Another one of the caves leading into the catacombs beneath Triumph Mesa, this one is named after it’s primary resident, the boneless lich known as Cepheus. Cepheus is an undead monstrosity of immense size, resembling a bloated and unearthly octopus more than anything else. It resides within the large cavern, immersed in the study of other realms that it accesses via a 4 foot diameter crystal ball that it caresses in its massive rotting tentacles. Most travellers have the good sense to bypass ...
2014-10-24 15:36:41 +0000 UTC
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The goblin trail leads to this cave, and presumably within they are holding the missing dwarf and fighter – maybe as prisoners, maybe just as food. But the origin of the cave isn’t geological in nature. This cave is part of the old coolant processing facility that was part of the nearby space elevator (the city of Winterspire is built into the foundation of that same elevator, this is one of 16 sub-spires that supported the original construction).
The goal of this redraw of the Cragmaw Hide...
2014-10-21 16:08:41 +0000 UTC
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One of several fairly well known entrances into the catacombs beneath Triumph Mesa, Hesporus Cave is home to a xenophobic clan of dwarves who seem to have given up on most of what people expect from their kin. They are unkempt and dirty, put no time into mining and crafts, and instead worship some dark entity of unknown origin.
However, if you can deal with them (or sneak past them), access to the depths below is fairly simple. Those who have negotiated passage in the past typically ignore the...
2014-10-17 15:25:10 +0000 UTC
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The mysterious Ten Crown River Caves are a set of five entrances cut into the limestone walls of the Ten Crown River by another watercourse that no longer travels this way. Four of the openings are into a single cavern that runs adjacent to the river (typically referred to as a “gallery” cave). Somewhere deep inside is an old hole where the prior river ran into the caves, but it has been filled in with dirt and rubble for untold years now, leaving the caves dry and almost hospitable.
(An al...
2014-10-14 21:58:47 +0000 UTC
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Old Orlep was founded not too far from OgreMouth cavern… When war came the old village was destroyed and the people of Orlep moved into the cave along with their remaining foodstuffs. In time they built up a new village here – New Orlep is built directly around the cave with a few houses inside the cave proper.
There are two entrances into OgreMouth – the entrance in the middle of the town which is partially walled off and beyond which there are more houses, and the entrance on the hill, ...
2014-10-11 00:25:10 +0000 UTC
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While playtesting a new psionics system for B/X Dungeons & Dragons I decided to have fun with the random adventure generation from Mad Monks of Kwantoom. The end result was so pleasing to my eye that I had to clean it up and elaborate on it.
Thus I bring to you the first three Pagodas of the 1001 Pagodas of Doom.
2014-10-08 15:09:01 +0000 UTC
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The Wolves are a secretive warrior-cult typically pictured fighting with “long knives” (short swords) in both hands. They operate within military forces, tribal warrior bands, city guards and wherever career warriors are to be found. Membership numbers rise and fall, and many members are unaware of religious implications of their “band of brothers” until they are initiated into the higher orders. The “true membership” (those who understand that they are a religious group and who have...
2014-10-03 14:12:09 +0000 UTC
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Rocky hills overlook the poor farming lands along the eastern coastline of the Empire. Most people live by fishing and herding in these lands because the rockiness of the land makes cropping very difficult.
However, it does provide for the kind of terrain that is easily defended against invading forces – making this area one of the more frightfully “independent” regions under Imperial control. Many caves pepper the rocky hills, and fortresses and watchtowers sprung up along the hillsides ...
2014-09-30 11:12:09 +0000 UTC
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I like towers, I particularly like them when the entrance isn’t completely obvious. This reminds me of a fort at a park I used to play in as a kid – you had to walk down a long concrete pipe (basically a sewer main pipe) under a hill to get to the tower in the wooden fort.
There are two ways into this tower, either the tunnel in through the hillside, or you have to climb the sheer sides of the stone construction in order to access the ladder that leads up to the roof from the tower below.
...
2014-09-26 17:13:37 +0000 UTC
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What do you do when you find the stump of a supernaturally large tree? Noting that the outer edge of the stump made for strong natural walls, the townfolk of Serenity’s Roots moved in.
The massive stump of this tree is all that remains of it now. Some believe it was a younger version of the tree that is the foundation of the City of Flowers far to the north. The townfolk like to think of it that way instead of as the near-prison it sometimes feels like as they moved here to avoid the wild noc...
