Creating User Modules

The official Tactical Adventures user guide for the Dungeon Maker is here, which covers the basics of creating a module map and populating it with scenery, monsters, and interactable elements. For more advanced creation, read on.

## Creating An Adventure

Tactical Adventures have posted step-by-step videos on using the Dungeon Maker to create your own adventures and share them with the community.

Dungeon Maker Trailer - Solasta- Crown of the Magister1.0 Dungeon Maker Launch VideoDev Diary- Dungeon Maker - Solasta- Crown of the MagisterDev Diary on the Dungeon Maker
## Creating A Campaign

The prolific Silverquick posted advice on how he goes about creating a campaign from multiple adventure modules, using one of his recent series as the example.

You start a 1st level party in the first module: **H1 Haunted Keep of the Slavers**

NOTE: You must subscribe to all 3 modules named Haunted Keep of the Slavers (ie, H1, H2, H3), or you will get dumped to the main screen when you hit an area transition.

BUT... its actually 3 floors of the same module. so you have to subscribe to...

* **H1 Haunted Keep of the Slavers**
* **H2 Haunted Keep of the Slavers**
* **H3 Haunted Keep of the Slavers**

At the end of it there is an Exit point... you export your characters with the levels, exp, and new gear... which gets you to 4th level.

Then move on to the Next Module using Those 4 characters of 4th level...

**A0 Assault on the Slave Lords START**
A Workshop Item for SOLASTA Crown of the Magister
By: Silverquick
NOTE: You must subscribe to all 5 modules named Assault on the Slave Lords (ie, A0, A1, A2, A3, etc.), or you will get dumped to the main screen when you hit an area transition.

This one has 5 Floors though or 5 different Tilesets used...
In order for it to work properly you have to Subscribe to...

* **A0 Assault on the Slave Lords**
* **A1 Assault on the Slave Lords**
* **A2 Assault on the Slave Lords**
* **A3 Assault on the Slave Lords**
* **A4 Assault on the Slave Lords**

At the end of it, past the Secret Door next to the Lady Almalphia's Cell, is another blank Exit point. You export those characters again, at that point... now they're 6th level and have more shiny new gear.

Then you move on to the next module using those same 4 characters...

**S0 Stockade of the Slave Lords**

NOTE: You must subscribe to all 6 modules named Stockade of the Slave Lords (ie, S0, S1, S2, S3, etc.), or you will get dumped to the main screen when you hit an area transition.

This one has 6 Floors or 6 different Tilesets used and you need:

* **S0 Stockade of the Slave Lords**
* **S1 Stockade of the Slave Lords**
* **S2 Stockade of the Slave Lords**
* **S3 Stockade of the Slave Lords**
* **S4 Stockade of the Slave Lords**
* **S5 Stockade of the Slave Lords**

At the end of that one there is another Blank Exit point to export your characters who will be 7th level, almost 8th level with all their shiny new gear, exp, and gold.

## Creating Linked Campaigns

As a module author this starts to get very complicated. So eventually you just start putting them into Collections and have a link for everyone to go there to SUBSCRIBE ALL so players don't have to keep clicking on each entry.

### Adventure One

* Haunted Keep of the Slavers

A 1st level adventure about 3-4 hours of play time. Goblin raiders have attacked the surrounding villages, capturing many from villages around the area. The latest raid took 16, some of whom were your relatives.

**Export Characters, then play:**

### Adventure Two

* Assault on the Slave Lords

A module for characters level 4th-5th Chapter 2: A Snafu! After your success at the Haunted Keep of the Rodemus family, you received and answered a summons from a Lady Almalphia, a noble in the town of Grimhaven.

**Export Characters then play:**

### Adventure Three

* Stockade of the Slave Lords

A 5th-6th level adventure, sequel to Assault on the Slave Lords Chapter 3: Secret of the Stockade. Lady Almalphia is furious after her treatment by the Slavers.

Thus you have a campaign at present from level 1 to level 7, almost level 8. It's about 15-20 hours of play time.

## Publishing Adventures and Campaigns

### Module Description

Include as much information to help a player determine if your mod is interesting to them, for example:

* Flavor text describing the adventure that awaits
* Listing features of the module such as a rich story, or complex combat encounters
* Level ranges to start the adventure and an expected level to finish at
* Any background to your creation process that may interest players
* Links to related content like playthrough videos or to a page on this wiki

### Promotional Images

The thumbnail image for published modules is the most important first step to gain visibility for your adventure. Modules published with no thumbnail attract much less casual interest and get less downloads.

The fastest way to make a thumbnail is to PrntScrn a visually attractive scene or interesting combat situation from your module. Crop that image into a square and save the result as 'YourDungeonNameExactly.jpg' in the same folder you save your module. When you publish to Steam it will upload automatically.

## Common Issues

### Index Monsters

When you place a monster in the Dungeon Maker you can apply a group index number to it. All monsters in a given encounter group (should) start combat together. If you don't index a pack of monsters the players will come into combat with each individually depending on visibility and other factors. An unindexed pack creates a very disjointed experience for the player, as well as reducing your carefully planned encounter to a series of one-shots with no challenge.

When you are testing your module, keep an eye out for loose monsters that aren't attacking with the group you want them to. This is also an excellent time to make sure your monsters are facing in the direction the players should be coming from. If you place a monster with its face up against a wall it won't see much.

### Publishing to Steam Fails

If you have published then deleted a module on Steam, attempting to re-publish the module will fail.

Use a text editor to open the .JSON file of your module and find the variable 'publishediitemid'. Set this to 0 then save and Publish.

## Tips and Tricks

(From Vel's DM guide on Steam.)

Read TA's DM User Manual before starting.

### Enemy Spawn

Auto spawn creates mobs when a member of the party is within 15 tiles of the mob placement. Line of Sight (LOS) is not necessary to auto spawn. Once spawned, mobs are part of your save game.

Removing a mob from the map in the DM is insufficient to remove a spawned mob; you’ll have to kill them. This makes it very important to save far from an encounter, so that you can adjust the encounter difficulty during your playthrough.

One alternative is to use an area activator to trigger mob spawn, while turning auto spawn off. You can then enter the area prior to spawn.

### Line of Sight

Line of Sight (LOS) doesn’t always work as expected. Some walls are see through or have gaps, some obstacles (like large rocks), do not block LOS. Be sure to test enemy placement with LOS.

### Planning Encounters | Enemy Composition

Be careful with large monster placement. Any mob that’s larger than a single tile can get stuck in a wall on spawn, even if it appears adjacent in the DM map tool.

Consider mob AI pathfinding when arranging encounters, items, and blockers. Ensure large mobs have enough space to reach the party unless you’re deliberately creating safe spaces or funnels.

Plan your encounters and encounter group numbers. Ensure you don’t accidentally trigger a second group by giving them the same number.

### Misc Tips

Interaction triangles indicate where the player needs to be to open a chest, touch an object, etc. You can rotate these (R). You can use the interaction position to force a player to step on a lore area, trap, button, etc.

Activated lore appears to not work (bugged). Creative use of lore areas might get you where you want to be.

Location min character level and max character level describe entry only, not during play, not the exit level. For example, if you have min 1 max 2, you can enter with a level 1 or 2 character but you could level up all the way to level 5 if there was enough xp.

Create distinct saves at different progress marks in each map. Auto spawn and mob placement make it difficult to playtest encounter changes. You’ll need to “rewind” to earlier saves, sometimes on the previous map, in order to check the updated encounter.

**How to get entry activators to work** (bugged still, September 2021)