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Well of the Wyrm
Well of the Wyrm
But Qiroi is no fool or beastial dragon. The sounds and movement within the dungeons east of the entrance cave are those of illusions planted to lure the unwary. For Quiroi lives beneath the dungeon, in a set of chambers reached through the river that feeds the ancient Caenleigh well.
Well of the Wyrm (B&W)
But he is still a dragon, and has little patience for interlopers and would-be dragon hunters. He uses the illusions and distractions to help him get the jump on intruders, to strike them from behind with his corrosive breath and potent magics.
The maps on Dyson’s Dodecahedron are released for free personal use thanks to the support of awesome patrons like you over on Patreon. Every month 400 patrons come together to make these releases possible. You can help too in order to keep the flow of maps coming and to improve their quality – and even get a map of your own!
(Source: Dyson’s Dodecahedron)
[EPT] Engsvanyali Tomb Raiding!
The problem of course is that the current governor of the colony is one of the PCs (and my character’s nephew), and is currently the avatar of her arch-nemesis.
Since we play online using Google Hangouts, I pulled up Photoshop on one of my monitors, set it up with screen sharing to the rest of the group, and drew this player map as we explored based on the GM’s descriptions of the tombs.
A lot of people (especially on-line groups) pooh-pooh the role of party mapper (and party caller), but I find they really help things out. The party caller is great. Instead of everyone talking over each other to explain how we deal with a situation of where we are exploring next and what order we are going in and who is doing what, we have one voice that explains the sequence that we’ve negotiated as a group to the GM and we go ahead with it. It really works well for exploration-based play.
(Source: Dyson’s Dodecahedron)
The Cursed Galleries
The Cursed Galleries
The galleries are beneath the Benmiria Academy of the Arcane, and are not only locked, but boarded shut. Those who try to study the walls often awaken somewhere else with no memories of the intervening time – somehow controlled or possessed by the texts they read, or if one experiment is to be believed, by either the galleries themselves or something foul still within them.
But when the diabolist arrived in Northvale and summoned the demon Xag’tharon to destroy the king’s armies, sages noted Xag’tharon is one of several demons who’s names are known to the Benmirian archives. And the locked texts of course indicate that they were in turn translated from the mad scribings in the galleries.
The kingdom needs a clever wizard or cleric to brave the galleries to find out more – and they should not travel there alone, for who knows what other foul powers the galleries can manifest as you attempt to unlock the secrets contained there.
The maps on Dyson’s Dodecahedron are released for free personal use thanks to the support of awesome patrons like you over on Patreon. Every month 400 patrons come together to make these releases possible. You can help too in order to keep the flow of maps coming and to improve their quality – and even get a map of your own!
(Source: Dyson’s Dodecahedron)
Catacombs beneath the Holy City
Catacombs Beneath the Holy City
The reason it has become a problem is there can be no proper sewer system built beneath the city as long as the churches and temples regard the catacombs as sacred reliquaries. Further, the thieves that used the massive interconnected structures of tunnels and chambers to get around the city have been known to bury their own (and possibly their victims) down here without proper rites and rituals – leading to a small but steady growth of undead prowling the catacombs. The upside of this is few thieves use the catacombs anymore, but the churches have had to start setting guards to watch over their sacred tombs and crypts to keep prowling ghouls away…
Like the Dark Caverns of Turr that I posted last month, this map is one from my history books. I drew this map in December of 2014 while researching the catacombs under Paris and Rome. I really got into it and crammed all this material onto a single letter-sized page. And then never posted it. I did, however, send a scan of it to Mike Monaco and Paolo Greco for use in Burgs & Bailiffs: Trinity. So here we are, 4 years later, and I finally dug the original out of my old folders while organizing my office and have scanned it for your own games and mine.
The maps on Dyson’s Dodecahedron are released for free personal use thanks to the support of awesome patrons like you over on Patreon. Every month 400 patrons come together to make these releases possible. You can help too in order to keep the flow of maps coming and to improve their quality – and even get a map of your own!
