# Mapmaking Discussion & Philosophy (WIP/Critique) > Dungeon/Subterranean Mapping >  The Horned Hold

## Nytmare

Yet another one of my D&D rehashes.  This is the second(ish) major map for WOTC's Thunderspire Labyrinth adventure.



The hold is a subterranean fortress guarding either side of a deep chasm.  Originally built by minotaurs, the hold's current residence are a bunch of good-for-nothing, Underdark dwarf, slavers.

I'm trying out a couple of different things with this map, some to hopefully make things easier to play, and some because so many of my old maps were boring, empty, crypts.

Like my other maps, everything that I've done, is done in Photoshop.  God only knows what the random pieces I've grabbed from the Dundjinni forums were made with.

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## Rythal

wow, looks very good. not sure theirs a whole lot to improve, unless those white boxes for the door get replaced with something more.... doorish.


but again, a very cool map.

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## Nytmare

The doors were actually a tough decision.  I wanted something stylized and easy to see that stopped my players from having to ask me which way every set of doors opened.  With the width of these walls, describing the doors as the stereotypical quarter arcs would have meant that most if not all of the door would be hidden by the wall, so something larger and more defined was necessary.

I'm open to suggestions however.

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## jfrazierjr

One option would be to use the quarter style but fill with black/grey and drop down the transparency and put it on the layer under the door object.

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## JDCt

This looks fantastic. I certainly love the feel of it. I like the idea that you used for the doors, and the simplicity of being able to tell which way they open out. Perhaps instead of using a white block, you could use a door, but have the mark similar to that of a building blueprint to indicate which way it swings outwards? Something still noticeable, yet less intrusive. The idea is very interesting, that it is built into the side of a chasm, love it  :Smile:  The only other question I have is, why is it that one of the rooms (with the grates on the floor) is more blured than the other three? Not quite sure what is going on there.

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## Nytmare

JFrazier, I had actually tried that before, but they got lost.  The problem I was running into was that the walls are a good 3 or 4 feet thick, so the "realistic" arc that the door would describe was almost entirely swallowed up.  I tried clearing out the sections of wall above where the door would sit, but couldn't stomach the loss of that manly lintel above the door.

I eventually gave up and decided to come back to it later and while marking where the doors were _going_ to be, I realized that I kinda liked the little temporary markers I had dropped down.

JDC, that room is a supposed to be a series of old cisterns.  One of them is currently full, the other three are being used as holding pens.

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## jfrazierjr

Ok...  Personally, I don't think the effect the lintel's provide enough positive to counteract the negative of the out of style door representation.   But, hey, it's your map.  Either way, other than the doors, I think it's a very good map and nice style.

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## Jaxilon

I'm not sure what software you are using but you might just create your own custom door arc graphic. In GIMP you can create your own brushes and that has to be true of the others I imagine. Anyway, I would try it by just making the same type of door arc but using the path tool just extend it so it's longer than the typical. That way you could still see it even with the nice wall mantel you have going.

Great looking map I'm going to rep you for it.

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## Lathais

Anyone else try using this in Maptool and have trouble getting the grid to line up?  Any help would be appreciated.

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## Dark Knight

Looks nice!

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## Phelps

> Anyone else try using this in Maptool and have trouble getting the grid to line up?  Any help would be appreciated.


I've rotated this version and scaled it to line up.  It took a little tweaking, but it's gotten good enough for the scrubs I game with.

http://flic.kr/p/brFyvt

Grid 50
Offset X -2
Offset y -2

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## Panzymoon

Incredibly nice work! 
My first post on the board  :Smile: 

Annika

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## ChaosDragon

Okay, I've tried both versions of your map, but no matter what I do, the grid just wont line up. Its starting to get very frustrating.

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