SPOILERS!
For those who have run (or read thru) tBCoC5thEd, what rough scale did you assume for the map on p38-39?
Or, to ask the question another way, what diamater did you assume for the well?
I guess I could use the lab on level 9, assume it is standard size (the ones on lvl 6 are larger) and extrapolate from there.
In the multiple times I have run that adventure/saga, I have never once actually had that come up...
From the various images, etc. my guess was the well is around 20ish feet across? More than that and the crappy wooden bridge near the top would probably fail. Less and it'd be too narrow for its purpose.
Thanks. This Doctor of Dungeons needed a second opinion. I had guessed about 30 ft. but then the lab on level 9 has about the same dimensions as the well. If the well is 30 ft diamater, and the lab is 30x30ft (900 sq ft), then its pretty generous. Your 20 ft seems a little cramped, as the lab would be smaller than the standard 500 sq. ft. I think I'll go with 25ft diamater. That scales about right for a standard lab being on level 9.
I'm surprised that the scale of the covenant was never a matter of interest for your PC's. I know my players; they poke at the reality of the world. They (as grogs) recently got their goods back from some templars by scaling the walls on a moonless night and entering through the thatch in the ceiling. Questions like how high the walls were, how steeply sloped the roof was, how much weight thatch can support, how far the drop was from the ceiling to the floor, and finally, how much room there was to manuever in the room they dropped into all came into play.
I don't plan to narrate things like a 1980's D&D adventure. Those descriptions of "25x50ft rooms with an orc holding a battle-axe standing in the middle of the room" are an old joke amongst my players, as we picture the orc waiting patiently while the party paces off the room, deploys surveying equipment, takes measurements, studies any tapestries on the wall, notes ceiling heights, exits, etc, AND THEN fights the orc.
The main reason I was asking was that, in some circumstances, I use LEGO as minatures. Calebais seemed like a great time to bust them out. So I needed some reference to work off of, when converting from the scale maps to scale lego.
(The well just became rectangular. Modeling 9 levels of circular well was just too much of a hassle.)
IIRC there are a few room descriptors that tell you how big the room is (IIRC the garden and the grand hall) so you can extrapolate from there. The 2nd/3rd edition got a scale in the maps as well. At least the Spanish version, that was MUCH better aesthetically than the English one. Will try to check what scale it marks there.
I always assumed something like 8 metres wide or so. 900 square foot lab does not sound large to me. Remember that 500 is the MINIMUM, but I would expect most labs to be between 750 and 2000 foot square. You are a rich egotistical, slightly mad scientist after all. 
Cheers,
Xavi
Edit: did forumrunner duplicate the post again? This thing is buggy.
Thanks. The only specific measurement I found on my read thru was the 180 foot drop from the bridge to the water at the bottom of the well.
Ok, that would equate to roughly 25 ft, for those of us living with archaic irrational measurement purposes (for gaming conversions, I use 1 meter = 1 yard = 3 ft, and don't worry about the loose change).
Sure. My concern was primarily that my scale not result in a 400 sq ft lab. But assuming its big and using it for reference is problematic as well. There are labs on other levels that are 2-4 times the size of the one on level 9, so I didn't want that one to be too big; blows the scale for other levels; hence I assumed it was "standard" sized.
The unnamed magus who resided on level 9 had the entire floor to themself. It had a balcony, an antechamber, living quarters, and the "cloud room" which is arguably an extension of the "lab room." 4 500 sq ft rooms? There were no entrances to the level for someone incapable of flight (or at least a really good climber). I'd say rich mad-genius ego intact.
He was the Auram magus (Ventus Gurges?). You can find his name in the council chamber IIRC.
true about the diverse size of the labs. Will try to check it when I go home. IIRC I have the 2nd edition of Calebais, so it should be there.
Xavi
Oh, yes, sorry, was too lazy to get out of bed and look at my copy. Should have said "undetailed" as I think the name is all we get; no ghost or description of who he was or how he died.
Hurry home! Game starts in 5hours and I've still got to build those LEGO layouts! 
Now THAT is something I have never done and I think is ubbercool!!!
Any chance you can bring the model to GTA?
The larger scale sounds right to me. I remember thinking that the Auram magus would have a very big lab.
And VBTW: beware those bastards, specially the white ones
Thanks. I don't actually model everything. The idea was originally developed for DnD 3.5, and I'm still finessing it for Ars. I'll set up a thread describing my methods for the curious.
Hello again,
Unfortunately it seems my copy of 2nd/3rd edition Calebais went missing. Will have to track it from a friend's house (problem is to know WHICH ONE of them will have it)
Anyway, on page37 of the current calebais adventure you have the well listed as being 30 feet wide. Last paragraph of the page. That should help as a reference for all levels
Cheers,
Xavi
Don't want to hijack the thread, but this seems a good place to ask..
Last time I ran calebais, i used a different map for level 1, where the bridge clearly went over the well. Now i can't find it. Anyone know where i can find it again?
Atlas games errata page:
atlas-games.com/arm5/arm5errata.php#AG0275
(the image is out of scale, BTW, since the well is clearly smaller than 30 feet.
Cheers,
Xavi
By the way, I ended up using a 20 ft rectangular well, wiggling the size and shape of a few rooms to make it all fit. Worked fine.
One of the appentice magi still managed to botch a roll while flying above the well for a scouting look down into it, fell 50ft (he was 30 ft above the rim), pushed some confidence into an athletics roll to catch himself on the ledge with the bridge, and another to land in a more optimal position, ending up with a medium wound. He spent the next hr on the ledge performing a healing ritual...
I guess it was like going to circus for all the inhabitants of calebais. By the time he ended the ritual quite a large number of them might be surrounding him
Thats the map i used, thanks Xavi.
I have no idea how i missed it on the errata page, i should have looked my closely.
Just found this image when searching something totally unrelated. Calebais immediately sprang to mind:
Quinta da Regaleira - Sintra, Portugal
Taken from Dungeon Inspiration
dungeoninspiration.tumblr.com/po ... a-portugal
Enjoy!
Xavi
Here's the design of Antonio da Sangallo the Younger's Pozzo di San Patrizio in Orvieto, a still existing well from 1527, complete with a bridge spanning the shaft just above water level:
Taken from sistemamuseo.it/home.php?id=2&idDettaglio=31
it is likely the inspiration for the two shafts of the early 20th century Quinta de Regaleira as well.
Cheers