milbysmaps

Aboleth Lair (Work-in-Progress)

Here's the aboleth lair I've been working on. Man, where do I even start with this? Let's go with the horrific worm thing on the left. That's a creature the aboleth has been trying to pull into the world from the Far Realm (aka "Weird Hell"). I'll make a version without it, of course, as well as a token of the worm.

The big dome is an ancient temple to Bylir, the ancient evil I mentioned in 2022-08-05 14:18:20 +0000 UTC View Post

The 47th Cartographic Congress Runoff

We're down to three proposals in the runoff. To sum up your choices:

• Volcano
• Wizard and clocktower
• Wizard and volcano

Mix and match them how you like, but you're getting a wizard or a volcano one way or the other. I hope that's acceptable. Anyway, let's recap the proposals:

Carl proposes a red dragon's lair on a volcanic island, with a settlement for the dragon's minions.

Odd proposes an ancient, rusting, arcane clocktower, sitting forgott...

The 47th Cartographic Congress Vote

So, there have been heatwaves in a lot of places recently and I'm wondering if maybe that got people thinking about volcanoes more than usual. Because there are three proposals with volcanoes in them this month. Maybe it's a coincidence, but I think there could be a correlation there. Anyway, here are this months proposals. As always, feel free to discuss your options below:

Carl proposes a red dragon's lair on a volcanic island, with a settlement for the drag...

The Blind Colossus

The Blind Colossus is a huge, eyeless statue in the Black Loch. Sailors who have seen it think it depicts a human, which is a strange sight deep in the underdark.

The truth is that the Blind Colossus was built by a tribe of humans called the Ardyeni, barbarian raiders who were driven underground thousands of years ago. They lived in the Black Loch for over a millennium, building a city and several outlying tow...

The Blind Colossus - Patrons' Edition

The Blind Colossus is a huge, eyeless statue in the Black Loch. Sailors who have seen it think it depicts a human, which is a strange sight deep in the underdark.

The truth is that the Blind Colossus was built by a tribe of humans called the Ardyeni, barbarian raiders who were driven underground thousands of years ago. They lived in the Black Loch for over a millennium, building a city and several outlying tow...

The Blind Colossus (Work-in-Progress)

Here are most of the drawings for the Blind Colossus, a huge, eyeless statue in the Black Loch. It’s definitely a little something different, which is hopefully a good thing.

I’ll explain who built it and why when it’s finished. I started coloring it yesterday, so I should have it done in a few days. Anyway, I hope you like it so far. If you've got any thoughts, let me know!

Scarhide Yard

Scarhide Yard is a shipyard run by deep gnome engineers and grimlock laborers in the Black Loch. This strange partnership began when a group of gnomes approached a tribe of starving grimlock hunters with 300 pounds of meat. The gnomes needed workers to build ships and the grimlocks needed food,  so they came to an arrangeme...

Scarhide Yard - Patrons' Edition

Scarhide Yard is a shipyard run by deep gnome engineers and grimlock laborers in the Black Loch. This strange partnership began when a group of gnomes approached a tribe of starving grimlock hunters with 300 pounds of meat. The gnomes needed workers to build ships and the grimlocks needed food,  so they came to an arrangeme...

Brackenbury Manor (Inspired by Little Moreton Hall in Cheshire, England)

Brackenbury Manor is almost a real place. If it were a real place, the real place that it would be is Little Moreton Hall. Little Moreton is a 16th-century manor house in Cheshire, England, which looks unsettling in a way that I'm not sure really comes through in the map. Here's...

Brackenbury Manor - Patrons' Edition

Brackenbury Manor is almost a real place. If it were a real place, the real place that it would be is Little Moreton Hall. Little Moreton is a 16th-century manor house in Cheshire, England, which looks unsettling in a way that I'm not sure really comes through in the map. Here's...

Gothic Manor House (Work-in-Progress)

Here's the gothic manor house I've been working on. Shawn, who proposed this idea to the Cartographic Congress, mentioned an old manor in Cheshire, England called Little Moreton Hall as something that might be good inspiration. Well, it was such good inspiration that the map is actually pretty close to just being Little Moreton Hall.

