June 2024 - Montly Recap (Patreon)

 Hey everyone, and welcome to my Monthly Recap post! July was a pretty warm month for us here in California, but thankfully, I had the cold mists of Barovia and the frigid snow of Winter's Grasp to keep me nice and cool.

I was very excited this month to knock out two multi-level buildings which are some of the tougher maps for me to tackle (both logistically and time-wise) but after a few pots of coffee and a lot of hours I was really excited to bring you such an iconic location like the Blood on the Vine Tavern!

Below is the recap of each map and the download link for each one, including the free versions where applicable.

Blood on the Vine Tavern

For me, and probably for a lot of other CoS DMs, this is one of the first stops most party members make when entering the dreary town of Barovia. Here is where they meet Ismark, in some cases, the Vistani and even the mist-born for the first time. I wanted to capture the essence of a once-great building that has fallen from grace like so much of this dark land.

Download the free version here

Download the Champion Tier version here

Winter's Grasp: Barovia Reimagined

Last month, I announced the new project I'm working on: "Winter's Grasp," which is my take on covering most of my previous maps in a cold layer of ice and snow. My goal is not only to provide a good, solid set of icy maps for your various campaigns but also to provide a new and unique way to play some of the popular modules out there, like CoS. This project allows me to truly transform a map by completely rebuilding it with new textures, snow, and icicles. Each month I will be releasing a new set of maps and this month I was able to knock out three more! Next on my list, I'll be working on snowy versions of my Village of Barovia maps (can't wait to see the graveyard covered in snow!)

Download Winter's Grasp: Gothic Village Outskirts here

Download Winter's Grasp: River Wetlands here

Download Winter's Grasp: Old Farm Road here

The Council Hall

As I continue to create maps for every location in the coastal town of Saltmarsh, this one was exciting as I had never done a full government building before (outside of an Audience Hall map I did for an LBH adventure). I was very inspired by the real-world Boston State House building (also featured in Fallout 4!), and I was hoping to capture the same essence and feel. I also tried to capture the personalities that are reflected in each council member's office and, like all my maps, added tons of fun little details to explore. I hope this map gives you some great encounter inspiration from intense political intrigue to daring rescue attempts to free someone from the gallows.

Download the Champion Tier Version here

The Top of the Falls

After doing the Falls Bridge last month, I really wanted to include the top of the waterfall as much as the bridge that spans the river. I thought it would be a lot of fun to capture the top of a massive waterfall pouring over the side of a jagged cliff face, and thus, this map was born. I was also inspired by the capture in the CoS module for the Mad Mage, which describes Strahd's final battle with the mage here, where he threw him over the side of the falls. What a fun place to hide his staff or even one of the fated artifacts. Maps like this are fraught with dangerous encounter potential, and I'd be so excited to hear what you have planned here.

 Download the Champion Tier Version here

July is now in the bag, and I'm jamming along with tons of new maps for August. I'm hoping to tackle the Vistani camp, more Winter's Grasp maps, and more Saltmarsh goodness, so stay tuned here for future map updates.

As always, thank you for your continued support! It's allowed me to make a living from my dream of creating battlemaps and providing for my family, and I will be forever grateful. I'm so honored and excited to be able to use my maps in your games, and I hope I continue to help bring your games to life with my work.

Cheers,

DM Andy