(Source: Dyson’s Dodecahedron)
Prince’s Harbour – Map 1
Prince’s Harbour – Map 1
This map focuses on a small forested area to the southwest of the community proper and is considered to most to be the furthest point that is still “Prince’s Harbour” instead of the old Flindlands. A small gold mine along the Gnoll’s Ear river is the anchor to this area, with a few supporting farms around it. The road to the east eventually leads to the community proper.
Prince’s Harbour – Map 1 (no hexes)
Adventurers are most likely to be interested in this area because the virgin forests still may be home to the remnants, descendants, or lost treasures of the beastmen who once had lordship over the area – or of course because of Jendson’s Mine which is certainly going to attract some attention as last year it looked like they had exhausted their small vein of ore, but are suddenly bringing in more gold than ever.
Each hex on the map is roughly 100 feet face-to-face. This map is also the first full map released on the blog that was drawn entirely digitally in Photoshop – which has been a learning curve for me. One thing I learned was to increase my resolution a lot – this map is only 300dpi and I had to save it as a jpg to keep file size under control, but I’ve learned a lot of tricks in the month since I drew it and any future digital maps will be back at the more recent 600 to 1200 dpi and file sizes are also kept down.
There is already a second map in the set drawn for release next month, and a total of 9 maps will be in the set when it is finished.
This map is made available to you under a free license for personal or commercial use thanks to the awesome supporters of my Patreon Campaign. Over 400 amazingly generous people have come together to fund the site and these maps, making them free for your use.
Because of the incredible generosity of my patrons, I’m able to make these maps free for commercial use also. Each month while funding is over the $300 mark, each map that achieves the $300+ funding level will be released under this free commercial license. You can use, reuse, remix and/or modify the maps that are being published under this commercial license on a royalty-free basis as long as they include attribution (“Cartography by Dyson Logos” or “Maps by Dyson Logos”). For those that want/need a Creative Commons license, it would look something like this:
Cartography by Dyson Logos is licensed
under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
(Source: Dyson’s Dodecahedron)
Redrock Cays
Redrock Cays
Difficult to land on, the islands are surrounded by ship-killing shoals and much of the land is atop tall red cliffs. Most make landfall on the sandy extension that nearly forms an isthmus between the two eastern islands – although the Oni pirate Vurd Skullbow has been known to bring his vessel in through the southern access and anchor it between the three islands.
Each island has its own point of interest. The large island has a ruined watchtower on its peak, but also has a cave system beneath it that was expanded at some point, likely by the builders of the tower. Those caves are used by Vurd to stash treasure and hostages on occasion.
The northeastern island bears the marks of many landfalls and small campfires. The long beach is littered with detritus – much of it charred firewood and empty bottles and casks. On the rise of the island is a set of fairly recent standing stones – no more than a hundred or so years old – the stones all appear to have been scavenged from the other ruins on the islands.
The small island to the southeast still sports a standing watchtower, although the wooden roof has long rotted away. The island however offers no means to get to it – the top of the island is a solid fifty feet above the waters below, with treacherous cliffs on all sides.
This map is made available to you under a free license for personal or commercial use thanks to the awesome supporters of my Patreon Campaign. Over 400 amazingly generous people have come together to fund the site and these maps, making them free for your use.
Because of the incredible generosity of my patrons, I’m able to make these maps free for commercial use also. Each month while funding is over the $300 mark, each map that achieves the $300+ funding level will be released under this free commercial license. You can use, reuse, remix and/or modify the maps that are being published under this commercial license on a royalty-free basis as long as they include attribution (“Cartography by Dyson Logos” or “Maps by Dyson Logos”). For those that want/need a Creative Commons license, it would look something like this:
Cartography by Dyson Logos is licensed
under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
(Source: Dyson’s Dodecahedron)
Circle Crypts of the Ophidian Emperor
Circle Crypts of the Ophidian Emperor
The crypts of the Ophidian Emperor were built around a double-circle motif, designed to feel like a snake curling around the tombs and crypts. To further accent the motif, the circular halls are set about three feet lower than the other chambers and crypts. The various chambers are tombs, crypts, and “treasure rooms” stacked with fake grave goods to accompany the Ophidian Emperor into the afterlife.
