milbysmaps

Ponte di Palladio

Ponte di Palladio means "Bridge of Palladio." I hope. Apologies to the Italians out there if I screwed it up, but can I promise you that, as we speak, there are dozens of people at Google Translate working hard to improve my fluency.

This bridge was Andrea Palladio's design for what later became the Rialto Bridge in Venice, Italy. They ended up going with 2023-03-08 20:28:22 +0000 UTC View Post

Ponte di Palladio - Patrons' Edition

Ponte di Palladio means "Bridge of Palladio." I hope. Apologies to the Italians out there if I screwed it up, but can I promise you that, as we speak, there are dozens of people at Google Translate working hard to improve my fluency.

This bridge was Andrea Palladio's design for what later became the Rialto Bridge in Venice, Italy. They ended up going with 2023-03-08 20:28:06 +0000 UTC View Post

Palladio's Rialto Bridge (Work-in-Progress)

I've got the deck of the bridge finished, but I'm going to draw a roof level as well, along with a sideview of the exterior, which looks like this. It shouldn't take too long, but I wanted to give you a look at where things are at so far.

In addition to being a passage across Venice's Grand Canal, this bridge was designed to be a market, with lots of spaces for merchants and vendor...

The 54th Cartographic Congress Vote

We've got six proposals this month and I'll let you get right to them. I just got a new computer, which I've been overdue for and I need to finish setting it up. My last machine was something I bought because the previous one died and I needed something RIGHT NOW, so I settled for something mediocre. The new one is a proper geek machine, with various glowing stuff, a graphics card the size of a flatbed truck and a big old SSD. Feels good man.

Okay, back to the task at hand. This month's...

Cave of the Sun

The Cave of the Sun is another map for Tir Thelandira. It's an oracle and holy site where the elves gather to seek guidance from their goddess. The cave takes its name from a hole in the roof of the cavern, through which light beams down onto the pool within.

I'll draw more of Tir Thelandira next month, but right now there's something I have to draw. It's Italian– Venetian, to be specific– an...

Cave of the Sun - Patrons' Edition

The Cave of the Sun is another map for Tir Thelandira. It's an oracle and holy site where the elves gather to seek guidance from their goddess. The cave takes its name from a hole in the roof of the cavern, through which light beams down onto the pool within.

I'll draw more of Tir Thelandira next month, but right now there's something I have to draw. It's Italian– Venetian, to be specific– an...

Palazzo di Nettuno - Not-Quite-As-Serene Version

So, Palazzo di Nettuno means "Palace of Neptune" (or at least Google Translate says it does), although that name is a bit more fitting for the other version of the map. Whatever, it's fine. This one can be a reference to the planet.

Next, I'll be drawing another map from the island of 2023-02-18 01:30:22 +0000 UTC View Post

Palazzo di Nettuno - Not-Quite-As-Serene Version - Patrons' Edition

So, Palazzo di Nettuno means "Palace of Neptune" (or at least Google Translate says it does), although that name is a bit more fitting for the other version of the map. Whatever, it's fine. This one can be a reference to the planet.

Next, I'll be drawing another map from the island of 2023-02-18 01:30:11 +0000 UTC View Post

Palazzo di Nettuno

I think Venice is the kind of place a fantasy writer would come up with. "It's this city in a harbor, you know? Trade port, super rich. Really beautiful. And get this: the streets? They're made of water." It'd be a really cool concept if it weren't for the fact that it actually exists.

Of course, not everyone has a fantasy version of Venice in their game world, but I think this could be used as a palac...

Palazzo di Nettuno - Patrons' Edition

I think Venice is the kind of place a fantasy writer would come up with. "It's this city in a harbor, you know? Trade port, super rich. Really beautiful. And get this: the streets? They're made of water." It'd be a really cool concept if it weren't for the fact that it actually exists.

Of course, not everyone has a fantasy version of Venice in their game world, but I think this could be used as a palac...

