This is a new, unnamed chamber of Brazenthrone currently being excavated. It's at 19 on this map. This is where dwarven cities come from: lots and lots of tedious digging. Fortunately, that's a thing dwarves happen to be into. For them, hammering away at rock is like... taking ...
2020-08-14 02:08:08 +0000 UTC View Post
This is a new, unnamed chamber of Brazenthrone currently being excavated. It's at 19 on this map. This is where dwarven cities come from: lots and lots of tedious digging. Fortunately, that's a thing dwarves happen to be into. For them, hammering away at rock is like... taking ...
2020-08-14 02:07:58 +0000 UTC View Post
If you were in need of tokens for dragons or flying mounts, you should be all set. Personally, I haven't used a dragon in my game in a pretty long time. Like, years at least. I mean, sure, dragons are cool and all, but they're not as essential to D&D as the name would have you believe. Dungeons? You do usually need those. Dragons? Highly optional.
Anyway, I'm gonna get back to work on Brazenthrone! Hope ...
2020-08-12 23:02:30 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's the alternate version of Ironbird Aerie without the cannons and fancy engines. Some DMs make their players kill a dragon the old fashioned way. Others let them blow a hole through its chest with an 18-pound smoothbore siege gun, spraying chunks of Sky Godzilla into the next county. Both are perfectly valid options and now this place can accommodate either.
Next up is an area of Brazenthrone currently...
2020-08-11 17:22:44 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's the alternate version of Ironbird Aerie without the cannons and fancy engines. Some DMs make their players kill a dragon the old fashioned way. Others let them blow a hole through its chest with an 18-pound smoothbore siege gun, spraying chunks of Sky Godzilla into the next county. Both are perfectly valid options and now this place can accommodate either.
Next up is an area of Brazenthrone currently...
2020-08-11 17:22:40 +0000 UTC View Post
Ironbird Aerie might look like a truck stop for airships and flying mounts, but that's only because it kind of is. This is the first of two versions of this map, the second of which will be a little lower-tech, with no gunpowder weapons or mechanical engines. It won't take long to modify and I should have it for you tomorrow.
I'm also going to make some tokens for flying creatures to go with this. The list I've got so far includes: dragon, griffon, hippogriff, pegasus, nightmare and gia...
2020-08-11 01:06:22 +0000 UTC View Post
Ironbird Aerie might look like a truck stop for airships and flying mounts, but that's only because it kind of is. This is the first of two versions of this map, the second of which will be a little lower-tech, with no gunpowder weapons or mechanical engines. It won't take long to modify and I should have it for you tomorrow.
I'm also going to make some tokens for flying creatures to go with this. The list I've got so far includes: dragon, griffon, hippogriff, pegasus, nightmare and gia...
2020-08-11 01:06:18 +0000 UTC View Post
And here's the last level of the Oreworks. Is there much here on the third floor? No. Is there a hole through which your players can drop someone into a blast furnace? Yes sir, there is.
Honestly, I think the real potential of the Oreworks is that there's all kinds of dangerous stuff sitting around that can make a fight here a lot more interesting. Furnaces, molten metal, an assortment of smashing machines... there are a lot of hilariously terrible ways to die here. Something to think a...
2020-08-03 23:47:27 +0000 UTC View Post
And here's the last level of the Oreworks. Is there much here on the third floor? No. Is there a hole through which your players can drop someone into a blast furnace? Yes sir, there is.
Honestly, I think the real potential of the Oreworks is that there's all kinds of dangerous stuff sitting around that can make a fight here a lot more interesting. Furnaces, molten metal, an assortment of smashing machines... there are a lot of hilariously terrible ways to die here. Something to think a...
2020-08-03 23:47:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's the second floor of Brazenthrone's Oreworks. Not too much going on, but now you know what those horses are walking around in circles for. Also, the Miners' Guildhall isn't just a bar, even though it is mostly a bar.
I've actually got the third level done as well, I just need to make the VTT and print versions and so forth. I'll have it up later tonight. All right, I'm gonna grab som...
