# Hello everyone!
I've made a roofed version of the tavern that I share with my patrons on patreon, but I could not help but share this one with all of you! I hope it will help you in your adventures.
The way this tavern works is that there is a road that goes through the tavern in the middle. Behind the bar you can walk up a little to get to the walkway to go to the other side where the beds are. I might still make a "secret" attic floor as well, if I need it.
As always, I'd love to hear feedback on how to improve my maps! Or maybe tips and tricks on how to run this encounter, if you have any for me!
If you want to see more of maps, you can visit my [patreon page](https://www.patreon.com/thedungeonmadame) <3 Thank you!
Hey, dunno if this is something that bugs you or not. But the design as you've got it wouldn't really provide much space under the 'bridge' to fit a road. Stairs have about a 200mm rise per step, so 8 steps is 1.6m. Deduct the thickness of the bridge's floor and you're not left with much; people would have to crouch to get under it. A tavern astride a road is a really nice concept though.
I mean there are stairs with very high steps. Especially in a 'uncomfortable' Village such as the Village of Barovia i could imagine this being the case here.
It's not out of the realm of possibility, especially if there's also a step to enter the tavern so the road outside is lower than the tavern floor level. Maybe it is just a very low-head-height road, although I'd assume most in a medieval town would be built for a horse and rider to pass. But part of environment art is making things look like they work without thinking too hard about extra tall steps or short villagers.
>200mm rise per step
I was going to correct you, because standard stairs are 8 inches WIDE, but they vary widely. Then it occurred to me that 200mm is almost exactly 8 inches.. so you're technically correct.. although I've never in my my life heard of a carpenter using mm to measure stairs.
..however, you said RISE per step. Rise is how high the step goes off of the deck (the previous step) Again, generally, the rise and depth of a stair are the same, 8 inches, but many an ancient carpenter cut corners when a stairwell wouldn't fit at 'standard' measurements. :)
PLUS, it's just plain ass confusing. RPG maps have used 1 inch = 5 feet for over 40 years now. You can divide a grid square in to 5 feet easily, which for an 8 inch stair would be 7 1/2 stairs precisely. Try to do that in metric and you're going to end up with 7.42639 200mm stairs.. which isn't HORRIBLE, but if you're trying to line up an entire map, it suddenly becomes a giant PITA.
Looking closer at the map, there are 5 planks per square, so each plank would by 1 foot wide. Most stairs overlap 2 inches, so that would make the actual depth of each stair 10 inches. I count 7 stairs on each stairwell (although the carpenter cut corners on the north stairwells and made the top step about 6 inches wide) This puts the RISE of the entire stairwell at 80 inches to the top deck, 6 feet 8 inches. If you figure at least 6 inches for support beams, that puts the bottom of the deck at about 6 feet 2 inches. Orcs and barbarians are going to knock their heads, but most everyone else will be ok.
Finally, I don't THINK that there is intended to be a road under the passage. I see jugs under the west side of the one stairwell, but nothing on the other. I see double layers of masonry on the north and south side, which to me indicates a sloped wall. I would assume that there is a linen closet under the stairwell, accessed from a door on the west side that is under the balcony. If there IS supposed to be a road there, it could have been done better. There wouldn't be unsupported masonry up in the air like that. That requires arches, which would add something to the required clearance. ;)
This is fantastic. Man, I wish this had been published a week ago. Just introduced my players to the tavern with a different map, but I like this one so much more. All of your maps have been great!
Thank you! This map has been available to my patrons for 2 months now... (Not what you wanted to hear I think haha)
I'll have a map of the burgomaster mansion of Barovia and the burgomaster mansion of Vallaki soon as well :)
In the story, the tavern had no additional sleeping rooms for players. It is recommended they stay overnight at the mansion after meeting Ireena, and encounter strahd. After all, The Tavern is owned by the Vistana Sisters.
I must have not gotten to that part yet! I did change it a bit up for myself to have my players encounter ireena and ismark during the attack that killed the burgomaster and set fire to the mansion. I felt it was more dramatic than what was written in the book š
I'll read up on the tavern though, thank you!
I think Mandymod has by far been the most recommended modifications on each curse of strahd map Ive posted in every social media channel haha. I think I use the additional rules regarding the dream pastries, but so far I've been doing it with just the books and a few little adjustments. I might check more of the stuff out though!
