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2019 Dungeon Geomorphs - Set 3!

I've drawn up another four dungeon geomorph designs that will be added to the pool of designs for this year's Inkwell Ideas DungeonMorph Dice. 15 dice are being made in this set, and initially that doesn't feel like that many, but that's 90 geomorphs - almost as many as I drew in one year of my initial Geomorph Mapping Challenge back in the early days of my blog (2009-2010).

2019-05-16 19:43:05 +0000 UTC View Post

The Bubble City of Oublos

The great city of Oublos-Dorren was destroyed decades ago by a massive pyroclastic flow followed up by a slower engulfing surge of lava from the Searing Mountains eruption. All of the city except for a small “bubble” almost exactly 180 feet across centred on a small temple of Lazotl – a local deity of misfortune and revenge.

The priests of Lazotl got the warnings of the impending eruption through a series of poison-induced visions and managed to erect a protective spell over their...

The Bottomless Tombs - Level 2

While a number of the old shaft tombs of the Etturan Dynasty have been found and explored, there is one that remains a well-kept secret amongst sages, masters of dark arts, and the few adventurers who have been there. Possibly the original shaft tomb of the dynasty, or perhaps a strange discovery that became the inspiration for the ones to come – the Bottomless Tombs seem to have earned their name.

Seventy feet beneath the cluster of tombs at the entrance to this seemingly bottomless ...

Twelve Goats Tavern

Back due to popular demand, we have another partially walled tavern. This tavern (even with the walls) is more suited to being in a town or city as it has no “guest rooms” per se and is strictly a tavern and not an inn.

The upstairs rooms are for the owner’s family, while the ground floor has the bar and tavern and storage. Food is cooked in a pot in the fireplace.

In the courtyard we have some space to unload goods, as well as a pair of privies by the lilac tree (to try to ...

Backstage Pass - May

Last month's backstage pass included 4 maps that didn't get released last month and didn't include the geomorphs that were released in their place. I kind of lost track of time and forgot when the DungeonMorph Dice Kickstarter was happening and one thing led to another...

This month's pass is a little lighter than usual. I may or may not release those missing maps from last month's depending on how time works out. But here are 7 of the maps that will be released this month!

Black Armoury of the Mad King

A small dungeon or sublevel of another dungeon, the Black Armoury is where the Mad King sealed away the Weapon after using it once in the Battle of Zayhr Mountain. The guardians of the weapon are trapped here in eternal vigilance – their own life force replaced with the energies of the Weapon itself.

The structure itself is a multi-tiered affair with stairs up and down to various sections, and a high ceilinged chamber with rough natural cliffs and ledges has an overlook that leads bac...

2019 Geomorphs, Set 2 (and Dice!)

TL;DR: Four new geomorphs in a flashback to a decade ago, and the DungeonMorph Dice Kickstarter is going strong and moving in on $10k of the $15k target!

It is always kind of exciting being involved in a Kickstarter as it goes live. And this one is a great reminder of when I first started working on maps for the blog. It i...

Release the Kraken on Sanhelter Keep!

The first map to get re-released this month under the free commercial license is last year's "Sanhelter Keep".

A small keep within spitting distance of the Kearwood Grove – a sanctified grove of the druids of the Somernigan Woods – Sanhelter Keep is essentially a ranger base for keeping an eye on whomever or whatever moves in or our of the woods.

At some point the lords of Sanhelter stopped watching for poachers in the Somernigan, leaving that to the druids (and turning a blin...

Temple Crypts of the Wraith Priests

Beneath the walls of the roofless ancient structure of l’Église de l’Oubli are the Temple Crypts, still tended to by the Wraith Priests of the order.

Hidden behind massive ghost-iron masks, the wraith priests float nearly silently through the temple crypts guarding sacred relics that were stolen long ago and muttering prayers to the silent gods of this place. They watch the small side stairs into the crypts but avoid the larger (main) stairs because sun still shines down this way, ...

2019 Geomorphs & Dice!

If we set the wayback machine to nearly a decade ago, there’s essentially a full year where I posted nothing but geomorphs to the blog. Behind the scenes I spent a couple of months working on geomorph concepts to figure out what format worked well enough that it was not too apparent when you moved from one geomorph to the next.