2014-09-23 17:57:37 +0000 UTC
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We don’t know why the ancients built so may underground structures (perhaps to remain out of the sight of the elves who ruled the lands) – and something about how they built them enabled them to survive for ages beyond what you would expect for stone structures in unstable land.
Regardless, over the ages since the end of their civilization, their ruins have been discovered by countless miners, diggers, spelunkers and treasure hunters.
This particular set of ruins is partially collapsed and...
2014-09-19 19:14:02 +0000 UTC
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This old tower and associated structure were built into an outcropping of rock that had traditionally been used as a watch point for the nearby town for generations. As the town found itself existing in safer and safer climes over the years, the tower changed hands and purposes several times, including a few decades as the town’s butcher shop.
Now it is once again used as a watch tower and base of operations for the local bandit warlord. From here he can keep an eye on the shell of the old to...
2014-09-16 16:15:19 +0000 UTC
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It’s starting to feel like “Ruins and Mortuaries” month here at the Dodecahedron with another dungeon suited for the long-term storage of the deceased. Sebastijan’s Shrine is located just west of the city, where it fell into disuse after one side of the stonework structure started to slide away and collapse. No longer maintained by any priesthood, it is instead watched over by a few faithful locals and occasion attempts are made to clean up the mess by travelling clergy.
The only reason...
2014-09-12 17:00:42 +0000 UTC
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At the heart of the Burren Estate are the ruins of the structures that were here centuries before the modern estate. These old buildings were supposedly built in cooperation between the earliest members of the Burren line and the elves who still maintained their empire in that era.
The old estate structures were already abandoned and in rough shape prior to the arrival of the great wyrm that ate the remaining Burrens and took over the estate. While the wyrm was in charge he would only make occa...
2014-09-09 13:58:20 +0000 UTC
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I've got a love for running water in dungeons. I'll blame it on the sample dungeon from the AD&D1e DMG, but I also remember the river right out front of the first dungeon I ever ventured into in that fateful game that converted me to RPGs back in late '79.
At the base of Mount Thorrien is a shrine to one of the dwarven patrons of the great war – a water deity that helped guide the dwarven earthships to this realm to engage in the war against the Kale. The clan that built this shrine, alon...
2014-09-05 13:03:06 +0000 UTC
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Another collection of the many crypts of the Burren Estate. Unlike the three tombs on the hillside, these don't conceal any secret passages, places of worship or other secret areas - however there are many supposedly unplundered tombs here around the ruins created by the dragon who once nested in this small valley.
2014-09-02 13:36:07 +0000 UTC
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About a 25 minute walk west of the Burren Estate (home until recently of a massive and ancient wyrm most foul) are three family tombs against the backdrop of rolling hills and ancient oaks.
Without care and maintenance these last hundred years, the tombs are not in the best of shape, but if there is any place the wyrm may not have looted during his century-long stay, it may be the smaller crypts of the family. Except these crypts actually hide something else – a cave containing a small lake a...
2014-08-29 15:31:56 +0000 UTC
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Last week (or the week before?) someone was looking for a keep map and we commiserated about the fact that there aren’t that many keeps in my map collection… yet.
Dreifer’s Fortress is a coastal keep in a very defensible position. That’s really all there is to it so far – but we’ll see how long that lasts…
My goal yesterday when I started mapping was to make an adventure something like the Tombs of the Gersidi from the original Palladium Fantasy RPG – an adventure where the par...
2014-08-26 12:14:30 +0000 UTC
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Not all mines are very extensive. In the case of Cortland’s Mines, they were quite small. Mainly because they were started because a miner saw some silver exposed on a cliffside that had been eroded by a passing river. Not having the time or inclination to reroute the river, digging unfortunately resulted in some very wet and often flooded mines. Turns out there wasn't all that much silver there anyways.
The mines have been abandoned for some time now, and the bridge over the river is long go...
2014-08-22 14:12:42 +0000 UTC
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Sometimes I ask you for map ideas. I don’t always draw them, and often the final map bears little resemblance to the suggestion, but the goal is to see my maps with ideas that I can use and that will hopefully fit the needs of a patron or two.
Recently a patron was describing a monastery built around the foundation of a massive chain that holds a floating island in place.
