milbysmaps

The Dragon's Lair in Devil's Chimney

This is the volcanic lair of a red dragon and its minions. Since this isn't a particularly safe place to live for anything that isn't immune to fire, those minions are probably something like:

• Fire giants

• Efreet

• Salamanders

• Firenewts

I could also see this being the home of any of the above without the dragon, since these races would all probably be big fans of volcanofront property.

As promised, I'll be starting ...

The Dragon's Lair in Devil's Chimney - Patrons' Edition

This is the volcanic lair of a red dragon and its minions. Since this isn't a particularly safe place to live for anything that isn't immune to fire, those minions are probably something like:

• Fire giants

• Efreet

• Salamanders

• Firenewts

I could also see this being the home of any of the above without the dragon, since these races would all probably be big fans of volcanofront property.

As promised, I'll be starting ...

The 79th Cartographic Congress Runoff

I'm about to post last month's Cartographic Congress map, so we'll get straight to this month's finalists:

• Magpie proposes a grand library, which could be the lair of a book wyrm.

• Anders proposes a map of the viking age trade town of Birka.

The 79th Cartographic Congress Vote

Just to let everyone know, this month's winning map will be drawn after the next megaproject is finished, which I'll be starting on soon. I expect it to take about 2 months. This will be the first map drawn afterwards, along with any other Cartographic Congress maps chosen in the meantime.

I hope that's okay with everyone! If it's not and your proposal wins, please let me know. All right, on to the vote:

• Andrew proposes a fantasy version of the Vasari Corridor, an en...

  2025-03-31 14:23:18 +0000 UTC View Post

Temple of the Elements

The Temple of the Elements is dedicated to the four elemental forces. Did you ever see a show called Captain Planet? And did you ever wonder where Captain Planet was when the kids hadn't summoned him? I don't know either, but I feel like it might've been someplace like this.

So, I just moved and I now live in a small village in the country. This is my first time living in a rural area...

Temple of the Elements - Patrons' Edition

The Temple of the Elements is dedicated to the four elemental forces. Did you ever see a show called Captain Planet? And did you ever wonder where Captain Planet was when the kids hadn't summoned him? I don't know either, but I feel like it might've been someplace like this.

So, I just moved and I now live in a small village in the country. This is my first time living in a rural area...

Please break this tie.

The Cartographic Congress has been deadlocked at 9-9 for several days, so I'm opening up the vote to all patrons. I'll be drawing the winning map next, so please cast a vote and break that tie.

The Living Ship: Dead Version (Spoiler: it's just a boat)

Here's a version of the previous map with greatly reduced foliage.

Right now, my plan is to get all the Cartographic Congress maps out of the way and start on the next megaproject. So, next up will be an elemental temple with chambers dedicated to the four elements. After that, I'll get to w...

Spelljammer: The Living Ship

Sometimes the druid or the ranger gets to pick the spelljammer and you end up with a Living Ship. The most notable feature of this vessel is a treant rooted into the deck. Since the ship and the treant are fused together, the treant can repair hull damage and keep the air envelope clean. And, in the event of enemy boarding, it can rip the heads off anything dumb enough to come near it. And, now that I think of it, the treant can clean out the privies, too. Humans do poop plant food, after all...

Spelljammer: The Living Ship - Patrons' Edition

Sometimes the druid or the ranger gets to pick the spelljammer and you end up with a Living Ship. The most notable feature of this vessel is a treant rooted into the deck. Since the ship and the treant are fused together, the treant can repair hull damage and keep the air envelope clean. And, in the event of enemy boarding, it can rip the heads off anything dumb enough to come near it. And, now that I think of it, the treant can clean out the privies, too. Humans do poop plant food, after all...

The 78th Cartographic Congress Runoff

This month's finalists in the runoff are Clifford the Big Red Dragon and Clifford the Big Red Tower. Good luck to you both!

• Bryan proposes a dragon's lair carved into a volcano with several iron buildings for its fire giant or efreet minions.

• Shawn proposes a motte-and-bailey castle with a small settlement and trading post around it. The castle would be based on Clifford's Tower in York, England.

The 78th Cartographic Congress Vote

We've got nine excellent proposals this month, so I'll let you get right to it. As always, feel free to discuss, debate and promote your choices below.

• Bryan proposes a dragon's lair carved into a volcano with several iron buildings for its fire giant or efreet minions.

• Silas proposes a firenewt war camp with facilities for warriors, stables for Giant Striders and defences that take advantage of their fire immunity.

• William proposes Dustwelde, a set...

  2025-02-28 19:11:52 +0000 UTC View Post

The Ironclad Raider

The ironclad raider is probably a ship best suited for one of four things:

• The big bad guy in a naval campaign, who you want the party to have to run away from (because if they roll well and sink him in session five, what then?)

• Gnomes

• Dwarves, if your dwarves are into boats

• That one kingdom in your setting that's way more technologically advanced than everyone else

When I drew this, I tried to capture a bit of that 2025-02-25 21:03:16 +0000 UTC View Post

The Ironclad Raider - Patrons' Edition

The ironclad raider is probably a ship best suited for one of four things:

• The big bad guy in a naval campaign, who you want the party to have to run away from (because if they roll well and sink him in session five, what then?)

• Gnomes

• Dwarves, if your dwarves are into boats

• That one kingdom in your setting that's way more technologically advanced than everyone else

When I drew this, I tried to capture a bit of that 2025-02-25 21:03:05 +0000 UTC View Post

The Stygian City - From the Top to the Bottom

Here's all 21 levels of the big hole. I meant to post this earlier, but better late than never. Has anyone's party made their way into the pit yet? If so, I'd love to know where they're at and what they're up to.

Also, the next map should be done in a day or two. Until then!

