Kickstarter Korner- Halls of Legends- Christopher West Map

What is this project?

This Kickstarter project is one of Chris West’s most ambitious maps. It is a multi-layer fully developed castle. That’s right, a friggin’ complete castle.

How many times has your party engaged in some activities involving a castle? Assaulting one with the hordes of peasants you’ve rallied to take down the corrupt king? Or infiltrated to steal a valuable artifact. Or perhaps, just as a base of operations to receive your next quest from the lord of the realm. Castles are a staple of many role play games.

Much like the previously epic Distant Outposts which laid out a massive space station, this castle can serve your party in a number of different ways.

What do I get?

The basic funding level unlocks access to the Hall of Legends I map which includes a great hall ready for a grand feast. Here your PC’s could confront the King as he sits at court or infiltrate the castle during a grand banquet.

The backside takes you down into the dungeons. And if you’re entering a castle, of course, you’re going to go into the dungeons. Naturally, this dungeon includes secret chambers.Maybe you can use these tunnels to sneak into the castle. Or maybe a secret cult is using them to plot against your benefactor.

Where this map really shines is when we get to the stretch goals…

Stretch Goals?

Of course. Chris knows how to run a Kickstarter. This is where the map really come together and what makes this project ambitious and awesome. If the project can hit the higher levels of stretch goals the full castle will begin to take shape. Four maps, all double-sided, that can be arranged to form a complete multi-level castle. And like all Chris West maps, they can be arranged in multiple ways and link with some of his previous projects.

Having a full castle layout is something I’ve not seen with many maps. You’ll sometimes get a little one in a campaign book. But those are hard to see and don’t really show the majesty and scope of a castle. Table size maps tend to focus only on a single room where the big encounter might take place. But castles are big places. Lots of rooms to explore, hide in or get lost in. Who knows where your party might end up encountering the big bad. It doesn’t have to be in the throne room. If you’re smart, you’ll catch him on the way to the privy.

Will it fund?

It already has. You can back it with full knowledge you’ll get something. The only question is how many stretch goals will be unlocked.

Why should I back it?

I received a copy of the first part of this project as an attendance goody at Gamer Nation Con. It looks great and I look forward to being able to expand it. So, in a purely selfish sense, you should back it so that it hits all the stretch goals and I can do just that. But you don’t care about that. You care about what you’ll get out of it.

Sure, maps are great for a quick combat. But if you’re more into Genesys or other narrative systems, you don’t really need maps for combat. Range and mini placement aren’t as precise as more tactical systems. BUT, that doesn’t mean you don’t need a map.

Laying the full castle down before your PC’s can be a great way to pull them into the world. Now instead of vaguely defining a whole castle, you can lay it out before them. They can see where they need to go, where to attack or defend or search. You may not need to move mini’s around for precise combat but you still need to give them an idea of where they are.

Now you can.