I draw the occasional D&D map

Dyson Logos · May 7, 2019

Back due to popular demand, we have another partially walled tavern. This tavern (even with the walls) is more suited to being in a town or city as it has no “guest rooms” per se and is strictly a tavern and not an inn.

The upstairs rooms are for the owner’s family, while the ground floor has the bar and tavern and storage. Food is cooked in a pot in the fireplace.

In the courtyard we have some space to unload goods, as well as a pair of privies by the lilac tree (to try to contain the smell).

High resolution versions with and without grid are, of course, on the blog along with the commercial use license:

https://dysonlogos.blog/2019/05/06/12goats/

Dyson Logos · May 9, 2019

While a number of the old shaft tombs of the Etturan Dynasty have been found and explored, there is one that remains a well-kept secret amongst sages, masters of dark arts, and the few adventurers who have been there. Possibly the original shaft tomb of the dynasty, or perhaps a strange discovery that became the inspiration for the ones to come – the Bottomless Tombs seem to have earned their name.

Seventy feet beneath the cluster of tombs at the entrance to this seemingly bottomless shaft are a second series of tombs. These are notable in that both sets of doors into the shaft are on the same level and same orientation (an open archway in the centre of both the east and west walls of the shaft), and that the lower set of portals are linked by a stone bridge that spans the shaft.

The central part of the so called bottomless tombs is a 15 foot x 15 foot shaft that seems to go down forever. Determining the actual depth has proven to be beyond the abilities of scrying and simple engineering, and areas of both permanent magical darkness as well as areas of anti-magic (as well as a host of hostile inhabitants) make exploring the depths of the shaft an unwelcoming idea.

High resolution version of the map, commercial use license, and the map to the upper levels of the tomb are on the blog at https://dysonlogos.blog/2019/05/09/tombs2/

Dyson Logos · May 13, 2019

The Bubble City of Oublos

The great city of Oublos-Dorren was destroyed decades ago by a massive pyroclastic flow followed up by a slower engulfing surge of lava from the Searing Mountains eruption. All of the city except for a small “bubble” almost exactly 180 feet across centred on a small temple of Lazotl – a local deity of misfortune and revenge.

The priests of Lazotl got the warnings of the impending eruption through a series of poison-induced visions and managed to erect a protective spell over their temple and a few buildings in the area through the Reliquary of Kesh, an artifact that had “fallen” into their possession.

Travel in and out of the “Bubble City” is now only achieved through magical teleportation by those who know the way, and through a glowing green magical portal on the peak of the temple of Lazotl. The portal opens up to two different places in the world above – stepping through the north side of the portal leads to a small basement shrine of Lazotl in the nearby fishing village of Ashford (which was reduced to a few homes during the Searing Mountains eruption). Stepping through the south side of the portal leads much further away, to the frozen plains at the edge of the world.

The bubble city is illuminated by this portal in a flickering green light, as well as the mix of Lazotl worshipers, thieves, and a few mercenary adventurers that use the bubble city as a “safehouse”.

PCs would most likely find the bubble city in search for the Reliquary of Kesh, or hunting for one or more of the dastardly residents of this small bubble city.

High resolution version of the map (with and without grid) is available along with the free commercial use license here: https://dysonlogos.blog/2019/05/13/oublos/

Dyson Logos · May 20, 2019

Ever since I started drawing Geomorphs, I’ve had the intention of making a dungeon that took advantage of them to have sections of the dungeon that change from visit to visit – visually based in part on the map of Lankhmar in the old Lankhmar D&D sourcebook.

Thus, every time you enter the dungeon, some sections remain the same, and some sections change. Further, due to the vagaries of geomorph design, some sections may become completely locked out in some visits, and some hard-to reach areas may suddenly be available.

My goal is to make a set of 4 or more dungeon levels that each contain 2+ geomorphs. Further expansion is easily possible by just “plugging in” a geomorph to any of the edge rooms or corridors and adding new structures that way.

And there are a LOT of geomorphs to choose from these days. There are well over a thousand of them on Dave’s Mapper these days, not counting the huge new collection being put together by myself and a number of other cartographers for the latest DungeonMorph Dice Kickstarter.

A high resolution version of the dungeon map can be downloaded from the blog at https://dysonlogos.blog/2019/05/20/geohall1/

MonsterEnvy · May 20, 2019

Just got Ghosts of Saltmash and I must say, I really like the little change to artstyle from Dragonhiest to there. It's hard to put into words, but I just think the maps are really improved.

Dyson Logos · May 20, 2019

MonsterEnvy said:
Just got Ghosts of Saltmash and I must say, I really like the little change to artstyle from Dragonhiest to there. It's hard to put into words, but I just think the maps are really improved.

