creators – Foundry Hub

Community Spotlight #5: Level up your game with Beneos Battlemaps and Tokens

MattK — Fri, 09 Jul 2021 14:58:49 +0000

For this edition of Community Spotlight, we talk animated maps and tokens with Ben, the creator of Beneos Battlemaps and Beneos Tokens.

FHub: How did you get started with tabletop RPGs?

Ben: I was always fascinated with role playing games. As a kid I learned pen & paper games which feel like the spiritual parents of traditional RPG computer games like World of Warcraft, where everything that happens is decided by dice rolls. But knowing them and playing them are two different stories. It took me about 30 years to play (or should I say lead?) my first tabletop game. You could call me a noob, but I suffer from a heavy form of hyper-fixation and I consumed so much content (streams, rule systems, etc.), that I would consider myself considerably experience in terms of TTRPGs. Even though I started maybe three years ago I can talk about Pathfinder, Shadowrun, Blades in the Dark, Powered by the Apocalypse games like Dungeon World, as well as about The Dark Eye and Warhammer Fantasy.

FHub: You just launched a second Patreon (Beneos Tokens) and obviously have a lot going on. Do you still find time to game? If so, what are you currently playing?

Ben: Oh yeah absolutely! It is really important for me to see my content like my Patreons see it during their games. At this moment I run three groups and play in a fourth group as player. All of them in D&D 5E. Two Curse of Strahd groups and two homebrew campaigns. I love it and yeah…I never have enough time.

FHub: You are known for creating incredibly rich 3D environments paired with your animated battlemaps. How did you get into 3D modeling?

Ben: Early on, I never took 3D modeling or map design very seriously. I started during the early 2000s as a teenager with modding projects. I was part of a team that built a Resident Evil mod for Half Life 2 and the Source Engine. During that time I taught myself sound design, video editing, modeling, texturing and so on. After my modding time I did a lot YouTube stuff. I was pretty successful on YouTube in the early days and I also tried a startup. But in the end, I decided to toss these because I didn’t really warm up to the whole ‘influencer’ industry and the way they look at people. So I worked a more or less normal job as Data Scientist in a telecommunication company. As a DM I invested a lot of time to create cool assets like animated maps. A lot of people asked me to use my content so I was looking for a cheap way to distribute my content and found Patreon. I was fortunate that people really liked what I did. I was successful, and on a side note, I never expected that nor was that the final plan. By the time I noticed people like what I do and are willing to pay it, I decided to try to make it a full time job.

FHub: Integrating your maps and scenes with Foundry through modules (and now through Moulinette Cloud) provides a powerful service to the Foundry community. How did you get started with Foundry?

Ben: I played for about a year on Roll20 (like many GMs). In a random D&D stream I saw this interesting interface and this unfamiliar tool. I asked around and found out about Foundry. It wasn’t released yet but I really loved and still love the community, so I stuck with it! Yes, I am proud to be a very early adopter of FoundryVTT.

Use hyper-realistic views to introduce players to an area, and then switch to a battlemap.

FHub: Your battle maps are known for offering a large selection of scenes from Curse of Strahd and you have a catalog of offerings from non-specific fantasy settings and even some sci-fi as well. What direction do you intend to take your creations in the future?

Ben: Beneos Battlemaps was always planned as a catalogue of everything a DM would need to create awesome stories and impress their players. So, after closing that chapter I would like to use the sheer endless possibilities of the Unreal Engine to bring stunning sceneries and maps you can’t create without a “Triple-A” engine. But since I have a uniquely realistic and dark-ish style, I also need to create basic maps like taverns, roads, ships and so on. With the power of Unreal Engine, I can promise even those will be next level.

Your paladin has been invited to dinner…

FHub: Your animated tokens come pre-packaged with journal entries, stat blocks and multiple views (top-down/Iso) and feature some unique new monsters that will be highly distressing to most adventuring parties. How did you decide to launch your Patreon for animated tokens and where did you come up with these fantastic creatures?

Ben: Well frankly I started Beneos Tokens because I could :P. Don’t misunderstand: every time I created a battle map, I always saw all the cool assets I would never be able to use. I have hundreds of high-quality 3D models made by me or commercially licensed via the Unreal Engine Store. They are ready and awesome, so why not use them? I can offer more high-quality content, make some money to reach my goal of being able to make a living out of the best hobby in the whole universe and can use my own tokens in my games. And as a giant bonus I can work with my best friend Leon who creates those super cool stat blocks for every creature with unique abilities and a pretty straightforward design philosophy. He is also a great DM and way more creative than I am.

Just another skeleton?

I think not.

FHub: What’s the future hold for you as a content creator? Where do you see this going?

Ben: To be honest I don’t fully know. I listen really carefully to feedback and adapt things I consider valuable. There might be a time where I do something completely different or drop it completely like I did with my YouTube “career”, but this is unlikely because for the first time in my life I really love what I am doing. I’m convinced you can see that in my content as well and the way I treat my Patreons. I will try to push boundaries and prove my content is worth the support, and maybe one day I can make the leap to working 100% on Patreon content!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSC345n6edo&ab_channel=BeneosBattlemaps

You can check out Ben’s creations at his Battlemaps Patreon and his Tokens Patreon, or hop into his Discord and see what’s coming (Castle Ravenloft anyone?)

Community Spotlight #3 – Let’s Talk About Maps with Baileywiki!

