Miscellanea RPG Maps

The Forbidden City (44x17)

Good morning! Setting the record for the tallest map I've yet drawn by just four squares, this week's map (and the last map for June) is the Forbidden City.

This map is more like two smaller ones joined at the hip, really. I couldn't make up my mind whether to focus more on the courtyards or the tree-lined streets of the eponymous palace, so I ended up doing both and combining them in a way that should allow you to segregate it into only one of the two should you so desire. Just need th...

July Map Theme Poll

Rules

• You may vote for as many map themes as you want. The one with the highest vote total come next Sunday will be the map theme for July.
• Being the map theme means that three of the four maps I draw in July will revolve around the theme in some way (the fourth will be a wildcard!)
• If there's a tie, I will default to patron-submitted suggestions*. If both or neither are submitted, I'll flip a coin.

* The only non-submitted suggestion today is the o...

Spontaneous Poll For The Next Map

Whoops, I almost forgot about this. I'm thinking of a few different maps I could top the eastern map theme off with, and I thought of putting up a poll for it. Pick your favorite, or just let me decide.

Notes

• Forbidden City will probably be narrow and tall, ala one main long route. Variants will probably be specific features/special s...
  2021-06-20 00:07:13 +0000 UTC View Post

Overgrown Forest Dock (22x26)

Good morning! Today, I bring you my own backyard.

That's not a joke, this map is pretty much just my backyard, fictionalized. I took the wildcard today and decided to draw a marshy shoreline with a dock. Nature is nice, and this is a weird niche I don't think I've seen done yet. Most of Minnesota is like this, actually - does your fantasy world have a land of ten thousand lakes?

This map is probably best-used as a midpoint in an adventure segment, where someone is to be met and co...

Destiny Asset Pack Vol. 2

Following up on the first Destiny asset pack I released back in May, it was requested of me that I make a second pack - and here it is! Courtesy of the Dungeons & Destiny project, this is a small pack of predominantly science-fiction assets ranging from speeders to weird propane-tank storage 'crates'. So let's see a list of the contents:

Collaboration - Mystery of the Lighthouse w/ Kelfecil's Tales

Good morning, or evening! This is a quick notification that Kelfecil of Kelfecil's Tales has put together a low-level adventure featuring some of my work - the Stern's Lighthouse map from March! The adventure is a small module focused on an old wizard's toys left behind in a decrepit lighthouse. I was given the archive to share with you, so it...

Pagoda Waterfall (22x34)

Good morning! This is the second map for June, a pagoda by a waterfall. It was actually meant to be a caldara, inspired by Roku's temple in Avatar: The Last Airbender, but by the time I realized it didn't look very caldara-y I had already finished the terrain/cliff lines and changing it wasn't possible. Oh well.

In any case, you've still got several points of attack, layered steps, a chokepoint in the bridge, and a fancy golden roof-topper, and also some super scenic stairs by a waterfa...

Modular Ninja Dojo (17x22) & Rooms

Good morning! June's map theme poll came up as Eastern & Oriental Structures, so for the first week I thought I'd do the specific request that was made - a ninja temple/dojo!

Of course, this gave me a bit of a headache, since ninja dojos have very little historical basis, so I hacked something together from certain other sources and popular fantasy. This should be usable as any kind of dojo, though; it'...

Instant Encounters Collaboration - Three Short Encounters

Heya! Over the last month, Instant Encounters wrote up a number of short-format encounters and hooks based off of the greeco-roman city maps I did back in March. Three were generously provided for free - attached in the .zip archive below - and there's others available over on her page too, if you'd like to support her. She's also got a large amount of other free materials availabl...

Mesoamerican City Gates (34x22)

Hey hey, people. This week's map is May's belated wildcard, which is based on a bit of confusion over one of the theme entries last month! But it turned out nice, so that's good. It's a mesoamerican-inspired city wall surrounded by floating gardens - chinampas! These are large mats held together by woven reed walls around the edges and tall, thin willow trees whose roots cling to the dirt but whose branches are thin enough to let light through onto the vegetation.

Now, strictly speaking...

