Category: Cities/Towns

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The Stygian City 13, 14 & 15: The Kuo-Toa Colony

On the 13th level, the pit intersects with a small, underground river, which eventually leads to the underdark. So, after the city became abandoned, it was only a matter of time before the kuo-toa found the place and moved in. Which they did.

The kuo-toa Archpriest who rules the colony wants to expand his territory, but unfortunately, he’s stuck between an ancient night hag above and a circle of myconids below. He’s scared of the night hag and he should be. She’s got half a dozen Pit Fiends on speed dial. But he feels like he’s got a chance against the myconids, so he’s planning an attack across the broken bridge over the 15th level that serves as the border between their domains.

The 16th level– the center of the myconid colony– will look a lot like the mold-covered half of the 15th. A huge fungal garden growing around a set of ancient fountains. After that, things are going to start getting weird as we get closer to Ghanya. The myconids are the last friendly folks for the party to encounter in the pit.

There are only six more levels to draw before we reach the bottom and I think this should be done before the end of the year. I’ve got a few ideas for the next megaproject and the one after that and I’ll talk about those before too long to see what everyone thinks.

But next up, I’ll be drawing last month’s Cartographic Congress winner, a Bronze Age Mycenaean citadel. Here’s one example, although I don’t know if I’ll be drawing a map inspired by that one specifically. Anyway, Greek stuff! Everybody loves Greek stuff.

Well, I’m gonna browse some pictures of Mycenaean palaces. Hope you like how the Stygian City is coming. Let me know what you think!

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The Stygian City: Caves and Catacombs

The next three levels of the Stygian City are finished! As promised, I updated the previous levels with the lower level windows. I also renamed all the previous levels. I’d originally named the first three floors 0, 1 and 2, but I realized that it would take less time to change them to 1, 2 and 3 than it would to answer questions about that for the next several years.

For patrons, I updated the DM notes with an overview of the history of the pit and how it came to be. I made a copy of this story for non-patrons as well, which you can find above. I’m very curious to know what everyone thinks about it. In any case, this whole place is designed to be very flexible, so if you’ve got a better idea of what to do with it, you can tell your story instead.

Next up is a drow academy of war, where drow males can go to become useful for something other than reproduction or being beaten for the entertainment of others. There’ll be an arena, training areas, maybe even a classroom where students come to study Drow Clausewitz and Sun Tzu. After that, I’ll probably draw another few levels of the pit.

Well, I hope you like how it’s coming so far! Check out the DM notes and let me know what you think of the story. And if you’re not a patron, check this post tomorrow and I’ll have a copy for you too.

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The Stygian City: Into the Pit

Our gigantic dungeon starts here, in a small village called Ekersfield. The villagers live in and around the top of the pit, mining iron ore from the level below. This is the nice part of the pit. The welcome center, if you will. Past this point, most of the pit’s inhabitants get a lot less friendly.

So, there’s an unusual problem with this project and its kind of unavoidable. See, the map above is finished… but it’s not. If you look at the uppermost level, you can see the windows in the sides of the lower levels of the pit. But on the bottom level, there aren’t any. That’s because I haven’t drawn the maps below this yet and I don’t know where they’ll be. So I’m going to have to update these maps after I draw the next ones. Which will also have to be updated later. And so on. A bit of a pain, but no big deal.

For patrons, I’m also making modular versions of the maps. These are individual floors which can be rearranged as you like. Here’s how they work: first, the lower level windows won’t be shown on the sides of the pit. And second, all the stairs descend counter-clockwise. The stairs won’t always be in the same place, but they’ll always move in the same direction and, if you want, you can rotate the map to get them close to each other. With only three floors, that isn’t super relevant just yet, but there will be a day when there are 20+ floors and it will be then.

Thus begins another very large project. They always seem too big to ever get done, but they always do. Brazenthrone took two years to draw, but it got finished. The Black Loch took a year and a half, but it got done too. I think this will take less than a year, but we’ll see. In any case, it’ll be done one day and, hopefully, you’ll like it. But for now, how’s it looking? Off to a good start?

