neutralparty

Village Jailhouse, Expert

This week's map is the Village Jailhouse (12x14), a basic small town jailhouse, with only enough room for as many people as you'd expect to be locked up in a tiny village- one or two. Think Andy Griffith, that's what I had in mind.

Your alternate versions of this map are Abandoned and Shadowed! You'll recognize the Abandoned variant from the Little Pub map, this variant has been stuck in my head since then and I've been looking forward to giving it another try. I like it as a good way ...

Stable Cottage

This week I made the Stable Cottage (17x15), another simple building as I practice my urban mapmaking. I wanted this one to feel a little more varied than last week's Pub map (which was half filled with tables), so I expanded outside a little bit and added some dirt and hay. Again, straightforward and simple stuff, but stables are a fantasy classic and a location that many adventures eventually stop by, so I expect this will be one of those maps that gets a surprising amount of use.

Als...

Stable Cottage, Adept

Hello again, Adepts! This week's map is the Stable Cottage (17x15), a simple map but one which I assume will be highly used- in what fantasy world are stables not a staple and are at least mentioned in passing if not a regularly visited location? Now when your local stable becomes a hotspot for rascally adventurers you will be ready for things to get physical.. perhaps because your party is dabbling in horse-theft but that's life, right?

2025-01-26 20:04:13 +0000 UTC View Post

Stable Cottage, Expert

Hello once again, everyone, this is the Stable Cottage (17x15), a sturdy building with some stables attached, presumably because whoever lives here sells or houses horses. Now, why would you need a BATTLEmap for a place like this? Surely you won't fight them or their horses, right? Maybe you just need this map so you can protect the owner from horse-thieves, goblins, or whatever eats horses (griffons again? I feel like I've been bringing them up a lot recently). But, I suppose I'm just a neut...

Little Pub

This week's map is the Little Pub (13x12), the first of this year's building maps! I received lots of feedback about my plan to make more urban maps this year and primarily I heard that many of you wanted isolated building maps. Now, I'm still catching up on my schedule after being sick for most of a week so I didn't want to make anything too complicated, so I started with a tiny little pub with saloon vibes.

Also, I haven't drawn buildings with any serious intent in a very long time so...

Little Pub, Adept

This one is the Little Pub (13x12), a bite-sized map featuring a tiny saloon-style pub. I mentioned on a previous map that I wanted to make more urban maps this year and several patrons responded with requests for more isolated buildings, standalone locations. I thought that was a great idea and decided to start with something small while I'm still getting my schedule in order again after getting a stomach bug that put me out of commission for most of a week. I'm planning on making more like ...

Little Pub, Expert

Hi Experts/Masters- this is the Little Pub (13x12), my first building map in a very long time. I'm hoping to make many more this year though, so please send me any requests you have- I'll pick from among your ideas first and foremost!

Also, I'm going to do some brainstorming on new variants I can work on for these coming building maps. I'm a bit stuck on how I can make additional versions of buildings without utterly changing what's inside of them, which is a bit tricky with the way I s...

Rocky Plains

Hi folks, I'm back again with a new one, the Rocky Plains (30x30)! My family and I were down and out with a nasty stomach bug last week (I'm guessing norovirus) alongside a series of head colds which came before and after the stomach issues (or persisted during the unpleasantness but was temporarily overshadowed by something much more horrible?). But anyway, I put together something simple so as to ensure you're still getting something for your money. I'll get my schedule back on track with a...

Rocky Plains, Adept

Hello again, Adepts! This is the Rocky Plains (30x30), a fairly simple map but it's all I could make considering I was out sick last week. I'm much better now though so I'm going to try to play catch-up for another week before jumping back in with new, big, and interesting maps.

 1. Since I've been playing around with maps set in plains recently I figured I could whip up one or two more to fill ...

Rocky Plains, Expert

Experts! Masters! Here's a map, the Rocky Plains (30x30)! This here is a simple road map with nothing but a field and a bunch of boulders, perfect for hiding behind and clamoring over. I imagine some goblins setting an ambush here, using the extra height from the boulders to launch waves of ranged attacks. I also like the thought of flying enemies hunting here where there's little cover from the sky, preying on wild horses and people passing through. Imagine a pride of griffons resting on the...

