. The art of the folder mirrors the book itself and the pages feel nice due to their glossy finish. As a result, you could use dry erase markers if you wanted. That’s at least the intention, as the back clearly states this intention.

The kind of maps and folder inside the package. The pages are double sided.

The Maps

These are not battle maps. These are the maps found in the Waterdeep: Dungeons of the Mad Mage adventure. If you’ve seen them and liked them you’ll know what to expect. They are rather simplistic in style, but clear. In general they feel rather nice.

If there is any part of this map that I can fault, it’s the fact that they are meant for the Dungeon Master side of the screen. The maps include the secret doors. This means that unless you give your players divine intervention so they know the location of all the secret doors, they won’t see many of these pages. The ones they will are the cards, and the Skullport maps. I think it’s rather common to let players see the maps for city locations so they know where they are, and where they can travel. The floors of the dungeon will remain on the Dungeon Master side of the screen. This makes the pack convenient, but not mandatory. Instead it’s really a luxury quality of life improvement.

Where such a luxury item excels is if you do things the real old school method of dungeon delving. Make them map the dungeon, while you have your perfect reference copy beside you and know exactly where they are.

Price

I don’t normally comment on the price and instead merely state the suggested price. I do this because prices aren’t fixed. Sales often occur and everyone has their own ideas of what’s worth it when it comes to their money. I’ll largely do the same here, but I do need to point out that the price of two maps & miscellany packs is the same as a core rule book or adventure. I think that many people, if forced to choose between two such packs (for Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage) and a full adventure (such as Curse of Strahd) will choose the full adventure. This maps it more of a luxury product for those who enjoy the convenience, and/or for those that already have the other books they are interested in.

Summary

This is a luxury item. If you like having your maps outside your book, like using dry erase marker, and liked the maps from the book, you’ll like this. However, outside the Skullport maps and the card pages, the maps will stay on the Dungeon Master side of the screen. This is because the maps include secret doors, but this isn’t a problem for the town of Skullport. I know plenty of Dungeon Masters who would pass on such a product if their players can’t see the maps, and instead just deal with the inconvenience. This is because they rather buy other books and adventures they don’t already own, and for the price of two such packs they could buy another book. If you can only buy one accessory though? It’s a harder choice. However, if you aren’t worried about buying other books, and like these sorts of luxury additions? You’ll be right at home.

The Marble Sanctum Battle Map Review

Review copy courtesy of Black Scroll Games.

Pros

• Visually, we know what to expect by now. It's the style we are used to, however with the added bonus of having water in parts of the map. It's a very nice detail.
• 3 levels of map composed of about 56 tiles (some edge pieces are a bit smaller than a page and are put on the same page).
• Made for the 1 inch is 5 feet standard scale.
• Isometric visual aid provided (as Black Scroll Games often does, and did again).
• VTT jpgs provided.
• Both broken into pages and single poster versions are provided for easy printing.
• Layers are present to allow the option of grid lines and no grid lines. If the area has natural grid lines due to the stone work or other means, grid lines aren't added.
• Area descriptions and background story is included, and it's pretty good for getting the creative juices flowing.

Could Go Either Way

• Just like last time, this map is also done in the same 3D style that other Black Scroll Games maps and tiles are done.
• Like with their work that I reviewed just recently, the majority of the map uses the shapes of the stones in to denote squares for movement. This once again looks great but isn't applied for the entire map, though it is for most of it. If you don't like grid lines on your map and prefer for squares to be denoted by the design of the location, you might not like those areas.
• The map is specialized, but not as much so as The Portal Under The Stars. The size and fact that it's broken up into different levels makes it a bit easier to steal from. However it's also arguable not as useful straight out of the box since it isn't based on an adventure. This leaves it somewhere in the middle between

Cons

• The same grid issues I mentioned in my review of The Portal Under The Stars are also present here. I'm hoping it'll get updated in the future, and will update this if it occurs. I've been told this isn't the case on the card version of the tiles (the ones for $40.00 USD), but I have not seen them myself.
• Secret rooms aren't noted. Not noting secret entrances could be a plus if you prefer coming up with that part yourself, but not noting the secret rooms is a different situation.