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The Vagabond Queen, or “The City of Sails”

If you’re planning to run an adventure on the Vagabond Queen, here’s a good way to kick things off:

  1. When the party boards the ship, have an NPC mention that there’s a tavern on board.
  2. The players will head there because 90% of all D&D characters are degenerate alcoholics.
  3. When they walk in, there’s a bard in the corner tuning up his harp. After the players sit down, the bard gently runs his fingers across the strings of his instrument and he begins to sing this song…
  4. Play the song “I’m On A Boat” by The Lonely Island.

If you’re at work, be sure to unplug your headphones and max out the volume before clicking that link.

I’ve got a bunch of ideas for adventures involving this map in the DM notes, along with a list of possible backstories about who built this ship and why, so if you’re a patron looking for inspiration, you may want to have a look.

I’ve got a few more things to make for this map, but I wanted to get it posted anyway. I should have the Foundry module and the Roll20 wall commands done later today. I’m also making some tokens for the smaller boats and some artillery. And, of course, there’ll be a spelljammer version of the map.

In a couple days, I’ll be leaving to see my family for a week, but I should be able to get the spelljammer version up the day I get back. Everything else should be done before then.

Well, drawing this map has been a ton of work, but I really think it turned out well. I’d love to hear what you think. And if you’ve got any questions, feel free to ask!

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Valley of the Five Mages

The Valley of the Five Mages is the last map for Tir Thelandira and, while it’s mostly independent from the rest of the lore, I think it’s a nice addition to the island. The basic story is that five mages have come here from far away to study a mysterious hole in the ground that radiates an intense magical energy.

I wrote some thoughts about what might be down there in the DM notes for the map, but the best option is to have the wizards tell the party they believe there’s a powerful, arcane entity living down there. Then, when the players go down to check it out, it turns out to be a 50-foot-tall prairie dog jacked up on potions of growth. They won’t see that coming, I’ll tell you that much.

Next, I’m going to make separate maps of these five towers. Not everyone needs a valley full of towers, but almost everyone does need towers from time to time, so I thought I’d chop this up into single servings. That shouldn’t take more than a day, so they’ll probably be up tomorrow.

After that, I’ve got to finish up a few things for TIr Thelandira, like updating the History and Lore overview and the island map with the new locations, then putting it all together in a Tir Thelandira Codex, similar to what I made for Brazenthrone and the Black Loch. Once Tir Thelandira is officially done, I’ll be starting on the megaproject I’ve been talking about. Here’s the description I posted before:

Imagine a ship, like a galleon or a ship of the line, but much bigger. Bigger than any sailing ship ever built. 400′ (130m) long and 140′ (45m) across the beam. Eight masts, thirty sails. But this isn’t just a ship, it’s a town with hundreds of residents. Across the ship’s 5-6 full decks, there are shops, craftsmen, a marketplace, a tavern, an inn, a temple, gardens, a library, a mill and a lot more. There are cabins for the middle class, luxury apartments for the rich and hammocks for the poor. This is a ship you could get lost in. It could be a community of traders, explorers, pirates or wanderers.

I’ve been looking forward to drawing this for a while now and I think it’s going to be the kind of map you could work into a lot of adventures or even plan an entire campaign around. In any case, I’ve never seen anything like the map I’m imagining and I think it needs to exist, so I’m going to roll up my sleeves and draw it.

Well, I think that’s it for now. I’m gonna finish wrapping up this megaproject so I can get started on the next one. If you’ve got any thoughts, by all means let me know!

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Fiachna’s Knoll

Fiachna’s Knoll is an elven town in Tir Thelandira. With this done, there are only two more maps to draw before the island is finished. The next will be the one proposed by Magpie and voted for by patrons: the ruins of a monument built by a civilization so ancient that it preceded even the elves’ arrival on Tir Thelandira.

I’ve been thinking about what this place should be and I’ve decided to make it the absolute last thing you’d expect to find on an island full of wood elves. And what would that be? The most dwarven thing ever. These ruins are going to be more dwarven than a drunken axe-throwing contest. Of course, the elves of Tir Thelandira have never actually seen a dwarf, so they wouldn’t know what to make of it, which could lead to an interesting conversation if a party with a dwarf passes through.

After that, there’s still one more map to go. I’ll be sending out a message to all patrons asking for proposals for location #2 in the next few days. Here are a couple guidelines: first, the location can be anywhere on the northern island. And second, Tir Thelandira is very isolated, so the location can’t be a major city.

