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

[Dyson Logos]

Statue Skyrealm

This skyrealm has a real name given to it by the current resident, but when a skyrealm is surrounded by a slowly orbiting collection of statues (some more than 20 feet across and 30+ feet tall), people tend to just call it “the Statue Skyrealm”. The statues orbit the mass of rock and dirt on an inclined plane, passing beneath the raised outcropping on the southern end of the Skysland. There are three pieces of construction on the island – a landing dock on the lowest part of the southwest side of the island, a small fortified tower on the outcropping to the southwest that the statues orbit beneath, and the observatory structure in the centre of the island with a menopteros dome (that is to say, the domed roof is supported by a ring of columns making the top floor of the tower below the dome an open air environment).

A paladin, exiled from her order, Dame Seressa, has taken refuge on the island with a handful of loyal squires. Sometime between leaving the order and taking the skyrealm, Dame Seressa had accumulated a retinue of a few dozen followers and adventurers. A few flew up to the island to claim it from the rock baboons that infested the floating chunk of rock, dirt, and grass. Soon after, something changed – the statues broke free of the foundations of the skyrealm, dropping tonnes of rocky debris to the land below in the process, and began to circle. Dame Seressa believes the statues are warning her of an approaching threat, but she cannot figure out what in particular it is. Further, for the last week, several of the squires complained of having identical dreams where they are falling endlessly from the island, and then one of them vanished without a trace last night.

In future releases we will explore the structures on this island.

The 1200 dpi versions of the map were drawn at a scale of 300 pixels per square and are 10,200 x 13,200 pixels (34 x 44 squares). The assumption for this map is that one square = 20 feet (in order to match up with the upcoming interior maps’ scales)

Statue Skyrealm

Statue Skyrealm (300 dpi promo) This skyrealm has a real name given to it by the current resident, but when a skyrealm is surrounded by a slowly orbiting collection of statues (some more than 20 fe…

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[Eyes of Nine]

TIL "menopteros". Thank you.

 

[Dyson Logos]

TIL "menopteros". Thank you.

Same here. I knew the architectural feature in question had a name, but it took a bit of research to figure it out.

and thanks to a typo, I wrote it as Menopteros instead of Monopteros (the proper spelling)

 

[Dyson Logos]

Statue Skyrealm Observatory Tower

The main structure of the Statue Skyrealm is the observatory tower. From the monopteros* dome at the top of the tower, one can watch the stately orbit of the many statues. Originally, Dame Seressa moved into the Watch (the fortified tower on the south side of the sky island), but when the statues broke free from the bottom of the land and began their orbit, she moved to the Observatory Tower in order to try to make sense of, and to keep an eye on, the odd statues in their orbits. While they seem to orbit together, each statue travels at a slightly different speed and angle and they pass each other in their wanderings. Dame Seressa is certain there’s a meaning to their patterns, especially when they shift without notice or reason – she just can’t figure out what it is. She fears that they warn of impending danger.

*That is to say, the domed roof is supported by a ring of columns making the top floor of the tower below the dome an open air environment, as shown on Level 4 of the map.

The structure itself is a squat four story tower with a dome atop it. An additional structure was then attached to the side of the tower at some later point and is used as a common area for Dame Seressa’s entourage when they gather – including those posted to the Watch for at least one meal a day.

The ground floor of the tower is divided into an outer and inner chamber, with stairs up in the inner chamber and bunks, kitchens, and general workspaces in the outer chamber where light and breeze comes in through the arrow slits. The second floor is a confusing set of chambers, with the staircase down and the staircase up separated into different chambers. This is the level that contains Dame Seressa’s chambers as well as a smaller meeting space for discussions with her more trusted friends.

The third floor is unusual and likely had some special purpose that is still indecipherable to the current residents. When not up on the observatory level, Seressa can often be found here at a table overlooking a window to watch the statues.

Finally, the observatory level is ringed by a set of heavy columns and then an inner ring of statues that bear resemblances to the ones outside, but are finely carved and smooth instead of rough-hewn like the orbiting statues that broke free of the underside of the island.

The 1200 dpi versions of the map were drawn at a scale of 300 pixels per square and are 10,200 x 13,200 pixels (34 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 match the description) – so resizing it to either 2,380 x 3,080 or 4,760 x 6,160, respectively.

Statue Skyrealm Observatory Tower

Statue Skyrealm Observatory Tower (300 dpi promo) The main structure of the Statue Skyrealm is the observatory tower. From the monopteros* dome at the top of the tower, one can watch the stately or…

dysonlogos.blog

 

[Azzy]

So unlike the vast majority of my maps, that one is using a scan of my hatching as a fill layer instead of me actually hatching it.

What's the mantra... "work smarter not harder"?

 

[Dyson Logos]

Scavengers' Deep - Map 32

The Scavengers’ Deep is a reminder of the amount of work that went into underground structures during the great war. Generally, the elves only built underground when hiding their breeding and research facilities, whereas the forces of the kingdoms, assisted by the dwarves, were constantly building underground as the elves were unrelenting and would completely raze any surface defences that they defeated.

But the structures now known as the Scavengers’ Deep are atypical, an elven complex mixing some (ruined) surface structures, natural caves, and significant sprawling underground complexes dedicated to research, training, and breeding their slave species.

This is the thirty-second map in the Scavengers’ Deep series – this map sits directly below Map 22 (released nine months ago), and to the right of last month’s Map 31.

