Thanesridge Landing: Upper Level

The upper level of Thanesridge Landing is done and there’s only one more part of the map left to draw: the rest of the ship.

By the way, I got an answer about how they pumped the water out of the drydocks back in ancient times: an Archimedes screw. Speaking of Archimedes, did you know he also invented an ancient Greek death laser? Not bad for 200 BC.

Anyway, I’m gonna get to work on the ship. I’ll have DM notes for patrons once it’s done.

Thanesridge Landing: A Dwarven Port

Thanesridge Landing is a dwarven port settlement. Dwarves aren’t famous for their love of ships, but they’re pretty fond of money and trade is a proven way to make a lot of it.

This map wasn’t intended to be a part of Brazenthrone, but I’ve started thinking of it like it is. In my head, this is the end of the Bitterwash River that runs through town. I’m not going to add it to the giant map of the city or anything, but you can consider it an unofficial part of Brazenthrone if you want.

The drydock on the right is called a “graving dock” and it’s actually below water level. It’s gated off from the sea and the water is pumped out. Then, when you’re ready to launch the ship, you just open the gate and sail it out. I didn’t find out how the water was pumped out, but these things date back to at least 200BC, so apparently it was possible. If you happen to know how they did it, I’d love to hear.

Anyway, I’ve got two more parts of this map to draw. First, I’m going to make a roof level, which may have some more buildings on top of the mountain ridge at the back. And I’m going to draw the rest of the steamship at the docks and make a separate map of it. It’ll be useful if your party shows up and steals the thing. I mean, they steal everything else, right? Maybe that’s just my players.

Well, I’m going to get to work on the rest of this. It shouldn’t take long. Let me know what you think so far!

The dynamic lighting for Brazenthrone is finished.

With the rest of Brazenthrone taken care of, patrons using Roll20, Foundry or EncounterPlus will never have to draw wall segments for any part of the city ever again. And neither will I. THANK GOD.

Anyway, I’m going to start sketching out the next map. Here’s where to get the dynamic lighting stuff:

Roll20

Non-patrons can download the wall commands (which draw in the walls and doors using the UniversalVTTImporter script) from here. They’re in the ZIP file. Instructions are included.

Patrons can download all the commands from the patron content drive. Open the VTT folder, then the Roll20 Wall Commands folder.

Foundry

The public Brazenthrone module can be downloaded with this manifest URL.

The link for the patrons’ module can be found in the Table of Contents (pinned as the top post on my patreon page, visible to patrons only). If you already have the patrons’ module, you can just update it.

EncounterPlus

Download the public Brazenthrone module here.

The patrons’ Brazenthrone module is in the patron content drive. Open the VTT folder, then the EncounterPlus Modules folder.

Another hard day’s work in the dynamic lighting mines

I got quite a bit done on the VTT walls and doors for Brazenthrone. Links to download this stuff for Roll20, Foundry and EncounterPlus are below. These maps are now lighting-ready and available to the public:

  • The Noble Quarter (4 levels)
  • The Old Quarter (3 levels)

Those maps, along with the ones I did earlier, will complete the public module. There’s now a patrons’ module as well, with the following lighting-ready maps:

  • Delvers’ Rest
  • The Grand Temple
  • The Iron Mines
  • The Old Mines
  • The Mushroom Farms
  • The Pits of Justice
  • The Underdark Trading Outpost

I think I can probably finish this up in one more session. Most of what’s left is small chambers and I don’t think they’ll be much trouble. Anyway, here’s where to download everything:

Roll20

Non-patrons can download the wall commands (which draw in the walls using the UniversalVTTImporter script) from here. They’re in the ZIP file. Instructions are included.

Patrons can download all the commands from the patron content drive. Open the VTT folder, then the Roll20 Wall Commands folder.

Foundry

The public Brazenthrone module can be downloaded with this manifest URL.

The link for the patrons’ module can be found in the Table of Contents (pinned as the top post on my patreon page, visible to patrons only).

EncounterPlus

Download the public Brazenthrone module here.

The patrons’ Brazenthrone module is in the patron content drive. Open the VTT folder, then the EncounterPlus Modules folder.

