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The Dwarven City of Brazenthrone – The Layout

Here’s the black and white version and the non-annotated version.

This is the basic layout of the map I will be drawing over the next year.  Keep in mind that this is at a 70 foot scale, which means that each tile here will become 196 tiles when drawn at a 5 foot scale.  To illustrate how big this will be, the Great Hall, marked as (4) here, is about the size of the ground level of Finbarr’s Marsh (including the surrounding water).

A few things to mention:

  • All of these will have multiple levels.
  • The mines are just a sketch. They will look completely different in the 5 foot scale maps.
  • I will be drawing the residential districts (the unmarked chambers on the map).
  • All of the chambers here will be assembled as one big map when they’re all finished.  And that one map will be so huge it’ll be impractical to use, but it’ll probably be really cool.
  • Finally, any and all of this is subject to change.  A measurement error here and a new idea there will almost certainly lead to changes and/or additions at some point.  But this is the general idea.

I will be alternating between drawing maps for this and drawing other maps.  My next map will be an airship.  After that, Brazenthrone’s Surface Outpost. Then something else.  Then back to Brazenthrone.  And so on.

Alright, let’s do this.

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Tortuga – Overview and DM Notes

Here’s the final map of Tortuga: the overview.  The image above is the gridless version because I think it looks better.  I’m not sure why.  Here’s the gridded map.

Also, I’m giving away the DM notes on this one because they explain some important things about this map, as well as my thoughts on the ways it can be used in a campaign (especially as a traveling home city for PCs).  Here they are:

So, now that the six-story turtle town is out of the way, it’s time to start on something much, much bigger: Brazenthrone.  I’ll have a map of the layout of the city up on Monday.

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The Town of Tortuga Upon the Great Zaratan Monhatnus – Main Deck

 

First off:  “What is a zaratan?”

A zaratan is a giant turtle that sleeps for years at a time.  They often come to look like islands, with plants and even trees growing from their backs.  Sometimes, people– knowingly or unknowingly– inhabit those “islands.”  The main problem with living on a zaratan is this: when they get hungry, they wake up and look for food.  And when they look for food, they dive.  Which is catastrophic for anyone living on the creature’s back.  So, in order to prevent this, the zaratan must be fed.  Even sleeping, it will eat anything coming into its mouth.  The town of Tortuga is well-prepared to handle this, having a small fleet of fishing boats and a large crane to deliver their offerings.

The idea for this map came from a patron, who suggested a city on a zaratan.  That’s been done before, of course, but it’s typically a small village with a few huts.  I thought it’d be interesting to make the most overpopulated zaratan ever.

My idea was that the town of Tortuga grew so much that they had to keep building higher and higher, which necessitated constructing the wooden deck on their host’s back.  After all, it’s hard to build a solid foundation on a curved surface, especially when you can’t dig or drill down into it without pissing off a creature that can bite the head off a storm giant.

Here’s a (mostly) gridless version, a black and white version, a version without annotations and a gridless version without annotations.

Since this map is so complicated, I’m releasing this partially annotated edition to all, but there is a fully annotated Patrons’ Edition with around 45 rooms marked available on the patreon.

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Work In Progress

 

This is a work-in-progress picture of the next map.  It wasn’t originally going to be quite so big, but somewhere in the planning stage it turned into kind of a semi-megaproject and now I’ve got six levels planned and… anyway, it’ll take a bit longer than usual.  I’ll probably have the first level by Wednesday and the rest of it about a week after that.

I love zaratans.

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Brazenthrone

Well, it happened.  The patreon goal has been reached.  I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect to go from 6 patrons to 50 in two weeks, so thank you very much to all of you who threw in to support me.

What am I going to do for you in return?  I’m going to draw The Dwarven City of Brazenthrone.

Picture this:  a small dwarven settlement nestled on the side of a mountain with caravans coming and going.  This isn’t the city.  This is an outpost for trade with the surface world.  Behind it, a pair of huge bronze doors are set into the mountain.  These will lead us inside.

Continue reading “Brazenthrone”

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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.