Champion Tier - Blue Water Inn V2.0 | 30x40
Added 2025-01-20 18:00:05 +0000 UTC
Hello everyone and happy New Release Monday! Today, I’m excited to release one of the most iconic and beloved locations from the village of Vallaki—The Blue Water Inn! This updated map contains tons of detail, designed to immerse your players in the rich atmosphere of this gathering spot. Whether they’re swapping tales with the Martikovs, planning their next move, or just trying to avoid too much attention, they will for sure find refuge here (Or will they?).
This map has four levels for you to explore:
1st Floor
2nd Floor
Attic
Roof
The biggest change here is that I altered the orientation of this map to a portrait (from the landscape image in the book) because I wanted to showcase the building facade as your players approached it. I didn't think the side of the building would have been the most exciting to show off, so I switched it so the map would flow better.
I created two sets of wooden gates: one at the bottom of the map, which leads to the main road, and another at the upper right of the map, which could be a service entrance for carts and supplies.
Additionally, I added a few outhouses in the back and a couple of surrounding buildings to make it feel like it was in the town of Vallaki instead of an isolated area (though it still has plenty of land surrounding it).
Eventually, I will recreate this as the "Sanguine Inn" for my re-make of my Sanguine Rose adventure I wrote expanding on Ernst's dastardly deeds. I also plan on creating a burning version of the Inn as well as a destroyed version in my "Vallaki Will Burn!" series, so be on the lookout for some future updates!
For my Champion Tier Patrons, you will get the following with this release:
6 Color Moods: Darkfairy Tale, Ghostly, Gloom, Night, Sunny Day, & Warm
4 Map Levels: 1st Floor, 2nd Floor, Attic, Roof
No Lights Version
Weather Overlays such as Fog, Rain and Sun Rays
8k & 4k Image Resolution
Grid & No Grid
Jpg & Webp File Types
VTT Sizing Guide
I hope you are enjoying my updated maps, especially the Blue Water Inn. It's always nice to go back and update a map I did years ago and see all the new custom assets I've been getting commissioned to further bring these maps to life.
Next up, I'll be working on the next map in the City of Saltmarsh series: The Fishmonger's Plant so I can further expand the city maps available for your coastal / Saltmarsh adventures!
Thanks, as always, for your continued support. I could not do all this without you all!
Cheers,
DM Andy
Comments
strongly disagree. Please keep these maps the way that they are. they are amazing. players strongly prefer them. they make games more immersive.
Noralf
2025-01-26 16:50:01 +0000 UTCI have to agree with Jason on this. While the new maps are undeniably gorgeous, I much prefer it when everything aligns with the grid. I understand the benefit of making doors and windows more visible, but this layout makes dynamic lighting quite awkward. The misalignment caused by walls taking up an entire grid space throws off door and window placements. It also forces me to make decisions about what is visible or hidden due to the wall positioning. On top of that, I have to scale up the map just to fit NPCs into chairs on the grid properly, avoiding the need to resize tokens. I truly appreciate the effort and thought put into these maps, but this particular layout is very challenging to work with.
Eryn
2025-01-26 14:17:14 +0000 UTCI actually don't have a track in mind for them yet, the idea of making them a family band that holds bush bashes in their tent just came upon me now lol but it would likely be the pretty close to the music I use for Vistani scenes (Romani music, Parno Graszt is one of my favorites)
Restlessdiesel
2025-01-26 06:17:23 +0000 UTCThank you so much! I welcome everyone's feedback and encourage it. I do try to find that balance between an artistic piece and something practical that can be used in a VTT without (too) much headache. I agree, the invisible walls are the best solution and I do the same in Roll20. I absolutely love your idea of adding an outdoor stage/tent to the Inn! What a festive way to attract people to the tavern and I've always felt the Martikovs were champions of the people of Barovia (more than most people realize). Do you have an audio track in mind for this?
