milbysmaps

St. Peter's Basilica - Annotated Version

As soon as I posted the basilica, I realized I had completely forgotten to make an annotated version, so here it is.

I only labeled the things I thought would be most relevant to people, but if you want to know more detailed information on every single altar and monument, let me direct you here. Also, hats off to whoever created that website, because this map would have been substantially less accurate w...

St. Peter's Basilica

St. Peter's Basilica is finished. Well, provisionally finished. I really do hate posting the map without the background and surrounding buildings, but it's necessary for now and I want to explain why.

Since I'm drawing all of Vatican City, I will eventually draw each building, but I need to draw them separately, because, in my experience, drawing part of a building is a good way to end up redrawing it later. And the map above includes not only the basilica, but part of the sacr...

St. Peter's Basilica - Patrons' Edition

St. Peter's Basilica is finished. Well, provisionally finished. I really do hate posting the map without the background and surrounding buildings, but it's necessary for now and I want to explain why.

Since I'm drawing all of Vatican City, I will eventually draw each building, but I need to draw them separately, because, in my experience, drawing part of a building is a good way to end up redrawing it later. And the map above includes not only the basilica, but part of the sacr...

St. Peter's Basilica: Here's where things are at right now.

There's still a fair bit of floor left to color, but we're getting there. I've been so engrossed in this that there have been a few times where I've started working, then looked up and, oh, hey, it's five in the morning. Something about this really puts me in the zone.

Anyway, I'm gonna get back to it. Hope you like it so far!

St. Peter's Basilica: The floors are finished.

The lines for the basilica are finally done: the walls, the statues, the furnishings, the floors and all the rest. It was an enormous amount of work, but I think it's been worthwhile. I might even say the map is looking fairly... is Catholicious a word? I hope so.

Anyway, it's time to color this thing. It'll probably take a minute, so I'll post a few pictures along the way. Well, I'm gonna get started on that. Let me know what you think so far!

St. Peter's Basilica: Here's where I'm at with the floor.

It'll be a few more days, but we're in the homestretch now. All right, I'd better get back to it.

Some work on the floors – St. Peter’s Basilica (Work-in-Progress)

Statues are done, on to the floors - St. Peter's Basilica (Work-in-Progress)

This is the basilica with the statues and altars and most of the furnishings done. I tried to draw everything as accurately as I could and I'm pretty happy with it so far. There's only one more thing to draw before I start coloring this, which is the floor. That may take a minute, since the floor here looks like this, but I think it'll be worth the effort.

St. Peter's Basilica (Work-in-Progress)

Here's where I'm at with the basilica. The structure of the building is done and I've started working on the details. I've got the pipe organs and altars drawn into two of the chapels and the main altar is done as well, which you can see up close in the second picture. It has statues of four popes holding up a giant chair and looks like this...

Cladwater Lift Lock: The Ramparts

Here's the upper level of Cladwater Lift Lock, as promised. And for patrons, I made a night version as well.

With that done, I'll be getting back to the Vatican City megaproject, where I'...

Cladwater Lift Lock: The Ramparts - Patrons' Edition

Here's the upper level of Cladwater Lift Lock, as promised. And for patrons, I made a night version as well.

With that done, I'll be getting back to the Vatican City megaproject, where I'...

Cladwater Lift Lock

So the idea for this map is that it's an outpost with a lock that lets riverboats cross a waterfall. If you've never seen one, boat elevators are a real thing. Here's a Canadian one. And here's Scotland's super deluxe fancy one. I'm not sure if there are any that go over waterfalls, but it seems possible.

These t...

Cladwater Lift Lock - Patrons' Edition

So the idea for this map is that it's an outpost with a lock that lets riverboats cross a waterfall. If you've never seen one, boat elevators are a real thing. Here's a Canadian one. And here's Scotland's super deluxe fancy one. I'm not sure if there are any that go over waterfalls, but it seems possible.

These t...

The 86th Cartographic Congress Vote

Sorry it's a bit late, but here's this month's vote!

Morgan proposes a fortified abbey that serves as the chapterhouse of a Templar-style military order.

Kevin proposes a spider-themed Underdark city, whose residents include drow and other races.

Diresquirrel proposes an abandoned library.

Pope Dezzicus proposes Shaharah Castle in the mountains of Yemen.

Ethan proposes a map of the Native American settlement of Mesa Verde for Native American History Month.

...

Vatican City - St. Peter's Square

So the first part of the Vatican City megaproject is done. Well, kind of. One of the tricky things about drawing the Vatican is that there are parts of it I haven't drawn yet in the background. In the top left is the Apostolic Palace and, at the bottom left, there's a church called Santa Maria della Pieta. That stuff on the right is Italy. So I'll have to remake this map with all the other stuff included onc...

Vatican City - St. Peter's Square - Patrons' Edition

So the first part of the Vatican City megaproject is done. Well, kind of. One of the tricky things about drawing the Vatican is that there are parts of it I haven't drawn yet in the background. In the top left is the Apostolic Palace and, at the bottom left, there's a church called Santa Maria della Pieta. That stuff on the right is Italy. So I'll have to remake this map with all the other stuff included onc...

Lyndorne Falls

In the seven years that I've been making maps for a living, I've drawn exactly six city maps. When I say a "city map," I mean not a battlemap. So stuff like Vayl's Firth doesn't count. Here's the list, from oldest to newest, along with my opinions on them:

1. Irredeemable garbag...

   2025-10-21 17:15:02 +0000 UTC View Post

Lyndorne Falls - Patrons' Edition

In the seven years that I've been making maps for a living, I've drawn exactly six city maps. When I say a "city map," I mean not a battlemap. So stuff like Vayl's Firth doesn't count. Here's the list, from oldest to newest, along with my opinions on them:

1. Irredeemable garbag...

   2025-10-21 16:38:55 +0000 UTC View Post

Waterfall City in the Jungle (Work-in-Progress)

This is where I'm at with the city map I'm working on right now. I've only got the buildings sketched in, but I'll finish those next and start coloring it.

What do you think so far?

Hackett's Pass Blockhouse

This map is a good place for an on-the-road encounter. It probably starts with the party traveling through the mountains and finding themselves in front of the gates here. Then, somebody tells them they need to pay a toll if they want to pass.

Now, in real life, people would see two options in this scenario: pay the toll or turn around and leave. But in D&D, nobody ever even considers the second option. The choices are to pay the toll or to kill every single one of these punks 2025-10-10 15:53:07 +0000 UTC View Post