Thanks. That's the effect of nearly two more years of experience.

Dyson Logos · May 23, 2019

We are in the last 9 hours of the DungeonMorph Dice kickstarter – so perfect timing to release level two of the Geomorphic Halls!

This one takes a cluster of 4 geomorphs as the heart of the level. Since so many geomorphs interconnected can result in a lot of unreachable areas, there are two different staircases down from this level to level 3 (so one should be accessible), and if all else fails, there’s still that one staircase down from level 1 that bypasses level 2 completely.

I love the various configurations and neat rooms that are available for the structure thanks to the thousand+ geomorphs out there now that use this 10 x 10 design – but I also made sure to include some sections in the level that will be memorable on their own (particularly the great hall on the north side and the thin diagonal halls to the tiered chamber on the upper left).

But yeah – last 8 hours! DungeonMorph Dice. GET SOME.

Kickstarter: http://bit.ly/2XHYo0d
Geomorphic Halls Level 2: https://dysonlogos.blog/2019/05/23/geohall2/

Dyson Logos · Jun 1, 2019

The second map chosen by our patrons this month to be re-released under the free commercial use license is Control – a map based on a joke that I drew as part of Mapvember in 2016. This re-release brings the original map up to 1200 dpi and pure black and white.

This tomb on the edge of the desert of the gods is the resting place of four Huecuvas of unusual intelligence for their ilk, as well as a few guardian mites that served them in life and still serve them now.

In life the four Huecuvas were warlocks dedicated to four spirit nagas, all children of the same night hag who rode their father (a paladin of great will) relentlessly through the years. While treated as typical huecuvas in most respects, they retain a typical human intelligence in death and still can cast two level 1 and one level 2 spell per day.

The huecuvas are entombed in their private tombs in the leftmost chamber. They generally remain somnolent unless something disturbs the complex or their tombs, although they occasionally wander the complex when awakened by foul dreams and premonitions.

The chamber on the far right of the complex contains four pools each radiating a different colour of energy with swirling currents within the waters tracing out the shapes outlined on the map to those who inspect them closely. The circular rooms have lowered central areas filled with dirt and excrement from the mites (as well as the buried corpses of those mites that have died from the many diseases carried by the huecuvas). These night soil pits are watered occasionally from the magical pools and grow a number of edible mushrooms as well as a few less savoury fungal creatures.

Unlike most mites, the twenty or so living in the complex do not have their usual tiny complexes of secret tunnels and trap doors and thus operate pretty much in the open as caretakers and defenders of the complex – watching for invaders from the small arrow slits looking down onto the approaching path.

https://dysonlogos.blog/2019/06/01/control-kraken/

Dyson Logos · Jun 3, 2019

The black stone cliffs of Robrus loom over Rat Crater Lake – the dark stone looking perpetually wet and somehow tainted by the often rainbow-sheened waters in the crater.

The cliffs are pierced here and there by small caves – places where inclusions of softer stone have been washed away by the waters of Rat Crater when the water level here was 20 or so feet deeper. Most are narrow little crevasses and defiles, but one is significantly larger and has become home to an ogre mage and a crippled warlock who seems to be as much studying the ogre mage as working with him.

Stashed around the cave are the remains of several expeditions that disappeared in and around Rat Crater. Probably including whatever MacGuffin brought the party here to begin with.

This maps is a departure in some ways from my standard style as I was playing a lot with line weights as I worked on it. I think I’ll try again with another cave in this style, but with the heavy black outline of the cave reduced to half the thickness before it breaks up into my usual hatching.

https://dysonlogos.blog/2019/06/03/black-cave/

Satyrn · Jun 3, 2019

Dyson Logos said:
View attachment 106638

We are in the last 9 hours of the DungeonMorph Dice kickstarter – so perfect timing to release level two of the Geomorphic Halls!

This one takes a cluster of 4 geomorphs as the heart of the level. Since so many geomorphs interconnected can result in a lot of unreachable areas, there are two different staircases down from this level to level 3 (so one should be accessible), and if all else fails, there’s still that one staircase down from level 1 that bypasses level 2 completely.

I love the various configurations and neat rooms that are available for the structure thanks to the thousand+ geomorphs out there now that use this 10 x 10 design – but I also made sure to include some sections in the level that will be memorable on their own (particularly the great hall on the north side and the thin diagonal halls to the tiered chamber on the upper left).

But yeah – last 8 hours! DungeonMorph Dice. GET SOME.

Kickstarter: http://bit.ly/2XHYo0d
Geomorphic Halls Level 2: https://dysonlogos.blog/2019/05/23/geohall2/