All doors within the crypts are fairly thin single-piece stone blocks mounted on metal hinges. All doors and most walls are decorated with frescoes and bas-relief carvings of idealized images of the reign of the Ophidian Emperor, often showing off his mighty golden snake staff and the black Orb of Empire.
This map is made available to you under a free license for personal or commercial use thanks to the awesome supporters of my Patreon Campaign. Over 400 amazingly generous people have come together to fund the site and these maps, making them free for your use.
Because of the incredible generosity of my patrons, I’m able to make these maps free for commercial use also. Each month while funding is over the $300 mark, each map that achieves the $300+ funding level will be released under this free commercial license. You can use, reuse, remix and/or modify the maps that are being published under this commercial license on a royalty-free basis as long as they include attribution (“Cartography by Dyson Logos” or “Maps by Dyson Logos”). For those that want/need a Creative Commons license, it would look something like this:
Cartography by Dyson Logos is licensed
under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
(Source: Dyson’s Dodecahedron)
Hevlod Manor
Hevlod Manor
But really, being a high ranking member of both the Assassin’s Guild and the Order of the Blue Star (who’s charity work is mostly a cover for their other work in the name of the dark ophidian gods of yore), it won’t be much of a surprise when his plans or actions come into conflict with any group of local meddlers.
Investigating Viktor will generally turn to his family home, Hevlod Manor. Built entirely of stone (befitting his guild status and the teams of younger masons he employs), Hevlod Manor is a sprawling single-story structure with heavy walls built in a moderately upscale neighborhood. The manor boasts an attached carriage-house, yard, gardens, and several wings for family members and associates. Only minimal staff actually lives here – in the carriage house – with other servants and staff coming and going throughout the day and night.
Since Viktor often entertains here, he keeps the place fairly impeccable, and never allows the secret aspects of the Blue Star nor the Assassin’s Guild to be visible to visitors (including those who “accidentally” get lost in the more private parts of the structure). In fact, Viktor Hevlod keeps everything so close the the chest, that the only time you are likely to confirm that he’s up to all these nefarious schemes is to run afoul of them in person…
This map is made available to you under a free license for personal or commercial use thanks to the awesome supporters of my Patreon Campaign. Over 400 amazingly generous people have come together to fund the site and these maps, making them free for your use.
Because of the incredible generosity of my patrons, I’m able to make these maps free for commercial use also. Each month while funding is over the $300 mark, each map that achieves the $300+ funding level will be released under this free commercial license. You can use, reuse, remix and/or modify the maps that are being published under this commercial license on a royalty-free basis as long as they include attribution (“Cartography by Dyson Logos” or “Maps by Dyson Logos”). For those that want/need a Creative Commons license, it would look something like this:
Cartography by Dyson Logos is licensed
under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
(Source: Dyson’s Dodecahedron)
Of Dysons and Doodles
So I bought some new sharpie markers (because I really like the freedom that comes with a fat black free-flowing marker) and decided I’d try drawing something, ANYTHING, every day. It started simple, with elements from the various games I was playing in (my cleric in the Monday Labyrinth Lord game I’m in runs an undead horse driven coach line, and my priest in the Tuesday NeoClassical Geek Revival game was talking about the might and majesty of Crom).
It didn’t take long (four days?) before I was adding detail work with my usual felt-tipped technical pens and exploring elements from a variety of games I am or have been involved in. And from that it wasn’t much of a leap into drawing stuff meant to go INTO those games and books. To try to work on a style that could be used for illustrations for games. Hell, to establish a “style” at all instead of a continued series of doodles and drawings.
So now I look back and I’ve got 113 days of these daily drawings. The images in this post are the first 13 of these daily drawings in chronological order. I post them as I draw them to my various social media streams (Google+, Twitter, Facebook), and will collect them into posts of a dozen or so that I’ll put up on the blog every few days until I’m caught up, then I’ll probably do a collected drawings post for each week going forward – until I burn out on the Daily Drawing grind and move on to something else.
(Source: Dyson’s Dodecahedron)
October’s Backstage Pass
Today is Backstage Pass day!
