Champion Tier - The Sanguine Inn - 30x20 (Custom DM Andy Content)
Added 2022-05-09 19:05:42 +0000 UTC"What's that? What happened to the Martikov's you ask?" Ernst smiles slyly as he sits back in his crimson velvet lined couch sipping from a glass of wine. "As you can see, the Blue Water Inn has had a change of ownership. Welcome to the new and, dare I say, improved Sanguine Inn. Those Martikov troublemakers would have been the death of us all, always scheming and defying our Lord Strahd. Not to mention the disgusting mess left by all those insufferable ravens coming and going" Ernst pauses as one of the serving staff approaches and whispers something in his ear. "It would seem I have other business to attend to. Please, do enjoy yourselves. We have bath houses in the back, live music and plenty of libations to go around. You'll be sure to have a great time and find something that will fit your needs". The two body guards on either side of the couch escort Ernst away while the inn-goers begin to loudly cheer as a vocalist slowly singing a sultry song descends down the stairs and toward the stage.
Greetings all and happy Release Monday!
For today's release I bring you something special. A personal creation of mine branching off from the adventure I wrote; The Sanguine Inn. In the adventure, The Sanguine Rose, I detail Ernst as a more active NPC with a demonic nature running an underground brothel. One of the outcomes include this crafty schemer finding out the true nature of the Martikov's and using this information as leverage to take over their inn and oust them from Vallaki. During this time, Ernst has renovated and redecorated The Blue Water Inn to expand his empire.
This map features changes of one of the key locations within Vallaki! Some of the features include:
- Removed stables in exchange for bath houses
- Plenty of roses! (How does Ernst grow so many??)
- Wider downstairs area with VIP sections, a stage for live music, and a much swankier atmosphere
- An office for Ernst to conduct business along with his personal bedroom
- A personal bedroom for the star of his show (Rictavio left during the take over)
- And of course, an altar to both Strahd and his demonic masters in the attic
I hope you enjoy this change I've made and I hope this inspires you for your games! Feel free to use this for other changes you'd like to introduce to your games. Perhaps Strahd takes over the Inn himself and lets one of his brides run it, seizing control over Vallaki under Fiona's rule. Or maybe you want to run a vampire club in your own personal games, this would prove a perfect map for such a location.
For my Champion Tier patrons, this release includes:
- 4k / 8k resolution maps
- Grid / Gridded
- Day / Night
- Webp files in both 4k and 8k, sized for Foundry
- The "Sanguine Rose" adventure (for those who missed it on the original post)
Next up, I'll be working on the Overgrown Garden from Burgomaster Ulrich's Mansion in Berez, Interactive Tome of Strahd Chapter 6, and a very cool nautical themed adventure from Lunch Break Heroes. Stay tuned!
Cheers,
DM Andy
Comments
Hey there Seth! You have a great eye for details :) So this is a remake of the Blue Water Inn (Found here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/54142263) so some of the areas will be a little off-base. I wanted this "take-over" to feel like Ernst turned the rustic inn/tavern into almost a noir-like jazz club to attract customers to his "other" business, the Sangine Rose. The "labor" is directed toward the Sanguine Rose, which you can find here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/54706145 and the rooms at the Sanguine Inn are just that, rooms to stay in (Need to maintain that wholesome business front after all). Regarding the bathtubs, you are correct in that the only way to get to them is outside. I'd like to think Ernst spent his time and money getting the smell out since they were repurposed from the stables in the previous inn. Maybe he has complimentary house slippers for guests to borrow to go back and forth (and fresh towels of course). Or it could be used as a teaser for the more.. intimate tubs that are found at the Sanguine Rose. Hope that answers your questions!
Andy D'Amato
2023-02-27 18:29:38 +0000 UTCThere are 2 things that stood out to me as odd bits of design and I wondered if you had thought about them: 1. There seems to be only 2 rooms of, shall we say "labor". Seems small, but I suppose it isn't that large a town. 2. Is there any way from the bath house to the main house without going outside?
Seth Franklin
2023-02-27 04:57:42 +0000 UTCI left this one pretty open ended as it's hard to know exactly in which scenario Ernst was able to do the take over. However, here are some suggestions I could offer you: - The shed in the lower left was intended to show the old belongings from the previous Blue Water Inn that Ernst either saved, or is storing for some reason. I added a cage to keep any potential victims that were ready to be scarified to either Ernst demonic lords or one of the succubus / incubus under his employ to finish with their final kiss. This cage could also be a holding spot for victims of the hags in Barovia as well or even political enemies of Strahd / Fiona that Ernst could leverage. You could even go as far as to say Ernst has a permanent "silence" spell cast on the interior of the shed so those passing by won't hear the victims screams. - For the star, you have a few options here. You could pick one of the succubus / incubus employees from the Sanguine Rose to be his star. I can see them using their wiles to mark potential victims they would later invite to the Rose on the downlow. Their singing could be a good way to mask their charm effect as they size up a mark they would want to corrupt. Or you could have the star be a Vistani from Luvash's group. Ernst is the type of guy that can afford to tip off the guards and smuggle in a Vistani, even under the Baron's rule. Perhaps they help size up potential marks for Ernst and get a cut of the coin. I like to tie Ernst in with the Vistani as he has the money to pay the high prices of the goods the Vistani bring into Barovia from the outside. Wines, spices, perfumes, etc that otherwise cannot be found anywhere else. These items help Ernst's locations stand out and keep his customers coming back. For my personal CoS game I played Ernst a lot like Littlefinger from Game of Thrones. He has clout amongst those who could give him power (Strahd, Fiona, etc) and has leverage over those who he wants to keep in his pocket or who could be possible enemies in the future. If he can convince the general public Vallaki that he's a good guy and they love his businesses, he can sway the people to support whatever cause he promotes in his establishments. Hope this helps!
Andy D'Amato
2022-05-09 22:55:48 +0000 UTCThis is fantastic. Any suggestions for some of the new features? Is there something intentionally nefarious with the outbuilding in the lower left with the covered furniture and the wooden cage? Who's the new headlining act?
Ian Evans
2022-05-09 21:48:06 +0000 UTCHaha right?? If not, maybe Strahd can gift the inn to one of his brides to quell the rebellion brewing in Vallaki. Glad you like and thanks again for your translation of the adventure!
Andy D'Amato
2022-05-09 19:46:41 +0000 UTCGlad you like it!
Andy D'Amato
2022-05-09 19:46:04 +0000 UTCYes! It's perfect for Anastrasya! Would love to hear how your players react to that news :P
Andy D'Amato
2022-05-09 19:45:58 +0000 UTCIt's awesome Andy! These maps are really gorgeous. The real problem is that I now really have to think about how to direct things so that Ernst can get his way! :)
JM Tixu78
2022-05-09 19:25:54 +0000 UTCYes yes yes!
Einjuden
2022-05-09 19:20:17 +0000 UTCVallaki is soon going to be under the control of Anastrasya, one of Strahd's brides. This will be a great map to use in my game to show her changes. Excited to see the continuation of ToS coming up next.
Chuck
2022-05-09 19:14:07 +0000 UTC
