Saturday, April 13, 2019

GameMastery Map Pack: "Magic Academy" [RPG]

Magic Academy is a map pack I really appreciate because it's far superior than anything I could draw myself (unlike, say, the simple ability to draw parallel lines needed to duplicate the Road or River map packs).  The back panel shows six configurations of the tiles: a large lecture theatre, a spell-dueling hall, a laboratory, a dormitory, a classroom, and a headmaster's office.  Although there are the requisite arcane symbols and summoning circles, this map pack is more versatile than you might think, as the offices and classrooms could easily stand in for an elite boarding school, a bardic college, the Sincomakti School of Sciences in Ustalav, or any other institution of learning and study. The detail is impressive, as it's easy to distinguish book shelves, torch sconces, and even individual scrolls and quills on the tables.  Drawing classrooms and lecture halls is time-consuming, and this map pack makes it a snap and a worthwhile purchase.   The only addition I had to make was drawing hallways leading to the classrooms, for example, in case an encounter spilled out (two tiles makes for an intimate combat scene!).  I used Magic Academy for the module Academy of Secrets (which it was specifically designed for) as well a Beginner's Box mission for my kid.  Each time, it worked quite well, and I certainly envision using it again.

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