D&D General Maps, Maps, Maps! Dungeons, Ruins, Caverns, Temples, and more... aka Where Dyson Dumps His Maps.

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The Autumn Lands – Map G

The Autumn Lands lie to the south of the Midsummer Lands. This map sits to the south of map F from last month and to the west of next month’s map H. The goal of the Autumn Lands is to produce a series of commercial-use hexmaps that can be used in their entirety, or just one map for a specific adventure. There’s no set scale for these maps, and the items on the maps are not to scale with each other so we can see points of interest like towers, cities, and caves. If you really need a scale for this and don’t want to pick one yourself, go with six miles to the hex.

For this series, I’ve been working with the style I started putting together a couple of years ago where the rivers run along the hex borders – this allows for river travel to be great for exploration as you can see the hexes on each side of the river as you go. This encourages exploration-style games to stick to the rivers a lot, much like explorers did in the real world.

This map leaves the mountainous coverage of the northern lands, into a series of rolling hills and valleys dominated on the west side by the DrownedWoods. Rivers criss-cross the valleys, as well as small lakes and an area of wetlands to the south. This entire area is a drainage basin for the Autumn River which flows east from here towards the Mulberry Sea.

There are few settlements in this region, and many more ruins from an empire long gone to the south of this region (the Serpent Lands – probably an upcoming series of maps once the Autumn Lands are done). The shadow of the Serpent Lands is upon this region, so few of the ‘civilized’ peoples live here and instead, there are small clan-communities of the remnants of that once great empire scattered around in the forests and swamps.

Points of interest here include a pair of massive tree villages in the forests, a ziggurat topped with a massive red monolith in the south, and ruins scattered throughout the whole region.

The Autumn Lands – Hex Map G

The Autumn Lands – Map G (300 dpi promo, no commercial license) The Autumn Lands lie to the south of the Midsummer Lands. This map sits to the south of map F from last month and to the west o…

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Allerton Hold

There is little of Allerton’s Hold left beyond the shells of some structures, exposed to the elements and long bereft of roofing. The trail of the thieves of the Shard of Shadows (stolen from the Mayor’s home three nights ago) leads past the old ruins, almost certainly on their way to the City of Mornings. But something has changed in the ruins – in the last year someone has built a new roof over one of the stone cottages that remained fairly intact.

This was the staging area for the daring theft set up by the thorns, a small group of mercenary thieves lead by Lyra Blackthorne. Tipped off about the existence of the Shard of Shadows, they spent six months based out of these ruins collecting intelligence and arranging for the acquisition of the strange artifact. Now as the fastest members of the crew make haste for the City of Mornings with the shard to sell it to the highest bidder, the rest are holing up once again in Allerton Hold.

While two of the crew continue on to the city, the rest of the thorns are in a panic over the state of their leader. While carrying the shard, Lyra was struck by one of the town guards, and the wound has a very strange infection, a darkening blood and ichor, a deadening of the soul. The remaining thorns are becoming very frightened for their leader’s life, but also for their own. The shadows within the cottage now seem to creep and dance of their own volition and in Lyra’s fever they seem to be talking directly to the shadows themselves. Most of the crew are now in the other ruined buildings, only the two bravest returning to stock the fire and check in on Lyra’s wounds and state.

The thorns will accost travellers through the area (even those seeing the thorns themselves) to beseech them for aid for Lyra. Lyra’s injury is obviously magical and requires magical healing of the wound, dispel evil to be rid of the darkening wound, and remove curse to be rid of the shadow shard’s influence. Only the mayor and their small cabal (who style themselves as the ‘shadow wardens’) will recognize the source of the infection as the stolen shadow shard.

The 1200 dpi versions of the map were drawn at a scale of 300 pixels per square and are 10,200 x 10,800 pixels (34 x 36 squares). To use this with a VTT you would need to resize the squares to either 70 pixels (for 5′ squares) or 140 pixels (for the recommended 10‘ squares) – so resizing the image to 2,380 x 2,520 pixels or 4,760 x 5,040 pixels, respectively.

Allerton Hold

Illo by Mikołaj Ratajczak There is little of Allerton’s Hold left beyond the shells of some structures, exposed to the elements and long bereft of roofing. The trail of the thieves of the Sha…

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Eastmeadow Manor

Eastmeadow Manor is a three-story structure that was built with fairly thick stone walls and small windows on the ground floor to make it more defensible due to its location outside of town. The manor is home to the Lindwyne family and their three servants.