Gated Passage

Hey folks! This is the Gated Passage (35x35), a big checkpoint across a well-used road. I, much like everyone in my house, am sick, so I'm going to make this a quick little post. I hope you're all having a good start of your year so far! I'm planning on making lots of urban maps this next year so look forward to it, I'm hoping to get better soon so I can get working on them. Cheers!

Adepts can find their post he...

Gated Passage, Adept

Hi Adepts! This is the Gated Passage (35x35), a walled and fortified road passing between rocky ledges. Your alternate version gives a reason why the wall is there- everything to the west has been desaturated, so beware!

1. Side note- I'm on day 4 of a cold that's kicking my ass, so this will be one of my shortest blog posts of all time. Cool?

The idea here? Make a walled road, much like...

Gated Passage, Expert

Hi Experts, this is the Gated Passage (35x35), a walled road that your party will have to address in some way if they want to cross. Some may ask why they can't just climb the rock walls and scoot right around? Yup, that's an option, but if you have a cart or mounts then that may not be possible. Or maybe your paladin is enthusiastic about following rules and will need to check if this is a legally operated tollway, and sometimes that's all it takes to get pelted with arrows by bandits.

Winding Creek

Happy holidays, everyone! I'm back again with a new map, the Winding Creek (30x30)! For this one, simplicity is key- we've got a stream with rocks and a number of little tiny ledges leading down to it, all set in an open field. Not all maps have to be graveyards and ancient ruins, sometimes you fight a bear in a field and that's all there is to it.

Adepts can find their post here, and Experts can find their...

Winding Creek, Adept

Hi Adepts! This is the Winding Creek (30x30), a mid-sized plains map with just a little creek and some small ledges, simple stuff but that should be plenty to work with for a fun encounter! I like the thought of a character pressing themselves up against the side of the trench here in an attempt to gain just a little cover from someone firing off arrows from above, or another character flopping down into the creek to get out of a wizard's line of sight. Not incredibly flashy or dramatic, but ...

Winding Creek, Expert

Welcome back, Experts/Masters! This week's map is the Winding Creek (30x30), a small and pleasant map with little more than a tiny stream and a handful of ledges. Simple stuff, but it should be plenty for you to work with for less complicated combat encounters!

Your alternate versions of this map include a recoloring where I've swapped in more summery colors over the autumnal palette I've been using, and another where I've busted out my classic 'Fey' palette which hasn't seen daylight i...

Forgotten Graveyard

I'm back this week with a smaller map, the Forgotten Graveyard (24x24), a little mausoleum in the forest surrounded by overgrown bushes, dead trees, and crumbling gravestones. I bet there are few adventurers who would come across something like this on their travels and could resist poking around a little bit, especially if they perhaps glimpse something sparkly inside the mausoleum..

Adepts can find their post ...

Forgotten Graveyard, Adept

Your map this week is the Forgotten Graveyard (24x24), a rare tiny map in which I tried to pay extra close attention to the small details. I've found that I tend to have an easier time giving each part of the map its due when I work with smaller maps, which doesn't come up terribly often since I usually whip up maps closer to 35x35", so I feel like it's a little treat when I get to make more compact maps every once in a while.

2024-12-17 16:51:20 +0000 UTC View Post

Forgotten Graveyard, Expert

Welcome back folks, this one is the Forgotten Graveyard (24x24), a small map that zooms in on an old and crumbling graveyard in an Autumn wood. I imagine a party traveling along a road when someone notices a structure off of an overgrown path, a mausoleum nearly overgrown with bushes and vines. A curious party might investigate, but I think the average group might need a little more incentive to take a closer look, so maybe they glimpse a figure walking among the gravestones (a local? a ghost...

Autumn Stream

This week's map is the Autumn Stream (40x40), a nice and large forest map with lovely autumnal colors and plenty of nooks and crannies to hide in. And, amazingly, this concept for a map- a path that winds beside a stream, might just be something I've never drawn before. I honestly can't think of a single time I've done it without including a bridge or something, so while this might not be a particularly complicated map let's just say it's filling in a gap that's somehow remained unfilled for ...

