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Release the Kraken on the Four Javelins Coaching Inn!

Every month that we keep funding over the $400 mark we dig up maps to be released under the free commercial-use license. This month we released Serzen’s Seven Stairs, and now it is time for The Four Javelins Coaching Inn!

Big inns, even if they are mostly an anachronism in a traditional medieval RPG, are definitely a big part of what we expect when playing RPGs. I have inns and coaching inns turning up fairly frequently as a place to gather information, sleep, and eat. Even more importantly,...

Release the Kraken on Serzen's Seven Stairs!

Every month that we keep funding over the $400 mark we sift through my back catalog to release a map or two under the free commercial-use license. This month we are releasing the Kraken on a pair of maps from 2014, starting with Serzen’s Seven Stairs!

There are times when you want a dungeon that feels like it could really exist, that it was naturally occurring, or that someone took natural caves and “enhanced” them to make a dungeon. There are other times, however, where you just want ov...

My Private Jakalla - Map 1N

This afternoon I get to sit down with the group I’ve been playing Empire of the Petal Throne with for over 2 years after what feels like months of downtime (which I believe is actually 4 weeks of missed games for me between my own travel and the DM’s). So what better time to crack out yet another My Private Jakalla map!

The goal of this long-term project is to make a large set of maps that interconnect to produce something thematically similar to the original Jakallan Underworld map that M...

Return to the Medusa's Chasm

The Dark Huntress, a medusa most foul, has turned this old shrine into her lair which she shares with her favoured ones - a pack of tainted goblins that can run on the walls and ceilings like insects.

The medusa lairs on the far side of the chasm, in a columned chamber that was once the inner sanctum of the shrine. Her goblin companions live across the bridge between her and the main entrance into the old shrine - a set of stairs carved into the side of the ravine that leads into th...

Four Pagodas of Kwantoom

My love of Kabuki Kaiser’s solo D&D masterpiece “Mad Monks of Kwantoom” isn’t much of a secret. So when I saw Tim Hartin of Paratime Design playing a game of Ruins of the Undercity and posting his results to Google+, I just needed to pull out Mad Monks again and play through a few more of the 1001 Pagodas of Doom.

And the real secret of the Mad Monks of Kwantoom is that the stuff you do between expeditions to the 1001 Pagodas is usually even cooler (discovering cool stor...

August Krakening!

Alright, I'm back from camping, so we'd better get this Kraken thing in gear, eh?

Vote here to determine what maps are being released this month. Voting will be open until Tuesday the 22nd of August.

https://goo.gl/forms/t8EvwW1gv2jTfgOm2

Thanks everyone for your votes, continued support, and general awesomeness!

Infested Hall (time-lapse video and map)

In the lowest chambers of the ancient complex is a great hall now known as “the infested hall”. A two-level chamber cut into the depths. The original chamber had a small reflecting pool at one end that was used primarily for religious and ceremonial purposes but that was also a backup water supply for the complex. When the complex was sacked and destroyed, the hall was used as a latrine by invading forces and the reflecting pool broken allowing water to seep into the rest of the chamber.

I...

Heart of Darkling - The Demon Halls

One of the first structures people encounter when travelling along the Heart of Darkling is the “Demon Bridge” where the bitter ice demon and his kobold allies have complete control and use their domain to trade ice-iron weapons and hardware to those who know of their existence.

Below the Demon Bridge is the home of these creatures and their master – a small set of dungeons and caves where they ply their craft and live.

The main hall of the Demon Halls is a 30′ tall ar...

The Heart of Darkling - Map 1A

There is a river that dips underground through a low-ceilinged cave before descending fairly gently under the grey hills to depths unknown. However, all it takes is a magic spell to lower the water level at the cave entrance to make this easily navigable by boat, as the river cave has a fairly high ceiling after the entrance… and at least one local merchant has been acquiring goods from someone along the underground river in this manner.

The very first structures along the river a...

Yew Lane Estate

When the church of Zollis the Untouched was disbanded, the high deacon left the holy city and moved here to get away from the old church’s flock and the many troubles that still dogged it. With funds most likely funneled from the old church’s coffers, she bought the Yew Lane Estate and restarted her life as Lady Delles. Of course, she likely still has a fair amount of church funds to her name, and definitely is still in possession of a few “no-longer-sacred” artifacts that could a...

