Roofs. Fascinating, I know, haha. You can see a rough sketch of the next (and last) level here, if you’re interested. It’s not just roofs, I promise.
The Great Hall of Brazenthrone – Fifth Level
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.
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.
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.
The Great Hall of Brazenthrone – Ground Level
Well, here it is, finally. I promise you won’t have to wait this long for any other part of Brazenthrone. This is easily the biggest piece of the city.
Here’s the non-annotated version. There’s a Patrons’ Edition of this map with all the rooms of the numbered buildings marked and labeled (it is monstrous), as well as a VTT version, and all the other usual stuff available on the patreon. There will be DM notes as well, once the upper floors are finished.
Also, here’s the first edition of Brazenthrone’s History and Lore. I’ll update it as I write more throughout the process of making the map:
The Great Hall – Final Update
Here they are with the walls and floors finished. My hand is killing me and I don’t care. Time to fire up the scanner, stitch these together, color them and annotate them. I’m going to guess that’ll be three days’ work. It might be less. I’m going to stop typing and get started.
The Great Hall – Fourth Update
Everything is inked except for the tiles and the wall fill.
If you’re wondering how I draw wall fill, it’s pretty simple: First, draw little lines over and over until your hand hurts. Next, keep drawing lines until your hand feels like it’s going to fall off. Then, keep drawing lines until your hand actually falls off. After that, go to the hospital and get your hand reattached. Repeat.
It’s my least favorite part of drawing maps, but I really, really like the way it looks. The things I do for cartography.
The Great Hall – Third Update
Okay! Here’s a photo of the finished pencils for the Great Hall. Drawing furnishings for most of the rooms really makes this take a lot more time, but I think it’s worth it. I had a photo of the other half (which is also finished), but it’s really blurry and, between spending ten minutes getting another one and skipping it so I can start laying down ink, I think I’ll just leave it at this and get back to work. I’ll post another update in a couple days.
The Great Hall WIP – Second Update
These are the early final pencils for the Great Hall. Most of the buildings only have their outer walls drawn in, but the upper left of the top image has a number of finished buildings with the rooms and furnishings done.
The big things against the walls and columns are giant dwarven statues, which are basically mandatory for something like this. I’m not trying to make Brazenthrone a completely unoriginal dwarven city, but I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel here, either.
The building in the middle of the top image is the amphitheater. The one in the middle of the bottom image is the Great Festhall. I’ll say more about it later, but for now I should get back to work.
The Great Hall of Brazenthrone – Work In Progress
Just wanted to give you an update on the Great Hall. These are the layout sketches, which are 25% of the size of the final maps. Since a lot of this is connected, I decided to plan out the most substantial levels all at once. The above is the ground level. Below is the top level, The Promontories. It’s the area where many of the city’s wealthiest commoner families live.
Finally, here’s a sketch of the two biggest columns in the middle of the hall, which lead up to the walkways of the Promontories. Time to get started on the final pencils for the ground level.