June Monthly Map Theme Poll

Wow, it's time already. Time is moving too fast and I don't like it. Rules:

• You may vote for as many map themes as you want. The one with the highest vote total come next Sunday will be the map theme for June.
• Being the map theme means that three of the four maps I draw in June will revolve around the theme in some way (the fourth will be a wildcard!)
• If there's a tie, I will default to patron-submitted suggestions. If both or neither are submitted, I'll flip a c...
  2021-05-23 17:04:37 +0000 UTC View Post

Overgrown Mesoamerican Tomb (34x22)

Good morning! Here's something a little bit more crypt-like, if you thought the graveyard month was missing out on the underground. There's also above-ground variants, too, of course.

This week's map is slightly inspired by the Mesoamerican market I did a couple weeks ago, though I'm not sure it's obviously central-american enough to justify the label. Whether that's a good thing or not might differ by the individual, but in any case, there's some cool stone patterns and a really nice s...

Winding Cove Graveyard (20x26) & Destiny 2 Assets

Good evening! This week's map is a shady graveyard in a secluded forest area, based off of an area in Destiny 2. A gash cut into the earth gives way to a drainpipe, splitting the graveyard in two; connected on one side by a grass bridge near the top and on the bottom by a bridge across the runoff channel.

There's variants for your post-apocalyptic and modern games set in abandoned areas this time, because this map was an elaborate commission. I'm sure there's a few out there who'll find...

Ultra Radical Concert of Supreme Undeath - Kelfecil's Tales Collaboration

A couple days ago, Kelfecil - a writer and GM I know - released a short adventure segment based on the map I did last week! If you've got the spare change and are interested in pre-written content to drop into games (or are already subscribed to Kelfecil's material), you can get it over here on the launch page.

Death Metal Necromantic Music-Powered Airship (22x34)

From on high above the planet comes sailing down a meteorite, carved from green fire and filled with hate - the BARD LICH has returned, with technology incomprehensible and a fuckin' sick guitar.

Good morning! I hope this isn't too far from the graveyard/spooky theme, but I think it'll be liked anyways. This is the DEATH METAL NECROMANTIC MUSIC-POWERED AIRSHIP, featuring a gigantic ship carved from rock descending into a planet's atmosphere, bringing with it an...

Doing Fine (A Brief Update)

This is just a notice that I've successfully made the switch to Linux, so everything should be on schedule and there (probably) won't be an atrocious disaster that upsets my map release schedule. Next map will be next week as planned.

I have to say, I'm kinda impressed. Linux isn't so bad, once you get past the fact that installing most programs takes an hour and a half longer to flip through dozens of StackOverflow pages and obscure 2010 web forums and bug reports to figure out what we...

May Map Theme Poll

It's approaching May, so it's time for this again! Rules:

• You may vote for as many map themes as you want. The one with the highest vote total come next Sunday will be the map theme for May.
• Being the map theme means that three of the four maps I draw in May will revolve around the theme in some way (the fourth will be a wildcard!)
• If there's a tie, I will default to patron-submitted suggestions. If both or neither are submitted, I'll flip a coin.

Fee...

Mesoamerican Market (22x17)

Good morning! It's the last map in April, and to finish off the Shops & Establishments theme, here's a whole bunch of shops in the form of a marketplace in a mesoamerican-inspired courtyard. Large flanking walls on all sides provide good locations for observers or snipers, while the tents might provide concealment (if not cover).

(Regarding tactics, it may be good to treat the contents of the tents as mere rough terrain rather than a hard obstacle - shoved aside in a hurry,...

Brief Notice

Good morning! This is about the last map for April and scheduling.

I count my map schedule by Saturdays in a month. May has five, so I'll be taking a week off - next week, to be specific. I'm putting together a new and more powerful PC so that I'll be able to do larger maps comfortably again at the new 140ppi resolution I've been drawing at; I'm swapping from Windows to Linux too, so I will need the time for acclimation to a new environment and set of tools. Fortunately, most of my work...

Canyon Delta (22x34)

This month's wildcard map got a little out-of-hand. It's a canyon delta! Except it's clearly not a delta, it's just a river mouth. Oh well.

