Category: DM Notes – For Patrons

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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 Buried Tower

This came from an idea I had for a tower buried in a landslide with a stream now flowing into it, which filled it with water, eventually breaking through the cellar floor into a chasm below. The chasm can connect to another dungeon, the Underdark, or– if you’d rather keep it shorter– can just be filled with water. The tunnel in the side is a cavern or burrow whose inhabitants dug in through the wall. Or it could be from something that dug its way out. It’s meant to be flexible.

The next map will be the Great Hall of Brazenthrone. It’s going to be huge and it’s going to take a week or two. I’ll keep you posted with work-in-progress pics to let you know how it’s going.

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

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Brazenthrone – The Inner Gates

This is the fallback defensive position and meat grinder that rewards the success of any army that manages to take the city’s outer gates. With no walls to climb and no space for artillery to break through, this is an assault that has to be done the old fashioned way: by sending lots and lots of people to die. Good times.

This is the last Brazenthrone map before the Great Hall, which is the central chamber of the city and will be around the size of Finbarr’s Marsh. Before that is a map called The Buried Tower.

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

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The Gates of Brazenthrone Remastered

I remade the Gates of Brazenthrone for two reasons. One, there was a mistake in the annotated version. And two, the more I looked at it, the more I started to dislike it. So I decided to simplify the background and make the whole thing vertical (which I don’t normally like to do, since this is a website and your monitor is horizontal).

Anyway, I hope you like it. Also, here’s the non-annotated version. Alright, back to it.

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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 Gates of Brazenthrone

“How big is Brazenthrone going to get,” you ask? This is just the door.

The next part will be the entrance tunnel and the fortified inner gates (marked as 3 here). They’re the fallback defensive position in case the main gates are taken and they’re basically a meat grinder. You’ll see why.

Before that, we’ve got an Alchemists’ Guildhall and Manufactory, the map chosen by the Cartographic Congress last month.

Finally, here’s the non-annotated version and the black and white. DM notes for this map are available to patrons. Also, starting with this map, I’ll be making VTT versions of all maps, sized for Roll20, for patrons.

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The Grey Huntress – A Ship for the Underdark

This is the ship my PCs are currently on, cruising through the Underdark with a crew of orogs whose occupation might be described as “often but not always pirates.”

Since the Underdark lacks wind, this ship lacks sails. Instead, it’s powered entirely by rowers on the lower deck. And since the Underdark is a dangerous place, this ship is equipped with a pretty solid arsenal of weaponry. Still, there’s nothing here that rules it out as a surface ship if you’d prefer to use it as one. In the Greek and Roman times, this is more or less the kind of warship you might have seen.

Here’s the black and white version. And there’s an annotated version of this map and DM notes available on the patreon.

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Brazenthrone Surface Trading Outpost

Here’s the first part of Brazenthrone: the outpost for trading with surface-dwelling peoples just outside the gates. On the city layout map, it’s marked as 1.

The next map to go up will be a ship. After that, the next Brazenthrone map will be the city gates, at 2. Initially, I had planned for these to be fairly simple and not the city’s main line of defense, but I had a change of heart. Brazenthrone is getting some big, impressive, heavily-fortified gates.

Here’s a non-annotated version of this map and here’s the black and white version. Also, DM notes and a Patrons’ Edition of this map with all the rooms numbered and labeled is available on the patreon.

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The Century Pelican (with 4 engine variants)

VTT Version 15×24

She’s the finest airship in all of your party’s price range. “But wait!” you say. “That’s a mechanical engine. In my world, airships are powered by…”

By the way, I’ll be out of town for a few days for Christmas, so the next post will probably be around a week from now. Have a good holiday!

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

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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.