Note: Everything below is about the PDF version of the battle map.

I reviewed of a Black Scroll Games release right before this. However, given that they had 3 releases there is more reviewing that could be done. And more reviewing I shall do, this time taking a look at The Marble Sanctum. What can I say, I like battle maps. It follows the established tradition of Black Scroll Games previous work, though as I said before every map comes with it's own strengths and challenges. This one in particular is quite large compared to other maps they've released previously. 

The Tiles

Well, there's quite a lot of these guys. Assuming you don't print it as one massive poster, it comes out to 56 tiles. Of course, with how maps are broken some pages are only partially filled. However, that is still an impressive number. The map is further broken up into sections. In total there are 4 spread across the three levels of the sanctum. This is because the second level has 2 disconnected parts.

The areas of the map themselves are quite varied and well done. The flooded areas in level 3, the hidden lake, the foliage areas (really only around exits and entrances), and the status field alcoves are my favourites. There are also little details that caught my eye. The bones, and rusted weapons are a nice touch and help add character to the area. The entrances are also done nicely with loose rocks and vines being detailed. It's the kind of things that you wouldn't expect to find in a generic map or a map tile set. Those tend to be more general and less niche. However, sometimes you want that niche but unique room and for that purpose these kinds of rooms are useful. Tile sets don't tend to have a flooded version either. As you'd expect, there are also some rooms that are more plain. In a map these kinds of rooms are important to flesh out the location (not every room can be the throne room), but the ratio between them and the more unique rooms is also important. I'd recommend a look at the images provided on the product page in order to form your opinion on that topic. The images there are a bit small but should be enough to get an impression of the layout.

There is some rubble detail on the map. However, if you wanted rubble piles that could be used for cover and other things, you'll probably have to add it yourself. The same is true for traps, though there are plenty of areas where they could easily slot in. I would recommend thinking about these carefully, since sources of cover can be hard to come by. The secret doors will also require a bit of work since they aren't noted and neither is the mechanism by which to open them. This is another thing where your opinion will vary based on how much you like pre-done for you when you buy this kind of map. Instead a room without an obvious entrance is a secret room and will require a secret door. This will mean you'll spend some time staring at the map to find the secret doors. I would have preferred them to be noted on one of the visual aids.

Background Story

The addition of descriptions and adventure inspiration is a nice touch. It also hits me in the right spot since the story involves undead, and by now you should all know my stance on them in adventures. Having a springboard like this to help create an adventure is definitely helpful. It has some very cool options. It also isn't authoritative, aiming to inspire by giving different ways to take things on more than one occasion. The result is that it feels you can take as much or as little as you want, which is my preferred tone for this sort of thing. The writing in general is done well for what it is. The final room where everything builds to is potentially really cool encounter (Dungeon Master skill obviously a factor). I don't think you'll buy the map just for the background story, but it is well done and definitely is a welcome addition. It's just that it's not a complete adventure. Some products are adventures that happen to feature some maps (usually to small to make useful in combat, but that's for another review and another product) but this is a map that happens to have some adventure hooks.

Reuse

The map has quite a few interesting rooms that can be reused in ways the original design did not intend. Quite a bit of it would require use of scissors, but it's still fairly easy to do. The way certain parts are broken or combined means that sometimes parts of other rooms are on the same page or that a part that would have been nice to have on the same page is on another. That's not so unexpected, given that it's meant to be used as a whole map. Still, I was able to run part of the second level and part of the third level for my campaign last Friday. The fact that it's broken into three levels, or 4 sections, means that those individual parts can quite easily be reused.

The Art

I still feel that the best way to get a full impression about art in this kind of thing is to see some of it. That's why I'd recommend looking at a Black Scroll Games map. You can get their free map here (you'll need to enter your email) or can look at their product page. However, some of the stand out things about this map are the lighting and water. By this point I've come to expect great lighting from Black Scroll Games. Water can be quite tricky to get right, and also changes appearance based light. Having the water looking this good was a nice surprise for me. Take a good look at that water on the third level, since it's shown off on the product page. This map in particular also has quite a few nice other details, such as drag lines, rusted weapons and skeletons.

