Here’s what I’m coloring right now. There are five more levels, but this should give you the basic idea. All right, back to it.
The Stygian City: History and Lore Overview – Updated
Here’s the updated overview of the Stygian City lore. I added a summary of every level so you can get an idea of what’s on each floor. If you want more details on the lore, the inhabitants of the dungeon and suggestions on running a campaign here, there are DM notes available to patrons.
They’re 18 pages long and I feel like I wrote a book. The DM notes aren’t a campaign, but they’re the framework of one and, if you’re thinking about running a game in the Stygian City, they’ll probably be pretty useful.
Anyway, that’s it for now. I’ll be back with a big, floating wizard tower sometime around the end of the month. Until then!
Thornhall
Thornhall is the palace of a lord of the wilds. A fey king, a high druid, a wood elf prince, or maybe even a hag could live here. The walls and roof are made of tangled roots and vines, twisting around each other in a giant mass of vegetation. It’s a lovely place to live for anyone who doesn’t mind a leaky roof and a slight mold problem.
Next, I’ll be getting to work on the alternate bottom levels of the Stygian City. These maps will be for patrons and will include:
- A sealed vault meant to hold an entity or artifact
- A passage to the underdark
- Nothing but trash and debris
- An underwater aboleth lair
With the exception of the aboleth lair, these shouldn’t be too complicated. I’ll draw the first three next, then the aboleth lair later. That one might actually be two separate levels, so it’ll take a bit more time. Once that’s out of the way, I’ll be looking to get started on the next megaproject.
Well, that’s it for now. Let me know what you think of the map!
Thornhall (Work-in-Progress)
I’m working on coloring this right now. This was one of those maps where I started off having no idea how I was going to draw the place. But oddly enough, maps like that tend to turn out really well. Anyway, what do you think so far?
The Stygian City: Bottom of the Pit
So, here we are at the bottom. Remember that circle-and-star symbol I’ve been drawing on the floors throughout this dungeon? Yeah. This is what that’s about.
So, the Stygian City is finished, but it’s not. For patrons, I’ll be drawing a few alternate bottom levels, which will include an underwater aboleth lair, a vault for some kind of artifact or entity, and a gateway to the underdark (or Hell or wherever). I’m also going to draw one where the bottom is just full of trash and debris, because I think that’d be pretty funny. What did you expect to find down there? A giant monster?
In my last post, I talked about an idea for the next megaproject. Just to let you know, the response was overwhelmingly positive, so that will be happening. I want to finish up the alternate levels of the Stygian City first, so it’ll probably be a couple months before I get started, but I’ll get to it before long.
I’m also going to make a Stygian City Codex for patrons, a brief overview of each level for non-patrons and there are a few more things I want to add to the DM notes.
But before all that, I’ll be drawing the next Cartographic Congress map, the Palace of Thorns. This is the palace of a dark fae lord, which is covered in vines and thorny overgrowth. I don’t know how I’m going to draw this place just yet, but I’ll figure it out.
Anyway, I hope you like the way I finished out the Stygian City! Let me know what you think.
The Stygian City: Bottom of the Pit (Work-in-Progress)
These are two of the last 3 floors of the Stygian City. I’m still working on the last level, which is Ghanya. Should be done in a few more days.
My idea for the next megaproject
So, I actually have ideas for the next two megaprojects, but let’s talk about the first one for now, which is the smaller of the two. I want to get your feedback before I make any decisions about this, so nothing is set in stone here.
This project would be a city map drawn at a 5′ grid scale showing the interiors of every building, some of which will have multiple levels. It would be similar in concept to Finbarr’s Marsh, a map I drew a long time ago. Finbarr’s Marsh was a nice enough map for 2018, but it’s still the only full-city battlemap I’ve drawn and I think it’s time to make something better.
The sketch above shows the basic layout I have in mind: a trade city built on islands in a river delta. This design has a few advantages. First, I think it’s interesting and unique. And second, it allows me to easily break the map up into pieces. The whole city might be 500×500 tiles, which is a little big to use all at once. But since each island can be cropped into its own map, you’ll be able to use a much smaller (80×100 or so) map and change to a new one when the party crosses a bridge to another island.
So, what goes into this city? A lot. Harbors for merchants and naval ships, homes for the rich and poor, the ruler’s palace, a small fort guarding the harbor, several inns and taverns, dozens of shops, a marketplace, a college, a citadel and a ton of other stuff.
If I had to guess, I’d say this is about two months’ work. So, is this something you want me to spend the time to draw for you? If not, I can always come up with something else. Leave a comment and let me know whether this is a map you’re interested in. And if you’ve got any questions or thoughts about what might make it better, let me know that too. Your feedback will decide the future of this project.
Dhelduhr – The Entrance
Here’s the entrance to yesterday’s map of the village of Dhelduhr. For patrons, there’s also an underdark version of the village. It isn’t wildly different from the original, but it’ll spare you from having to make excuses for the plants.
With that finished, I’m ready to get started on the last three levels of the Stygian City. These will include a prison, a temple with a jumping-off point and, at the bottom, Ghanya. If you’re not that into my Ghanya lore, I’ll be drawing four alternate bottom levels for patrons, so you can tell a different story here if you like.
Before that’s done, I’m also going to make a post about my idea for the next megaproject I have in mind. I know I said that a few weeks ago, but I made a note to remind myself and I’m actually going to do it this time.
Anyway, that’s it for now. Let me know what you think of Dhelduhr!
The Village of Dhelduhr
Dhelduhr is a dwarven village carved into the cliffsides of a canyon. This is most of it, but I still need to draw the entrance. In the center-right of the map, there are some stairs up to the clifftop, where there’ll be a small building with some stables.
I also want to make an underdark version of the map for patrons. This place would fit pretty well in that setting, but I need to get rid of the plants and the colors are a little bright. I’ll have all that done in a day or two, then I’ll get to work on the last three levels of the Stygian City.
Okay, see you tomorrow!
Canyon Village (Work-in-Progress)
These are the drawings for the canyon village I’m working on. Gonna get started on coloring this today. Let me know what you think so far!