milbysmaps

A Menu of Our Finest Spelljammers

I promised you another spelljammer a few months ago and it's coming time to deliver. I've drawn an early-game spelljammer and a mid-game spelljammer, so this will be a big, late-game ship for high-level players. I've got five ships in ...

A few things to mention before I leave for Mont-Saint-Michel

As I mentioned previously, I'm heading to France today. I'm going to visit Mont-St-Michel, the Chateau de Chenonceau and the Chateau de Breze. I'll be gone for a little over a week, which is a little weird for ...

The Duskfall: A map for DMs whose players stole the airship in the previous map.

You may recognize this map from the last map. It might seem redundant to make a separate map out of it, but your players are probably going to steal it from that map, so this might come in handy. Or maybe you just need a small airship for a party that hasn't earned a big one yet.

I made a few different versions of this. The one above is the refitted version. The seats are replaced with hammocks and ...

The Duskfall - Patrons' Edition

You may recognize this map from the last map. It might seem redundant to make a separate map out of it, but your players are probably going to steal it from that map, so this might come in handy. Or maybe you just need a small airship for a party that hasn't earned a big one yet.

I made a few different versions of this. The one above is the refitted version. The seats are replaced with hammocks and ...

The Roost

This is the map chosen by patrons in the Black Loch Conclave: a drow outpost in the roof of the Black Loch. This map is complicated to say the least, so let me break it down for everyone.

The Black Loch is a small sea in the underdark. There's a large hole in the roof of the loch's cavern, leading up to a sea on the surface. The hole, known as the Great Breach, is about 100 meters wide, with water constantly p...

The Roost - Patrons' Edition

This is the map chosen by patrons in the Black Loch Conclave: a drow outpost in the roof of the Black Loch. This map is complicated to say the least, so let me break it down for everyone.

The Black Loch is a small sea in the underdark. There's a large hole in the roof of the loch's cavern, leading up to a sea on the surface. The hole, known as the Great Breach, is about 100 meters wide, with water constantly p...

The 44th Cartographic Congress Runoff

Well, we've gone from ten proposals to two in a single round of voting this month, but it needs to come down to one. So, which proposal will it be? As always, feel free to discuss your options:

Carl proposes a multi-level village built in and around the branches and trunk of a giant tree. The buildings of the village are connected by bridges.

Adam proposes a map of an Eastern Orthodox cathedral in a gothic/Ravenloft-style.

Black Loch: The Drow Outpost in the Ceiling (Work-in-Progress)

So, I'm in the middle of coloring the drow outpost in the ceiling of the Black Loch. I decided to put the outpost on the edge of the Great Breach, which led to some interesting ideas. And now, the drow have an airship. In a secret hangar. On the edge of a giant waterfall. In the underdark.

You...

The 44th Cartographic Congress Vote

This is an excellent month for the Cartographic Congress. We've got 10 proposals and they're really good. It almost feels like there's sort of a theme to them, like a lot of these could be locations in a single campaign. A campaign with a lot of gambling and interplanar travel. Have a look, maybe you'll see what I mean. As always, feel free to discuss, ask questions or elaborate on your proposals:

Carl proposes a multi-level village built in and around the branches and trunk of...

The Black Loch Conclave has ended. Here are the results.

After several rounds of voting, a new location for the Black Loch has been chosen: Kenneth's proposal of a drow outpost built into the ceiling of the loch, allowing them to keep an eye on the passing ships below. I love the idea and I think it'll make a great addition to the setting.

Of the twenty new locations proposed, the outpost is the only one that will put a new dot on the map, but it isn't the only one ...

Skatha's Rest

Skatha's Rest is the location marked "Travelers' Ruin" on the map of the Black Loch. The specific travelers who come here are a clan of orog raiders called the Tideborne, who spend most of their time at sea or plun...

Skatha's Rest - Patrons' Edition

Skatha's Rest is the location marked "Travelers' Ruin" on the map of the Black Loch. The specific travelers who come here are a clan of orog raiders called the Tideborne, who spend most of their time at sea or plun...

The Black Loch Conclave - The Final Showdown

These are the final two proposals in the Black Loch Conclave. You all have put forth some amazing proposals for this and the whole experience has got me thinking about some things. I'll explain more once the vote is over, but for now, I'll just say that I'm definitely going to do something like this again.

Anyway, on to the finalists:

Kenneth proposes a drow outpost built into the ceiling of the loch, allowing them to keep an eye on the passing ships below.

Leo proposes a sh...

The Corruption: A Journey Deep into the Heart of Crazy Town

Let's talk about what this map is intended to be and what I think you should use it for instead. This is a fortified dwarven steelmaking facility that has been infected by the Far Realm. The hellish, alien dimension is slowly pervading reality from below, where the barrier between the realms has weakened the most.

That's cool and all, but hear me out: hallucinogenic drugs. The party is sent to an a...

The Corruption: A Journey Deep into the Heart of Crazy Town - Patrons' Edition

Let's talk about what this map is intended to be and what I think you should use it for instead. This is a fortified dwarven steelmaking facility that has been infected by the Far Realm. The hellish, alien dimension is slowly pervading reality from below, where the barrier between the realms has weakened the most.

That's cool and all, but hear me out: hallucinogenic drugs. The party is sent to an a...

The Black Loch Conclave - Final Round Runoff

After five rounds of voting, we've whittled 20 proposals down to four. Unless one proposal wins more than half of the votes here, the top two will move on to a final cage match, in which they will beat each other mercilessly with steel chairs until one emerges victorious. As always, feel free to discuss and debate these below.

Kenneth proposes a drow outpost built into the ceiling of the loch, allowing them to keep an eye on the passing ships below.

Leo proposes a shipyard run by ...