This section of the deep contains major throughways connecting the military industrial portions on the northwest side of the area to the science pits and research areas on the east side. On the southwest side we have a few larger residential units – while underground, the ‘apartments’ of the various breeders, scientists, and engineers throughout the Deep each have a large crystal panel on one wall that used to show a view of the outside world. While the panels themselves have not lost the magic that did this, the transmission crystal from where the view came from was destroyed in the fighting so the panels are now just glossy black crystal with no obvious purpose.

The large chambers on the northwest side were workshops and manufacturies with the southernmost of the chambers being a storehouse for materials required in the workshops. Above them are a set of “offices” where supervisors watched over the work being done below by the half-elves who were trusted enough to work here. Much of this map saw heavy fighting and looting during and after the fall of the Deep – with a lot of rooms only having scattered debris and burned out remnants to hint at their original purposes.

There are two variations on the recurring “breeding pits” in this area. The first on the upper right is a wider and shallower pit than most, with the bottom half-flooded and containing eight glass incubation chambers that once held genetically engineered thrall assassins. The second pit on the lower right is narrower and reaches much further upwards than down. This was likely some sort of testing chamber with the central shaft blocked off by bars that extend from floor to ceiling to prevent whatever was in that area from getting out at the researchers.

This map section is heavily interlinked with the maps to the north, south, and west, and with five passages leading to the east and our next map that will be released next month.

The 1200 dpi versions of the map were drawn at a scale of 300 pixels per square and are 14,400 x 14,400 pixels (48 x 48 squares) in size. 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 suggested 10′ squares that this is designed around) – so resizing it to either 3,360 x 3,360 or 6,720 x 6720 pixels in size, respectively.

Scavengers’ Deep – Map 32

Illo by Mikołaj Ratajczak Scavengers’ Deep Compiled 1-32 The Scavengers’ Deep is a reminder of the amount of work that went into underground structures during the great war. Generally, …

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[Dyson Logos]

Dyson’s Tomb of Horrors

There’s no D&D adventure more famous than the 1978 Gary Gygax classic, the Tomb of Horrors. Untold groups of adventurers have been slain, destroyed, dissintegrated, or the lucky ones walked out completely naked… It is a dungeon of trips and traps, some simple, some not.

But it is also a well-known dungeon. So I took it for a spin and redrew it somewhat differently.

What I’ve done here is taken the structure of the original adventure, and completely reworked the map to make the configuration unfamiliar. All the same rooms and traps are here, with the numbering on this map matching up to the classic AD&D1e printings of the adventure (I can’t guarantee that the other editions will match up, I haven’t done the research to be honest). The only major change beyond the physical parameters is the addition of two more false tombs, numbered 1a and 2a. Some descriptions of areas will need to change to match the new dimensions of this map. Especially rooms like 10 and 31 which are drastically different in shape if not in function.

I actually drew this two years ago, but have been hanging on to it for some reason.

It’s about time I release it to you.

The 1200 dpi versions of the map were drawn at a scale of 300 pixels per square and are 20,400 x 16,800 pixels (68 x 56 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 match the adventure) – so resizing it to either 4,760 x 3,920 or 9,520 x 7,840, respectively.

Dyson’s Tomb of Horrors

There’s no D&D adventure more famous than the 1978 Gary Gygax classic, the Tomb of Horrors. Untold groups of adventurers have been slain, destroyed, dissintegrated, or the lucky ones walk…

dysonlogos.blog

 

[Eyes of Nine]

View attachment 440878

Dyson’s Tomb of Horrors

There’s no D&D adventure more famous than the 1978 Gary Gygax classic, the Tomb of Horrors. Untold groups of adventurers have been slain, destroyed, dissintegrated, or the lucky ones walked out completely naked… It is a dungeon of trips and traps, some simple, some not.

But it is also a well-known dungeon. So I took it for a spin and redrew it somewhat differently.

What I’ve done here is taken the structure of the original adventure, and completely reworked the map to make the configuration unfamiliar. All the same rooms and traps are here, with the numbering on this map matching up to the classic AD&D1e printings of the adventure (I can’t guarantee that the other editions will match up, I haven’t done the research to be honest). The only major change beyond the physical parameters is the addition of two more false tombs, numbered 1a and 2a. Some descriptions of areas will need to change to match the new dimensions of this map. Especially rooms like 10 and 31 which are drastically different in shape if not in function.

I actually drew this two years ago, but have been hanging on to it for some reason.

It’s about time I release it to you.

The 1200 dpi versions of the map were drawn at a scale of 300 pixels per square and are 20,400 x 16,800 pixels (68 x 56 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 match the adventure) – so resizing it to either 4,760 x 3,920 or 9,520 x 7,840, respectively.

Dyson’s Tomb of Horrors

There’s no D&D adventure more famous than the 1978 Gary Gygax classic, the Tomb of Horrors. Untold groups of adventurers have been slain, destroyed, dissintegrated, or the lucky ones walk…

dysonlogos.blog

as the kids say these days.

 

[Reynard]

as the kids say these days.

I love the idea of just straight up redrawing classic module maps to freshen them up.

@Dyson Logos do ToEE next!

 

[Dyson Logos]

I love the idea of just straight up redrawing classic module maps to freshen them up.

@Dyson Logos do ToEE next!

Ooof... Maybe?

I never enjoyed ToEE. Even the long and grindy Return adventure was... less grindy feeling. I will consider it, but it won't be high on my list.

I have done both full rebuilds of B1 In Search of the Unknown and S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks though.