I used this is my debut DMsGuild product - Unsettled Ground - and the flexibility of the license was great as well as the quality of the artwork.

I'm happy with it. The whole village consists of 10 buildings. I was hoping for something closer to Tim Davis's work on Deviantart...

http://arsheesh.deviantart.com/art/Hidroth-Lea-583672959

But you know, for three bucks, I can't complain.

Nice, easy to use village map. I particularly like having the .jpg versions which can be printed at other sizes, and I appreciate having it packaged as a zip rather than as a dozen separate files. My only quibble is that the village has an unrealistic density of businesses for the population, but you can easily re-assign buildings or assume that many are more like professional hobbies -- e.g. Rinda is first and foremost a farmwife, but she makes oils and perfumes in her spare time which she sells to travelers and residents. She's not a professional full-time perfumer. It would also be sensible to assume that much of the open land is farmed. Take this as a map and some ideas and it's plenty to run with.

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This Map-pack comes in a zip-file that sports two folders: One containing high-res jpegs, one that sports pdfs.

Let's start with the jpegs - these come with full-color and b/w-versions as well as a rendition of the cover - both come in two versions: One sports labels that denote which buildings are which, whereas the others come without them for maximum immersion. (Nice if you're like me and HATE handing out maps with numbers detailing the hotspots...

First of all, this keep/village provides multiple levels of fortification - all but the southern shore of the island sports massive, rugged cliffs that jut from the ocean. The southern shore also sports a significant array of wharves, with a slum/shanty-town-like section below the lowest wall. After the harbor's wall, one can find a basilica and a steep stairway that leads towards a beacon, which uncannily lies at the south-eastern rise of the cliffs. At the northwestern part of the island, one can see a second, higher and elevated rise, behind a second wall, one can perceive a massive keep that looms over an island that conspicuously looks like an inverse eagle's or dragon's head...

The pdfs clock in at 23 pages each - 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page advertisement, leaving a total of 20 pages for the maps. The pdf first provides aforementioned maps that also are included as high-res jpegs - so if you require an overview of the keep, these would be what you want. Thereafter, we get 4 blown-up versions of the map - each iteration is provided in a version, wherein the map spreads across a total of 4 pages, thus allowing you to print out a big map. If you're like me a European, you will be very much in luck, for one pdf provides the maps in letterpack format, whereas the second delivers the maps optimized for the A4-format.

Conclusion:

Tad Davis delivers a glorious, fortified locale here, one that, by virtue of its very make-up, inspires the imagination. Infiltrating this place should be challenging, as should be escaping from this place. As an adventuring locale, this is one neat place that showcases a talent for great cartography and for locales that inspire - that being said, there is quite a bit of water here and, when compared to the rest of the map, the lack of waves and relatively bland uni-color water looks less alive, less evocative than the rest of the map, so this is definitely a component wherein the pdf can be improved. I also would have loved a version of the map even further blown up and studded with a grid for miniature uses, but I guess we can't have everything. Still, this is one fine map and well worth a final verdict of 5 stars.

Endzietgeist out.

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This Map-pack not only is pay-what you want, it comes in a zip-file that sports two folders: One containing high-res jpegs, one that sports pdfs.

Let's start with the jpegs - these come with full-color and b/w-versions - both come in two versions: One sports labels that denote which buildings are which, whereas the others come without them for maximum immersion. (Nice if you're like me and HATE handing out maps with numbers detailing the hotspots...

The pdfs clock in at 23 pages each - 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page advertisement, leaving a total of 20 pages for the maps. The pdf first provides aforementioned maps that also are included as high-res jpegs - so if you require an overview of the village, these would be what you want. Thereafter, we get 4 blown-up versions of the map - each iteration is provided in a version, wherein the map spreads across a total of 4 pages, thus allowing you to print out a big map. If you're like me a European, you will be very much in luck, for one pdf provides the maps in letterpack format, whereas the second delivers the maps optimized for the A4-format.

What about the town - well, we get essentially a village of the most idyllic type, with a single (mage's) tower a bit off to the south and a small bridge crossing the meandering river. North of said small bridge, a mill and a few buildings loom, while the sparse trees show that this place probably lies in pretty civilized fields.

Conclusion:

Tad Davis delivers a professionally-made, beautiful map-pack of a nice, picturesque village that could well be the starting point of a new campaign - as far as maps are concerned, this is a neat job and the drawing style is fine. While I caught myself wishing there was a version with a grid further blown up for your perusal with miniatures, at any price you're willing to pay, this is indeed a great offering of a professional, nice map.

My final verdict will clock in at 5 stars + seal of approval.

Endzeitgeist out.

If you have need of a well-fortified island settlement for your next game you might take a look at this one. Indeed, if you do take a look anyway, you may find plots spawning as you explore the potentials.

The download is jam-packed with four large JPEGS - at 8.5 x 11.6 inches - offering black and white or colour, labelled or unlabelled versions, plus 2 PDF files (A4 or letter) which have single page copies of the same core versions as well as larger multi-page ones you can print out and stick together.

So, what's the place like? It's a roughly teardrop-shaped island with a rocky shore and an extensive harbour area with wooden staging. Most of the buildings are protected by curtain walls, and the highest point is well-fortified with a central keep surrounded by a wall with towers. Given the harbour provision and the presence (if you use the labelled version) of a Fishmonger's Hall, it's likely that the place makes most of its income from fishing. There's also a Shipwright's Hall, although nothing that really shouts 'shipyard' at you. Looking at the labelled version, there are also two inns - one scruffy one on the docks and a more upmarket one within the walls - and several general businesses to provide for most of your needs. Certain somewhere a seafaring party might find a useful port of call, if not a base.

Visually, it's a neat image with the appearance of being hand-drawn, inked and coloured... it could almost be the work of a local cartographer and so could be used as an in-character handout, as well as being used to inform players of where their characters are.

It's an interesting place with plenty of scope to develop into an important feature of any seafaring campaign.

If your plot is going to take the characters to a river village, you could do a lot worse than send them to this one.

In the download you get a wealth of resources. Big JPEG images, and PDF files which include labelled and unlabelled versions of the full map in full colour and greyscale, as well as larger versions that you have to print out and stick together.

The labelled versions number the main buildings, and provide a legend with fairly generic information about what they are. For a small village there's quite an impressive array of shops, but apart from a baker no food shops - maybe people mostly grow their own. There's a mill, complete with a mill race to drive the wheel, and the river seems to be fairly fast-flowing (judging by the white water around the odd rock in it).

Naturally, if you prefer you can label up the unlabelled version of the JPEG (colour or black and white as you like) with your own designations. The unlabelled versions are also good for showing to your players as they won't know what everything is until they have explored a bit.

The JPEGs are huge - 8.5 x 11.5 inches - and could be used with a virtual table top or printed if you have access to poster-printing facilities. There are four, labelled and unlabelled, colour and black and white. There are two PDF files, one in A4 and one letter size. So however you like to present things, there will be one to suit you.

The art style is that of a neat hand-sketch inked and water-coloured - quite the sort of thing a good, careful cartographer might prepare and so making a good in-character handout as well as something to show the players where their characters have ended up. It's nice, and good-looking.

This map is a very nice product. Not only it's very efficient and easy to use in a RPG setting but it's also a beautiful detailed and attractive drawing, as most of Tad Davis works are. Both color and black and white versions are appreciated. For a very fair price, there's indeed some mythic map inside!