# Mapmaking Discussion & Philosophy (WIP/Critique) > Virtual Tabletop/Battlemap Mapping >  D&D Curse of Strahd - Castle Ravenloft

## Gumyr

Gumyr here,

I've been DMing the excellent D&D 5e adventure Curse of Strahd for about a year and a half now (our group likes to take our time) and we're about to get to the climax, Castle Ravenloft, the home of Strahd von Zarovich.  The adventure comes with battlemaps for all of the other encounters but Ravenloft is presented as an isometric projection, which is nice but not suitable for how we play.  When DMing I use an old 32" LCD TV laid flat that I've modified by adding a sheet of protective acrylic on top of the LCD as a "tabletop" and drive the TV with a laptop running GIMP.  This allows me to create maps of any size which is very handy in the case of Ravenloft as the first map is huge - 135"x80" - and would require a very large sheet of paper.

Here are a couple previews of the maps:


If you plan to play this adventure be advised that these maps contain spoilers.  If you're a DM like me, I hope you find them useful. Here are eleven Ravenloft maps (numbered map 2 to 12 for some reason?):
Map 2 Walls of Ravenloft.pngMap 3 Main Floor.pngMap 4 Court of the Count.pngMap 5 Rooms of Weeping.pngMap 6 Spires of Ravenloft.pngMap 7 Spires of Ravenloft.pngMap 8 Spires of Ravenloft.pngMap 9 North Tower Peak.pngMap 10 High Tower Peak.pngMap 11 Larders of Ill Omen.pngMap 12 Dungeon and Catacombs.png
I've made a few minor (I hope) deviations from the written text in the adventure:
Map 2: I've added swinging steel gates to the portcullis' to make them visible from above. Strahd's carriage is outside of the carriage house to show it off. A stockade is present close to the main entrance.Map 3: The original isometric projection seems to take some liberty with spacial reality so there are some minor changes in structures within the castle.Map 11 & 12: Again, the original isometric projection doesn't fit perfectly so the sizes of some of the chambers are a little larger than in the descriptive text.
When we play I use a "fog of war" as a GIMP layer on top of the map and slowly reveal the map as the players explore. This "fog of war" hides secret rooms until the players find them in the game. Additional GIMP layers contain traps and secret doors that can be separately enabled as the players discover these items (intentionally or not) in the game. I could share these as well but other virtual table-top systems probably already include these features.

Let me know what you think of the maps, or if you end up using them in your game, how it went.

Cheers,
Gumyr

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## Manhattania

Awesome maps! Can you make gridless versions?

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## Gumyr

> Awesome maps! Can you make gridless versions?


I could, the grids are separate layers in Gimp, but Im curious; do you want no grid at all or are you using another system to apply the grid? If so, wouldnt these grids cover the walls and objects within the room?

Cheers,
Gumyr

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## Fiendrunner

These are Great!
I have been to Castle Ravenloft as Player and DM since AD&D, battling all the darkness of the Demiplane of Dread. 
This is a great resource. Thankyou.

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## Hybrid3rdGen

Am wondering how some Hill Giants and Timber Wolves would feel on these...

Maybe some Cultists of Nergal and a Blood Golem?

Need to get some more maps ready for future gaming sessions for sure!

 :Razz: 

~Hybrid

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## Gumyr

> Am wondering how some Hill Giants and Timber Wolves would feel on these...
> 
> Maybe some Cultists of Nergal and a Blood Golem?
> 
> Need to get some more maps ready for future gaming sessions for sure!
> 
> 
> 
> ~Hybrid


The Blood Golems might like the bath but I think the Giants will find the beds a little small. Enjoy  :Smile: 

Cheers,
Gumyr

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## Bogie

Great maps Gumyr, thanks for sharing!  Definitely worthy of some "Rep".

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## MTVExtreme

These are all awesome! I will used these in my D&D Curse of Strahd campaign a couple weeks back and my players commented on how well crafted they was. Good work!

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## Gumyr

These maps have been more popular than I originally thought so I've moved the files to avoid the monthly bill for file downloads. If you have any trouble downloading the maps now please let me know.

Enjoy,
Gumyr

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## KarlFranz

Kind of a late reply, but these are really good. Any chance for gridless versions?

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## LordEntrails

> I could, the grids are separate layers in Gimp, but I’m curious; do you want no grid at all or are you using another system to apply the grid? If so, wouldn’t these grids cover the walls and objects within the room?
> 
> Cheers,
> Gumyr


Gridless versions are for use in Virtual Table Tops. Most of them apply their own grids so that you can have automation such as token sizing, range calculations etc. Have both the grid in the in=mage and the VTT often means they don't align perfectly or just don't look right.

I will add a typical practice for VTT focused maps is to put an off-color square int he otp left corner (or such ) that is a 5ft square and can be used to align VTT grids to perfectly. But, in most maps that's not needed, but still useful.

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## GarodusGM

I was looking for a daytime map of castle Ravenloft and stumbled across your work -- OUTSTANDING!

I have written a one-shot for Valentines Day and have given you credit, kind soul.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

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