The Walls of Brazenthrone for VTT

I spent all day yesterday marking the walls and doors of Brazenthrone for VTT. While the experience hasn’t turned me into a gibbering psychological disaster, I still don’t recommend it. Anyway, here’s what I got done in a day of work:

  • The Great Hall (6 levels)
  • The Anvil Quarter (2 levels)
  • The Common Quarter (3 levels)
  • The Noble Quarter (1F only)
  • City Gates
  • Inner Gates
  • Surface Trading Outpost

For Roll20, these come in the form of wall commands for UniversalVTTImporter. You can download the commands here (in the file called “The Dwarven City of Brazenthrone VTT”). Instructions for using them are in there too. Use the special maps that are included.

For Foundry, there’s a new module you can install with this manifest URL. And for EncounterPlus, there’s a new module you can download here.

The version of the Great Hall in the Foundry module was done by Josh H., who did the most absolutely perfect wall lines I have ever seen in a VTT map. Seriously, they are a sight to behold. I’m actually worried he’s going to look at the ones I did and go, “Look at this scrub with his crappy peasant walls.” Hopefully they’ll meet his standards.

So, all this is in the free public Brazenthrone module. I’m planning to put the rest of the Noble Quarter in there, as well as the Old Quarter, then the rest of the city will go in a patrons’ module. That feels pretty reasonable to me. The free stuff gets you up to the gates, into the Great Hall and gives you a tour of the major districts, which are the places you’d least want to mark the walls for.

As I said before, I’m going to spend a day on this between maps, so I’ll get back on it once the next map is finished. Well, I’m gonna get some drawing done. If there’s anything wrong with any of this stuff, leave a comment and I’ll take care of it!

Several Small Things

I’ve got the next map– the Fortified Oasis– fully penciled and ready to ink. But before I get started on that, I wanted to mention a few other things I got done:

Anyway, that’s all. I’m gonna get back to work on the oasis. I was up drawing until pretty late last night because, as it turns out, if you draw a million rugs on a map, you then have to come up with designs for a million rugs. It does look pretty cool, though. I think you’re gonna like it.

The Brazenthrone Codex, Third Edition

I know some of you may have an instinctually negative response to hearing about a switch from second to third edition, but I promise you, this third edition is not a downgrade from the second that will slowly grow worse and take twenty years to rectify.

This is the complete Codex with all the expanded annotated maps and DM notes from Brazenthrone, along with a few drawings I included for the sake of fanciness.

While making this, I was slightly surprised to learn that I still remember how to draw a person! There was a time when I drew a lot of those, but it’s been a while. I think I did respectably well, anyway.

Anyway, this wraps up Brazenthrone. The response has been overwhelming, which I’m really happy about. Hopefully it opens up doors for people to do things they couldn’t otherwise, or inspires them to write epic adventures in the city.

Next, we have four maps remaining from the Great Vote: the fortified oasis, the floating market, the aarakocra village and the Deepspire. Those will be the next four maps, aside from one or two Cartographic Congress maps. I’m going to draw the fortified oasis first. It’s been a while since we’ve been to the middle east and I’ve been looking forward to drawing this for a long time.

I’m also going to get the Foundry module and the Roll20 VTT stuff sorted out and updated with the Old Palace. Let me know what you think of the new codex!

The Dwarven City of Brazenthrone is finished.

I’ve been an artist for my entire life and this is easily the best thing I’ve ever drawn. I wish I could show it to 12-year-old me. He would’ve gone wild. To be honest, he and I aren’t that different, although I’d say I’m at least 10% more mature.

The last two years have been quite a journey and I want to thank my patrons for joining me on it– or maybe I should say taking me on it. They deserve a lot of credit for this. I made Brazenthrone, but they made Brazenthrone happen.

This is a map that could only exist through crowdfunding and that was part of the idea from the start. No publisher will ever commission an artist to make something like this and the amount of work involved– around 2500 hours– is prohibitively high for a hobby project. But they covered my rent and bills and put food in my fridge for two years, giving me the ability to work on this and other maps full time, which is the way this gets done. That’s how you make a Brazenthrone.

But, while my patrons financed the drawing of this map, it isn’t just for them. It’s for the rest of the community as well. It’s for the teenage DMs, the broke college student DMs and the older DMs who are having a rough time at the moment. I don’t want anyone to be unable to use Brazenthrone on account of money and I want to make sure the resources to use it are available.

For that reason, I’m making the Brazenthrone Codex– containing all the DM notes and expanded annotated maps– free for everyone. I’m also giving out a collection of all the maps. They were all free already, but some of the older web versions didn’t work well with VTTs, so I replaced them with 35px VTT versions that will. You can download all that here.