Andy D'Amato
2025-01-26 05:03:23 +0000 UTCI came back to tell you how much I love it... don't listen to complainers, your maps literally keep getting better and better, grids be damned! (walls are fine in foundry vtt, just tell them to use occasional invisible walls to prevent people from walking through the slightly awkward spots). FYI I am putting a big tent, stage, instruments, and making the Martikov's throw the occasional tent party (between outhouses and stable). Urwin plays the piano, Danika the hurdy gurdy, Bray a dwarfhead bagpipe, Brom plays the gong. Davian plays Carnyx (when family issues resolved), and their deceased mother played the accordion. Szoldar S. joins in occasionally and plays the banjo, and his friend Yevgeni plays the standup bass) (lol)
Restlessdiesel
2025-01-26 03:25:31 +0000 UTCThank you so much! I'm glad you like
Andy D'Amato
2025-01-23 17:36:28 +0000 UTCso incredible
Restlessdiesel
2025-01-23 16:22:00 +0000 UTCI apologize in advance for the terseness here. I want to elaborate slightly on my perspective, but at the end of the day it's your Patreon and I have other issues to worry about. You know I both use and appreciate your maps. My $0.02: 1) The thick walls make setting up the scene take more time and effort. 2) The maps are used to facilitate the gameplay of D&D. 3) The maps are not intended to be a substitute for my descriptions or perfect replication of the environment. 4) As D&D expects 'standard' walls to be, in essence, a thin line, the mechanics start to suffer (particularly when automated) with decisions such as these making walls polygons instead of lines. The cost/benefit ratio for me is more work and more trouble, for a benefit that ultimately is a singular moment of appreciation that the map looks a little more artistic.
Jason Cavanaugh
2025-01-22 15:48:49 +0000 UTCLuring them into a false sense of security is one of the greatest joys of this module! I'm glad you like the map Caleb!
Andy D'Amato
2025-01-21 22:17:13 +0000 UTCHey Jacob and thanks so much for letting me know your thoughts and feedback! I gave a pretty detailed response to another comment below regarding my design choice to add further perspective. I don't want to be impersonal by just copying / pasting it here but the comment below really does explain how important visual story telling is for me and how much I've considered when adding this perspective. Even down to such small details as a window hinge, I've collaborated with my artist to create and design to my specific vision, as I truly love those little architectural details in bringing a piece like this to life. I'll also add as well that I do very much consider VTT use and token placement when designing maps and I try to keep the floor area aligned to the grid placement. It's not 100% perfect, but it's close enough while allowing me to explore stronger visual elements such as a wider perspective wall for the outer portions of the building. I use Roll20 for my walling and I use a combination of solid and transparent dynamic light lines to wall my maps. The solid walls go along the top beam and the transparent "wall" does along the base of the grid where the bottom of the wall meets the floor. Players cant see this transparent line, but it does stop awkward token placement from getting stuck "in" a wall and tightens up the token placement area to only the full squares. The stairs is a good call out and I knew it was going go cause some headaches, but I had to make a design choice and I went with a perspective shift to match the current view of the map instead of keeping it aligned with the outside of the building. If I keep the same perspective as the outside, the stairs would have been much more visually awkward looking on the 2nd floor map then they are currently so I chose to create different sets of stairs for both the outside and inside of the building so they would visually look stronger, even if that means sacrificing a clean VTT line. In some cases, you're going to have to let the map tell the visual story instead of the dynamic lighting line. Now I know Foundry and Roll20 are worlds apart, but I think the walling process shares the same principles (adding solid and transparent lines, doors, windows, etc). So I've taken two vids of how I walled these maps in Roll20 and I'm hopeful it'll translate to Foundry. I also included a vid of me walling the 2nd floor including the stairs and moving a token up the stairs and into the 2nd floor guest bedroom area which I think looks pretty decent. Below is the link where you can view those vids. Lastly, I'm hopeful this year I will have my own VTT tier for Foundry where my maps will come as modules pre-lit / /walled so you won't have to take the extra time to navigate my perspective walls :) Of course I'll make an announcement once that is ready. Here is the video and I hope it helps! https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1sjmvuLOMrh7NxGIVFf_l9BrfEpmQx-Jk?usp=drive_link
Andy D'Amato
