Category: Cartographic Congress

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Whitebarrow Manor

Here’s a version without the secret doors.

This is the map chosen by last month’s Cartographic Congress, based on the proposal by Senator Ross. It’s designed to be a haunted house with a number of secret chambers, although I can imagine a few other uses for it. The largest of the secret rooms in the cellar were left unfurnished to make the map more flexible, allowing different DMs to imagine different dark secrets inside.

Next up is Brazenthrone‘s High King’s Palace, then a guarded bridge. There’s an annotated version of this map and DM notes available to patrons, if you’re interested.

Well, I’m off to go see an actual castle today: the Rock of Cashel. It may not be the largest castle, but it’s definitely a contender for Most Badass Name. It’s mostly unroofed, so let’s hope the weather doesn’t get too Irish. We’ll see.

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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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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.

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FOR SCIENCE! The Alchemists’ Guildhall and Manufactory

This map was chosen by the Cartographic Congress last month, based on the proposal of Senator Tim. If you’ve ever wondered where all those potions the PCs keep finding come from, this is the place. How they got into a ghoul’s pocket or a goblin’s treasure stash is another question.

This place doesn’t necessarily have to manufacture potions, though. There are all kinds of scientific pursuits these guys could be engaging in, from inventing gunpowder to cooking 99.6 percent pure crystal meth. It’s all up to you.

An annotated patrons’ edition of this map and DM notes are available on the patreon, if you’re interested.

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The Old Rampart Inn

 

The idea for this map was chosen by the 3rd Cartographic Congress, based on Senator MacTorg’s proposal of an inn, such as one might find several days’ travel outside of town.

Due to its location away from any population centers, the Old Rampart Inn was built on a hill, amidst the ruins of an old fort.  This, along with the stone walls and crenellated roof of the inn’s small tower, make it a fairly defensible location.  By inn standards, anyway.  Additional features include stables and an outhouse for all your excretory needs.

Here is the black and white version.  Nothing but lines, like a birthday party at the Escobars’.

DM notes and an annotated version of this map are available to patrons.

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The Ebonclad Steamship

 

This is the map chosen by the Cartographic Congress last month.

There are a few things to note here.  First, you may notice that there’s no coal pile.  This ship doesn’t run on coal.  The engine is powered by a magically heated chunk of metal which is lowered into the boiler to drive the paddlewheels.  Second, the sails are meant as an auxiliary power source, in the event that the engines suffer some sort of catastrophic failure (either magical or cannonball-based in nature).  And third, the ship would have around 60 crew, plus five officers (including the captain).

Here’s a version without annotations and here’s one in black and white.

Next, we’ll finish off the upper floors of Finbarr’s Marsh and then head underground!

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The Necromancer’s Corpse Farm

 

This map was chosen by last month’s vote of the Cartographic Congress (although there was only one member at the time, so it was more of a Cartographic Tyranny, really).

Anyway, the idea of this map is that a necromancer (probably of an aquatic species) who lives in some caves beneath a lighthouse has managed to gain control of the lighthouse keeper (or become the lighthouse keeper, if you prefer) and is doing a really terrible job of keeping the fire lit.  As a result, the necromancer has a ready supply of corpses to… you know, necromance.  Build an army of the dead, make Frankensteins, whatever they’re into.  The rest of the details are up to you!

This map has an annotated version and DM notes for patrons.