Ancient Temple Interior
Ancient Temple Interior is a fantasy battlemap with cartography by Simon Powell and published by DramaScape.
By Lord Mhor
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Ancient Temple Interior is a dark, dismal battlemap that accurately captures the feel of an ancient holy place. The visual appeal is a matter of textures and a combination of rubble and areas that appear to be actively maintained. This means that you can easily use this battlemap for classic fantasy delves, or for more modern scenarios involving pulp-action characters compelled to discover ancient treasures. The main focus of this battlemap is the ominous environment, combined with features that support many tactical options in a conflict. What players get, once the sheets are assembled, is a 20″ by 48″ main temple, with a secret 7″ x 8″ ritual chamber and treasure area that can be placed against any wall and accessed by a secret door.
OVERALL
Ancient Temple Interior is an excellent map, allowing the players to have the full delving experience. It is complete as a temple, though support areas like kitchens and barracks are not included. There is a raised dais with four sets of steps coming up from each direction, a main hall with pillars, and plenty of room down the length for some spirited archery encounters involving dodging and diving behind obstructions.
RATINGS
Publication Quality: 9 out of 10
DramaScape has done an excellent job of sizing the battlemap segments across multiple pages. It also includes a square-grid, hex-grid, gridless, and Virtual Tabletop version. I was initially concerned that the overall coloration was too dark but when actually printed, the faint yellow lines of the squares or hexes are easily visible and do not in any way detract from the dark and ancient feel of the environment. Owners of this product can choose where to cut the white edges off so that they can assemble the pieces in a way that allows them to combine seamlessly. My suggestion for the best final result is to laminate the pieces once this decision is made, then use non-permanent double-sided tape on the white edges so that, once assembled, nothing shifts or stains when players get excited and spill their beverages their haste to battle the evil cultists.
Visual Appeal: 10 out of 10
This map has perfectly captured the eerie feeling that should accompany a nice delve into the unknown. The coloration is dark and subtle with torches, broken statues, mystical symbols, and a variety of well-crafted terrain features. It also has a fantastic ancient look, showing that the environment has seen many centuries of holy or unholy ritual.
Desire to Use: 10 out of 10
I’m using this in my next convention run! Ancient Temple Interior is the perfect place for a major misunderstanding involving the minions of the deities. The size is perfect for one of the standard rectangular tables used in most gaming areas, and the construction is such that the temple can be gradually revealed rather than being assembled all at once for smaller play areas. What you get is a full temple experience whether it is in the age of swords and spells, or pistols and dynamite!
Overall: 10 out of 10
Ancient Temple Interior is an excellent addition to your fantasy or pulp environments and another quality piece from DramaScape. By focusing on the main temple chamber rather than mundane support areas, Ancient Temple Interior allows the Game Master to focus the attention of the characters on high adventure and tactical conflict.
