Category: Cartographic Congress

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The Dragon’s Lair in Devil’s Chimney

This is the volcanic lair of a red dragon and its minions. Since this isn’t a particularly safe place to live for anything that isn’t immune to fire, those minions are probably something like:

  • Fire giants
  • Efreet
  • Salamanders
  • Firenewts

I could also see this being the home of any of the above without the dragon, since these races would all probably be big fans of volcanofront property.

As promised, I’ll be starting on the river delta city megaproject next. From my experience in drawing very large maps, I’ve learned that planning a project in detail saves time in the long run, so I’m going to start off by laying out the whole city in advance. I’ll plan out the islands, what’s on each, where the bridges, roads and buildings are, etc. Once I’ve got that sketched out, I’ll get started on drawing everything piece-by-piece, putting it all together and getting it colored.

I expect this to take around 2 months, but it could be a bit more or less. I’ll keep you updated with regular work-in-progress posts along the way so you can see how it’s coming and so I can get your feedback as I go. Well, it’s time to stop talking about it and start sketching this thing out. I’ll be back with some sketches once I’ve got a layout I like. Until then!

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The Impossible Vault

So this is about as evil a dungeon as I could come up with. Despite the name, it’s not literally impossible, but it is rough. The details are in the DM notes, but here are the main features:

  • There are golems that release poisonous gas from vents in the walls behind them when they attack. So you have to fight golems in a room that’s quickly being filled with poison gas.
  • There’s a trap room that… look, it’s hard to explain. Read about it here at number 2. It’s pretty devious.
  • There’s a puzzle room that doesn’t do anything. You can move stuff around all you like and it won’t open a door.
  • The vault at the end is a decoy. The real vault is hidden by a secret door, which is behind the poison gas vents. Which the party will probably try to cover up as soon as they’re done fighting the golems.

It’s a small dungeon, but if you’re going to troll your party this hard, you’ve gotta keep it short. Anyway, if you run your party through this, let me know how it went. I feel like some really ridiculous stuff could end up happening here and I’d love to hear about it.

Next up, I’ll be drawing a Salamander Ironclad Warship. It’s a big, armored ship designed for the elemental plane of fire, but it’ll work just as well as a seafaring vessel. I’ll tell you up front: for most of you, this is probably the bad guy’s ship.

After that, I’ll be drawing a new spelljammer map. I’ll post a vote later today so patrons can decide which one you want to see. Anyway, that’s it for now. If you’ve got any thoughts on the Impossible Vault, by all means let me know!

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Alverfjord

So, I mainly see Alverfjord as three things potentially:

  1. A village where a land-dwelling race lives alongside an aquatic race (such as sea elves, tritons, merfolk, etc). This was the original idea.
  2. A village whose residents are covertly controlled by someone living below. This could be an aboleth, a group of illithids or a coven of sea hags.
  3. A village whose residents are secretly up to some shady stuff, which they do in the tunnels below. Maybe this is a cult or some kind of criminal activity, like smuggling, fencing pirate loot or running ye olde meth lab.

For patrons, I’ll be making a low-tide version of this map, which should be up tomorrow. Most of the underground level is dry in that version and I suspect it’ll be better for people who want to use this for option #3 above.

Also, thanks to everyone for the feedback about the Vatican megaproject! The response was overwhelmingly positive, so I will be drawing that later this year. First, however, I’ll be drawing the river delta city project, which I should be able to start on in the next few months. I want to get a few maps drawn first, but I don’t think they’ll take too long. One of those is a spelljammer and I’ll be holding a vote among patrons to find out what kind of vessel you’d like to see. I haven’t drawn one in a while and it’s probably time.

Anyway, I think that’s it for now. I’ll be back with the low tide version for patrons tomorrow. Let me know what you think of the map!

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Last Tower of the Mage Lords

I’m back with a pretty fancy wizard tube for you. This isn’t your standard 4-level tower for a wizard who hasn’t talked to anyone but his cat in the last 2 years. This is for a wizard with friends. Maybe even a few wizards, plus an assortment of apprentices, servants and guards.

Of course, there’s also another other option. It’s not for everybody, but– look, do you have airships in your setting? Because this can be an airship if you want it to be. There’s nobody stopping you. There’s already magic making this thing levitate, so it’s not much of a stretch to suggest that there might be magic that lets you fly it around as well. I just wanted to mention that in case anybody has a use for that idea.

I should mention that the name of this place is somewhat misleading. If you’re a patron, this is actually the first tower of the mage lords, since I’ll be making you two alternate versions of the map: one on land and one in the sea. That shouldn’t take more than a day or two. After that, I’ll get started on the last alternate level of the Stygian City: the underwater aboleth lair.

All right, I’ll be back soon. Let me know what you think!

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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!

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Dragonriders’ Hall

I usually talk about the map in these posts, but this one is what it says on the tin. It’s a stable/livery/hatchery for dragons. Let’s talk about Council of Wyrms instead.

Council of Wyrms was a 2nd Edition D&D boxed set with rules for making dragon player characters. And it was absolutely terrible. Did I buy it? Yes I did. In my defense, I was 15 and a lot of stuff seems like a better idea than it is when you’re 15.

I tried it for one session before realizing what the problem was with letting the players be dragons. At level one, they can fly. And they have innate spellcasting abilities. And a lot of hit points. And they can blow away just about anything with their breath weapons. And, if being really big and scary is a problem for some reason, they can shapeshift into a human. Keep in mind, this isn’t one dragon. This is the whole party. So, imagine trying to write an encounter that’s challenging for four dragons. Here’s what that looks like:

“Roll for initiative. What are you going to do?”

“I’m gonna barf hot death on all the enemies.”

“Same.”

“Same.”

“Same.”

“The bad guys all take nine billion damage. You win.”

Did anyone else ever run a Council of Wyrms game? If so, let me know how it went for you. I struggle to imagine what a successful campaign would look like, but who knows? It’s probably happened at least once.

Next up, I’ll be getting back to the Stygian City. This thing is about halfway done and I feel like it should be finished by the end of the year, or at least close. There’s going to be an underground river in this area and a kuo-toa settlement in the ruins. I’m not sure what the lore around the kuo-toa will be, but if anyone has any suggestions, let me know. So far, all I can tell you is that they’ll be rivals with the myconids living further down.

Anyway, that’s it for now. Please do not buy Council of Wyrms. It is very, very bad.