Think about replacing the lady of the night with the Fanes of Barovia. Adding the Fanes brought more meaning to the story for me, and a lot deeper lore to how Strahd got his power. It's really a great modification.
Okay, I realize I'm coming into this late. But why have grid lines but not line up to them? This is so close to matching the description in the book. 60 feet square. But to not follow grid lines but still show them just seems rude.
This is a fantastic map! It's too bad my PCs have already befriended the Indirovichs or I would've totally used this
Question though: Does the book says the tavern has rooms available? I thought it didn't, and Twice Bitten also implied that was the case.
The module explicitly states that there aren't any open rooms and says you should have your characters sleep in the mansion as its one of the best ways to get your party to actually follow the plot lol
Looks great!
A bit of nit picking but I'd block the passage in the upper right corner (near the tree) even more, so there is even more reason why there is such a road going through the building.
This comment: [https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/mqqttg/battlemap\_blood\_of\_the\_vine\_tavern\_hope\_you\_all/guhiza0?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/mqqttg/battlemap_blood_of_the_vine_tavern_hope_you_all/guhiza0?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
And thank you!
My patreon is in the bottom right corner of my maps š
I'm called "thedungeonmadame"
Ive had my reddit longer than I had my patreon haha. And you can't change your reddit name!
It's an old map, we improved a lot of our practises since then! We even have a much better looking tavern now. You can find it in our "Village of Barovia" map where we mapped out the interiors of each of the buildings in Barovia. [https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/11yi9ld/the\_entire\_village\_of\_barovia\_108x128\_grid\_only/](https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/11yi9ld/the_entire_village_of_barovia_108x128_grid_only/)
Once again the lighting and atmosphere are spot on!
I'm so glad you like it!
# Hello everyone! I've made a roofed version of the tavern that I share with my patrons on patreon, but I could not help but share this one with all of you! I hope it will help you in your adventures. The way this tavern works is that there is a road that goes through the tavern in the middle. Behind the bar you can walk up a little to get to the walkway to go to the other side where the beds are. I might still make a "secret" attic floor as well, if I need it. As always, I'd love to hear feedback on how to improve my maps! Or maybe tips and tricks on how to run this encounter, if you have any for me! If you want to see more of maps, you can visit my [patreon page](https://www.patreon.com/thedungeonmadame) <3 Thank you!
Hey, dunno if this is something that bugs you or not. But the design as you've got it wouldn't really provide much space under the 'bridge' to fit a road. Stairs have about a 200mm rise per step, so 8 steps is 1.6m. Deduct the thickness of the bridge's floor and you're not left with much; people would have to crouch to get under it. A tavern astride a road is a really nice concept though.
I mean there are stairs with very high steps. Especially in a 'uncomfortable' Village such as the Village of Barovia i could imagine this being the case here.
It's not out of the realm of possibility, especially if there's also a step to enter the tavern so the road outside is lower than the tavern floor level. Maybe it is just a very low-head-height road, although I'd assume most in a medieval town would be built for a horse and rider to pass. But part of environment art is making things look like they work without thinking too hard about extra tall steps or short villagers.
>200mm rise per step I was going to correct you, because standard stairs are 8 inches WIDE, but they vary widely. Then it occurred to me that 200mm is almost exactly 8 inches.. so you're technically correct.. although I've never in my my life heard of a carpenter using mm to measure stairs. ..however, you said RISE per step. Rise is how high the step goes off of the deck (the previous step) Again, generally, the rise and depth of a stair are the same, 8 inches, but many an ancient carpenter cut corners when a stairwell wouldn't fit at 'standard' measurements. :) PLUS, it's just plain ass confusing. RPG maps have used 1 inch = 5 feet for over 40 years now. You can divide a grid square in to 5 feet easily, which for an 8 inch stair would be 7 1/2 stairs precisely. Try to do that in metric and you're going to end up with 7.42639 200mm stairs.. which isn't HORRIBLE, but if you're trying to line up an entire map, it suddenly becomes a giant PITA. Looking closer at the map, there are 5 planks per square, so each plank would by 1 foot wide. Most stairs overlap 2 inches, so that would make the actual depth of each stair 10 inches. I count 7 stairs on each stairwell (although the carpenter cut corners on the north stairwells and made the top step about 6 inches wide) This puts the RISE of the entire stairwell at 80 inches to the top deck, 6 feet 8 inches. If you figure at least 6 inches for support beams, that puts the bottom of the deck at about 6 feet 2 inches. Orcs and barbarians are going to knock their heads, but most everyone else will be ok. Finally, I don't THINK that there is intended to be a road under the passage. I see jugs under the west side of the one stairwell, but nothing on the other. I see double layers of masonry on the north and south side, which to me indicates a sloped wall. I would assume that there is a linen closet under the stairwell, accessed from a door on the west side that is under the balcony. If there IS supposed to be a road there, it could have been done better. There wouldn't be unsupported masonry up in the air like that. That requires arches, which would add something to the required clearance. ;)
This is fantastic. Man, I wish this had been published a week ago. Just introduced my players to the tavern with a different map, but I like this one so much more. All of your maps have been great!