There is some over extending of grid lines, like I pointed out in the other product I recently reviews, but I don't think it was as noticeable here. I think it's because of the colour. The darker brown of the rock and vines together make for a background that makes the grid lines stick out less. Still, the larger chunk doesn't require the grid lines and like before, grid lines aren't added when they are already built into the design of the floor. It's still not perfect, but I think this version is closer to what I prefer.

Other Considerations

This map is quite big but it also is quite expensive compared to some others. I don't normally comment on price, but in this case it might be hard to justify if you are not looking for a pre-made map. You can buy 2 tile sets from the same company and still have some money left over. Of course, if you wanted a ready to use map and instead focus on filling out the adventure, it would be exactly what you want and tile sets wouldn't be a replacement. You'd need to design the dungeon first and then fill it in. If a ready map is what you wanted, than taking a look at the layout of the 3 levels on the product page will give you a good impression if it is right for you. Of course, since this map is more specific it also tends to have more details. Depending on what kind of map you want, your opinion will differ.

What I felt was Missing

Black Scroll Games are basically one of the standards I use for what I consider a complete map package. See? This is how you do it. Make it easy to print as a poster, to print in pages (especially important given how this is the most likely used method), to use in VTT, provide backstory/adventure hooks, and provide overview pages for Dungeon Masters. 

That said, it isn't an out-of-the-box ready to run adventure. It'll need work to turn those ideas into a fully fleshed out and ready to go state. This can go either way. Some people would prefer to do it how they like it and have full control. Some people want something mostly done. Some people like something ready-to-run and then tinker with it until they are happy. Depending on which of those people you are, you might see the lack of fully fleshed out adventure as a con or not mind, since you would've ignored it anyway if it existed. However, if you wanted a full adventure you won't find it here. You'll need to fill it in yourself.

I would have also liked to see the entrances labeled on the cross-section visual aid. It just helps give a better sense of the space as it was imagined originally, especially for the second level. Since you can rearrange the relative layouts of the separate sections however you want easily, it's not much of an issue. However, since we have the visual aid it would have been helpful without sacrificing anything.

Price

The digital map is available here for $19.99 USD. It costs $45.00 USD to get both the digital and printed map and $40.00 USD for just the printed map.

Summary

It's a big map that has almost everything, like Black Scroll Games always does. VTT, poster maps, map broken up into pages, isometric view, vertical view, and back story/plot hooks. It's all here. And it's also good. The visual style is great as well and the water in particular almost feels like showing off. This map also has nice added touches and details. The drag lines in particular are one of my favourites as well as the water effects. The grid lines being overextended again is disappointing since it looks so good otherwise. There is also the opportunity costs. It's a good set but you could buy two tile packs from Black Scroll Games instead and have money left over due to it's high cost. Those sets won't have as many small details, but they still look great. If you want a battle map with the adventure left you but with basically everything else you could hope for in an adventure included, you'll probably like this. Just look at it and I think you'll know if it's for you.

The Portal Under The Stars - Battlemap Review

Review copy courtesy of Black Scroll Games.

Pros

• The great looking style of map Black Scroll Games does. When looking at their previous work I felt that lighting was one of their big strengths and this map shows it off again. The stone floors are also very detailed looking as are the other little touches and details.
• 15 pages and 17 pieces worth of map (not counting the one statue counter)
• Made for the 1 inch is 5 feet standard scale
• Isometric visual aid provided (as Black Scroll Games often does)
• VTT jpgs provided
• Both broken into pages and single poster versions are provided for easy printing.
• Layers are present to allow the option of grid lines and no grid lines.
• Shortened area descriptions from the adventure are present.