I like doing these outdoors maps. They're flexible, consistently beautiful, I have a lot of material to work with for variations, and I'm really good at painting water and sunlight. This must be how Bob Ross felt.

Variants

• Supporter: A grassy canyon (with or without a bridge) is paired with a desert ruin by the o...
  2021-04-16 00:17:43 +0000 UTC View Post

Roman Bathhouse (22x34)

Edit: By request, I've attached a reference image containing labels for the function of each room and bath in this map!

Inspired by the bathhouses built by our resident foundation-of-basically-all-European-civilization, I bring you the Roman bathhouse - a public bathhouse built around a natural mineral spring expanded through a drilled well.

Roman bathhouses are separated into several different rooms, each with an important purpose. Pools of different temperatures...

Supporter Files Master Post

Stealing a trick Cze taught me here. All future map launch posts will have the actual archives uploaded attached to this post, and then they will have a direct link added into the launch post. This will cut down on unnecessary notification spam, reduce the bloat in my Patreon archives, make it easier to download (since you can do it straight from the post), and make it easier to upload (on my end).

You shouldn't need to pay much attention to this post in the future.

Skyscraper Garden (Free)

Happy Easter Sunday! This lovely skyscraper garden is a commission I finished late last night, and my client graciously allowed me to release the final product publicly for you to enjoy too.

Though intended for a rooftop confrontation with a long-standing foe, I have a feeling this map might be suited to any other sort of meeting as well. Long leafy trees flanking the outer walkways provide plenty of shade for scheming or plotting in private. If I had to choose, I might use this map for...

Dusty Old Shop & Basement (22x17)

Good morning! Or, evening, as it were - 11:30pm on a Friday night. "Shops & Establishments" won the last theme poll by exactly one vote. Someone must've snuck in an hour before it was set to finish and cast the deciding vote.

Anyways, this week I drew a shop lit by cascading rays of light flowing in from windows. I took issue with something in most of the shop maps I've seen - they're all potion shops or weapon shops or armor shops. What about just a regular shop? What if I...

Dusty Old Shop (Supporter)

New map's finally finished. I'll have the main post up in a bit!

Stuck in a Square World - April Fool's (22x17)

Is it really a joke if everyone saw it coming? Or perhaps you knew there'd be a joke, but you didn't know what it was. Well, the joke is the silliest map I've ever drawn to my memory, which comes with a semi-complete scenario to drop on your players and a couple of monster tokens to go with it.

This 100% free map (whose archive is attached at the bottom of this post) contains a small home built into a blocky mountainside, adjacent to a cave-turned-mineshaft. A mysteriou...

The Forum (22x34)

Rounding off the marble city maps this month is a map inspired by none other than the Roman Forum - a big, open plaza with lots of ceremonial pillars and a rostra from which important public figures may proclaim their latest triumphs - or, on a more mundane day, a town crier may declare recent news and events. The forum also served as an integral and important hub for trade and local gatherings, and was surrounded by Rome's most important temples, so you may very well declare that the buildin...

The Forum (Supporter)

Good evening, this is the week's map. I'll have the main post written up in a bit, and until then (and after then, actually), the download link is below.

April Monthly Theme Poll

Good morning! This poll is for the theme of the maps to be drawn throughout April, with submissions harvested from last week's submission box. The rules are straightforward:

• Everyone gets to vote for as many map themes as they'd like to see win.
• The theme with the most votes come next Sunday afternoon will be the theme for three of the four maps drawn in April!
• In the event of a tie, I'll flip a coin. In the event that one of the entries is a submitted idea, I'll...
  2021-03-21 17:39:03 +0000 UTC View Post

Stern's Lighthouse (22x17)

Good morning! I ran a poll last weekend asking if a wildcard map per month was an interesting idea, and it received utterly overwhelming support. So, well, here we are.

This week's map is not a city map, but it is a lovely and quiet lighthouse on a cloudy island inspired by an excellent film called Song of the Sea. There's three levels to the lighthouse; the ground floor (and shed), the upper level, and then the beacon itself, which takes the form of a gigantic bonfire - as early lighth...