Liar's Cave

Last month I upgraded my video rig for recording when I draw a map, and now I’m learning a few basics of how to edit one of those videos. So let’s start off August with this video of me drawing a small dungeon & cavern map.

Liar’s Cave was once an elven outpost cut into the stone of the natural cave by a variety of magics. The elves that built it and lived there were outcasts among their kin, and survived with just the bare necessities of a few dozen lacquered human peasan...

My Private Jakalla - Map 1M

I’m heading out of the city for a lovely couple of weeks hanging out with friends on a massive campsite full of cool folks, but before I left I thought we could head back to “My Private Jakalla” and explore another stretch of this expanding megadungeon project.

The goal of this long-term project is to make a large set of maps that interconnect to produce something thematically similar to the original Jakallan Underworld map that M.A.R. Barker used in his Empire of the Petal Th...

The Holy City of Guerras-El-Essat

Guerras-El-Essat is built up around a massive temple dedicated to the living (or unliving?) eight-armed vampiric deity-demon El-Essat who stalked the peoples living along the verge of the Blue Jungles since times beyond recorded history. In what was either a brilliant coup by the demon or by the priesthood (depending who’s stories you hear), she now lives within the jungle temple and is served blood sacrifices to keep her happy and in turn to keep the holy city and the lands along the b...

The Coward's Crescent

Built into a stony hillside, this small dungeon was originally constructed as a storehouse for important, magical, and often illicit goods. The strong defensive construction made it a prime fortress and hideaway when the crown was being contested and became the secret home to the treacherous Prince Kalway.

In the end it took a skilled assassin, some magical assistance, and a fairly large deposit of gold to pull the prince out of the structure alive to be tried for his crimes. The st...

General Update - Late July & Early August

I'm going to be out of town for roughly two weeks at the end of July and beginning of August.

I'll be scheduling posts on the blog and on Patreon to go up while I'm away, but won't be able to follow through on any communications during this time. 

• There will not be an August Backstage Pass as I'll be out of town when the pass would normally be released, and I will not have everything scanned in time.
• July's Kraken releases will go up as scheduled posts on the blog, ...
  2017-07-22 04:04:01 +0000 UTC View Post

Revenge of the Ghoul Prince

Beneath the recent ruins of an unnamed fort in the rough mountains north of Dawnharbor is the “Hall of the Ghoul Prince”. Tales in Dawnharbor mention that the fortress was assaulted and partially destroyed by an angry mob of townfolk and a couple of adventurers when it was discovered that the nobleman living there had been engaging in cannibalism and other base horrors for some time.

The main hall deep under the fort was said to have the remains of a dozen local farmers and a fe...

Bela's Cove

So I finally started messing around with my setup for recording again and put this video together. I was inspired by a work in progress shot by @dmquill, and wanted to try out double-lining the walls of a map while also using my crosshatching.

Because it was a test of a new style, I really rushed through this map and drew the whole thing in 40 minutes. The quality isn’t great and I might redraw it completely at some point in the future. I just really wanted to see how the style wo...

Hall of the Ancient Ones

The elves called it something that translates to "The Silent Home of Those Who See From Beyond The Veil Of Worlds And Time" or something similar. More recent translations of elven texts tend to call it the "Hall of the Ancient Eyes" or the "Hall of the Ancient Ones".

The texts usually referenced the hall in passing, but a few choice excerpts describe it as a place where otherworldly entities see into this world, and where some sorcerers, mystics, and warlocks would communicate with ...

Last Home of the Thirty Slain Magi

At the bottom of the black well is a single archway leading to the passage that connects the three massive sepulchers containing the tombs of the thirty slain magi.

Occasionally something foul pokes out of the passage into the wane light at the bottom of the well. Something formless and ever-changing, a guardian beast of some kind that is said to live and grow on the residual magic of the magi under its watch.

Many of the magi are of course rumoured to have been entombed with a number of...

It is time for the July Krakening!

Once again, eight maps have been made available for your selection. The top two (unless funding drops dramatically) will be released under the commercial license.