Could Go Either Way

• Again, this map is also done in the same 3D style that other Black Scroll Games maps and tiles are done. If you like it as I do, then it's a plus, but if you don't it'll obviously be a drawback.
• A majority of the map uses the shapes of the stones in to denote squares for movement. This looks great and work well but it doesn't fully carry through the entire map. Though this is the exception and not the rule (and only present on the second level), this may be a con if you don't like grid lines on maps.
• Unlike the modular inn set I covered and many of their other sets, this one is obviously meant for a particular adventure. This makes it perfect if you want all the bells and whistles for running that adventure, but does hamper the reusability compared to a tile set. That said, you could quite easily use the maps to suit your own purposes.

Cons

• There are some places where the grid lines seem to extend a tiny bit too far on the second level of the map. It's not obvious but I wish it wasn't an issue at all.

Introduction

This week has been a good week for Black Scroll Games. Though they had a total of 3 releases this week, I'll be looking at the map for the Goodman Games adventure The Portal Under the Stars first. I've given my opinion on their maps before and it should come to no surprise that I like their work. However, every map is something new to look at and has areas of strength and weakness. So with no further delay, let's take a look at this new map. With this kind of thing, seeing proof of work really helps to get a good understand of the product. If you are at all curious, I'd recommend taking a look at their free map as well. You'll need to enter your email to receive it though. Otherwise, their page has quite a few images of the map. 

The Tiles

This map is really 2 maps connected via staircase. It's made up of 8 rooms, an entrance area and multiple connecting hallways. The end result is a map made up of 17 tiles, not including the one counter used for a statue. Seeing it assembled really helps bring the scale into perspective. It's not a small map. In particular, the starting area to the dungeon, the ending room and the gazing pool are standouts. The rooms I find myself liking the best are the ones with extra details such as lighting or special items. The final room in particular really looks great. Human shapes can be among the hardest to get right in that kind of situation and I think it nailed it.

Of course, the purpose of this map is to bring to life the Goodman Games adventure. In that regard, it does a very good job. The original adventure provided a drawn map but I really like the way it is brought to life here. Since the adventure is being sold, the addition of descriptions for each room are appreciated. That way the map has a life outside the adventure as well.

Typically Black Scroll Games maps come as a complete map set. Here it's no different. There are VTT files ready to go. There are poster and broken up versions of the map. There is an isometric view (I always liked this addition). There is a tactical map. There are also filters in the PDF to enable and disable grid lines. This last area is where I find an issue. There are a few cases where I think the grid line extends a bit too far, particularly on the gazing pool. It's not that noticeable but I really wish it wasn't the case. There many areas that don't use the lines at all because the stonework design makes them redundant as well. It's just a little thing that doesn't need to be there. Some areas really benefit from the grid lines so turning them off isn't a perfect solution either.

Reuse

You can still get some mileage out of the map without the adventure. The second level could easily be reused as the resting place for an evil undead. And given how often that situation comes up in games I'm a part of or generally in the near vicinity of, I reckon that it makes it quite useful. The entrance is also easily reusable as is the gazing room. Really, almost all of the rooms can find a new home. The way the map is broken up means that there will often be pieces from other sections include in a tile. However, using the magic of scissors, this problem is easily ratified and allows for some clever reuse for your own games. Being that it has a few different paths and some very nice rooms, you can make use of what's here. It seems clear to me, however, that it wasn't the intention and more of a happy accident. The focus is still on bringing the original adventure to life.

The Art

I have a soft spot for the art style of Black Scroll Games tiles and the same style is applied here as their earlier work. The perspective gives a nice depth to the tiles and remind me of 3D printed tiles. There is also special attention paid to lighting, which enhances the effect. Together they give a good impression of depth. However, there is an astounding amount of extras that further show off the art. The isometric view is a nice addition and looks really good. It hits me right in the old CRPG nostalgia. The tactical map is also very nice to see. Really, I feel every map should have one of these. It makes planning things for the Dungeon Master so much easier. I could try describing it further but I really do think seeing some of the images(http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/219022/The-Portal-Under-The-Stars--Battlemap?manufacturers_id=7523) or their previous map(http://www.blackscrollsgames.com/#openModal) is the best way to understand.