I was originally going to work with Erol Otus’ “Geomorphic Mini Dungeon Modules” format of 11 x 11 with entrances in the sixth square on each side, but i...

Psychedelic Cellar of the Stone Giants

Up in the hills there’s a small river cave where a pair of stone giants have set up their own private grow-op to supply themselves (and a few shamans and priests back “home”) with giant-scale psychedelic fungus.

The “psychedelic cellar” itself is well protected in giant terms. Stone bars block access along the river to all but the smallest of would-be thieves (halflings could be an issue), and the door to the cave is kept under lock and key. The easiest access to a would-be th...

Infestation in the Stone

The crypts under the Grand Cathedral in Javelin Hill are where the faithful and powerful are interred to rest in silence. But something went wrong. Probably linked to the burial of the Lord of Sunsets, minuscule stone “eggs” managed to work their way into the stonework and packed earth of the crypts…

Unfortunately, few travel down to the lowest level of the crypts and the “great mausoleum” at its centre – otherwise they might have noted the weird stone and earth “tumours�...

The Wooden Duck Inn

The Wooden Duck is a walled coaching inn nearly a day’s ride from Granitespire, about an hour outside of Prince’s Harbour. It has a small tavern but is mostly dedicated to 8 private and semi-private rooms and a large common room for travelers to stay overnight.

The Wooden Duck is owned by a widower who moved here from Granitespire – he is eternally on edge because back in the city he killed a silver merchant and expects the monkeys of Granitespire to swarm down upon the Duck at an...

Patreon Exclusive - Tales of the Ophidian Emperor

Here we go with my first ever "Patreon Exclusive". 

As a thank you for your continued support, the goal is to produce a play aid or accessory every month that all patrons receive for supporting the campaign and keeping the flow of free maps going out into the world.

This month we have this pocketmod adventure framework that uses a map that was on the blog a few months ago - but it gave me an excuse to practice illustrating a bit more instead of creating a new map... and I'm r...

The Vault of Tranquility

The Vault of Tranquility is the audience chamber and sanctuary of the Dwarven mummy Gheres-Nekheb Stormstone – one of the last remnants of the Lich Shogunate. Within these enchanted halls only the dwarven mummy’s voice can be heard above the level of a hoarse whisper… and old Stormstone rarely speaks louder than that himself.

From these secret halls, Gheres-Nekheb sends out spies and assassins to the lands of the living, keeping tabs on the ever changing politics and alliances whe...

Patreon Exclusive Content!

Starting this month I’ll be releasing something that will not be posted to the blog every month. Following up on my promise and goal of keeping my maps free – the Patreon Exclusive release will never be a map.

Instead, I’m producing other interesting content that meshes my drawing and cartography with some graphic design and whatever my current obsession is to produce game aids. These will be shown off a bit on the blog, but the actual final product will be exclusive to my Patrons...

The Ruins of Charnesse

There was never much to Charnesse – a stone bridge, a few houses, and a small common house that served ale and light food to passing travellers and the local farmers when they had a few coins to spend.

But there’s a lot less now. Smoke was seen rising from the area since yesterday, and the reports are grim. All the homes have been ruined and even the fishing pier has been damaged. A huge fire was lit in the centre of the small thorpe seemingly with the furnishings off all the buildi...

April Backstage Pass!

Last night I mentioned that I was getting a bit of control over the whole scheduling situation. To try to prove it, here's this month's backstage pass!

April showers bring KRAKEN FLOWERS!

Hey, wait a minute... I'm almost on top of things? Doing the whole "release the Kraken" thing before the last week of the month? Next thing you know I'll be putting up the Backstage Pass in the next 24-48 hours or something.

So!

For those new to the Patreon, every month I put up this poll where I've chosen 8-12 maps from the blog that aren't currently available under the free commercial use license. Then every patron gets a vote to choose which two will be released under said lice...

The Y'ruvex Swamps

The only major river inlet on the whole of the island is the Y’ruvex Swamps, a marshy lowland pincered between mountain ranges. We believed that if we could get past the swamps themselves and to the open rivers beyond, they would likely lead us to the heart of this island and the rumoured central plateau.

But nothing healthy grows in those swamps and the mountains around them show the spoor of the mightiest of territorial predators – dragons. The Jale folk call the river valley “t...

Release the Kraken on the Banshee's Tower

From your votes, a second tower has been selected for re-release under our free commercial-use license this month!