Have 2022-07-06 12:55:02 +0000 UTC View Post

The 46th Cartographic Congress Runoff

We're down to three proposals in the runoff. Apparently, underground maps are so hot right now.

Carl proposes a map of a sewer system that connects to both the surface above and a deeper region-- possibly the underdark-- below.

Morgan proposes a desert oasis at the bottom of a large sinkhole, with a village built in tiers into the walls of the sinkhole.

Jon proposes "The Thirsty Badger," a brewery and tavern that serves as the front for a thieves' guild, warlock coven, or re...

The Lost Catacombs of Auldbaern

The Lost Catacombs of Auldbaern are ancient, dwarven catacombs in the Black Loch. The winding, labyrinthine tunnels are lined with niches holding the bones of long-dead dwarves. I'm sure your party will be deeply interested in all those remains-- for academic, archaeological reasons, of course.

But they'll be particularly fascinated by the royal tomb deep within the catacombs, with its gold and silver...

The Lost Catacombs of Auldbaern - Patrons' Edition

The Lost Catacombs of Auldbaern are ancient, dwarven catacombs in the Black Loch. The winding, labyrinthine tunnels are lined with niches holding the bones of long-dead dwarves. I'm sure your party will be deeply interested in all those remains-- for academic, archaeological reasons, of course.

But they'll be particularly fascinated by the royal tomb deep within the catacombs, with its gold and silver...

Dwarven Catacombs (Work-in-Progress)

I decided that the ancient crypt in the Black Loch would be lost dwarven catacombs with a royal tomb deep inside. In order to make the royal tomb look as splendid and impressive as possible, I learned how to draw celtic knotwork and basically covered the thing in it. I did screw it up in a few places, but less than I'd expected. Nothing that can't be fixed.

Anyway, just thought I'd give you a look. Back to wor...

The 46th Cartographic Congress Vote

Once in a while, there's a Cartographic Congress vote in which every proposal is just insanely good. This is one of those. It's a multiple-choice test where all the answers are absolutely correct. As always, feel free to discuss your options below.

Carl proposes a map of a sewer system that connects to both the surface above and a deeper region-- possibly the underdark-- below.

AN7 proposes a map of the main market square in the drow city of Vlyn'darastyl in the Black Loch.

...

Elderseed Sanctuary

Elderseed Sanctuary is a small treehouse settlement in a giant baobab. I designed it with a druid community in mind, but it could easily be a village of wild elves as well. Or aarakocra. Or avariel. Or weresquirrels.

Here's a question to think about: is it a treant? If so, that makes this place mobile, ...

Elderseed Sanctuary - Patrons' Edition

Elderseed Sanctuary is a small treehouse settlement in a giant baobab. I designed it with a druid community in mind, but it could easily be a village of wild elves as well. Or aarakocra. Or avariel. Or weresquirrels.

Here's a question to think about: is it a treant? If so, that makes this place mobile, ...

Tree Village (Work-in-Progress)

Here's the big tree village I've been working on. As you can see, I decided to put it in a giant baobab.

One of the reasons I went with a baobab is that I wanted to put a couple of big, hollow spaces in the trunk, which baobabs are known to have. For example, here's a baobab tr...

The Village of Spyr-Anaisz

Spyr-Anaisz is a small drow village in the Black Loch. The residents here aren't big city drow, they're rural drow. Drow hillbillies, if you will.

I don't picture them chewing tobacco or wearing cowboy hats, but I imagine there's a different sort of culture here. A bit less backstabbing and cutting throats to get ahead. Not much infighting among the nobility, since there's only one noble house. And I think the...

The Village of Spyr-Anaisz - Patrons' Edition

Spyr-Anaisz is a small drow village in the Black Loch. The residents here aren't big city drow, they're rural drow. Drow hillbillies, if you will.

I don't picture them chewing tobacco or wearing cowboy hats, but I imagine there's a different sort of culture here. A bit less backstabbing and cutting throats to get ahead. Not much infighting among the nobility, since there's only one noble house. And I think the...