The voting is here: https://goo.gl/forms/HBGaEnY53OrWRHoP2

I'll close voting in roughly 2 weeks, maybe a bit sooner (90% of the votes come through in the first 3 days).

Release the Kraken on New Cresthill!

Things got a bit busy at the end of last month, so I didn’t get around to posting the second map released in June under the “RELEASE THE KRAKEN!” project. Every month that we maintain funding over the $400 mark I sift through my back catalog and bring up a selection of maps that my patrons then vote on as to which will be released under the free commercial-use license. June turned out to be a city map month, with the first release being Joseph’s Inlet, and now we have New Cresthill!

Al...

Forgotten Catacombs

Years ago the elders of the city entombed their dead in a small underworld necropolis beneath the Temple of Quiet Passage. The temple priests became caught up in strange events and foul creatures that resulted in the destruction of the temple and scattering of the flock a couple of hundred years ago.

Since then the neighbourhood has been revitalized and changed and is mostly mercantile based these days with The Plaza of Passage being the city's main open market during the week.

Somewhere...

The Oubliette Crypts

Different cultures and faiths entomb their dead in different manners. One of the old faiths of the land made small shaft tombs with “cells” at the bottom where a number of coffins would be laid and once full the tomb would be capped with a small brick dome. It takes a certain amount of nerve to break into a sepulcher and then crack open one of these domes, rappel down the twelve foot shaft and then start breaking into the individual coffins at the bottom.

In this case, the six d...

Backstage Pass - July 2017

Whoooo! Backstage Pass Time!

Nine more maps will be showing up on the blog this month, and you get the advance copies!

Dead Kraken Anchorage

Dead Kraken Anchorage was a small secret pirate cove in the Dunnswall Cliffs until some idiot brought a cog in too far and wrecked the damned thing against "the old Kraken's beak". 

With the wrecked cog clearly visible from the sea, it is only a matter of time before someone comes in and checks on the rest of the area where decades of work had produced a hiding place where pirates would load and unload ill-gotten wares to transfer them between ships or just to let really hot cargoes chill...

Release the Kraken on Joseph's Inlet

Every month that we keep funding remains over the $400 mark I sift through my back catalog and bring up a selection of maps that you vote on as to which will be released under the free commercial-use license. This month we start by releasing the Kraken on good old Joseph’s Inlet!

Joseph’s Inlet is a small unwalled city built around a moderate-sized keep on a hill overlooking the sea. At heart, the town is drawn around few features that I wanted for a few stories / adventures. 2017-06-28 19:02:06 +0000 UTC View Post

My Private Jakalla - Map 1L

Why not finish off the month with a second map for the Tekumel undercity – a small section of old temple and crypt structures that extend into a previous “gap” in the existing maps from the “My Private Jakalla” megadungeon project.

The goal of this long-term project is to make a large set of maps that interconnect to produce something thematically similar to the original Jakallan Underworld map that M.A.R. Barker used in his Empire of the Petal Throne games.

This is the twelfth...

Whisper's Remains

On the western shore of the Ahr Shallows is a stony beach and sea cave known as the Whisper Shore because of cracks in the stones that whistle and whisper as waves move in and out of the sea cave below.

Above the sea cave is the remains of a small keep that was erected here and was then abandoned during the last great war. The fallen keep sits quietly now, surrounded by stones and whispers. The understructures of the keep are hidden by a concealed door built into the flagstones with...

My Private Jakalla - Map 1K

With summer bearing down on us, let us return underground where many priests escape Tekumel’s hot season in the eleventh section of the “My Private Jakalla” megadungeon project. The goal of this long-term project is to make a large set of maps that interconnect to produce something thematically similar to the original Jakallan Underworld map that M.A.R. Barker used in his Empire of the Petal Throne games.

While this map is heavily sewer-based, it really scratches my main itch when it com...

The Tsolyani Colony of Linyaró

We are now on our 90th session of our Empire of the Petal Throne campaign run by James Maliszewski and things have shifted dramatically for our group of characters as we’ve been exiled to become the governor of the very very distant colony of Linyaró on the mysterious Southern Continent.

As our group’s resident cartographer, I drew up the colony city. The colony itself is about 300 or so years old at this point and the city has already had to expand the curtain walls significan...