The 43rd Cartographic Congress Runoff

We're down to two proposals in the runoff. I think both of these are excellent ideas, but which one do you want to see more? As always, feel free to share your thoughts.

Senator Shawn proposes an inn built over a set of cascading waterfalls, with a dragon's lair concealed behind the falls.

Senator Wagner proposes a Venetian-style palace by a canal, with gondolas passing by. This would be in a gothic or dark fantasy style.

The Black Loch Conclave - FINAL ROUND

This is the final round of voting in the Black Loch Conclave, with the top two proposals from each first-round vote pitted against each other. If necessary, these ideas will be whittled down in a series of runoff votes until one winner is chosen. That proposal will become a new location in the loch.

I want to say that quite a few of your ideas have inspired me so much that they'll have an impact on how I draw some of the other locations in the loch regardless. I'll get into the specific...

The 43rd Cartographic Congress Vote

Apologies for posting the vote late. I think all the votes happening lately got me a little mixed up. Anyway, this month, we've got a few past contenders, along with some excellent new ones. Here they are, listed in order of height above sea level (for no particular reason):

Senator Jon proposes the Barre Sinister, a port for Spelljamming pirates built into the palm of a gigantic stone hand that orbits the sun. There are docks and several buildings, most notably the Barre, a notorious t...

My wife drew this map.

I've been drawing fantasy maps for a living for about 3 1/2 years now and, in my house, there is exactly one map framed and hanging on the wall. It is this map. You think I'm kidding, but I'm not. This might be my favorite map ever.

For context, this is a map of all the places in North America that my wife could identify. It's important to mention that she's...

The Streets of Vlyn’darastyl: Roof Level

I never know what to say when I post the roof level of a map. "Hey, here's a useful, but slightly less interesting version of the last map I made!" Whatever, let's talk about the Black Loch instead.

The loch is about 2/3 of the way done so far and, lately, a lot more people have been messaging me abo...

The Streets of Vlyn’darastyl: Roof Level - Patrons' Edition

I never know what to say when I post the roof level of a map. "Hey, here's a useful, but slightly less interesting version of the last map I made!" Whatever, let's talk about the Black Loch instead.

The loch is about 2/3 of the way done so far and, lately, a lot more people have been messaging me abo...

The Black Loch Conclave - Fourth Vote

The top proposals from the previous votes are:

• 1st Vote -  The Dwen'del Palace, Drow Outpost in Ceiling
• 2nd Vote - Partially-Submerged Beholder Lair, Deep Gnome Shipyard
• 3rd Vote - Kobold Moss-Farming Village, Cackling Caverns

The top two proposals on this ballot will go on to a final vote, alongside the six listed above. Feel free to discuss, promote, or ask questions below. Good luck to everyone!

Mirjirj proposes the gigantic, petrified s...

The Streets of Vlyn'darastyl

This is a battlemap for the Drow City of Vlyn'darastyl. It's mostly meant to be a backdrop for encounters your party might have in the city, but I figured I'd throw a tavern, a shop and a small market in there to give it a little extra utility. By the way, these buildings don't actually correspond to anyplace on the city map, so don't go crazy trying to find them. Hopefully n...

The Streets of Vlyn'darastyl - Patrons' Edition

This is a battlemap for the Drow City of Vlyn'darastyl. It's mostly meant to be a backdrop for encounters your party might have in the city, but I figured I'd throw a tavern, a shop and a small market in there to give it a little extra utility. By the way, these buildings don't actually correspond to anyplace on the city map, so don't go crazy trying to find them. Hopefully n...

The Black Loch Conclave - Third Vote

The top two proposals from the second Black Loch Conclave vote were the Partially-Submerged Beholder Lair and the Deep Gnome Shipyard, which will move on to the final ballot. Congrats to Carl and Leo!

Here are your candidates for round three. Feel free to discuss, debate and promote them below:

Alfred proposes a kobold village in a maze of wet, narrow tunnels and moss farms, which the kobolds travel through in coracles (tiny, circular rowboats). The thing the kobolds value most is...

Eel's Maw Stronghold

The kuo-toa get no respect. I don't mean from lorebooks, I mean from DMs. When you're writing an underdark campaign and you need a powerful empire, who do you think of? The drow, sure. The illithids, of course. Maybe the duergar. But the kuo-toa? No, those are trash enemies for random encounters. I mean, sure, sometimes they play a significant role in a story, but they hardly ever take center stage.

Well, the kuo-toa of the 2022-03-22 16:56:48 +0000 UTC View Post

Eel's Maw Stronghold - Patrons' Edition

The kuo-toa get no respect. I don't mean from lorebooks, I mean from DMs. When you're writing an underdark campaign and you need a powerful empire, who do you think of? The drow, sure. The illithids, of course. Maybe the duergar. But the kuo-toa? No, those are trash enemies for random encounters. I mean, sure, sometimes they play a significant role in a story, but they hardly ever take center stage.

Well, the kuo-toa of the 2022-03-22 16:56:32 +0000 UTC View Post

The Black Loch Conclave - Second Vote

The top two proposals from the first Black Loch Conclave vote were the Dwen'del Palace and the Drow Ceiling Outpost, which will move on to the final ballot. Congrats to AN7 and Kenneth!

Here's the second batch of proposals. I really like all of these and I really want to talk about some of them, but I don't want to influence the vote, so I'll stay quiet. You, however, are more than welcome to discuss them in the comments. Anyway, your candidates are:

Bruce proposes the re...

Two Things

First, if you're a patron, I need you to break a tie in the Cartographic Congress. The vote has been 10-10 for several days now, so I'm opening it up to all patrons. It's time to finish this.

Second, there are a few streamers who have been using my maps lately and I wanted to mention them in case anyone was interested. I get a huge thrill out of seeing videos of people using my stuff. I don't kn...