Autumn Stream, Adept

This week's map is the Autumn Stream (40x40), a lovely little forest map with pleasant colors and lighting as well as a straightforward layout. An all around simple and cheerful map, I'd say, which are my personal favorites!

Your alternate version of this map is called 'Split', by the way, by which I mean it features the regular Day map on the left but with foggy, spooky effects on the right. Maybe some evil magic is creeping across the land from that direction? I guess your party ough...

Autumn Stream, Expert

Hi Experts! This is the Autumn Stream (40x40), somehow a forest map I haven't made before! I'm trying to make a few simpler maps before Christmas hits, so bear with me for a week while I throw myself into my work so I can make all the maps I owe you before all my family comes into town and stay with me (sleeping in my office) and the holidays hit. Cheers!

Tropical Ruins

I'm back! This one is the Tropical Ruins (35x40), a strange little structure on a tropical shore where surely there's something dangerous lurking, something valuable to plunder, or somebody worth talking to. If not, at least there's some interesting architecture to scope out, maybe your party has a dork who would be interested in that!

Adepts can find their post here, and Experts can find theirs 2024-12-05 21:51:02 +0000 UTC View Post

Tropical Ruins

Hiya, I'm back again a little later than usual due to the holidays, but this one is the Tropical Ruins (35x40)! This little chunk of shoreline seems pretty isolated but it's full of strange ruins for your party to investigate and probably fight over. I'd bet rival archaeologists are here to stake out their claim before any adventurers can loot any of the good stuff, so I guess you'd better beat them up or something!

2024-12-05 21:50:58 +0000 UTC View Post

Tropical Ruins, Expert

I return, this time with a classic ruins map- the Tropical Ruins (35x40)! Your alternate versions of it are Foggy and Sunset, pretty simple stuff this week due to how far behind schedule I am thanks to the holidays, but I'm hoping to get into making more interesting and complicated variants soon! In the meantime, enjoy!

Verdant Islets

Hello again, folks! This week's map is the Verdant Islets (40x40), substantial map with lots of little platforms to jump around between or, alternately, plenty of open water to swim in. As for potential enemies you might face here, I think that this doesn't look like the kind of place you might find someone camping, but certainly some flying creatures might roost here and would love some adventurer meat to feed to their young.

Adepts can find their post 2024-11-25 22:47:19 +0000 UTC View Post

Verdant Islets, Adept

This week's map is the Verdant Islets (40x40), a fairly lush collection of rocky outcroppings on the ocean, perfect for castaways (luckier ones than any who might have washed up on last week's map), or large flying predators who like eating sailors and need a place to rest.

Your alternate version here is Low Tide, which includes much more beach between the platforms and opens up lots of potential little hiding places for anyone who might not be so good at swimming.

2024-11-25 22:47:14 +0000 UTC View Post

Verdant Islets, Expert

I'm back again with more Tropical maps- the Verdant Islets (40x40)! I'm pretty sure 'Islet' is the right word for what I've got here, I really don't know what to call them otherwise considering they're super small islands- funnily enough I honestly think that Thesaurus.com might be one of my most used resources for this Patreon (naming things is hard sometimes).

Your alternate versions of this map are Swamp and Rainy! Yo...

Desert Island, Adept

This week's map is the Desert Island (30x30), a remote island map where you'll probably find an old dusty skeleton clutching a treasure chest. If you're me, you'll assume that touching that dusty skeleton's treasure will immediately cause a dozen pirate skeletons to burst up from the sand and crawl out of the water to defend their booty, so instead surprise your party by revealing that the palm trees are tropical ents who use the treasure to bait people to their island and use their bodies as...

Desert Island

Hi again, folks! This map is the Desert Island (30x30), a small cluster of tiny islands on a calm ocean. I like the thought of having little maps like this on hand for chance encounters while on the open seas, perfect for quick combats where the limited space is a big part of the difficulty because you know the enemies will have no trouble moving through the water. Alternately, instead of being a location for players to investigate while traveling by boat, maybe they are washed ashore here af...