Other Considerations

Of course, to make full use of the map you'll need the adventure or the core rulebook which also includes the adventure. That's assuming you don't have the adventure from a Free RPG Day gone by. I'd recommend the full RPG book since it's a better value between the 2 and it also has a kind of important part: the rule system.

Black Scroll Games has quite a few other tile sets and maps at this point. Choosing this one over the will probably mean you want to run the deluxe version of the The Portal Under the Stars adventure. However, you may be tempted to buy a different one of their sets. In a way, you can reuse parts of the map for your own adventure. In another, it isn't as versatile as their Modular-Inn set which allows you to buy many different sets using their tiles. They are also the same price.

What I felt was Missing

They've included basically everything I could ask from them for this kind of product. The wide number of options is really impressive. VTT? Battlemap? Poster form? Cut up for 8.5”x11” paper? With grid lines and without? All are here. This is what I want to see in a map. That said, there is still one thing I would have liked to have added. One of the maps is full of statues but there is no marker or token for them like their is for a different statue in the encounter.

Price

The digital map is available here for $7.95 USD. It costs $19.99 USD to get both the digital and printed map from the same link.

Summary

I'm beginning to feel that this is my standard response to Black Scroll Games maps and tiles, but they really are nice. Overall, I would say the set isn't as versatile as same other sets such as the Modular-Inn set I reviewed earlier but that's also not the point. This time the point is to create a beautiful map specifically for the adventure The Portal Under the Stars. In that goal I would say it succeeds, though with the blemish of grid lines that are slightly off in a few places. If you are after a nice map to run the adventure, this is for you. If you won't be getting this map I think it's because there are other maps that you want instead, and not because this isn't a good map. It also has to be noted that you will need to get the adventure separately.

Wilderness Tower Map Review

Pros

• Nice looking map of a tower in the wildernes
• Marks denoting the bounds of squares are included
• Properly sized variant for battlemap use is provided
• Smaller version for reference is provided (I often like printing these kinds of things off and noting starting locations for creatures)
• Free!

Cons

• If you already have wilderness tiles, this is more wilderness tiles
• No internals of the tower are provided. If they were, even blank, it would make the set far more reusable. Hopefully that's the case in the adventure that served as the prototype for this map.

Introduction

I've talked about maps before. Dave Zajac's Wilderness Tower Map is another map that can be used in your games. While being quite small, it is properly scaled for use with miniatures. If you are always looking for new tiles and maps to use, it's worth a look.

The Map

The map itself is quite small and simple. It's made up of two pieces that can be printed and connected. However, you can create a rather large chunk of wilderness by printing that page multiple times, rotating the pieces randomly, and connecting them. For a better effect you can include other wilderness tiles of the same size. Trees and other features are included and provide some tactical options as well as using the tower itself for cover. Towers are a classic dungeon setting so you can get some mileage out of it. Compared to some other tower maps I've seen and adventures I've run, the dimensions are a little small. However, it's easy enough to add a giant basement or something else to make it bigger if needed while keeping its outward appearance.

Art

The art is generally nice. It could be a bit more photo-realistic but at the same time it is close enough that it didn't bother me at all. I think I've seen similar quality maps with prices instead of free. It really is quite nice. It's also nice that the smaller map is provided, allowing me to plan how I'll unleash my evil undead hordes upon my players. Other than that, there is no other art. I don't think there really needs to be more.

Conclusion

It's a nice map containing a chunk of wilderness and a tower. The wilderness chunk is easy to reuse. The tower chunk isn't as reusable, but seeing that towers are a common dungeon setting, you can still get some mileage out of it. If you need another wilderness tile or you are new and simply need some tiles to get started, this is a good one to have in the collection. It's not as flexible as some multi-tile systems that let you create whatever you want, but it is still effective for what it is. Being less flexible also means you can just grab it and slam it down when you run into a wilderness combat encounter. Go ahead, grab it. I don't regret doing so and even if you do, it didn't cost you a cent. That's the best kind of advertisement.

Modular Inn – Map-Tile Set Review

Review copy of Modular Inn – Map-Tile Set courtesy of Black Scroll Games.