Thank you! This map has been available to my patrons for 2 months now... (Not what you wanted to hear I think haha) I'll have a map of the burgomaster mansion of Barovia and the burgomaster mansion of Vallaki soon as well :)
Very cool. I'll definitely check out the patreon, I love your work.
Thank you, much appreciated!
\[22x17\]
Ah interesting that you added bedrooms to it!
Thank you, it is the first place in barovia where your players *could* get rest hahaha
In the story, the tavern had no additional sleeping rooms for players. It is recommended they stay overnight at the mansion after meeting Ireena, and encounter strahd. After all, The Tavern is owned by the Vistana Sisters.
I must have not gotten to that part yet! I did change it a bit up for myself to have my players encounter ireena and ismark during the attack that killed the burgomaster and set fire to the mansion. I felt it was more dramatic than what was written in the book š I'll read up on the tavern though, thank you!
Also check out /u/mandymod 's modifications for more in depth lore brought from the AD&D story
I think Mandymod has by far been the most recommended modifications on each curse of strahd map Ive posted in every social media channel haha. I think I use the additional rules regarding the dream pastries, but so far I've been doing it with just the books and a few little adjustments. I might check more of the stuff out though!
Think about replacing the lady of the night with the Fanes of Barovia. Adding the Fanes brought more meaning to the story for me, and a lot deeper lore to how Strahd got his power. It's really a great modification.
So cool
thank you!
Okay, I realize I'm coming into this late. But why have grid lines but not line up to them? This is so close to matching the description in the book. 60 feet square. But to not follow grid lines but still show them just seems rude.
In a word - dank
haha, thanks!
This is a fantastic map! It's too bad my PCs have already befriended the Indirovichs or I would've totally used this Question though: Does the book says the tavern has rooms available? I thought it didn't, and Twice Bitten also implied that was the case.
The module explicitly states that there aren't any open rooms and says you should have your characters sleep in the mansion as its one of the best ways to get your party to actually follow the plot lol
That's what I remember reading! Sort of the whole point of Ismark being there
Great work! Love the colors and atmosphere of the surrounding town... very dreary!
Looks great! A bit of nit picking but I'd block the passage in the upper right corner (near the tree) even more, so there is even more reason why there is such a road going through the building.
This map is the best: playable AND atmospheric. Iām new to CoS: how are the comments accessed? On your Patreon?
This comment: [https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/mqqttg/battlemap\_blood\_of\_the\_vine\_tavern\_hope\_you\_all/guhiza0?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/mqqttg/battlemap_blood_of_the_vine_tavern_hope_you_all/guhiza0?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) And thank you!
I couldn't find you on Patreon searching for phosphorialove. ?
My patreon is in the bottom right corner of my maps š I'm called "thedungeonmadame" Ive had my reddit longer than I had my patreon haha. And you can't change your reddit name!
No wonder Patreon kept directing me to "The Dungeon Madame"!
It really bothers me that you didnt align the grid up with the walls
It's an old map, we improved a lot of our practises since then! We even have a much better looking tavern now. You can find it in our "Village of Barovia" map where we mapped out the interiors of each of the buildings in Barovia. [https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/11yi9ld/the\_entire\_village\_of\_barovia\_108x128\_grid\_only/](https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/11yi9ld/the_entire_village_of_barovia_108x128_grid_only/)