Lady Evelina Lindwyne (graceful, tactical, clever) is a stern but fair head of the family in her late 50s. She has a reputation for her tactical and strategic prowess. A former knight of the realm, now retired, she has maintained the family lands with honour and unwavering dedication.

Sir Cedric Lindwyne (shrewd, diplomatic) is Lady Evelina’s husband, a lean man in his early 50s known for his shrewd diplomacy and management skills. He oversees the household and the family’s social engagements with wit and style.

Lady Aria Lindwyne (blonde, stout, powerful) is the eldest daughter at 28 years old and is a decorated warrior and adventurer in her own right. She is off on adventure about a quarter of the time.

Master Reginald Lindwyne (muscular, skinny, obsessed) is the youngest child at 22 years of age. He is a budding sorcerer with an affinity for ancient magics dating back to the lost empire of the Serpent Lands. His keen interest in the lost empire and its sorceries leads him to exhort his sister into helping him seek out artifacts and texts from the ruins to the south.

The ground floor of the manor is all for entertaining and study – a greeting room with elevated seats at one end when greeting new guests. There are sitting and music rooms here as well as the library at the base of the tower (with stairs down to the basements – which will be detailed in another post).

The second level contains the dining room, upper hall, a crafting room, and Master Reginald’s bedroom in the tower. The east side of this floor serves as the servants’ wing with their common room and the household kitchen.

The third floor is smaller than the other two, with terraces extending across the roofs of the rest of the structure. This level is home to Lady Aria’s chamber in the tower, and the principal bedroom beyond it.

Hooks:

A Sorcerer in Need: Master Reginald Lindwyne seeks the assistance of skilled adventurers to help recover and uncover the secrets of a magical artifact that they’ve isolated through their extensive research and magic.

Missing Heirloom: The family heirloom, a powerful relic from Lady Evelina’s adventuring days, has been stolen. The Lindwynes are offering a generous reward for its retrieval.

Ancient Library: Thanks to Master Reginald’s obsessions, the manor houses a small library of rare and ancient tomes that could hold the key to a mystery or quest the adventurers are pursuing.

Diplomatic Task: Lord Cedric Lindwyne needs emissaries to deliver a delicate message to a neighbouring lord or to broker a truce between feuding nobles.

Festival of Eastmeadow: The Lindwyne family is hosting a grand festival, attracting nobles and adventurers alike, providing opportunities for networking, alliances, and uncovering hidden plots.

Lady Aria’s Challenge: Lady Aria Lindwyne is organizing a grand tournament to find the best warriors in the land. Participation could bring glory, riches, and powerful allies – this is likely combined with the Festival of Eastmeadow above.

The 1200 dpi versions of the map were drawn at a scale of 300 pixels per square and are 7,800 x 13,200 pixels (26 x 44 squares). To use this with a VTT you would need to resize the squares to either 70 pixels (for 5′ squares) or 140 pixels (for the recommended 10‘ squares that make sense with the furniture scale) – so resizing the image to 1,820 x 3,080 pixels or 3,640 x 6,160 pixels, respectively.

Eastmeadow Manor

Eastmeadow Manor (300 dpi promo, no commercial license) Eastmeadow Manor is a three-story structure that was built with fairly thick stone walls and small windows on the ground floor to make it mor…

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A Dungeon In Two Parts

The shadow crypts are marked on many a scholar’s maps – a complex of long halls of decaying stonework that date back to unknown times. The crypts are decorated with strange glyphs, but the style of work makes it obvious that these sigils were cut into the stone long after they were set. The glyphs are stories of heroes and villains, seeming to be the founding myths of some unknown tribe. They are in an unknown language, but have been translated with the aid of magic and a book of the tales is found in several libraries in the realm.

Entered from the west side, these ancient tombs are cut from a fairly soft stone, and are crumbling with age now. But there are a number of secret doors that lead into the deeper crypts and beyond – each secret door is marked by a story of villainous deeds where the rest of these areas are inscribed with heroic tales. The second complex, intertwined with the first, is in much better repair and lacks the glyphs and sigils that mark the walls in the first complex.

The second complex in turn gives way to the south to even deeper dungeons in a third style of stonework. These tunnels lead much deeper below the shadow crypts and are known by a different name (ie: any other dungeon you would like to introduce beyond this one).

