Monday 5 September 2011

Campus Maps are Solid Gold



One of the great unsung treasures of the internet is that university campus maps are readily available and free to use for all of your gaming needs. Check out the one above and click to enlarge: is it a temple complex (the purple buildings) with a village for the mad monks nearby (the blue buildings to the west)? A palace with living quarters for slaves? Ancient ruins? And it is already numbered and coded: all you need to do is replace the text for what each number/letter combination refers to and you're good to go. K4 becomes the temple to the Mad God Jubilex. N6 becomes the dormitory of the household cavalry. E5 becomes the dungeons where virgins are imprisoned prior to sacrifice. D6 becomes the monkey house.

It is ready made mapping heaven.

11 comments:

  1. That's cool. Hadn't thought of it. You might find this of interest:

    http://dungeonsndigressions.blogspot.com/2011/02/zoo-is-dungeon-too.html

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  2. Yeah, campus maps are fantastic resources. I also like museum gallery maps. Being a resident of Los Angeles, I've reworked some of the local venues (LACMA, the Getty, Norton Simon, and Huntington) into my games. Lots of gaming potential in these maps.

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  3. Having just moved to a new and very large campus this month, I found myself thinking the same thing a few weeks back. The coolest part of your map is "Hackington Rd", very D&D.

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  4. Holy cats! I work in a dungeon! This explains a lot.

    (N6 is my actual lair).

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  5. Telecanter: Nice!

    LJR: Yes, I can see that. Big halls and lots of doorways.

    Spawn of Endra: Yeah, I liked that too!

    Roger the GS: Really? You're at UKC? I was there as an undergrad, 1999-2002.

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  6. Crikey, that's a blast from the past! I too was at UKC in 1999 to 2002.

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  7. Kelvin: Really? Small world! What did you study? I did a BA in English and History, but I'm a legal academic now.

    We ought to organise a "UKC Alumni and Current Staff" group at ConstantCon.

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  8. We may very well have crossed paths now and again. I did Philosophy, and it has not proved to be useful thus far, although I did recognise the map immediately.

    I'd definitely be up for a UKC reunion Constantcon.

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  9. Yep, I got there in 2001 so just overlapped with you guys. The AGS is still going strong, but Westgate Games shut this year, victim of mismanagement in an unforgiving economy. I might run a couple of one-shots for the AGS this term.

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  10. I had suggested somewhere in a reply to a post that amusement park maps could be used as village maps in some cases. Your suggestion expands it out even better. The Internet has a world of maps premade out there for real world things. I would bet that smaller town might even have real world maps online that could be taken and used with only minor changes.

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  11. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LAJXBh3IYU8/TQCBlddN_OI/AAAAAAAABC4/ToAJ5ghNtgY/s1600/Missile_Silo_001.jpg

    http://www.terrastories.com/bearings/inside-a-titan-1-missile-base

    I just wish I could find a more detailed map

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