Pros

• Made for the 1 inch is 5 feet standard scale.
• Beautifully done inn tiles. The lighting from candles and windows is very well done.
• There are 55 different tile images here (not including doors, walls and corners), 30 of which are populated with items (the other 25 are empty in order to allow you to allow to populate them yourself using printed items though quite a few of these are variations with different lighting)
• Door pieces, wall pieces and corner pieces allow for open walls and not filled in corners to be filled in and result in a better looking final result.
• The set, as the name “Modular Inn” suggests, is modular and allows for many different combinations.
• VTT use is considered and files for that specific purpose are provided in .jpg form.
• Draft tiles are provided in order to plan out an inn before printing a large number of tiles.

Could Go Either Way

• I personally really like the 3D style that Black Scroll Games uses for their terrain but it might not be your thing if you prefer a 2D art style.
• Your campaign might not include combat in an inn, which isn't as common as a classic dungeon, and as a result you may prefer to role-play through the situation and not use a combat map. You could still use it to map out your inn, but it wouldn't be as useful. If you are planning some combat encounters indoors, this set will look a lot more tempting.

Cons

• The great lighting, which gives the set a great daytime appearance, doesn't work for night.
• There isn't a staircase going down tile (you can get around this by using the staircase tile that's present and overlapping it with another, but for more complete workaround see below).

Introduction

On December 6th 2016, Black Scroll Games released a set of tiles to help Game Masters easily create inns for their tabletop games called Modular Inn – Map-Tile Set. These new inn tiles are in the same 3D style as The Keeper of the Realms, which I reviewed earlier and liked. It was perfect timing too, since I got them in time for a D&D game that involved an inn combat encounter.

The Tiles

There is quite a large variety of tiles included in the set. From bathroom to kitchen, the common rooms you can think of are here. The more exhaustive list is kitchen, bar, cellar, bathroom, fireplace, stable, bath, table and chair in the open, and fireplace. Some of these also have different variations, resulting in 30 different tiles populated with items. There are also staircase tiles that show stairs going up a floor. There isn't one for staircases going down, which makes it a little difficult to make a second floor that mirrors the first. However, I was able to get around this by covering everything but the staircase on the staircase tile with the other tile I wanted to use and then covering one row with the next tile (this is to keep the same number of squares). You could also leave one of the walls open, representing where the staircase would be, and overlap one row of squares afterwards so that they match. As long as the overlap doesn't produce odd results, you can get away with this. Just like with The Keeper of the Realms, empty versions of the tiles are provided as well. This allows you to decorate the room yourself if you'd like.

The tiles are detailed nicely and there is some serious attention to detail. Extra doors are provided in order to provide easy entrance to other rooms you might attach. There are also corner pieces added, which are a really great idea. Since the set is 3D, the outer edges of the map are the walls in perspective. This means that when you combine tiles, there will be a gap between the beams in some cases and the corner pieces fill this part in. Similarly, there are also wall pieces that allow walls to be added to any of the tiles present.

In the files there is also an option to use a less vibrant colour overlay. It gives the tiles a different look when used and in the case of tiles with windows, gives it a cloudy day look. Light still comes through the windows in this setting though. I like having the option between the two though.

There are smaller draft tiles with references to the pages where the full sized tiles can be found. If you don't want to print everything in one go and only want to grab what you need to save colour ink or something, this is very handy.

The Art

The tiles themselves look very good. Just look at the sample images here. The 3D style adds a perspective that really gives the tiles a sense of depth even though they were on paper. The lighting also adds to this while also looking very nice. Some tiles have windows that let sunlight in. This sunlight is rendered and further helps to give the tiles a sense of depth. The stables in particular have strands of light coming from outside through the wood and they really add something to the appearance as well.

The grids aren't obvious on this tile even though they are meant to be used with the standard 1 inch is 5 feet miniatures. This means that the stone floor components are visibly rough as you'd expect from stonework, even though they do conform to a grid. The result is that the grids fade into the artwork. The wooden floor components use the same style where one of the 5 feet section may be made of multiple smaller planks.