2025-01-21 22:15:57 +0000 UTCHey Jason, thank you so much for your thoughts and feedback. I really appreciate your support and the time you’ve taken to share your experience with my maps. The shift to a perspective style was a creative decision that I made to add depth and visual appeal to the maps. I wanted to bring out more of the details that are often missed in a strictly top-down view plus I really appreciate the little architectural pieces that are often overlooked when creating these medieval style buildings. Even something as small as a window hinge I've considered and love recreating the gothic and fantasy style in my work. Showing a bit of a wall, window, roof, or building facade allows me to visually showcase a piece far better than a strictly top down piece allows for. For instance, the painted waterfalls on the front of the building with the "Blue Water Inn" lettering would not have been possible on a strictly top down map. I’ve been careful to ensure token placement isn’t affected in most cases, especially for shared walls. I’ve also tested these maps extensively in Roll20 without issue, and I believe they should work similarly in Foundry since they share the same basic principles to setting up walls and lights. When I create these maps, I try to keep the token area (the bottom edge where the wall meets the floor) aligned to the grid. It's not 100% perfect, but adding perspective will never be 100% spot on. However, just know that the use case is as important to me as the visuals and once walled up you can see that you should be able to freely move a token within a single square without issue while showing off the visuals of the map. Shared walls (such as the wall on the bedrooms of the 2nd floor) I keep much tighter on the central line than I would on an outer wall where I have more flexibility to push it out more without sacrificing token space (Since for the most part tokens are not going to be floating on the outside of the window...for the most part..it is a horror module after all!). While I understand this style might not be everyone’s preference, I feel it’s important to stay true to the creative direction I’m passionate about. I know Foundry has its own design quirks and will no be a one-for-one, but I think the basics of walling/lighting are similar enough to Roll20, where these videos might help showcase how I wall/light my own maps. In this link are two videos showing how I've walled up the floors and what tokens see as they move through the building. I hope you find them helpful! https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1sjmvuLOMrh7NxGIVFf_l9BrfEpmQx-Jk?usp=drive_link
Andy D'Amato
2025-01-21 22:06:09 +0000 UTCAs another small note, there isn't really a way for a player to use the stairs to the second floor outside without very unintuitive means on the DM's part when doing the prep.
Jacob Barlow
2025-01-21 19:36:48 +0000 UTCIts visually lovely! However if I might offer some feedback, the new perspectives on these sort of maps has been making VTT mapping very.... awkward? It's not quite as cohesive or visually pleasing as some of your other recent works have been.
Jacob Barlow
2025-01-21 19:35:11 +0000 UTCWhile I appreciate the style of your work, I have to say that the perspective walls really, really hurt the actual usability of these maps in a VTT. You end up with 'doors' that are 3' thick to an inn, or walls that are out of place and tokens see things they should not be seeing. Please go back to normal walls.
Jason Cavanaugh
2025-01-21 09:06:15 +0000 UTCGorgeous work, as ever! The Blue Water Inn is the most comfortable place in the campaign for my players, a little change is definitely in order.
Caleb Cleveland
2025-01-21 02:45:47 +0000 UTCThanks Andy! I'll give it a shot!
Josh
2025-01-20 23:36:30 +0000 UTCHmmm..I'd say "Sort of". I kept the dimensions of the space consistent with the book. For instance the taproom is roughly an 8x4 grid with extra space for the windows so technically it should work the same. The only caveat is on the original map, I did not have any perspective walls so the line will frame the floorspace but the walls will be pushed out of that area (When I create the outer perspective walls I try and use the spot where the wall meets the floor as the gridded area so the floor space is clean for the token if that makes sense). I feel like that was a long way to say "Sort of" but wanted to explain a bit further.
Andy D'Amato
2025-01-20 23:20:58 +0000 UTCOh! This might already be answered below but I imagine simply rotating this won't preserve the dynamic lighting/wall setups etc. from the previous map?
Josh
2025-01-20 23:11:10 +0000 UTCThose dynamic lighting lines are the bane of all DMs prep time haha. I feel your pain! Hoping this year I'll have a VTT tier with at least Foundry module to start so I can distribute pre-built Foundry walls :)
Andy D'Amato
2025-01-20 22:57:26 +0000 UTCWoohoo!! One day I'll have all of Vallaki rebuilt :P
Andy D'Amato
2025-01-20 22:56:41 +0000 UTCThank you!! Pretty darn happy with how this came out :)
Andy D'Amato
2025-01-20 22:56:17 +0000 UTCGreat stuff!!
Josh
2025-01-20 22:16:27 +0000 UTCITS HERE AHHHH
Ari Mackenzie
2025-01-20 21:33:05 +0000 UTClooks great. it means i have to go redo my walls but its worth it!
Ezra S Saville
2025-01-20 18:27:22 +0000 UTC
