Battlemaps: Dungeon Rooms Vol.III
Game: Battlemaps: Dungeon Rooms Vol.IIIPublisher: 0one Roleplaying Games [Site Info]
Series: generic
Reviewer: Wyrdmaster
Review Dated: 1st, May 2004
Reviewer's Rating: 7/10 [ Good ]
Your Rating: [ Log in ]
Total Score: 11
Average Score: 3.67
The introduction to Battlemaps: Dungeon Rooms Vol.III says, "This accessory features the amazing rendered 3d maps produced by 01 Games." It's not often that the standard opening pro-product spiel is right. 01 Games' maps are amazing; the detail is fantastic.
I'm a funny one. I don't like the number crunching, dice rolling, miniature wriggling aspect of roleplaying half as much as I like the theatrics, politics and plot twists. But... and this is an important exception, I do like enough action in a game to energise the plot and I like that to be done right. I like the "war gaming skirmish" aspect of party combat and so really do go for atmospheric maps. For me, a campaign's combat can make or break my enjoyment. For many gamers it's the thrill of the battle which counts the most. It's funny how these battlemaps appeal to such a wide ranging spectrum of gamers.
This is the third instalment of Dungeon Rooms. Dungeon Rooms is just one of the battlemap series too. This is good. One set of pretty floor plans is one thing but a host of pretty floor plans which can be put together in different ways and used to create many more dungeons, castles or other adventurous locations is so much better. The PDF has a "summary" rather than a contents page. You're shown little thumbnails of the colour battlemaps, which you can click on and jump straight to the map in question. The summary is also an example of how these battlemaps might be put together.
A "Vampire Lair" introduces the battlemap titles in this collection. Specifically it's the entrance to the Vampire Lair which comes up first since it's one of two maps. We've a bricked room, with a circular tessellated dragon/bat/thing design on the floor. The place is a mess. Columns have been toppled. The iron gates at both sides of the room have been torn open. It looks like something heavy has been crashed against the wall and brought down bricks with it.
The second title shows inside the Vampire Lair. Right in the middle of the dark room there's a white crypt. The lid is on but the plinth is smashed and cracked. The rest of the room is damaged too and some of the thin, decorative, columns have been toppled. You really wouldn't want to bet that the crypt was empty - but it could be, and that's just ideal for a generic battlemap.
After all that drama - we have an empty room. What? Yes, seriously. I want only a small percentage of "busy" rooms in my battlemap set. I want them to be as generic as possible so I can re-use them as often as possible. This mundanely named "empty room" is just what I want from the battlemap series. It's a square room (5x5) and has a door in the centre title of each wall. One door is shut, one smashed (inwards so the remains are in view), one open and one double door is a jar with a light glow spreading out across the floor in front of it.
The Throne Room is impressive. This is only a single tile room so it's, perhaps, a bit small for a throne room but I think it works well as part of an effective military station. The Lord of this room is a no nonsense warrior. Three chairs, one impressive with blue and gold, and two flanking purple velvet ones, sit in front of a crossed-swords red tapestry. My favourite aspect of the room is that there are two paths up the side which angle upwards and then end in short balconies overlooking the throne area. This is where your ambush archers are most likely to be!
The Mirror Maze is a two title set and it's one which is designed to be placed back to back. The Vampire Lair is different. You'd place one title on the table, game in it, and then place the second map on the table. The Mirror Maze is one large area made up of two adjacent pages. 01 Games always does the two tile sets well. The maps run right up to the side of the page so there is no annoying white space when you line them up. The Mirror Maze is an inside room with a marbled green floor. The walls of the maze, as you'd expect, are mirrored - and even though battlemaps are viewed from the top down, there is still enough of an angle on the walls for the mirrored effect to work. Now and then, scattered around the maze, are discarded weapons. There are weird little Will-o-the-Wisp lights scattered around the maze too. I suppose they're necessary for the lighting. The Mirror Maze is the opposite of the Empty Room. You'll need to write something into your game just to use the map.
The Treasure Room would fit in any game. We don't have a pile of gold here, this isn't a treasure room which a dragon could sleep in, and instead we've a vault which looks rather more realistic. The heavy doors are shut. There are some chests, most tucked in the corner, but one open to show the gold coins near the centre of the tiles and there's a miscellaneous items (lots of gold vases) and weapons.
The Statue Room will make players nervous. It's a small square room. It's dark. The globe lights which are used liberally in Battlemaps Vol III are especially large and dominant here - but despite that, it's a room full of shadows. There's a circle, almost pentagram like, pattern on the floor. To move from one door to the other you'll have to cross this circle. That won't worry the players as much as the great big statue balanced on the large pedestal in the corner though. The statue carries an even larger sword and is leaning forward, sword on the offensive and balanced over the circle on the floor. You and I both know that the statue will animate and chop your head off at the first given opportunity.
I like the Cage. Whereas the threat in the Statue Room and Vampire Lair are obviously stated - it's not so clear what's going on with the cage at all! It's a big room, 6x10, but divided in two. One half of the room is full of bones and walled off. The walls have spikes which point inwards - they're there to keep something in. What ever is supposed to be in the cage there isn't there any more. The other half of the room is nearly as cage like. There is a cage in the corner, metal bars bent to cover a corner and with more inward pointing spikes. We've a blood splattered mess here - and whatever was supposed to be in this cage, not in it any more too. There's a large spiky leash chained to the wall too. The collar is open and, you guess it, empty.
A Reliquary is a cross between a treasure room and a shrine; it's a safe place for your holy stuff. The battlemap does this concept justice. I like the way the light streams in from the open gate at the front of the map to cast patterned shadows on the chequered floor. The walls are decorated with items and weapons, enough to give the room atmosphere, but not enough to give any looting players too much of an equipment boost - nothing glows blue and forces itself to be divine or magical. The scared relic in the Reliquary is hidden away in a chest.
Each battlemap appears three times. You've the full, maximum effect, colour maps. You'll need a decent printer and not be ink shy for these though. The compromise maps are likely to be printed out more often. The "compromise maps" are the greyscaled versions and accompany each colour one. If greyscaling isn't enough for you, if you really have to watch what you print, then each map appears as a line drawing too. Even the line drawing form the battlemaps are top-notch.
It's the lighting effects, the shadows and glows, which really make the battlemaps for me. It's always skilfully done. Sadly these effects have to be lost if you scale down to the line drawing maps, this isn't 01's fault, just me wanting the world on a stick. That said, in the colour maps, the "glowing orbs" are rather more obvious in this set of battlemaps than before. Previously the light sources have tended to be kept "off screen" or played down as much as possible. The Mirror Maze comes very close to breaking the "don't draw any creatures on the maps" rule.
This is a busy set of tiles. If you're looking for generic maps which you can populate with your own cut out scenery then this is not the best set of battlemaps for you to buy. If you're looking to expand your battlemap collection - you probably have Vol III already. It only takes a few battlemaps to secure your addiction to the series. There are issues with glowing lights and busy tiles but these are small compared to the greater and more significant success of the set. Battlemaps: Dungeon Rooms Vol. III is everything you'd hope from the series; the highest quality of maps, an expanding and innovative range and flexible printing options.
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