2020-08-03 21:46:16 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's the second floor of Brazenthrone's Oreworks. Not too much going on, but now you know what those horses are walking around in circles for. Also, the Miners' Guildhall isn't just a bar, even though it is mostly a bar.
I've actually got the third level done as well, I just need to make the VTT and print versions and so forth. I'll have it up later tonight. All right, I'm gonna grab som...
2020-08-03 21:46:07 +0000 UTC View Post
This is the first of three levels of Brazenthrone's Oreworks. This took a bit of research to draw, since-- like most people-- I wasn't all that familiar with the processes and equipment involved in pre-modern ore processing and steelmaking.
It took some reading, but I got the basic idea and there's an explanation of all the equipment depicted here in the DM notes, which I'm giving out to everyone so you don...
2020-08-01 23:38:53 +0000 UTC View Post
This is the first of three levels of Brazenthrone's Oreworks. This took a bit of research to draw, since-- like most people-- I wasn't all that familiar with the processes and equipment involved in pre-modern ore processing and steelmaking.
It took some reading, but I got the basic idea and there's an explanation of all the equipment depicted here in the DM notes, which I'm giving out to everyone so you don...
2020-08-01 23:37:27 +0000 UTC View Post
I think this is the first map I've drawn where everything is outdoors. No buildings, no caverns. Weird. That's not the only unusual thing about it. I tried a few new things with this. I lightened the grid, I made the grass look more... grassy, and I used much brighter colors than I normally do.
I'm really happy with it and I think it's one of my favorite maps I've drawn. Unless people object, I think I'm going to start doing maps this way from now on, with the exception of 2020-07-26 07:05:36 +0000 UTC View Post
These are all the tokens I've made since my game went online in April. The second image is the new ones. I don't know how useful a lot of them are going to be for a lot of people, but if you really, REALLY needed a token of a horse-drawn sleigh, well, you're welcome.
My game is going to some pretty strange places. I'm running the Illithiad trilogy and I'm currently on the second part, 2020-07-23 09:21:52 +0000 UTC View Post
An explanation of who Burke was and why there's a chamber of Brazenthrone named after him is in the DM notes, which I'm giving away to everyone. You can find them above. As with most of the other residential chambers, all the buildings in Burke's Hall are houses, so there's no annotated version.
Next up is the Great Garden, which I described in the last post. I'm still not completely sure what it's goi...
2020-07-15 18:52:34 +0000 UTC View Post
An explanation of who Burke was and why there's a chamber of Brazenthrone named after him is in the DM notes, which I'm giving away to everyone. As with most of the other residential chambers, all the buildings in Burke's Hall are houses, so there's no annotated version.
Next up is the Great Garden, which I described in the last post. I'm still not completely sure what it's going to be like, but I've ...
2020-07-15 18:52:27 +0000 UTC View Post
Eldfjall is an arctic island in the northern seas, a bountiful hunting ground for whaling and seal-hunting. But it's so far north that crops can't grow and even a fire won't keep away the bitter, year-round cold. Still, one brave group of settlers found a way to make it habitable: they built their homes in the caldera of the island's volcano, using the heat it gives off to stay warm and grow small gardens to supplement their diet of fish, seals and whale. This town wasn't built around a volca...
2020-07-10 16:05:34 +0000 UTC View Post
Eldfjall is an arctic island in the northern seas, a bountiful hunting ground for whaling and seal-hunting. But it's so far north that crops can't grow and even a fire won't keep away the bitter, year-round cold. Still, one brave group of settlers found a way to make it habitable: they built their homes in the caldera of the island's volcano, using the heat it gives off to stay warm and grow small gardens to supplement their diet of fish, seals and whale. This town wasn't built around a volca...
2020-07-10 16:05:22 +0000 UTC View PostSo, we're finally getting back to the Great Vote, which some of you may not be familiar with. About a year ago, a series of votes were held to determine the next 10 non-Brazenthrone maps I'd draw would be. Currently, only four are finished.
If you're wondering why that is, here are the reasons, from biggest to smallest.
Grotto. While drawing this map, it occurred to me that "grotto" might be... not the ugliest word in the English language, but the ugliest word for a thing that's usually beautiful. Say it: grotto. Grotto. Ugh.
