Author: MattMilby

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Two Things: Reddit, and the Abysmal Floor Plans of Neuschwanstein Castle

I just want to say two things. First, some of you may not know this, but I recently posted the Great Hall on reddit and it was a pretty big hit. It’s actually the top post of all time on /r/battlemaps. I feel like I won an Oscar. Except I don’t care about the Oscars and I do care about the opinions of the people on /r/battlemaps.

So, anyway, I just wanted to thank all my patrons, new and old, for helping me make it. I know I don’t say that enough and I should, but I want you to know that Brazenthrone seriously would not exist without you.

The second thing is about the map of Neuschwanstein Castle I’m working on. I knew this would be a fairly big map, but I figured it’d go quicker than usual since I was drawing it straight from the floor plans and I could save time on designing the layout. Then I started looking more closely at the floor plans and OH MY GOD.

The different floor plans out there disagree. With each other and with actual photos of the castle. One has a staircase starting and ending on the same floor. None of them show the cellar. There’s more, but… the point is, it’s not going to be as quick as I thought, so I’m going to break it up into two parts. The first will be the first and second levels, which include the courtyard. Then I’ll draw the upper 3 floors. If I go hell-for-leather, I think I can finish the first part in around 3 days.

Alright, it’s 11:40 PM. I’m gonna hop off here, finish this coffee and lay down some ink.

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The Great Hall of Brazenthrone – The Promontories

Here’s the final floor of the Great Hall, the Promontories. This is the area where the city’s wealthy commoner families live.

Here’s the non-annotated version. There’s also DM notes and a Patrons’ Edition of this map with all the rooms marked and labeled available on the patreon.

Last time, I said I’d be doing a map of something historical, based on the floor plans. If you guessed Neuschwanstein Castle, you are damn right it is.

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Millers’ Bluff

This is the map selected by the Cartographic Congress last month: a large millers’ homestead with three watermills, a granary, workers’ cottages and a nearby inn. Feel free to attack it with the greenskins of your choice. Or whatever other purpose strikes you. What would I do with this map? I’m not sure, but I can tell you there would be a fight on that little island with the firepit, no question about that.

I have a slightly different version of the map here. The brightness is toned down just a bit. I couldn’t decide which one I liked better, so I just made both. If you play Ravenloft or you’re just super goth, that might be the one you want. It’s honestly not that different.

You know, it’s funny. When I started making maps, I told myself, “Waterfalls are cool and all, but I’m not going to overdo it. I’ll use waterfalls sparingly. I’m not gonna go crazy with it.” Now, here I am, six months and 48 maps later, drawing my first waterfalls. Well, that’s not entirely true, but they’re the first waterfalls bigger than half a centimeter.

Next up is The Promontories, the final floor of the Great Hall of Brazenthrone. Then, I’m going to draw something historical, based on some floor plans I found. I’m not going to tell you what, but I think it’s the coolest building in the world. Feel free to guess in the comments. I’ll tell you if you’re right.

An annotated version of this map and DM notes are available to supporters on the patreon.

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The Great Hall of Brazenthrone – Fourth Level

I’ve been sitting here for a few minutes thinking about what to say here. Finally, I decided that I don’t really need to have anything to say about it. It’s the fourth floor. Honestly, there’s not a whole lot there. And you know what? The next floor is going to be even more boring. Nothing but roofs. But the floor after that will be pretty cool, so let’s take our medicine and wait for it to get good again.

The fifth floor will be up in two days. After that, the map chosen by the Cartographic Congress: a watermill homestead by the river. I don’t know exactly how long that’ll take, since I have some fairly grand plans for it and I do historically tend to go overboard on the Cartographic Congress maps.

Anyway, here’s the non-annotated version. And, as usual, there’s also a Patrons’ Edition of this map with all the rooms of the numbered buildings marked and labeled available on Das Patreon. There will be DM notes, too, once the Great Hall is finished.

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The Ranger Outpost

Here’s an alternative to the typical ranger’s cabin. The rangers living here can look out over the forest like Medieval Hippie Batman and protect the land from orcs, monsters and illegal dumping.

Next up are the fourth and fifth levels of Brazenthrone. It’ll be quicker to do them both at the same time, since only three buildings have a fourth level and the fifth is just roofs. There will be a sixth level as well– the Promontories– but that’ll be more complicated, so I won’t include it this week.

There are DM notes and an annotated version of this map available to supporters on the patreon.

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The Great Hall of Brazenthrone – Third Level

Higher and higher we go! There are three more levels left, but before that, I’ll be drawing a ranger outpost for you. Anyway, I’ve been drawing all day, I’m really tired, my wife has a bottle of rum and I could use a drink. So, until next time!

Here’s the non-annotated version. There’s also a Patrons’ Edition of this map with all the rooms of the numbered buildings marked and labeled available on Ye Olde Patreon.

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The Great Hall of Brazenthrone – Second Level

Here’s the second level of Brazenthrone at last. Sorry, this took me longer than I’d have liked. The illness I mentioned in the last post declined to go away, which is not conducive to productive mapmaking. In any case, I think it’s over and I should have the next map up in around 4-5 days.

Next up is the third level of the Great Hall, then I’ll be doing a ranger outpost, which I think I’ve got an interesting idea for. Alright, back to work!


Here’s the non-annotated version. There’s also a Patrons’ Edition of this map with all the rooms of the numbered buildings marked and labeled available on the patreon.

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DiFlorio Keep – Intact

I’d meant to get this up yesterday, but I’ve been sick for the last few days. You so very do not want to know the details. Let’s just say if I spend any more time with the toilet, my wife is going to get jealous of it. Anyway, it’s done now and here it is, all tidied up.

When I started Brazenthrone, I promised that I’d alternate between Brazenthrone and non-Brazenthrone maps, since I’d imagine people have different levels of enthusiasm for the Great Dwarven Ultramap. I wanted to get the two DiFlorio Keep maps out back-to-back, but now that they’re done, I’m going to draw two Brazenthrone maps, which will be the second and third floor of the Great Hall.

If the pace seems slow, keep in mind that the other chambers will not be as large or have as many floors. But the Great Hall is the centerpiece of the map and I think it needs to be pretty epic. I did say that it would be about the size of Finbarr’s Marsh by itself and I wasn’t exaggerating.

An annotated version of this map is available to patrons.

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DiFlorio Keep – Destroyed

One small castle with a unique entrance and a little Italian flavoring. Then I wrecked it. I hope you like it.

This is the map chosen by last months Cartographic Congress vote, as proposed by Senator Hal. The good senator wanted a small keep that his players could retake from some hobgoblins, then restore and use for themselves.

I thought about it for a while and decided to draw both the destroyed and restored versions, since I think there’s a lot of things a pair of maps like that could be used for and since I haven’t seen anything like that out there. There are a few interesting uses: fix the castle, destroy the castle, or travel through time to see the castle in two different states. So the intact version of this keep will be the next map. After that will be two floors of Brazenthrone’s Great Hall.

An annotated version of this map is available on the patreon.