Ghostlight Keep

[Lumtheo]

Alright, so here is something I've been working on today. I wanted to try to make a functional and colored map with textures. After getting the lines down and finalizing the design I realized i'm bad at textures!
After many (unsuccessful) attempts to create textures I like for walls, floor, and grass, I'd like to see if anybody has any resources or suggestions.

As for the design, I have been meaning to draw this keep for a while since it is currently the place of operations for my current RPG group. The whole purpose of the keep is to keep the Tower (Circle in the center) safe. As well as having an escape route through the mountain.

I hope you all like the design at least.

[Lumtheo]

Quick update on my Ghostlight Keep battle map for my RPG group.
I'm pretty happy with the results so far.
Added Textures to the walls, floor, courtyards, cliff side, and cave.
Removed inner hill that was around the tower base. It over complicated the map and seemed like a waste of space so I removed it.
Added drop shadows for the walls and cave walls. You might have to zoom in to see them.
Added Walls around the top and bottom to encircle the entire compound.
Changed all the circle towers along the wall to by square towers to better confine to the theme of the wall.

To Do List:
Add Doors to the inner rooms.
Add Gates to the Gatehouses.
Add Stairs to the main tower floors.
Add props to all the rooms.
Create Map Legend
Make Keep seem more ancient and ruined. <-- (the hard one)

As always I'm open to suggestion so if you find something wrong with the current build let me know please!

[Lumtheo]

Almost there. Added stairs, tops to the towers. Gates added to the main entryways. Cut holes in the walls where the door will be going.

Edit: and added shadows to all rooms by hand.. That was a pain to do but i feel like it was worth it.

[grayrt]

Very nice! I think you did a great job with the textures, and it definitely feels spooky/ruined like you intended.

You might want to check a few different monitors to see how the brightness looks to you. It does read as very dark overall to me.

[Bogie]

Nice map, good creepy dangerous vibe to it. But as grayrt mentioned it may be a bit to dark for some uses, especially for printing, as is most of the details would be lost in a normal printing.

Maybe when you are all done you could post a version that is 25% lighter so anyone who wants to print the map can use it.

[Lumtheo]

Yes I do agree it is very dark. It seems that I have made a mistake on a couple of my shadow layers and the overall darkness of the map is the result. I haven't been able to work on it recently with the (usa) holiday. I was hoping one of you have a link to some props (tables, chairs, barrels etc) I can use. I can't seem to find any quality ones myself, and making each one individually seems like too much.

[Lumtheo]

Added Props and re-lightened the map a bit.
Added Tower Floor indicators

I still feel like it's missing something but I can't put my finger on it.
Big thanks to Bogie btw, I only stumbled on his props after taking a look at his maps.

So this Keep is the former home to an order of knights that hunt the undead. They got their power from the Ghostlight, a beacon of holy flame that they guard high atop their tower. They got their name from the eerie blue glow of the flame itself.

Once swearing their oath to the order the knight has to take a piece of the flame and burn themselves (purging their sins) with it. This causes two things to happen, any flame they create with magic takes on the color and properties of the Ghostlight itself, and at night their eyes glow blue.

Neighboring kingdoms began to fear the Ghostlight Order's power as it grew. Eventually the kingdom of Esmad sent its armies to end the "threat" on the safety of the kingdom. The Order was destroyed, but no matter what the soldiers of Esmad tried, nobody could stop the Ghostlight itself from burning as long as one of the Order still survived.

Years later, the fortress is discovered by an enterprising group of adventurers who make it their home. (Until the last of the Order of Ghostlights comes home)

[Bogie]

Your map is looking really good now. Minor critique: watch the relative sizes of some of the objects. the 2 most obvious are the crate and barrel pile in the lower right hand room and the bar tables in the bar. The crates are to small, unless there is a reason they are all under a foot wide. and the Bar tables just look really big compared to the bar itself. Otherwise, great map! Also the backstory is wonderful.

[Lumtheo]

Now that you've pointed it out they do look rather silly. I did find it hard to keep sizes relatively close, but I seem to have missed that one. Nice catch!