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The Deep Spire, 2nd Level
🕑 Added 2021-02-11 20:13:14 +0000 UTCThere's a bunch of stuff I want to tell you about this, so let's get started. This is the trade district of the spire. Most of the shops are here, the tavern is here... basically, this is the part of town where traders come to do business and get sloppy drunk before heading off.
The annotated version is sort of a first draft and I intend to make another one with every floor included once it's all done. I don't plan to change much, but I want to add some flavor. I'll give the tavern a name, stuff like that. By the way, if you're wondering about the unmarked rooms, they're residences.
Two other parts of the spire are visible here, but will be getting their own maps. On the bottom left is the tower overlooking the harbor entrance, which you can see in this drawing of the exterior. On the right, underneath the bridge, is the grotto. Both of these are already drawn and will be posted here in a day or two.
This map has an unusual feature that might be a problem for some DMs, mainly those on VTTs. From here up, the levels of the map aren't connected by stairs. It's one big spiral all the way to the top, which means you could potentially have an encounter on one level that spills over onto the next one. And no one wants to have to switch between maps that much.
Ideally, you'd plan your encounters to take place away from the transition between levels, but you know how players are. Sometimes they'll just pick a fight with some rando and you've got to roll initiative when you weren't expecting to.
Anyway, I think I have a solution to this: tokens. Big tokens with about 1/4 of the next floor on them. In Foundry, these would be "tiles," but it's the same thing. You can just overlay part of the next floor onto the current one and any fight that spills over can be handled without switching maps. You could even place them in advance and hide them, to be revealed if necessary. I think they should make things easier, but if you have any thoughts about it, let me know.
As I said, I've got the tower and the grotto maps ready to color and I should have them done in a day or so each. I'm gonna get to work on those. Hope you like the spire so far!
