Temple of The Spider God provides a pre-made map and associated 25mm scale map tiles for a small temple complex. An autorun executable is provided, which runs when the CD is inserted. The autorun program opens a webpage interface with links to the individual maps, in PDF form, as well as PDFs and JPGs of the tiles.

The Temple complex is composed of a main temple area proper adjoining an outer cavern area, which has tunnels leading into from the north and south. The 2nd level, reached by a stair from the back rooms of the temple proper leads into small dormitory and living area with several bunkrooms, a library and smaller chapel. The third level, reached by stairs in the back of the small chapel area is a large crypt.

Each of these levels is presented by a 2 collections of 4 maps, one in color and one in grayscale. Each collection is made up of a Detailed map, Detailed with Grid, Classic Blue Grid, and Black Grid. The Detailed map shows furnishings, statues, & textures. The Detailed with Grid Map adds a 5? grid overlay in blue to the detailed map. The Classic Blue map shows the basic layout on a blue grid, as featured in older modules, and the Black Grid is the above done in a black grid. Each map has key encounter areas numbered on the map. Which the GM would then write the encounters for, a handy form for recording this information isn?t included however.

In addition to the maps, there are a set of Tiles, also in color and grayscale, which contain each section of the abovementioned maps in 25mm scale, 1? = 5?. Lit and Unlit versions are provided. These can be printed and assembled to form a battle map. The furnishings, statuary, and other objects are shown on the tiles; the images are crisp and clear. Also included are the JPGs used to prepare the maps, thus enterprising GM?s can alter the base images to make a few changes as they like.

Overall this is a nicely done map, ready for use by a GM to provide a nicely rendered underground temple environment into which his player?s adventurers can delve. <br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Lighting effects, sharp images of furnishings and other details.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: No handy form on which to record your encounters. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Mapz 'n' Tilez: Temple of the Spider God is a collection of maps and one inch scaled tiles that together represent three levels of a small underground complex or temple. Somewhat uniquely, it uses an executable to bring up an HTML interface for the maps and tiles. The individual maps and tiles themselves are PDFs. The package also includes editable JPEGs for each map level if you want to make your own additions or changes to the maps and that is a nice addition.

Each map and tile is presented in color and grayscale versions. There are also four renditions of each map; detailed, detailed with overlay, classic blue grid (which is a bit silly in grayscale) and black grid. There are two renditions of each tile; lit and unlit. The lit versions have 'atmospheric' lighting added but are otherwise identical to the unlit versions.

The tiles are nicely rendered with crisp details and good shadows and lighting effects. The three level dungeon is fairly small, with a total of twenty-one encounter areas, including the third level, which is one large, open encounter area. The encounter areas are numbered, but there are no game statistics included or suggested encounters (note: the product information does not say that any game information IS included, but I just wanted to make it clear for potential customers).

Temple of the Spider God is a nice addition to the increasingly popular category of 'We provide the map. You provide the monsters' type of PDF products. It could easily serve as a nice side trek adventure in an Underdark campaign and/or a drow temple for the PCs to assault. As an aside, the Underdark set of D&D miniatures from Wizards of the Coast will probably include some nice nasties to populate the dungeon with.

I like having unlit and lit versions of the tiles, but I think the 0one Games approach of using checkboxes to achieve this same type result is probably a little neater approach. Including JPEGs of the tiles was certainly nice for those that are handy with Photoshop and similar programs. If you need an underground temple to populate with drow or other nasties, check Temple of the Spider God out. <br><br><b>LIKED</b>: The tiles are crisply rendered with nice lighting effects. Including JPEGs of the tiles was a nice addition.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Other maps that use checkboxes to turn on and off map details is a neater approach than having different versions of the maps.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>