The 1200 dpi versions of the map were drawn at a scale of 300 pixels per square and are 9,600 x 9,600 pixels (32 x 32 squares). To use this with a VTT you would need to resize the squares to either 70 pixels (for 5′ squares) or 140 pixels (for the recommended 10‘ squares) – so resizing the image to 2,240 x 2,240 pixels or 4,480 x 4,480, respectively.

A Dungeon In Two Parts

Illustration by Mikołaj Ratajczak The shadow crypts are marked on many a scholar’s maps – a complex of long halls of decaying stonework that date back to unknown times. The crypts are d…

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Gref’s Sinkhole

The sinkhole on old man Gref’s farm connects to a number of caves including one that takes the overflow of the muddy waters from the pool and descends deep below (areas 9 & 10). These caves, in turn, connect to the remnants of an ancient temple that was long ago buried in some calamity or cataclysm.

The edge of the sinkhole (areas 1 & 2) descend steeply to the pool of water (area 3). The pool collects water from the water table as well as rainwater from above, and is dark and muddy (and home to numerous tadpoles and waterbugs). The remaining areas are all underground, a series of caves cut into the dirt and rocks under the field of Gref’s farm.

The most interesting of these spaces is of course area 13 – the source of the sinkhole itself – a temple of some obscure water deity with miraculous slow-flowing stream of magical waters that seep from one collapsed wall of the structure, down a pair of narrow “canals” and down into a deeper hole where the waters from the pool also trickle down. The waters in the temple, unlike the muddy water of the sinkhole pool, is pure and clean and has a mild magical effect – any liquid added to this water (in small quantities – a gallon at most per day) becomes inert and harmless as the waters neutralize whatever properties the fluid once had.

There are of course scores of reasons why adventurers might find themselves at Gref’s Sinkhole – from investigating the disappearance of Gref a week ago, to rescuing someone who’s captors’ trails lead to the muddy shores of the pool. Others may need the magical waters of the temple, or to petition the forgotten water spirit long ago tied to this place. And of course, some people just can't resist sticking their noses into a random cave.

The 1200 dpi versions of the map were drawn at a scale of 300 pixels per square and are 7,200 x 10,800 pixels (24 x 36 squares). To use this with a VTT you would need to resize the squares to either 70 pixels (for 5′ squares) or 140 pixels (for the recommended 10‘ squares) – so resizing the image to 1,680 x 2,520 pixels or 3,360 x 5,040 pixels, respectively.

Gref’s Sinkhole

Gref’s Sinkhole (300 dpi promo) The sinkhole on old man Gref’s farm connects to a number of caves including one that takes the overflow of the muddy waters from the pool and descends de…

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The Kingdom of Kestral

The Kingdom of Kestral is the baked-in setting for the Six-Hack RPG by James Hargrove.

I drew this map based on the description of the Kingdom in the game, making sure to include all the locations mentioned in the “Lay of the Land” portion of the book (pages 13 through 15). There’s obviously more to the setting, but large swathes of the map are left basically free for the game master to do with as they will.

Like many fantasy kingdoms, Kestral is bound by geography more than politics. The kingdom is bracketed by the cold Snowy Mountains (with they great peak of Mount Perilous) to the north; the massively overgrown Tanglewood containing many old elven ruins to the west; The extensive bogs of the Grey Marches (infested with plague rats) and the Spookwood (tainted by dead souls and the blood of gods) to the south; and the Wall of Perdain (a massive defensive wall of limestone that has been allowed to fall into ruin, with several of the old towers repurposed into refuges for travellers) to the east.

The Snake River is the heart of Kestral’s civilization – with the major cities built along its winding banks along with a large number of smaller farming communities that aren’t big enough to be noted on the map proper.

At the heart of Kestral, on the banks of the Snake River, is the city of Falcon, capital city of the kingdom and home to King Despereaux VII’s summer palace (the winter palace is at the heart of the city of Izer to the southwest).

The Kingdom of Kestral

The Kingdom of Kestral (300 dpi promo) The Kingdom of Kestral is the baked-in setting for the Six-Hack RPG by James Hargrove. You can get the PDF here: Six Hack on DriveThruRPG. It even has an amaz…

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The Palace of Moliades

On the island of Thalares is the palace of the hero Moliades – a charismatic and ambitious young prince turned adventurer. Born into royalty, he inherited a small but strategically important palace nestled on the lush and picturesque island. Thalares is a place of vibrant flora, crystal-clear waters, and hidden coves.