Alternatively, you can just load the map above, enter a grid size of 728×1176 and watch your computer’s exhaust vent spew flames like it’s trying to reach low earth orbit. Let me know how it goes.

The Brazenthrone Codex does need an update and I’m going to add all the maps and DM notes that aren’t included in about two days. I’m also adding a few small illustrations and giving it a cover. I was planning on giving this stuff out as a Christmas present to the community, but then I started typing and… well, you’re getting it early. It’s from my patrons, too. I picked it out, but they paid for it.

So, let’s talk about what’s next. I want to map out an entire campaign setting. In a way, that’s what Brazenthrone is, but this is different. The setting is a small sea in the Underdark called “The Black Loch” and it will be much, much bigger than Brazenthrone.

Unlike Brazenthrone, however, there will not be a map of every square inch of it. Instead, there will be a map of the region with all the notable locations marked. Things like a kuo-toa village, a duergar outpost, a drow city, abandoned structures, some islands with ruins, caves, maybe something underwater. For each location, I’ll draw a 5′-per-tile battlemap, so your players can explore the loch and, wherever they go, you have a map. There will probably be 15-20 locations in all, depending on how many good ideas I come up with. I can’t promise an exact number, but I can promise that, when I run out of interesting places to add, I’ll put the pencil down. I won’t waste time drawing filler.

There’s already one map I’ve decided will be a part of the Black Loch: The Drow City of Vlyn’darastyl. This is probably the only part that will get a city map instead of a battlemap, but I may make a battlemap of a specific building or two there.

Before I get started on that, I’ll be drawing the four remaining maps from the Great Vote, which are listed in this post (1,3, 4 and 5). The last one– The Deepspire– will also probably be a part of the Black Loch.

So, that’s the plan. If you’ve been with me on this journey, I hope you’ll come along for the next one. And if you’re just finding all this for the first time, you didn’t get here late. This may be the end of Brazenthrone, but it’s the beginning of everything else.

Brazenthrone – The Old Palace

Here are the annotated version and the DM notes. All the patron content for this map is free to everyone and you can download it here.

This is the last chamber of Brazenthrone, but the map isn’t finished yet. It’ll be finished when it’s all put together in a single image, so we can sit back, look at the entire city and wonder why anyone would ever do such a thing. I’ll give a whole big speech and everything, it’ll be great.

It shouldn’t take longer than a day or two, depending on how many times it crashes Photoshop. Making this thing crashed it at least a dozen times, but I think I know a better way of doing it. Hopefully it works, because there’s a LOT to add to that.

I do have some bad news, though: Roll20 seems to have gotten an update and the Walls API script I was using to give you maps with the dynamic lighting set up doesn’t seem to work anymore. And, since I was making the Foundry version by exporting the Roll20 version, I can’t do that either. I’ve found another script to replace it (written by the same person) and I’ll get you some walls for this once I’ve got a minute to sit down and work out how to use it. EDIT: Nevermind, the script just needed to be restarted. I’ll make the VTT stuff in a few days.

I haven’t forgotten about EncounterPlus either. But first, I REALLY want to finish up Brazenthrone. Here’s what I’ve got left to do:

  • Put it all together
  • Update the Brazenthrone Codex with the rest of the maps and DM notes
  • Make some art for the Codex. Not maps, drawings. Whatever I can sketch in a day or two to make it look nice, maybe give it a cover.

After that, I’ll get on that VTT stuff and we’ll talk about what’s coming next. Well, I’m gonna start putting this stuff together so we can see what two years of drawing a map gets you.

Here’s the first floor of the Old Palace.

There are two more levels of Brazenthrone‘s Old Palace, both of which are nearly done. I’ll have it all up in a day or two, but I thought I’d give you a look at the first floor since it’s finished.

The large room at the upper center is the throne room. The Brazen Throne was removed and currently occupies the new throne room in the High King’s Palace. The symbol on the floor is the Brazen Hand and represents the royal Brasshand Clan. It’s an older and slightly different version of the symbol that can be seen in the new palace.

The other symbol represents the Kingdom of the Twelve Mountains, the nation that Brazenthrone is the capital of. The runes around the edges spell out the motto of the Twelve Mountains: “Many Clans in Peace, One Clan in Strife.”

Anyway, that’s all. I’m gonna finish up the rest.