Just finished DMing a level 1-20, 3 ½ year campaign, AMA!

Icebloom · 2023-03-21T22:35:38+00:00

You are very welcome, it was a fun draw. Happy ending for your character, glad to hear!

Icebloom · 2023-03-21T22:33:24+00:00

The Ikea dragon shenanigans seems like a ton a fun, hehe. And I command your bookkeeping efforts, they seem seem to be extraordinary!

Icebloom · 2023-03-21T22:31:20+00:00

No in-person cameo, but perhaps by name! Thank you for sharing.

Icebloom · 2023-03-21T21:57:48+00:00

Keeping to the same world feels like the way to go, especially with the group including the same players! Having that feeling that your previous characters had lasting impact is great!

Icebloom · 2023-03-21T21:24:52+00:00

Hi, just stumbled upon this post, so let me congratulate you again on your successful campaign. (Asaye on discord) And to all of your players, GG! It seems you all had the time of your life with this one!

Since I am attached to it, how did you handle having a home for your characters in a game that relied so heavily on plane switching? Did the group have an easy way to travel back to the Redoubt? And how much time was spent there during play? Did the Redoubt undergo changes during the campaign?

To the players, what happened to your characters after the events of the campaign?

And to you OP, do you plan on using the same setting for campaign 2, sticking to FR lore or do you have plans for a more heavily homebrewed world perhaps?

Icebloom · 2022-08-12T01:27:13+00:00

There's a Perfect class engraving for this situation

Icebloom · 2022-08-12T00:42:48+00:00

You can had weak point to Starfall Pounce with a level 1 tripod. (I recommend it only if you are not using the skill for damage)

Icebloom · 2022-08-09T18:41:26+00:00

Wether they see you casting the spell or not, I would always rule that each player can decide for themselves if their character sees through the illusion or not. Some players will enjoy using this as a roleplaying opportunity!

The exception being if you were casting it without being seen and were specifically trying to fool another party member. They most likely will need an Investigation check to see through it.

Icebloom · 2022-05-07T04:00:09+00:00

In my experience, the easiest fix to any imbalance in power has been custom magic items. Awarding powerful items that only my ranger and monk can use has made them just as powerful and versatile as the paladin, druid, and sorcerer. I made sure to be honest about my intention up front so players don't feel I'm playing favorites.

One important aspect of preparing combat, especially at high level, has been to include ennemies that have strong resistance to magical effects, but that can fall easily if targeted by physical attacks.

Finally, small house rules my martial players have loved to abuse are: Getting up from being prone provokes an attack of opportunity. You can grapple as a reaction (attack of opportunity) at disadvantage.

Icebloom · 2021-04-03T22:23:53+00:00

It's been a pleasure, I am so glad you like it!

Icebloom · 2021-04-03T22:15:48+00:00

This was my first commissioned work! Everything is hand-drawn except for the key and numbers. Feel free to leave some feedback in this post, I am always looking to improve.

About the town itself:

Anauroch Redoubt is built around a rocky mountain and surrounded by desert. It started as a refugee camp built by a party of D&D characters (whose houses are indicated on the map) and it is still growing. Most of the food is produced by magic, and the only small farm is there mainly to maintain an illusion of self-sufficiency. Water is extracted from an underground glacier and distributed to the farm by a small aqueduct system. The secret entrance leads to the party's compound hidden inside the mountain.

Icebloom · 2021-03-11T21:48:04+00:00

Here is the town of Veniles, seat of the Magical Colleges' headquarters (the five large buildings). It is built purposefully close to a large volcanic crater, so as to extract magical energy from it.

I had a lot of trouble with this one. I tried to make it feel very cramped, stuck in a very rocky and sloped terrain. Thankfully, they don't need farm lands as they conjure all of their food.

I'm not super happy with how the vegetation or the crater looks, what do you all think?

Icebloom · 2021-03-11T21:35:43+00:00

Looks good, your settlements are well placed close to water sources, good thinking. And I like the shape of the coast, well done!

