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!

The Stygian City 16, 17 & 18: The Myconid Village

The next batch of floors in the Stygian City includes a myconid village on the 16th level, an ancient oracle on the 17th and a center for magical research on the 18th. The next three floors will be the last and will include the thing that lies at the bottom of the pit: Ghanya. I’m also going to draw three or four alternate bottom levels for patrons, but that’s it for the canonical Stygian City.

To a large extent, I’ve been writing the lore of this place around building players up for a horrifying revelation when they reach the bottom and discover that people dug this giant hole and built a city around it so they could feed themselves to a monster. So I’ve really been looking forward to drawing the freakish monstrosity at the bottom of the pit and I’ll be doing that before long.

First, though, I’ll be drawing a map of a village carved into the sides of a river canyon with windows and balconies dotting the rock faces and rope bridges strung between the sides. It looks cool in my head, which usually means it’ll make a good map.

Anyway, if you’ve got any questions or thoughts about the map, let me know.

Here’s this.

I got home from Spain a few days ago and I’m back to work on coloring the next three levels of the Stygian City. In the meantime, here’s a collection of the first 12 levels I made a while back. It doesn’t include the 13-15th levels, but I’ll make another one with all the floors once it’s finished.

Anyway, Barcelona was great. Beautiful city, perfect weather, nothing to complain about. Except maybe the tap water. That’s, uh… it’s got a texture to it. Possibly an acquired taste.

Anyway, I’ll be back once I’ve got some more work done on the next few levels. Until then!

The Stygian City 16, 17 & 18 (Work-in-Progress)

Here’s the art for the next three levels of the Stygian City. We’ve got the myconid colony on 16, an ancient oracle on 17 and the ruins of the warlocks’ guild on 18. As you can see, some things happened there that were not super amazing. Magic do be like that sometimes.

Tomorrow, I’ll be heading to Spain to see some friends for a couple days, so I might be a little slow to respond to messages, but I’ll check my email once a day if I’m able. This is where my D&D group moved, by the way. Half of my players had kids and didn’t have time to play anymore and the other half moved to Spain. Then the ones that had kids moved to Spain too.

Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions for things to do in Barcelona, let me know. In the meantime, I’m gonna get to it and see how much of this I can get colored before I leave.

Mycenaean Citadel

This map was heavily inspired by the Citadel of Tiryns in ancient Mycenae. If you’re not familiar with Mycenae, it was an ancient civilization that occupied all the parts of Greece you’re likely to visit on vacation.

Tiryns is old enough that it was mentioned in the Iliad. It was built around 2500 BC and abandoned by 200 BC. This place actually appears in the Hercules mythology as well. It was the home of King Eurystheus, who ordered Hercules to go beat down the Nemean Lion, the hydra and so on. So if your party comes here and picks up a quest or two, they wouldn’t be the first.

Next, I’m going to draw a roof level for this map for patrons. That should only take a day or two and then I’ll get started on the next few levels of the Stygian City. Anyway, I hope you like it. Let me know what you think!