Dark Fantasy Venetian Palace (Work-in-Progress)

Since this is supposed to be a Venetian palace, it's going to be on a canal, but I'm going to make a version that's on land, too. The thing is, there's a boathouse on the left side and I'm not sure what to do with that. I mean, I'll get rid of the boats, obviously, but then it's an Italian palace with a monster truck garage. Il Palazzo di Truckasaurus Rex. Well, I can probably just call it a carriage house.

All right, time to color this thing.

Tir Thelandira (Updated)

Here's the updated map of the island. We've got a few dots on the map now and I decided to make it a little bigger, so I doubled the scale from 10 miles to 20.

I also made a page to collect all the Tir Thelandira maps as I draw them. There isn't much there yet, but that was once true of the Black Loch and 2023-02-04 21:24:23 +0000 UTC View Post

The 53rd Cartographic Congress Runoff

Your four contenders in the runoff are two castles, a mansion and a big pile of trash. Which one will it be?

Odd proposes a junkyard with big piles of dirty rubbish separated by narrow passages and a little junk man's shack in the middle.

Justun proposes a Victorian-style mansion on a lush island. The mansion has "modular" rooms, which can be moved and rearranged.

Shawn proposes a stout castle on a rocky coastal outcropping with a sea cave underneath. A small settlement near...

The Elven Tree Fortress of Oakenhold

After an absolutely enormous amount of work, the new and highly improved Oakenhold is finished. Moreover, I've written the history and lore of the island of Tir Thelandira. The TL;DR is this:

The elves of Tir Thelandira were nomadic tribes, but giant bears appeared and a lady killed them, unifying the tribes and becoming the queen. Then, humans showe...

2023-02-03 20:32:20 +0000 UTC View Post

The Elven Tree Fortress of Oakenhold - Patrons' Edition

After an absolutely enormous amount of work, the new and highly improved Oakenhold is finished. Moreover, I've written the history and lore of the island of Tir Thelandira. The TL;DR is this:

The elves of Tir Thelandira were nomadic tribes, but giant bears appeared and a lady killed them, unifying the tribes and becoming the queen. Then, humans showe...

2023-02-03 20:31:50 +0000 UTC View Post

The Elven Citadel of Oakenhold (Work-in-Progress)

Whew, okay. This is all seven floors of Oakenhold. I wasn't initially planning to make it bigger than the original version, but, well... that happened.

First, let me say a quick word about beds. So, elves in D&D settings meditate rather than sleep and don't need beds (not for sleeping, anyway). But I want this map to work for other races as well, so I'm drawing the beds i...

The Green Eye Oasis

The Green Eye is a village and caravanserai built around a small oasis in a sinkhole. The place has everything a traveling merchant needs: camel parking, a room for the night, baths, a tavern and a provisioner. Oh, and water. Merchants need that to live. I mean, everybody does, but merchants do too.

I think this would be a really great place for a battle, especially if the party was inside the village while getting attacked by archers around the edges of the sinkhole. That'd create a re...

The Green Eye Oasis - Patrons' Edition

The Green Eye is a village and caravanserai built around a small oasis in a sinkhole. The place has everything a traveling merchant needs: camel parking, a room for the night, baths, a tavern and a provisioner. Oh, and water. Merchants need that to live. I mean, everybody does, but merchants do too.

I think this would be a really great place for a battle, especially if the party was inside the village while getting attacked by archers around the edges of the sinkhole. That'd create a re...

Desert Sinkhole Village (Work-in-Progress)

This is a desert village with a small oasis and a caravanserai, built into the sides of a sinkhole. The drawing on the top left shows it from the outside and the other two levels are below.

This place is inspired by the cave houses of Cappadocia in Türkiye (I like the new spelling, by the way), which are an idea I'd like to do...

The 52nd Cartographic Congress Runoff

Well, it looks like we all made it to 2023! If anyone's still hungover, try drinking a few glasses of water and you should feel better before long. If that doesn't work, just start pounding tequila. You'll have the same problem tomorrow, but you can cross that bridge when you get to it.

Anyway, here are the contenders in the runoff vote:

AN7 proposes a dark fantasy submarine.

Shawn proposes a wizard's tower on a sea stack, connected to a bluff by a bridge.

Wagner propo...

