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View Full Version : DM Help I must design a home but i suck at interior design



King of Nowhere
2021-02-20, 11:35 AM
My players have uncovered a conspiracy, and they are now trying to break into the homes of some rich people in search for documents and other hard evidence. I must design some such homes for them to break into, complete with traps and defences of course. but those are not the problem.

the problem is, i have no idea how to design a home. I open the map screen, and i stare blankly at it while i try to come up with ideas. all i know is that a home should have a kitchen, enough bedrooms for all the occupants, and enough toilets for all the occupants. since those are big homes for rich people, they should also have rooms for the servants, a dining room that's separate from the kitchen, and some open space to entertain guests. the last time i tried making one, though, i ended up with a bunch of unconnected spaces that really made no sense. like, there was this big living room, but one would have to go on the opposite side of the home to reach a toilet. and the servants from the kitchen would have to pass in there to go anywhere. Every design i try to come up with is obviously nonfunctional as a real home.

is there any source i can use to draw realistic homes without taking a course in interior design?

Kraynic
2021-02-20, 11:44 AM
Well, you could just look up house floor plans. There are a lot of sites that will sell you the architectural drawings, but will provide a small preview of the overall layout on the page where you buy the plans, and that preview is all you would need for tabletop.
One of the first hits on a google search:
https://www.floorplans.com/
One of the plans with most main options maxed out:
https://www.floorplans.com/plan/11000-square-feet-5-bedroom-5-bathroom-6-garage-craftsman-58099

Of course, that is all modern, so if you want something older you could just search for historical mansion floor plans. This is an image that came up from that search:
https://www.oldhalifax.com/county/images/bh4.png

Ravens_cry
2021-02-20, 11:46 AM
Hmm, the old Map a Week archive may be of help. There's probably something you can use for this, or at least use as a launching point. Googling 'mansion D&D map' may also help.
http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/arch/mw
What kind of setting is this? If it's a modern setting googling 'Mansion floor plans' may be of assistance, though you'll probably want to make tweaks. Unless your players themselves have interior design degrees, you can get away with quite a bit though.

King of Nowhere
2021-02-20, 02:38 PM
Well, you could just look up house floor plans. There are a lot of sites that will sell you the architectural drawings, but will provide a small preview of the overall layout on the page where you buy the plans, and that preview is all you would need for tabletop.
One of the first hits on a google search:
https://www.floorplans.com/
One of the plans with most main options maxed out:
https://www.floorplans.com/plan/11000-square-feet-5-bedroom-5-bathroom-6-garage-craftsman-58099

Of course, that is all modern, so if you want something older you could just search for historical mansion floor plans. This is an image that came up from that search:
https://www.oldhalifax.com/county/images/bh4.png


Hmm, the old Map a Week archive may be of help. There's probably something you can use for this, or at least use as a launching point. Googling 'mansion D&D map' may also help.
http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/arch/mw
What kind of setting is this? If it's a modern setting googling 'Mansion floor plans' may be of assistance, though you'll probably want to make tweaks. Unless your players themselves have interior design degrees, you can get away with quite a bit though.

those are exactly the kind of stuff i was hoping to get, thanks.
setting has industrial tech and high magic, all in all it feels quite modern, so modern mansions are the best inspirations.
my players aren't experts on the topic either; but a real plan looks much better anyway