Spelljammer Poll

Here are your choices for the next spelljammer map. Don't worry too much about the official floor plans, since I'm probably going to ignore them anyway. I have with every other spelljammer I've drawn and this isn't super likely to be the exception. If you've got any questions about any of these or how I'd draw them, feel free to ask.

• 2025-02-13 19:16:48 +0000 UTC View Post

The Impossible Vault

So this is about as evil a dungeon as I could come up with. Despite the name, it's not literally impossible, but it is rough. The details are in the DM notes, but here are the main features:

• There are golems that release poisonous gas from vents in the walls behind them when they attack. So you have to fight golems in a room that's quickly being filled with...

  2025-02-13 17:42:27 +0000 UTC View Post

The Impossible Vault - Patrons' Edition

So this is about as evil a dungeon as I could come up with. Despite the name, it's not literally impossible, but it is rough. The details are in the DM notes, but here are the main features:

• There are golems that release poisonous gas from vents in the walls behind them when they attack. So you have to fight golems in a room that's quickly being filled with...

  2025-02-13 17:42:09 +0000 UTC View Post

Alverfjord - Low Tide Version

Here's the low tide version of Alverfjord. There are a few recessed areas that stay submerged, but most of it goes dry.

Next, I'm going to draw a map called the Impossible Vault. It's a dwarven vault that was meant to be impenetrable. I've been thinking about how to design this place for a while now and... look, this thing is going to be straight up evil. The traps are infuriating, there's a decoy...

The 77th Cartographic Congress Runoff

We've got two proposals in this month's runoff. What'll it be?

Shawn proposes a motte-and-bailey castle with a small settlement and trading post around it. The castle would be based on Clifford's Tower in York, England.

Bryan proposes an elemental temple with four towers dedicated to the elements (earth, air, fire, water).

Alverfjord

So, I mainly see Alverfjord as three things potentially:

• A village where a land-dwelling race lives alongside an aquatic race (such as sea elves, tritons, merfolk, etc). This was the original idea.

• A village whose residents are covertly controlled by someone living below. This could be an aboleth, a group of illithids or a coven of sea hags.

• A village whose residents are secretly up to some shady stuff, which they do in the tunnels below. Maybe this...

  2025-02-05 18:58:01 +0000 UTC View Post

Alverfjord - Patrons' Edition

So, I mainly see Alverfjord as three things potentially:

• A village where a land-dwelling race lives alongside an aquatic race (such as sea elves, tritons, merfolk, etc). This was the original idea.

• A village whose residents are covertly controlled by someone living below. This could be an aboleth, a group of illithids or a coven of sea hags.

• A village whose residents are secretly up to some shady stuff, which they do in the tunnels below. Maybe this...

  2025-02-05 18:57:40 +0000 UTC View Post

Fjordlandia: The Surface (Work-in-Progress)

The upper level of the village is done, I just need a few more days to finish up the caves and tunnels underneath. See the underwater tunnel mouths? That's what those lead to. Anyway, hope you like it so far!

The 77th Cartographic Congress Vote

We've got six proposals this month and I'll get right to them:

• Shawn proposes a motte-and-bailey castle with a small settlement and trading post around it. The castle would be based on Clifford's Tower in York, England.

• Silas proposes the ancient Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.

• Benjamin proposes a navigational map of the waters around an island fortress. This would be a regional map, not a battlemap.

• Ethan proposes a toll bridge and a cli...

  2025-01-31 22:50:52 +0000 UTC View Post

Fjordlandia (Work-in-Progress)

Here's the art for the upper level of the tidal village I'm working on. There's a lower level as well with a network of underwater caves and tunnels running under the village. The main idea is that this is a place where humans or elves live alongside an aquatic race that dwells in the caverns below. Of course, the tunnels could also be occupied by something more malevolent that torments or controls the villagers in some way. Or maybe there's cult stuff going on down there. There are a few way...

So, how about if I just draw the Vatican? Like, all of it.

I want to get your thoughts on Vatican City as a potential megaproject for later this year. It's the only country I can draw in its entirety, for several reasons. First, because it's fairly small. And second, because most of the buildings are famous and the floor plans are publicly available. This includes (click for photo):

• 2025-01-20 21:11:29 +0000 UTC View Post

The Stygian City Codex

With the codex done, the Stygian City is officially finished! A lot of people were really excited about this project when I first proposed it and I hope you like how it turned out in the end. In any case, I'd love to hear your thoughts about it for better or for worse.

I also want to thank you all for your support in making this! None of it would have happened without you and I'm truly honored to be ab...

Stygian City Alternate Level: The Aboleth Lair

Here's the final alternate level for the Stygian City, which is definitely my favorite of the four. I added a whole section to the DM notes about it, which might be useful for anyone planning to run a psychic fish-based campaign in the pit. The DM notes are now 19 pages and may actually be the longest thing I've ever written. Not a joke.

Speaking of which, there's one last thing to do before this project is...

Last Tower of the Mage Lords - Land and Sea Versions

This map is now available in two alternate versions: "aviation-free" and "enhanced moisture." I don't know how much use the sea version is going to get, but I thought it would be a cool thing to come across in the middle of the ocean.

It does feel a little awkward to have drawn a map called the Last Tower of the Mage Lords and then make two more towers of the mage lords, but it seems like the kind of lie people will forgive. After all, there are sixteen Final Fantasy games out there and...

Last Tower of the Mage Lords

I'm back with a pretty fancy wizard tube for you. This isn't your standard 4-level tower for a wizard who hasn't talked to anyone but his cat in the last 2 years. This is for a wizard with friends. Maybe even a few wizards, plus an assortment of apprentices, servants and guards.

Of course, there's also another other option. It's not for everybody, but-- look, do you have airships in your setting? Because this can be an airship if you want it to be. There's nobody stopping you. There's a...