As you can probably tell, I loved the idea. I went with an unusual temple design (something monolithic, almost an obelisk...
2014-08-19 12:46:51 +0000 UTC
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It's been a while since I posted an adventure or a site-based encounter. So here's a little something to throw into any drug-fueled game's hexmap or just a bit of weird to throw into any hexcrawl game.
It's the Molds and Slimes of Vilnid the Master - a 12-page digest-sized PDF describing a strange environment overrun by bizarre psychedelic mushrooms.
Click on the link to get to the blog post for a full description and to download the first draft PDF.
2014-08-18 20:08:46 +0000 UTC
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Foul things are afoot in the town of Melad Crossings. One of the two mills has stopped, the smell of death creeps by in the wind from many buildings, the streets are barren, and those who live are not likely to be out of doors except as is necessary.
The water along the west fork of the river is running milky white, and none of the fishermen are among the living, struck dead two weeks ago just as the river began to change. But that doesn’t explain all the deaths – something else must be wor...
2014-08-15 12:27:14 +0000 UTC
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Inspired by things fungal and nasty, as well as the evolution pits of the Invid, I drew up the Slime Pits of Vilnid and the associated watch structure (mostly a guard tower, but with a few “researchers” living there as well.
Each of the pits has a massive pool containing tonnes of one of five different “interesting” slime molds. In addition, the area around the pits is nigh overrun with huge mushrooms that have sprung up from these slime mold infestations. Who knows how deep the rhizome...
2014-08-12 12:57:22 +0000 UTC
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The Leeb family has long maintained their hereditary holdings on a small spire east of town. Although not a rich family, the fact that the holdings include a small fortress that overlooks the fields down in the valley has ensured that the family name is remembered and that they are treated far better than their economics would normally allow.
But this spring the drake arrived, killing Henry Leeb and his three sons, and trapping the remaining family (and their servant in the fortress. The townfo...
2014-08-08 12:34:26 +0000 UTC
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In March I posted the map for my current D&D campaign set in and around Atharva’s Point. The game has progressed slowly due to summer schedules and all that jazz (and one player moving to Vancouver). However, about a month after drawing that map, I drew a continuation of it to the south… and finally scanned it in today.
This map is a little more densely populated that the first one, as I scattered a fair number of the maps I’ve posted in the past few months around the various hexes of...
2014-08-05 14:02:03 +0000 UTC
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The ravine known as Helver’s Cut presents a major obstacle to traffic between the Amber Woods and the port town of Seever’s Mill. The ravine was cut into the landscape by waters from the Black Mire running towards the ocean. Fortunately, few have need to cross the ravine, but for those that do the options are to circumnavigate it, or to cross at the Howling Orc Bridge.
The Howling Orc Bridge is the last visible remnant of a fortress that was built here and then razed during the great war. T...
2014-08-01 12:22:48 +0000 UTC
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Here's three maps that I drew back in 2010, scanned in 2011 for Dyson's Delves, but never published to the blog for some strange reason.
Head on over to the blog to see all three.
2014-07-29 13:22:02 +0000 UTC
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The Dreamer's Tower
Along the island shore, no more than a few hours walk from Ravenson’s Landing is another tower standing alone, jutting out above the sea. Made of a soft green stone, it appears to have been carved from soapstone or something similar and was evidently once part of a much larger construction. There are two entries into the tower, neither of which is very convenient. And one of which seems to make no sense whatsoever.
The obvious entry is the doorway 12 feet off the ground w...
2014-07-25 12:22:06 +0000 UTC
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This map is an ode to my Patreon patrons. All this year I've been working with expensive paper and expensive pens to produce my maps. But earlier this month I was out and suddenly found myself bored at 1 am without my art supplies on hand.
So I broke out the tools I used to use prior to your support, and kicked out a map old-style!
2014-07-22 13:17:20 +0000 UTC
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This cluster of caves leads to an underground river and was probably carved out in part by surface waters joining the subterranean waterway at some point. Some attempts have been made by various groups to build up sections of the caves (always near the surface entrances), but the presence (imagined or real) of squamous monstrosities living and travelling through the murky black waters generally keep civilized species from living here for long.
In the largest natural cavern there is a post drive...
2014-07-18 15:48:42 +0000 UTC
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