Other Considerations

Inns aren't as common a site for combat as an underground dungeon is from my experience. However, if you are planning to run a few inn or indoor encounters, this set will look very tempting. The tiles can be quite easily used for the interiors of houses, particularly bigger ones. Instead of an inn, you can use it for a rich person's big house or for a feasting hall. For smaller sized houses, you can quite easily combine the kitchen tile with another tile and form a small house (for space reasons the owner might roll out their bed on the ground at night). This doesn't work in all cases though because some tiles have too many tables. The bedroom tiles also have 2 beds, but if you need to you can always cut these out yourself from a full tile and place them in the room if you bought the PDF version. The down side is that it wastes some ink.

What I felt Was Missing

Often when players finally reach an inn, it's night time. A fair number of the tiles have windows and show sunlight coming through. You can use the reduced saturation option to try to make it look more like night time and rationalize that the light is moonlight, but I don't think it's a perfect solution since it seems a bit too bright still. It would have been nice if the rooms had windowless versions as well and windows could be placed the same way the doors can. These windows could then be made dark and these windowless tiles could be used for both windowless rooms and dark times of day. This may be unreasonable for the printed sets but would have made for a welcome addition to the PDF document.

As mentioned earlier, there isn't a staircase going down tile or cut-out. This makes it harder to mirror the first floor in the second floor. This means you either need to get clever with covering up parts of one tile with another to have things match, just remember that the first row of a particular tile would be the stairs, or design your inn in a way to account for this (have the main area have a high ceiling and have the rooms be over the kitchen and behind the bar). I also thought it would be nice to have a ladder alternative for the cellar since it would be helpful to make the interiors of smaller houses.

The empty tiles are a nice option. However, the tiles have some very nice items that would have been very nice and useful to be able to place myself. The ones off the top of my head that come to mind would be tables, chairs, chests, boxes, and beds. Having these would allow for basically any interior area to be made. This probably would have also been unreasonable for the printed set. This isn't that big of a deal because I can still cut these features out myself though it would be a bit inefficient from an ink perspective. It also doesn't matter if you have these things from another source, such as 3D printed items or a different set. 

Price

The price is posted here. At the time of writing, it's $7.95 for the PDF, 19.99 for a physical printed copy and 19.99 for both a PDF version and physically printed copy. Black Scroll Games occasionally have some deals as well, which may be worth keeping an eye out for if you feel the price is too high.

Summary

This is a really good inn set despite a couple of things that hold it back from being my ideal set. Having a going down staircase piece, some options for night time, and including some of the items used on the tiles to help populate the blank tiles would have left me with no complaints. It doesn't stop the set from being a very good set for making inns, especially if you like the Black Scroll Games 3D art style. The number of tiles (55 in total, 30 of which are populated with items), the details, the art, the .jpeg files for VTT use, and the lighting effects all help make this a good set in my eyes. I'll be using it going forward when I need an inn encounter. I recommend a look at the images provided on the product page to help decide. 

Map Set Review: The Keeper of Realms

A review of the Black Scroll Games map The Keeper of Realms.

Pros

• Well draw and coloured maps
• Isometric visual aid images included
• Often used location (wizard's library is a popular location)
• Example story with visual aids and riddle included
• A PDF document broken up for printing as well as .jpg files are provided
• 1 inch grid size
• Free after signing up for the newsletter (for at least a year)

Could Go Either Way

• The adventure idea included is system neutral (more accessible but more work)

Cons

• The 3D style makes it difficult to combine with non-3D style sets unless they are used in their own separate sections (you need to commit to the 3D art style for at least some sections of your dungeon). You can still do so, but there will be an aesthetic break. 

Introduction

In keeping in the tradition of me looking for free maps wherever I can find them, I've recently stumbled upon Black Scroll Games and their maps. In particular, The Keeper of Realms set is currently provided for free when you sign up for their newsletter (when I asked, I was told it would be this way for at least a year).