I generally upload my maps 8-12 at a time to the blog and start writing up posts to go with them at that time. If you are a patron of my Patreon Campaign, however, you can get advance access to these maps before they go live on the blog. Roughly once a month I put out a backstage pass zip file to all patrons of the campaign at the $1 / map level and above containing the maps I just uploaded to the backend of the blog.
So, patrons, head over to the Patreon page to get October’s selection of maps!
This month is a bit different for me because it includes a few maps that were designed entirely digitally – although my experience with them has me sold on future work being a mix of traditional ink and paper work that I will then fiddle with digitally (adding shadows, shading, etc – the things that get messed up by the way I scan and prep my maps if I do them on the paper). I just don’t find the act of creation to be as fulfilling when I do it entirely digitally.
As soon as I get through my October commission deadlines, I’m going to be updating the Patreon campaign with some new goals and rewards – especially for those of you who have been here to help me get to the point of being a cartographer for Wizards of the Coast, Kobold Press, and Steve Jackson Games among the dozens of companies I’ve worked with.
So, impatient to get this month’s maps? Or just like the convenience of a nice .zip file of them every month? Head on over to Patreon to get yourself a backstage pass!
(Source: Dyson’s Dodecahedron)
Release the Kraken on Briar Keep
The September votes on releasing the Kraken brought up a pair of maps from 2014 that go together – originally released as Greater Briar Keep and the Briar Keep Detail maps, I cleaned them up a bit, assembled them into a single letter-sized entity, and have them here as a lovely 1200 dpi map.
Briar Keep 2018 Edition
Briar Keep is a border fortress and small settlement that marks the northern boundary of the Satrapy where the Northlands begin. Built only a few generations ago, the keep is in excellent shape and is well maintained and houses a garrison of Satrapy forces. Unlike most settlements in the Satrapy, Briar Keep and it’s environs are also home to a number of dwarves of the Greybeard clan and associated families.
This map is made available to you under a free license for personal or commercial use under the “RELEASE THE KRAKEN” initiative thanks to the awesome supporters of my Patreon Campaign. Over 400 awesome patrons have come together to fund the site and these maps, making them free for your use.
Because of the incredible generosity of my patrons, I’m able to make this map free for commercial use also. Each month while funding is over the $400 mark, we choose a map from the blog’s extensive back catalog to retroactively release under this free commercial license. You can use, reuse, remix and/or modify the maps that are being published under the commercial license on a royalty-free basis as long as they include attribution (“Cartography by Dyson Logos” or “Maps by Dyson Logos”). For those that want/need a Creative Commons license, it would look something like this:
Cartography by Dyson Logos is licensed
under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
(Source: Dyson’s Dodecahedron)
Skeleton of the Gilded Cage
Skeleton of the Gilded Cage
Within the gilded cage is a potent banshee, the long dead elven sorceress who was within the cage when the ship sank who knows how long ago. The golden cage she is trapped within also changes her song – instead of wailing in eternal agony, to those outside the cage she seems to be singing a long lamentful song.
Entering the golden cage can be achieved through partially collapsed stairs that lead up a shaft from the bottom of the boat’s skeleton through a shaft in the floor of the cage, or by somehow (flying, climbing) getting to the balcony that surrounds the cage and walking in through one of the four doorways. Of course, the moment one steps within the cage, they become subject to the effects of her wailing song.
Any treasures that were once within the cage with the sorceress are long destroyed or lost by ages of frequent submersion, but a secret panel in the floor of the cage leads to a shallow chamber beneath which contains the MacGuffin.
A version of this map also appears in the Kobold Press adventure “Monkey Business” where it is set out in the oceans of flame near the City of Brass.
The maps on Dyson’s Dodecahedron are released for free personal use thanks to the support of awesome patrons like you over on Patreon. Every month 400 patrons come together to make these releases possible. You can help too in order to keep the flow of maps coming and to improve their quality – and even get a map of your own!
(Source: Dyson’s Dodecahedron)
The Kobold Docks
The Kobold Docks
Generally Jotel has d3+1 smaller boats at the pier, and 1d3-2 larger craft in the harbour. He also often has a few smaller stolen goods in his tent on the pier that he sells on commission for Xughon, mixed in with the various apothecary goods that his elven wife Phyehni collects and sells.
