I wanted to make Trollskull Manor from the D&D 5e Adventure Waterdeep: Dragonheist because the party that I'm in has been spending a lot of time there and we really like that location. It was also a fun challenge to actually make Trollskull Manor from my existing TERRAINO pieces and I was able to do that except for having to make five grid tiles (they're the bases with all the squares on them). I made one for the second floor, third floor, attic, roof and then a couple small ones for the turret up top. For the ground floor of the manor, I used the existing grid tile that I made for my Blue Water Inn from Curse of Strahd.
While adapting the manor's layout to TERRAINO, I ended up made some changes. I made the building a little deeper to make things like the main hallway on the second floor 10 feet wide instead of 5 feet wide. With 3D tabletop game terrain, five foot wide hallways can feel very narrow and be difficult for players to interact. Like any medium, the medium of tabletop terrain has it's own advantages and limitations and it's important to keep them in mind when adapting 2D, top down maps to something that will sit on your table. So, in the case of the 5 foot wide hallway, I widened it to 10 feet to give the hallway a little more breathing room and make it easier for players to see what was going on.
I started out by drawing out all the different sections of the building - first the footprint of the building (that would determine the sizes and shapes of the grid tiles I'd be making) and then the interior rooms. I changed the size of the privies in the third floor from 5 feet by 5 feet to 10 by 5. I also shortened up the library. I also played around a little with the layout of the bedrooms because it made sense for our game. I never let the pre-made map hamper my own ideas or creativity. This is MY Trollskull Manor in MY game. It's going to be my version.
The biggest challenge with this was the hexagonal room down on the first and second floor that then leads up into the turret. I ended up making that area and the turret above square because that just fits better with TERRAINO. I also ended up making the turret itself 10 by 10 instead of 15 by 15 and hexagonal because that would be perfect for 2-square wide windows.
I made the grid squares just like we do in the TERRAINO Dungeon Basics Tabletop Terrain Construction Manual but, since I was making an irregular shape, I left out the squares I wouldn't need. Then I traced out the outside border for this tile so I could add a solid edge to it just like we do on the floor tiles in the TERRAINO Taverns & Towns Tabletop Terrain Construction Manual.
When I went to assemble the manor, I did my usual procedure of laying out the walls first without wall connectors. This allows me to quickly change out walls, move windows around, etc. without having to connect and disconnect walls from wall connectors. Once, I was happy with the layout, I added the wall connectors - deciding where I wanted socketed connectors with torches from the TERRAINO Tech & Torches Tabletop Terrain Construction Manual as I went. I really like this approach because it encourages experimentation with the layout.
For a detailed breakdown of the build start to finish, be sure to check out the video above. I made a few more alterations along the way that I think you'll find interesting.
Have you tried adapting a 2D map to TERRAINO? I'd love to hear about it! Leave a comment below.
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Happy Crafting!
Jake