The Map

There are two main maps included, though that isn't really telling the whole story. The PDF files make use of layers so that there are options included for things such as background colour and grid style (classic square grids or rounded grids, since the library itself is circular). The main map is the large, 9 page library. Within the centre of the library, after solving the included puzzle, there is a secret chamber that is also provided. This secret chamber is made further more useful by providing an alternate empty version. It's missing the details such as tables, but it means it is much easier to customize for your own personal games. The ability to remove the details easily in the lower chamber section allows the placement of 3D props without conflicting with already present details. The story included with the map has a part where a spiral staircase to the lower chamber is revealed. In the set a tile with this opening is provided allowing you to visually show the event to players by placing this tile over the previous one. I really liked this added detail. Sound like too much work for too little gain? It's in its own .pdf file. Just don't print it.

An optional adventure is presented along with a riddle and adventure aids. These aids are handouts that are meant to be given to the players (a riddle in a code/dead language, the code/dead language itself and a drawing) and isometric depictions of the areas. The riddle isn't too difficult but it's fine for its purpose (you typically don't want riddles your party can't ever figure out). 

Libraries are a common feature in tabletop role-playing games and when they are featured, they usually belong to wizards. As a result, this map is quite reusable. It is easy to rework into a homebrew though it is probably not enough for a complete adventure on its own. With a little bit of work to flesh out the process of finding the library, it can make for a decent one-shot. It is very easy to convert it to something else entirely as well. If your players need to find some kind of scroll, chances are you can recycle at least part of what is found here.

Art

It looks really nice. The map presented is detailed and has a perspective that shows off the details and height of the library in a way that isn't otherwise possible in a flat map. In many other maps you only see the top edge of the wall. In these maps, you get to see the angled face of the wall as well. As a map on its own, it looks really nice. However, this perspective choice makes it naturally harder to combine with other sets that don't go for this 3D approach because of the presence of the two different styles. In such cases, you can still use what is found here to create a room. When the 3D tiles are placed together with 3D tiles the issue is avoided. I also find it far less jarring to have flat style tiles lead to a 3D style room than a mixture of both styles in the same section. I've run adventures like that and my players didn't mind but some people might prefer to stick to either all 3D style art of to all flat style art. All of this isn't a problem if mixing art styles together doesn't bother you. In some similar maps I've been concerned that 3D props don't work well. This is because they don't completely cover up the art (for example, in the case of the book shelf). In this case, part of the library is raised. This means that if you have 3D prop miniature bookshelves and place them on the map, they will now be higher than the raised part of the library. For this reason, I'd suggest running the library itself without props. Without them, thanks to the 3D art style, it looks almost as if you had recreated the entire thing using 3D terrain and props. However, it's easier to set up than tiles and 3D props. If you really like going for full 3D, you'd need to build the raised section (this would require you to carefully cut out the raised section).

The isometric aids are very nice looking and the lighting in particular is very nice. They aren't an essentially but they are a really nice addition to the package. It also means that even if prefer theatre of mind play, you can still find something of use from this package.

Conclusion

It's a very nice map. The location itself, a wizard's library, is very easily reusable and comes up often in play. The library map in particular has a good sense of height. The visual aids give a nice alternate view of the area and allow for use even in theatre of mind play. A possible adventure idea and puzzle are provided with the adventure. For the puzzle and adventure idea, visual aids are also presented in order to enhance the experience. These take the form of a dead language/code, a riddle written in the dead language/code, and a drawing. As a map it is very nice and all of the extras, from visual aids to adventure elements, are just icing on the cake. The lower chamber part also allows you to remove details, further enhancing its reuse. It has just about everything you could want from a map. I hope I see more packages in the future that have so many elements for Dungeon Masters. The adventure isn't the most developed but it is system neutral. The 3D art style works best with maps and tiles that also have a 3D art style. It can still, however, be used to make art style consistent rooms even if you use mostly 2D style tiles. Doing so is less jarring but some might prefer a consistent 2D or 3D art style. For now it's also free. If you think you'd like it based on what I've said, go ahead and check it out. I've always liked the no risk and informative approach of samples and demos.