Secret Room: Vault

Here's the last of the secret rooms. Hopefully you'll find them useful, but I think this is all the one-room maps I can draw before I bore myself to death.

Next up, we've got a desert village built inside a sinkhole, with an oasis at the bottom. I haven't planned it out yet, but I suspect the layout will be a bit like Ollin's Borehole.

After that, I'm going...

Secret Room: Vault - Patrons' Edition

Here's the last of the secret rooms. Hopefully you'll find them useful, but I think this is all the one-room maps I can draw before I bore myself to death.

Next up, we've got a desert village built inside a sinkhole, with an oasis at the bottom. I haven't planned it out yet, but I suspect the layout will be a bit like Ollin's Borehole.

After that, I'm going...

Secret Room: Cult Shrine

Here's the cult shrine secret room. You've got a big, demonic head, a sinister-looking glyph on the floor and some nice scented candles to freshen the place up a little.

I said this was going to be the last secret room, but people seem to like these, so I'm going to do one more: a vault. That's a common type of secret room that's missing from these, so I'm going to draw one. It won't take long. In and out. Quick, one-day map. I'll have that for you tomorrow and then I'll be drawing some...

Secret Room: Cult Shrine - Patrons' Edition

Here's the cult shrine secret room. You've got a big, demonic head, a sinister-looking glyph on the floor and some nice scented candles to freshen the place up a little.

I said this was going to be the last secret room, but people seem to like these, so I'm going to do one more: a vault. That's a common type of secret room that's missing from these, so I'm going to draw one. It won't take long. In and out. Quick, one-day map. I'll have that for you tomorrow and then I'll be drawing some...

Secret Room: Prison

So here's a secret room which I suspect will be pretty useful, since a lot of adventures involve rescuing captives and a lot of maps don't really have a great place to keep them.

I tried to make the place look as dank as possible. Not "dank" in the positive way, but in the traditional sense. Dark, wet, kind of nasty. So you've got some piles of refuse, bloodstains on the floor and a few buckets for... well, I'm sure you can work out what the buckets are for.

Anyway, I've got anoth...

Secret Room: Prison - Patrons' Edition

So here's a secret room which I suspect will be pretty useful, since a lot of adventures involve rescuing captives and a lot of maps don't really have a great place to keep them.

I tried to make the place look as dank as possible. Not "dank" in the positive way, but in the traditional sense. Dark, wet, kind of nasty. So you've got some piles of refuse, bloodstains on the floor and a few buckets for... well, I'm sure you can work out what the buckets are for.

Anyway, I've got anoth...

The 52nd Cartographic Congress Vote

I love it when every proposal is something I'd really like to draw and this is one of those months. As always, feel free to discuss, promote or ask questions!

Silas proposes a tall, narrow wizard's tower in a dense, urban area.

AN7 proposes a dark fantasy submarine.

Jon proposes an island prison designed to hold dangerous magical or monstrous criminals. This will be similar to the Chateau d'If, the prison made famous by the Count of Monte Cristo.

Shawn proposes a wizar...

Secret Room: Psycho Murder Basement

This is the first of three secret rooms I'm drawing. It's meant to be used with another map that you'd like to add a secret room to. For example, maybe you want to run an adventure in the glorious French castle of Chateau de Chenonceau. But your adventure requires a brutal axe-murder dungeon and, inconveniently, the Chateau de Chenonceau doesn't have one of thos...

Secret Room: Psycho Murder Basement - Patrons' Edition

This is the first of three secret rooms I'm drawing. It's meant to be used with another map that you'd like to add a secret room to. For example, maybe you want to run an adventure in the glorious French castle of Chateau de Chenonceau. But your adventure requires a brutal axe-murder dungeon and, inconveniently, the Chateau de Chenonceau doesn't have one of thos...

The Two Palms Tavern

Well, I decided to draw a palm tree on the map and call it the "Two Palms Tavern" after all. I'm not proud of having drawn a dad joke into the map, but it felt like the right thing to do at the time. I won't make a habit of it, I promise.

The vote for the second civilization of Tir Thelandira is still open and I wanted to give patrons another chance to cast a vote before I end it in a f...