Hello everyone, and happy New Release Monday! Today, I am sharing another map update of an older map that I did. Though I was pretty happy with my original Western Gate map, I wanted to create an update that was more in line with my updated assets and style so it felt seamless when used with my other road maps.
I present to you: The Western Gate V2.0!
This map is slightly larger in scale than my standard sizing, gridded at 40x60. I wanted to make sure this map has a little room to breathe since it features two key parts to it:
The Old Svalich Road & The Road to Ravenloft
I created the junction between the Old Svalich Road and the winding road that leads to Castle Ravenloft toward the bottom of the map. I added a few gothic-stylized torch holders at the base of the castle road and added some broken cobblestone to indicate that at one point this was a royal highway.
I also wanted the bottom left portion of the map featuring the Old Svalich Road to appear at a slightly lower elevation, with the road to Ravenloft appearing as it was climbing up the steep mountains leading to the castle.
I wanted this road to wind through a type of natural choke point, which I felt was fitting to build the Western Gate into it. So there is a sense of looming rocky cliffs on both sides of the road, which are always great to add a sense of foreboding to your encounters here.
Then we get to the actual gate itself. The book was a little vague on whether this gate was the same as the eastern gate, so I created it in a similar Gothic style. However, I added the knight statues on the other side of the gate as it made sense for them to be on the "outside" of the gate, "guarding" the approach to the castle from the west.
I lined the buttresses with Gargoyles and made the gate weathered and crumbling, showing the current state of Barovia.
For my Grand Library and Foundry tiers, I also included the gate section as an overlay tile so you can move tokens under the gate once they pass through it (as well as the tree top overlay).
Just to add a little dramatic lighting, I added some torch light along the road, but like all my maps, there is a "no light" version in case you want to focus on the darkness of the surrounding Svalich Woods.
Lastly, later this month, I've been working on an updated Black Carriage asset that I plan on releasing to go along with maps like this one! Perfect to place along the road, waiting for your players to arrive. I'm very much looking forward to sharing this with you all as it'll be my first true asset release.
Click the download link below for your tier to download all the map files.
Public Download
Contains:
4k resolution
Grid / No Grid
One color mood
Lights / No Lights
The Foundry / Champion Tier Download
The Foundry / Champion Tier Printable PDFs Download
Contains:
4k / 8k Jpg / Webp
Grid / No Grid
Six Color Moods
Lights / No Lights
Weather Overlay Tiles
Gate Overlay Tile
Tree Overlay Tiles
Printable PDFs
Access to the Foundry VTT Module once released
The Grand Library Tier Download
The Grand Library Tier Printable PDFs Download
Contains:
4k / 8k Jpg / Webp
Grid / No Grid
Six Color Moods
Lights / No Lights
Weather Overlay Tiles
Gate Overlay Tile
Tree Overlay Tiles
Printable PDFs
The Great Hall Tier Download
Contains:
4k / 8k Jpg / Webp
Grid / No Grid
Two Color Moods
Lights / No Lights
Weather Overlay Tiles
The Hearth Tier Download
Contains:
4k Jpg / Webp
Grid / No Grid
Two Color Moods
Lights / No Lights
Weather Overlay Tiles
First release for June is finished, but I'm so very excited for the maps I have for you this month. As I mentioned above, I've been working on a vehicle asset pack to be released for Strahd's Black Carriage. For me, this is such an iconic scene in films like Bram Stoker's Dracula or the updated Nosferatu film by Robert Eggers. The iconic black carriage in the middle of the woods with the doors open and a phantom driver awaiting your party to take them to the castle. You'll have to let me know if you enjoy these asset packs, as it'll be my first one.
Later this month, I have the next map in the Saltmarsh series planned as well as another swamp encounter map in my swamp series. I'll share up a sneak peek this Thursday so you can see what I've been working on.
Thank you all for your support, and I'm so honored to be able to create battlemaps for a living!
Cheers friends,
DM Andy