Moliades is renowned for his sharp intellect and tactical prowess. He is well-versed in the arts of diplomacy and warfare, often employing clever strategies to maintain peace and protect his island from potential invaders. But today we are examining his palace, not the island. The palace is modest in size, built up of columns and decorated walls adorned with intricate mosaics and statues that depict the island’s rich history and mythology.

Moliades has a close circle of trusted advisors and friends, each with unique skills and backgrounds. Among them are a wise old seer, a skilled blacksmith, a talented bard, and a fearless warrior. Together, they form a formidable team, ready to face any threat that comes their way.

But for the last eight years, Moliades has been missing, along with the trusty band of advisors and friends. Last week, Thrasymedes (the seer) was found creeping around the now empty palace, in some sort of shock and barely able to communicate in the most rudimentary manner.

It seems that Thrasymedes discovered that the ruins of the structure built here before the palace contained an extraplanar gateway. Thrasymedes’ research found where it was located and managed to unlock it – opening the way to another realm, a land of legends spoken of in the Prophecy of Eryndor. And Moliades and company are lost somewhere in that other realm.

The 1200 dpi versions of the map were drawn at a scale of 300 pixels per square and are 7,800 x 8,100 pixels (24 x 36 squares). To use this with a VTT you would need to resize the squares to either 70 pixels (for 5′ squares) or 140 pixels (for the recommended 10‘ squares) – so resizing the image to 1,680 x 2,520 pixels or 3,360 x 5,040 pixels, respectively.

The Palace of Moliades

The Palace of Moliades (300 dpi promo) On the island of Thalares is the palace of the hero Moliades – a charismatic and ambitious young prince turned adventurer. Born into royalty, he inherit…

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Fortress Thiasau

Fortress Thiasau was built centuries ago by the knights known as the Order of the Crimson Heart. The order operated as paladins but actually worshipped a malevolent deity of chaos and destruction dedicated to despoiling other religions and foiling their plans.

The fortification is built in tiers, from the lower tier at the east entrance and the upper tiers to the north culminating in the bridge gate that connects to a stone bridge that crosses a small valley. There is a stagnant pool in the main courtyard that was the focal point of their ceremonies, believed to be a portal to the deity’s realm.

To this day, the pool can occasionally appear to be glowing, an unearthly light emanating from it until you look straight at it. At night, whispered voices can often be heard along the walkways and in the interior spaces – remnants of the order’s dark rituals.

The Order of the Crimson Heart has long since faded into obscurity, but the fortress has not been abandoned. Now, it is home to a group of ruthless bandits who have claimed it as their stronghold. Led by Marik the Viper, the bandits use the fortress as a base for their quiet raids on nearby villages and travelers. They keep a low profile, operating in quick and quiet raids, or killing all witnesses and then setting the scene of the crime to seem that goblins did it.

Plot Hooks

Bridge Ambush: The party is travelling through the region when they are ambushed by bandits on the long bridge leading to the fortress’s upper entrance. Forced to retreat into the fortress, they must find a way to escape while contending with the bandits and uncovering the fortress’s secrets.

Rescue Mission: Lord Jeffries’ son has been kidnapped by Marik’s bandits and is being held in Fortress Thiasau. Someone must infiltrate the fortress, rescue the child, and bring an end to Marik’s reign of terror.

Unearthed Secrets: Garinfel the Sage has found documentation about a supposed hidden chamber beneath the sacrificial pool that holds powerful artifacts left behind by the Order of the Crimson Heart.

Reclaiming the Past: Ayrin Mortegon, a descendant of one of the original members of the Order of the Crimson Heart, seeks to reclaim the fortress and restore the order’s former glory. They are looking for someone to assist in the conquest of the fortress, facing off against the bandits and any supernatural forces that may still reside there. As they delve deeper, they must decide whether to aid in the rebirth of the dark order or to thwart its resurgence.

Fortress Thiasau

Fortress Thiasau (300 dpi promo) Fortress Thiasau was built centuries ago by the knights known as the Order of the Crimson Heart. The order operated as paladins but actually worshipped a malevolent…

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[sikalis]

Hi I love your work and got inspired by you! I made my own little cave but can't post it here.

 

[Dyson Logos]

Hi I love your work and got inspired by you! I made my own little cave but can't post it here.

Why can't you post it here? I'd love to see it.