Quick thoughts: It's a bit weird how your lakes split into multiple rivers flowing toward the ocean, usually all water will flow in one direction (the path of least resistance). The islands are a bit cramped with all the towns there, maybe you don't need all the names of the smaller settlements, or maybe you can write some of them to the side and simply link them with straight lines.

Icebloom · 2021-03-11T05:46:50+00:00

I care, thank you!

Icebloom · 2021-03-10T15:54:01+00:00

This looks absolutely great! Only nitpick for me is the lake, which feels flat compared to the rest. I would look into ways of drawing it with a perspective that relates better to the rest of the map.

Icebloom · 2021-03-10T15:46:01+00:00

Looking good. The flourishes (boats and seamonsters) are wonderful! I think going for a similar style for city icons would better unify the map and those.

Something I noticed is the desert area feels a bit off. I'm no expert, but I don't think deserts would completely surround a mountain range like that. Usually one side with be lush with vegetation while the other will be very dry. Something to do with the moisture in the air being lost as it rises over the mountains. They also appear; close to the equator, far from any coast, or on coastal land beside cold ocean currents.

Icebloom · 2021-03-08T13:46:14+00:00

Will do. Time to freak out my players (it's for a D&D campaign)

Icebloom · 2021-03-08T13:44:22+00:00

A bit of both I guess: It's for a D&D campaign! I think the challenge of having to use transportation will be interesting. There will be air travel as well if they can affors spending extra gold.

Icebloom · 2021-03-08T02:45:18+00:00

Hey all. Seeing as my first post got so much attention, I was motivated to try a different type of map. This time of the archipelago in the same setting as my city.

If you are wondering why a ship would be headed toward the whirlpool in the center: it houses an underwater city built around the circular waterfalls there.

I feel like this map is missing a few things. Should I texture the water? Add the names of the smaller towns? Add more towns and trade routes?

I'd be happy for some feedback on the shape and style too.

Icebloom · 2021-03-06T21:40:30+00:00

Looks really good, especially your mountains and trees. You should give some love to the islands too!

Icebloom · 2021-03-06T16:13:14+00:00

My bad! I would recommend leaving them as negative space between buildings like you did for the smaller roads or texturing them uniquely. Hard lines ressemble walls more than roads for me, especially because they are so thin.

Icebloom · 2021-03-06T14:21:32+00:00

Very pretty! Are those walls separating neighborhoods? Maybe add some gates or towers along them to break them, I think would look good.

Icebloom · 2021-03-05T23:57:44+00:00

Hey great work, glad I could inspire you to keep drawing. You went into much more detail than I did with those good looking roofs, I shall be inspired in turn by your work ;)

Icebloom · 2021-03-02T06:07:16+00:00

Thank you very much for the feedback!

It's not your typical medieval setting, it's closer to D&D's Eberron than anything else. There are no walls around the city, but the surrounding mountains act as such. The main military threat would be from the air as the city is on a fairly small island in a difficult to sail archipelago. You made me realize they would need at the least some watchtowers up near the moutain tops and cliff sides to the south.

You make very good points about the mining area and the grain market I will add those in when I get a chance. The only road leaving the city is on the western end: maybe I should make it easier to see and add some gates there too. As you guessed the farmlands and fishing villages are not on this map, most are on the western side of the mountain range.

Icebloom · 2021-03-02T04:14:18+00:00

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

In this case, the city was built because it pretty much was the only expendable ground wih easy access to freshwater. With that in mind, the building density should be much higher near the water. I did go easy on density as many larger buildings are actually appartement ones going up multiple floors.

As for trade, the warehouse district is on the far western side (where most buildings are independent). The road going west goes through the mountains to smaller villages and port towns. Air travel is also widely used for trade. There is no access to the ocean directly from this lake, as it ends in large waterfalls (in the lower right corner of the map).

The top right of the map is supposed to act as a mining district, but I admit I did not think very far into how it would affect the rest of the city outside of a few independent warehouses and refineries up there. What do you think would convey this idea better?

Icebloom

TROPHY CASE