The wail of the banshee can be heard through the fens for miles around. In the nearest village they pretend it is the call of a very persistent screech owl, but few actually believe it.

On a low rocky hill near the middle of the fens is the old tower, scorched and partially collapsed. The banshee’s home is in the second floor of the tower in the room open t...

Welcome back, Tower McDemonFace!

In a fun twist, this month’s Release the Kraken voting has brought back a classic “joke” map from 2016 – the Tower-Faced Demon!

There are a number of dead gods, demons and other creatures long forgotten who’s planes of existence have ceased to exist and who now float around the astral, petrified with old age and lack of followers.

While most are just ignored, or used as the occasional stopping place or landmark in the infinite phlogiston, the Githyanki are famou...

Oh boy! 48 Hour Kraken Poll!

Oh, wow, I knew I was busy, but somehow all of March has flown by and we haven't released the krakens yet!

So, here's a quick 48 hour poll to select which maps from the Dodecahedron back catalog we'll re-release under the free commercial use license this month!

https://forms.gle/6Rn8ZQ4b31R6BssaA

March Backstage!

Hey folks, sorry for the delay, here's the collected zip file of all of March's releases. I've got six of the nine maps done for April and maybe I'll manage to get the April pass out in the first week or so of April. :)

Been super busy - looks like I've found what my peak production speed is without sacrificing quality. But I also like making a bit of time in my life for video games, so I'm going to dial my outside work back a bit to keep it sane and keep the emphasis here, on making ma...

Catacombs of the Flayed Minotaurs

Beneath the buckled stone floors of the jungle ruins in the Tempest Gardens is a massive set of catacombs guarded by the eternal vigilance of fifteen deathless minotaurs.

Each minotaur has endured the ages imprisoned within these catacombs in their own way, but none are untouched by time or violence. And they are not alone – while they can barely stand each other’s company, many have surrounded themselves with a few creatures that provide them with entertainment, food, or just the c...

The Dwarven Folly that is Ruldroc Castle

An exercise in pointless stonecraft, this castle sits abandoned and oft overrun by foul creatures. A dwarven folly – a structure built purely for the sake of building a structure – the castle cuts into and juts over a small canyon in the foothills of Tismar Summit.

When the dwarves left after building the folly, they locked the doors and forgot about it. To this day the front doors remain locked and require Voldrugg’s Key (or magic) to be opened – the current residents got in in...

The Bitter Minotaur Inn & Tavern

The Bitter Minotaur is a roadside inn along a major road within the relatively safe lands of the Satrapy. The roads here aren’t threatened by monstrous incursions and other foul beasts, but as they run through heavy forests they are still prone to a bit of banditry here and there. Thus the Inn serves as a resting point along the route instead of a defensive shelter.

The three-story Inn has a courtyard with wagon gates east and west to allow coaches to roll in, unload passengers and ca...

Lair of the Octopus Sorcerer

The Octopus Sorcerer has been researching and experimenting with some remains of the lost Aemril “technologies” in a cave on Farmrath Summit for the last seven years.

This wouldn’t really matter to anyone except that they are in possession of another Aemril artifact – the White Hadariel Staff. The staff is likely the only remaining key into Aemril sites and your employer has a lead on an unplundered vault in the Dhuurawa Wilds and wants either the Octopus Sorcerer to come along,...

Nagmer's Throne Cavern

It should come as no surprise for anyone who has had to deal with the Obsidian Clan bugbears that Nagmer the Terrible meets anyone who requests to parlay with him in the most ridiculously ostentatious cavern setup he could arrange.

Nagmer’s throne cavern is a multi-tiered affair with a natural stone bridge over an underground river. The whole cavern is lit by a massive colony of well-fed fire beetles that crawl along the floor, walls and stalactites. Any discussion with Nagmer is usua...

Lesser Temple of the Heretics

Most of the temples of Zueshel were destroyed after the Seven Heretics struck down the God-King – however a few rebuilt into pyramid-temples dedicated to the heretics themselves. Most of these contain (or at least claim to contain) a holy relic of either the death of Zueshel or from the later deaths of the Seven Heretics.

This particular temple claims to have the son of one of the seven heretics entombed in the reliquary below it. It serves both as an administrative centre of the rura...