MattK — Thu, 06 May 2021 15:00:13 +0000

Our third edition of Community Spotlight highlights Baileywiki, one of our most popular and prolific mapmakers. Baileywiki is known for high quality maps as well as his use of Foundry modules to enhance the features of his work. Check out his Patreon or browse his extensive Youtube playlist for more information!

Questions for Baileywiki? This article is paired with the Foundry Reddit, which is hosting an AMA (Ask Me Anything) with Baileywiki *HERE*

Let’s talk with Baileywiki and see what we can learn!

FHub: How did you get started with Roleplaying Games? What is/are your favorite RPG(s)?

BW: I am the father of 3 boys, and screens were taking over their lives. I wanted something that we could do together that let us interact and play in more creative ways. I was listening to Critical Role at the time and was thinking back to my childhood and the great memories (and skills) I developed through D&D. So we started an epic 2 year game and they loved it.

The problem was that I couldn’t find maps that I was happy with. So I discovered Dungeondraft, and then Forgotten Adventures, and then I started to post maps to Reddit that would get 1,000 upvotes. Various someones suggested I do a Patreon, which sounded absurd at the time, but interesting. Fast-forward to today, and I’ve got a thriving Patreon and a valued community of fellow nerds and techno-artists around me. I love it.

I’m focused on the fantasy space at the moment. But if you follow my work, I really push the boundaries of technology and art. I make Dungeondraft and Foundry and even the core artwork do things that no one has seen before. I like combining macros with modules and interesting visual art to create spaces that will make players gasp and squeal with excitement. I know the feeling when, as a DM, I do something that really impresses my players. It’s sad how much we live for that moment. But it’s infinitely satisfying.

FHub: What is your history with TTRPGs? Do you play currently?

BW: I learned the game as a kid at 10 years old, then took 30 years off. Now I DM for my boys and their cousins and friends. I’d love to play in a game myself, but someone will have to invent a time machine for that to happen now.

Note: As of publication, the Foundry Hub staff is not aware of any working time machines ~ Ed.

I’m an inventor before I’m an artist.
— Baileywiki

FHub: For those folks who like to create their own maps, what map-making software do you recommend?

BW: I strongly recommend Dungeondraft. Is it the best graphics editing software? Not even close. But it’s accessible. The user experience is as simple as it gets, and with the ability to change the artwork to something like Forgotten Adventures or Tom Cartos, it means ANYONE can be a decent map maker in a very short amount of time. It’s why I stay with Dungeondraft. The idea of simplicity is far more powerful than the raw power of the program itself.

My Discord and Patreon are full of amazing artists that just started 2 months ago by watching my videos. I see my design influence all over the Reddit and Roll20 communities, and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve also helped bring attention to Foundry, Dungeondraft, and the artists that I find exceptional along the way, like Forgotten Adventures and Tom Cartos. That’s also rewarding to me.

FHub: How did you get started with modifying your maps with Foundry functionality?

BW: I discovered Foundry after Roll20 sent me screaming. Talk about bad design and no simplicity. Foundry was awesome by comparison. But then I discovered the open nature of Foundry and the module developers and technology community around it, and I was sold

Unlike most professional map makers who are generally artists by trade, I don’t consider myself an artist. I’m as comfortable with tech as I am with color palettes. Being able to bring a beautiful map into a platform that can instantly teleport my players to new levels, or two or three modules that, working together, can create never-before-seen game mechanics…that stuff tickles me. I’m an inventor before I’m an artist.

FHub: You make a lot of detailed videos explaining how to use your maps in Foundry. How much time does it take to build a map set with Foundry modifications and tutorial videos?

BW: If I spend an hour making a map, I’ll spend another hour making it “Foundry ready”, and then another hour making a video on the process. The fact is, most of my maps take more like three to five hours, so it’s a VERY big process to produce at my cadence (every 2 weeks). I tend to include a lot more detail and technology in my maps than others, so I’m doing it to myself at the end of the day. But hey, it’s why people sub to me. If you’ve ever made these things yourself, it’s a full-time job and they appreciate the time that they didn’t have to spend.

FHub: Of all your map packs, what are your favorites?

BW: My favorite single map is the Galleon. It put me on the map (pun intended), and I still enjoy playing it. But my favorite work so far is The Town. It’s an entire town, modeled loosely after Phandalin, but built entirely with modular parts. It’s the culmination of the modular town, wilderness and dungeon systems that I’ve been developing for the last few months, and it demonstrates the power of all of this art and science cobbled together in a way that lets DMs build anything they want, instead of map makers or anyone else limiting their imagination or storytelling.

Yar! Sail the high seas!
Explore the frontier village of Phandalin! (High Definition!)

FHub: What’s next for Baileywiki Maps?

BW: I’m just getting started. I’ve taken on my first staff member, Zephyr, and not only are we planning some huge releases around the modular system and large-scale premium maps, but we’re also doing licensing deals with artists, working on technology with developers and the League, and also bringing my community into contributing their own art and innovation back into the ecosystem, like with the modular dungeon system. As you’ll hear often on my Discord, “Ideas are the coin of the realm.” New ideas and pushing boundaries are what you’ll keep seeing from the Baileywiki tribe.

For more information from Baileywiki on his work, you can visit his Discord. For access to his advanced maps for Foundry (and much more), you can support him via his Patreon. Big shout out to Baileywiki for making the time to talk with us!