Anyway, this megaproject should be wrapping up soon and then I’ll get started on the next one, which will be that giant ship I mentioned earlier. Hopefully that sounds good to everyone!

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Driftport 40K: In the grim darkness of the open sea, there is only fog.

The other version of Driftport is a pretty nice place. This is the version for DMs who imagine it as a place where the residents might drink turpentine, engage in cannibalism and sacrifice outsiders to an ancient abomination lurking deep beneath the waves. Or it can just be the night version, I suppose. Your call.

Drawing this gave me an idea for a map of another large, seafaring settlement and I wanted to get your opinions. Imagine a ship, like a galleon or a ship of the line, but much bigger. Bigger than any sailing ship ever built. 400′ (130m) long and 140′ (45m) across the beam. Eight masts, thirty sails. But this isn’t just a ship, it’s a town with hundreds of residents. Across the ship’s 5-6 full decks, there are shops, craftsmen, a marketplace, a tavern, an inn, a temple, gardens, a library, a mill and a lot more. There are cabins for the middle class, luxury apartments for the rich and hammocks for the poor. This is a ship you could get lost in. It could be a community of traders, explorers, pirates or wanderers.

I don’t know what the biggest ship map ever drawn is, but I’m fairly sure this would be larger by an order of magnitude. It would probably take around a month to draw and color. Anyway, is that something you’d be interested in?

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The Floating Town of Driftport

I’m going to say something wildly controversial. I probably shouldn’t, but I’m going to anyway and I hope it doesn’t offend anyone. I liked Waterworld. I haven’t seen it in years, but I watched it a few times as a teenager and I thought it was a pretty good movie. Feels good to get that off my chest.

Driftport was sort of inspired by the town in that movie. It’s the kind of town people might build if there was no land. A collection of salvaged ships and scrap wood Frankensteined together into a floating community.

There are a few things that might need an explanation here. The first is the building at the bottom right. This is a trywork. It’s a stove used to harvest oil from blubber. Since wood, coal and peat are hard to come by in the sea, I’d imagine whale oil would be the common fuel used for cooking and heating.

The other two unusual buildings are a ropemaker and a distillery. Rope and rum seem fairly mission critical for a place like this. You need rope for fishing nets, boats and to hold this place together. And you need rum because… well, in the Age of Sail, every ship brought loads of it on every voyage. They considered it a necessity and I’m going to assume they knew what they were doing.

I’m going to make an alternate version of the map next. It’ll be a grimmer, darker sort of place. I’m just going to adjust the colors, add some fog, stuff like that. Anyway, I’ll have it done by tomorrow. Hopefully, I’ll still have patrons at that point after what I said about Waterworld.

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New Giltwater – A Gold Mining Colony

Here’s a version without the mines.

New Giltwater is a gold mining colony in Tir Thelandira. After the last colony was burned to the ground by the island’s native wood elves, the colonists have taken a few more precautions this time around, building a palisade and keeping a few companies of mercenaries close by.

There are only three more maps to draw before Tir Thelandira is finished. After that, I’ve got a few ideas on what to start on next and I’ll probably let patrons vote on which one you want to see first. Here’s what I’m thinking about:

  1. Dhasra. An incredibly wealthy city built across a river delta. The main location on the island would be the White City of Dhasra and I’d draw an overview of the city, then detailed maps of different locations within the city. There might be a couple other locations on the island as well.
  2. A very bleak island whose noble families all became vampires long ago. The peasants are little more than livestock for the nobles, who have established an upper caste of commoners to keep the rest in line. The nobles live in lavish palaces with fountains of blood, while the serfs live as prisoners in their own lands. A few groups of wanderers roam the forests, living free from the predation of the nobility. Deep in the shadows, there is talk of an uprising.
  3. A new version of Tortuga. I’ll redesign it and it’ll probably be a bit smaller, but the same basic idea. Since I’m drawing a world full of islands, it seems like an interesting way to travel between them. It lets the party stay on the move, while also having a community of people they know around them.

By the way, the runoff vote for the next location in Tir Thelandira is open, so if you’re a patron, go over there and participate in democracy. It’s really close right now, so your vote very well might change the outcome.

Anyway, I’d love to hear your thoughts on those three ideas. What you like, what you don’t or what might make them better. I really want to draw all three, but I’d like to hear your opinions first.

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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.