Yeah, so anyway, the Opaline *ahem* Grotto is a natural cavern with unmined opal deposits in the walls. There's also a small cave system behind one of the houses leading to the Bitterwash River in case your party happens to need a shortcut.
Since I'd origin...
2020-07-04 14:34:30 +0000 UTC View Post
Grotto. While drawing this map, it occurred to me that "grotto" might be... not the ugliest word in the English language, but the ugliest word for a thing that's usually beautiful. Say it: grotto. Grotto. Ugh.
Yeah, so anyway, the Opaline *ahem* Grotto is a natural cavern with unmined opal deposits in the walls. There's also a small cave system behind one of the houses leading to the Bitterwash River in case your party happens to need a shortcut.
Since I'd origin...
2020-07-04 14:34:24 +0000 UTC View PostI just updated the Brazenthrone Codex with all the newer areas of the city. For those of you who haven't seen it, it's a collection of all the Brazenthrone Patrons' Edition annotated maps and DM notes. There's nothing in there that hasn't been posted already, but Brazenthrone is a big place and it's nice to have everything in one file as a DM's reference.
Oh, and I also bookmarked everything.
2020-07-01 17:24:46 +0000 UTC View Post
Skywatch is a little unusual as castles go, for a few reasons. The obvious one is that it's on a rock in the sky. Historically speaking, the most common place to build a castle is on the ground. I'm told that's where over 50% of castles are.
The less-obvious quirk is the castle's defenses. Most castles rely on the idea that the lower parts are easier to get to than the higher parts. So there's a curtain wall. And there's a big, strong gate at the bottom. That doesn't work here, since, p...
2020-06-30 19:51:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Skywatch is a little unusual as castles go, for a few reasons. The obvious one is that it's on a rock in the sky. Historically speaking, the most common place to build a castle is on the ground. I'm told that's where over 50% of castles are.
The less-obvious quirk is the castle's defenses. Most castles rely on the idea that the lower parts are easier to get to than the higher parts. So there's a curtain wall. And there's a big, strong gate at the bottom. That doesn't work h...
2020-06-30 19:50:57 +0000 UTC View Post
I'm running a 2e module called "A Darkness Gathering," which... hang on a second--
*SPOILER ALERT*
Right, let's just get that out of the way. So, it's the first of a three-part series of modules where the party discovers a mind flayer plot to darken all the suns in the universe. It's actually quite a bit more complicated than that, but that's the gist of it.
So, in the first part, the players discover the plot. In the second, they have to find and repair an ...
2020-06-24 21:17:43 +0000 UTC View Post
With this done, the shattered wreck that is Brazenthrone's Old Quarter is now finished. Next up is last month's Cartographic Congress winner: a small castle on a floating island in the sky. Following that, we're going back to Brazenthrone to do the Opaline Grotto (24 on this map). ...
2020-06-20 23:38:22 +0000 UTC View Post
With this done, the shattered wreck that is Brazenthrone's Old Quarter is now finished. Next up is last month's Cartographic Congress winner: a small castle on a floating island in the sky. Following that, we're going back to Brazenthrone to do the Opaline Grotto (24 on this map). ...
2020-06-20 23:38:13 +0000 UTC View Post
My computer finally died for good. I actually took it into a repair shop, which was a first for me. I'm usually the kind of geek who fixes his own computer. If it's a software problem, I can probably work it out. If it's a hardware problem on a desktop... maybe. But this was a hardware problem on a laptop, which put it ALL the way out of my league.
Turns out there was a short on the motherboard and, since my computer was an unusual make, it couldn't be replaced. But I happened to have t...
2020-06-18 21:10:07 +0000 UTC View Post
My computer finally died for good. I actually took it into a repair shop, which was a first for me. I'm usually the kind of geek who fixes his own computer. If it's a software problem, I can probably work it out. If it's a hardware problem on a desktop... maybe. But this was a hardware problem on a laptop, which put it ALL the way out of my league.
Turns out there was a short on the motherboard and, since my computer was an unusual make, it couldn't be replaced. But I happened to have t...
2020-06-18 21:10:01 +0000 UTC View Post
