Category: Work-In-Progress

This is the art for the kuo-toa settlement in the Stygian City. A small, underground river flows past the 13th level, which is how the fish people found the abandoned settlement and moved in. On the 15th level, a broken bridge across the pit separates the kuo-toa from the myconid colony below.

By the way, I’ve revised the plans a bit for the rest of the project. Here’s what I’ve got in mind now:

1-2: The village
3: Villagers’ mines
4: A maze of tunnels and collapsed chambers overrun by mold
5: Caverns inhabited by giant bats
6: Catacombs
7: Goblin village
8: Giant spiders, huge webs strung across the pit
9: Ancient temple
10: Industrial workshops
11: Hag’s thralls
12: Night Hag’s palace
13: Kuo-toa settlement and river
14: Main kuo-toa settlement
15: Bridge across pit between kuo-toa and myconids
16: Myconid colony around a crumbling fountain
17: Ancient oracle and library with a long-abandoned scholars’ camp containing notes about the pit’s history
18: Undead/Demons. Magic Stuff?
19: Ancient prison
20: Ceremonial jumping point with temple
21: The bottom: Ghanya (with several variants of the bottom level, including a sealed vault/prison, underdark entrance, trash and debris and aboleth lair).

1-16 are pretty much locked in, but if you’ve got any thoughts about what might fit in anywhere below that, let me know. If I like it and I can work it in, I just might.

These are the 10th and 11th levels of the Stygian City. I’ll need a few more days to finish up the hag’s palace on the 12th level, so I’ll be back with that soon. Hope you like it so far!

This is the 12th level of the pit, which has its own upper level just above the pen in the photo. There’s a lot going on here and I promise I’ll explain it, room by room, in the DM notes.

The short version of the story is that an ancient hag is living here with her derro minions and an assortment of demons, flesh golems and various other creatures and she’s trying to wake up Ghanya, the entity living at the bottom of the pit (info on that here).

Anyway, I’m gonna get back to work and get these colored. If you’ve got any thoughts or questions about any of this, let me know!

These are the 10th and 11th levels of the giant pit megadungeon. I’m still working on the 12th. These three floors are the domain of an ancient hag named Black Hazel. Her minions reside on the 10th and 11th and she lives in the old palace on the 12th.

There’s going to be some insane stuff on the 12th level. There’s a workshop for making flesh golems with a room full of body parts next door. There’s also a pool filled with some kind of writhing biomass. And, of course, there’s also a room containing the hag’s collection of Completely Normal Stuff™. I think you’ll like it.

Anyway, I should have that drawn and inked in a few more days. Until then, let me know what you think so far!

I am incredibly proud of how these spiderwebs turned out and I don’t care who knows it.

These are the next three levels of the Stygian City and, as you can see, they’re a lot bigger than the previous floors. From left to right, they’re a temple, a spiders’ nest and a goblin village.

I’ve had a few new ideas since I wrote up the original plans. One of the bigger additions is an underground river that runs through the city. Kuo-toa have found their way there and moved into that level and the one below it. I’m not sure where this will be, but probably around the 15th-18th floor. I’ll probably put them near the myconid colony to give them a rival (and because they both like it damp).

I’m also moving the prison closer to the bottom because I want players to learn a few key things about this place. (Read the History of the Pit before this if you haven’t already). These are the main bits of information for players to learn as they descend, in order:

1. A goddess named Ghanya told people to dig this pit. She promised that they would find a gateway to paradise below.
2. Holy crap they built a whole city in this pit.
3. Unlike other deities, Ghanya spoke to these people often. They heard her voice clearly in their minds and she taught them things and gave them instructions.
4. Once they dug down to the gateway, they sent people through when they became 50 years old. The reason is unclear.
5. Some people didn’t want to go through the gateway and Ghanya said they should be arrested and sent in anyway. (This is what the prison was for).
6. At the bottom, the players learn that the “gateway” is just a giant monster that tricked these people into letting it eat them.
7. Also, that circle-and-star symbol that’s carved into the floors all over the place isn’t just a symbol. It’s a visual depiction of the mouth of the creature at the bottom.

I’m trying to give the players enough information to intrigue them, but keep the discovery at the end (6 and 7) a surprise. What do you think? Should I change any of that or reorder it? If you’ve got any thoughts or ideas, let me know.

The next three levels of The Stygian City are drawn and ready to color.

I realize that this “city” doesn’t look much like one yet. But I promise it will, starting with the levels after this. The upper floors were carved out when the builders were still mostly living on the surface.

By the way, when I post this, I’ll update the DM notes with an overview of the history of the pit, so you’ll have a basic idea of what this place is and why it was built. It’s kind of horrible and I hope you’ll like it.