Of course, with all these goods of questionable provenance moving through this area, any time that player characters find themselves buying something here there’s the off chance that they will get caught up in some other drama involving people threatening Jotel or his clients to get their goods back (or in a real twist, these are con men trying to get something for nothing based on figuring out Jotel’s dirty dealings).
The pier is known as the kobold docks because the previous business before Jotel set up here was a small enclave of six kobolds who made wickerwork coracles used by some of the local fisherfolk. But the kobolds moved on as the fisherfolk earned more money and were able to purchase or build more sturdy boats that didn’t need regular replacement.
A version of this map also appears in the Kobold Press adventure “Monkey Business” where it is set in the City of Brass.
The maps on Dyson’s Dodecahedron are released for free personal use thanks to the support of awesome patrons like you over on Patreon. Every month 400 patrons come together to make these releases possible. You can help too in order to keep the flow of maps coming and to improve their quality – and even get a map of your own!
(Source: Dyson’s Dodecahedron)
Caves of Chaos Poster Maps!
Measuring in at 707mm x 500mm (just shy of 28 inches by 20 inches), there are both numbered and unnumbered versions of the map as well as gridded mapping sheets for mapping out the caves as your characters explore them.
So yeah, check it out – the Caves of Chaos, Dyson Logos Edition, from Dyson’s Dodecahedron & Squarehex!
(Source: Dyson’s Dodecahedron)
The Dark Caverns of Turr
The Dark Caverns of Turr
There are three entrances into the warrens.
- The “front door” over to the far right of the map that leads into the original Darkshoe clan hall.
- The “back door” over to the left that leads into the deeper caves.
- The “stone stairs” very near the back door that lead down into the “glittering gallery” that come down from a secret cleft in the back of a small cave overhead.
This map is actually one I drew back in 2010 when running either my Labyrinth Lord or B/X D&D campaign that year. This photo doesn’t do it justice, but it is drawn in VERY light pencil on thin typewriter paper, and was nearly impossible to scan and keep the details looking at all good. But now that I’ve figured out how to get these old maps scanned, I’ll see if I can get the last of the old “Lost Maps” finally scanned and on the blog.
The maps on Dyson’s Dodecahedron are released for free personal use thanks to the support of awesome patrons like you over on Patreon. Every month 400 patrons come together to make these releases possible. You can help too in order to keep the flow of maps coming and to improve their quality – and even get a map of your own!
(Source: Dyson’s Dodecahedron)
The Archmage’s Chambers
The Archmage’s Chambers
The Archmage’s Chambers are hidden away deep underground, below the “comfortable” levels of the underdark to an area where the stone walls seem to press in with relentless gravity and heat. Once a small node broken open by opposing forces of elemental earth and air, the cracked tunnels were then shaped, smoothed and reinforced magically to withstand the incredible pressures down here.
The chambers are hot and oppressive, and without the small nexus of elemental air present, there wouldn’t be a cool breeze to make it survivable (and there would be no fresh air to breathe either).
And down here, the archmage keeps their secrets, their spells cut into crystal decanters instead of spellbooks, their twisted homonculi that carry wisps of ancient knowledge, and the six pillars where they store their favourite emotions and moments, safe for all time from the whimsy of human memory.
Originally drawn by David Brawley who runs Tower of the Archmage, I couldn’t resist sticking the design through the custom “Dysonizer” I have sitting at my desk.
The maps on Dyson’s Dodecahedron are released for free personal use thanks to the support of awesome patrons like you over on Patreon. Every month 400 patrons come together to make these releases possible. You can help too in order to keep the flow of maps coming and to improve their quality – and even get a map of your own!
(Source: Dyson’s Dodecahedron)
The Travellers Caves
The Travellers Caves
The Travellers Caves are a small complex of winding multi-tiered caves and chambers which bear the evidence of several previous tenants over the years – from animal scat and hair to old broken boxes and cold, quiet campsites.