Black Loch Drow Settlement (Work-in-Progress)

So, I wasn't originally planning to make this drow settlement the second-largest map in the Black Loch, but... well, that appears to have happened. I think it'll be worth the effort.

Anyway, everything is drawn and inked and I'm about to start coloring it today. I hope you like it so far!

Whaleship-Class Spelljammer

The whaleship is a spelljammer for people who want to go to space, but don't want to leave anything behind. ANYTHING. Not the billiard table, the pool, the tavern, or anyone they know. It's all coming. Hell, bring the whole village. It's fine, there's room for everybody, sheep included.

The whaleship is designed as a passenger liner and cargo ship, but some DMs may want to use it as a player vessel, so I included a few versions of the ship retrofitted with weapons. Here's the 2022-05-29 05:03:54 +0000 UTC View Post

Whaleship-Class Spelljammer - Patrons' Edition

The whaleship is a spelljammer for people who want to go to space, but don't want to leave anything behind. ANYTHING. Not the billiard table, the pool, the tavern, or anyone they know. It's all coming. Hell, bring the whole village. It's fine, there's room for everybody, sheep included.

The whaleship is designed as a passenger liner and cargo ship, but some DMs may want to use it as a player vessel, so I included a few versions of the ship retrofitted with weapons. Here's the 2022-05-29 05:03:24 +0000 UTC View Post

The 45th Cartographic Congress Runoff

We're down from eleven proposals to six in this month's runoff. I'm gonna try to get that Whaleship done tonight, so I'll leave you to it:

AN7 proposes the Academy of War in the drow city of Vlyn'darastyl in the Black Loch. The academy trains the city's soldiers and guards in the art of war.

Joe proposes a druid's compound on the back of a gargantuan beetle. The beetle's back is covered with moss and flora, with a small tower, a garden, and a few sod-roofed huts.

Shawn propo...

The 45th Cartographic Congress Vote

We've got eleven proposals this month, so I won't give you any more to read. As always, feel free to discuss your options below.

David proposes Fiddle Rock, a small gnome village in the Black Loch.

AN7 proposes the Academy of War in the drow city of Vlyn'darastyl in the Black Loch. The academy trains the city's soldiers and guards in the art of war.

Joe proposes a druid's compound on the back of a gargantuan beetle. The beetle's back is covered with moss and flora, with a sm...

Whaleship Spelljammer (Work-in-Progress)

You voted for the biggest spelljammer and this is all the art for it. This thing has five decks with 17 private cabins, 12 bathrooms, a 2-floor lounge, a billiards room, a poker room, a pool and a harpsichord.

The whaleship is a passenger liner, but I suspect some DMs will have other things in mind for it, so I'll be making three versions of the map: unarmed, lightly armed, and Whalehammer 40K.

I'm about to start coloring all this now, so I'll be back with the map in a few more da...

The Silver Dragon Inn

A lot of inns have fanciful names, like "The Dancing Fox." But you walk in, look around... no dancing fox. Not even a non-dancing fox. Deep down, you knew there wouldn't be a fox, but you had a little hope and it was still a bit disappointing.

The Silver Dragon Inn doesn't have that problem. This place delivers on the promise of its name, with an actual silver dragon lairing just underneath it. The original idea behind the map was that the innkeeper is secretly the dragon in human form,...

The Silver Dragon Inn - Patrons' Edition

A lot of inns have fanciful names, like "The Dancing Fox." But you walk in, look around... no dancing fox. Not even a non-dancing fox. Deep down, you knew there wouldn't be a fox, but you had a little hope and it was still a bit disappointing.

The Silver Dragon Inn doesn't have that problem. This place delivers on the promise of its name, with an actual silver dragon lairing just underneath it. The original idea behind the map was that the innkeeper is secretly the dragon in human form,...

Okay, I'm back.

I've returned from France, sorted things out and I'm back to work. I've got some photos, which I'll post at some point, but I want to get the next map done first.

The spelljammer vote has ended and there are two maps in the lead: the Whaleship and the Great Bombard. Instead of having a runoff, I'm just goin...