I Found A Castle...

I found this online - I love stuff like this.

I find stuff like this useful for generating ideas for a campaign or adventure - or for when the PCs unexpectedly find a castle*** and I need to have something ready with really little or no notice.

Anyway, here's the description from Wikimedia Commons:

Floor plans of Dirleton Castle, East Lothian, Scotland.

Key: Ground floor: A Kitchen. B Well. C Postern. D Inner courtyard. E Guard rooms. F Entrance passage. G Cellars. H Ovens. I Former postern. J Prison, with pit below. K Courtyard. L Demolished ranges. M Bases of demolished 13th century towers.

First floor: N Lord's hall. O Lord's bedchamber. P Dining room. Q Chapel. R Priest's chamber.

Second floor: S Gun emplacement on roof. T Murder hole. U Kitchen. V Kitchen fireplaces. W Buffet. X Great hall. Y Lord's chamber, base of tower house.

SO I know where most everything (important) is. Just grab (or make up, heck it's not rocket science) some NPCs:

Argus is the guard at the main gate (F2, hp7, sword & chain - NG). He's gruff and a little surly (often he is sarcastic). He respects the lord of the castle, but not his advisor. He will defend the lord's family with his life.

Father Bartemean is the keep's priest (C3, hp 11, LG). He's a jovial man, prone to drink a little too much on occasion. He is loved by all in the keep (except one of the acolytes who believes he has disgraced his position with his drinking) and he attends most official functions. He is the lord's second advisor.

Bertram is the Lord's advisor (NH, hp 3, N). Bertram is extremely even-minded, never favoring one or another in a dispute, but always weighing things logically and with the best interests of the lord and his holding in mind.

Lord Andor (F5, hp 29, NG). Lord Andor fought in the Goblin Wars and lost two fingers on his left hand. He is very well liked by most of his subjects because his tax and tribute burden is fairly light. The people of the land will rise to defend their lord if he is threatened.

So, that was like 5 min. work and I have a keep and a few personalities to populate it.

This picture is not public domain, but it's CC hope this suffices as attribution:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dirleton_Plan_all_floors.png

*** I'm learning about "hexcrawling" and it could happen that the PCs would go "off my map" and onto another area where I didn't have anything significant planned and I might roll up a keep...