One narrow passage leads down from the complex into deeper caverns…
This map was drawn on fairly dark paper in a lovely little travel notebook using black gel pens. The dark colour of the paper made scanning a little rough and a bit uneven in places.
The maps on Dyson’s Dodecahedron are released for free personal use thanks to the support of awesome patrons like you over on Patreon. Every month 400 patrons come together to make these releases possible. You can help too in order to keep the flow of maps coming and to improve their quality – and even get a map of your own!
(Source: Dyson’s Dodecahedron)
Barrow Mounds of the Lich & Famous III
Barrow Mounds of the Lich & Famous III
Today we have nine more crypts, barrows, and tombs for exploration and plundering, ranging from simple single-roomed barrows to small complexes. Combined with the offerings in the previous two “Barrow Mounds” offerings, this brings us to a total of 24 mounds and crypts to explore. A perfect excuse to crack out that d24 from your collection!
- Barrow Mounds of the Lich & Famous
- More Barrow Mounds of the Lich & Famous
- Barrow Mounds of the Lich & Famous III
The maps on Dyson’s Dodecahedron are released for free personal use thanks to the support of awesome patrons like you over on Patreon. Every month 400 patrons come together to make these releases possible. You can help too in order to keep the flow of maps coming and to improve their quality – and even get a map of your own!
(Source: Dyson’s Dodecahedron)
the Bronze Vault
The Bronze Vault
In-game, the complex fills the role of any classic “dungeon in the wilderness” setting – a place where civilization once held sway but is now home to monsters hiding in the roots of our achievements. In the grand tradition of the Moldvay Basic D&D set, this is where hobgoblins would hide their prisoners captured from the nearby town; perhaps home to a small cult that cannot worship publicly in civilized areas; or the destination for a treasure map that the party found in a previous adventure.
The Bronze Vault (no grid)
Personally, I like the treasure map angle – making the secret chamber in section B right by the entrance the treasure room, but with the map showing how to get there from the cave entrance instead of the upper entrance.
This map is made available to you under a free license for personal or commercial use thanks to the awesome supporters of my Patreon Campaign. Over 400 amazingly generous people have come together to fund the site and these maps, making them free for your use.
Because of the incredible generosity of my patrons, I’m able to make these maps free for commercial use also. Each month while funding is over the $300 mark, each map that achieves the $300+ funding level will be released under this free commercial license. You can use, reuse, remix and/or modify the maps that are being published under this commercial license on a royalty-free basis as long as they include attribution (“Cartography by Dyson Logos” or “Maps by Dyson Logos”). For those that want/need a Creative Commons license, it would look something like this:
Cartography by Dyson Logos is licensed
under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
(Source: Dyson’s Dodecahedron)
The Bottomless Tombs
The central part of these tombs is a 30 foot x 30 foot shaft that seems to go down forever. Determining the actual depth has proven to be beyond the abilities of scrying and simple engineering, and areas of both permanent magical darkness as well as areas of anti-magic (as well as a host of hostile inhabitants) make exploring the depths of the shaft an unwelcoming idea.
But this map concentrates on the tombs around the upper portion of the shaft. A total of seven tomb structures have been cut into the shaft at this area, including the Vault of Kezamdomnus which is accessed via the basement of the long-ruined Temple of Shol-Gath. These tombs and crypts are in turn protected by the inherent danger of the central shaft, as well as their own traps, magical guardians, and sometimes even the undead remnants of their inhabitants.
This map is made available to you under a free license for personal or commercial use thanks to the awesome supporters of my Patreon Campaign. Over 400 amazingly generous people have come together to fund the site and these maps, making them free for your use.
Because of the incredible generosity of my patrons, I’m able to make these maps free for commercial use also. Each month while funding is over the $300 mark, each map that achieves the $300+ funding level will be released under this free commercial license. You can use, reuse, remix and/or modify the maps that are being published under this commercial license on a royalty-free basis as long as they include attribution (“Cartography by Dyson Logos” or “Maps by Dyson Logos”). For those that want/need a Creative Commons license, it would look something like this:
Cartography by Dyson Logos is licensed
under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
(Source: Dyson’s Dodecahedron)
(A)D&D Covers
