D&D General Maps, Maps, Maps! Dungeons, Ruins, Caverns, Temples, and more... aka Where Dyson Dumps His Maps.

Longboat Mountain: Silver Vale Cave

Today we explore the top level of the old silver mine that lends its name to Silver Vale (location A on the Longboat Mountain overview – posted earlier this week). The old silver mine has been long worked out, but now others have moved into it…

The upper level of the mine is mostly a cave that had some mining in the south side that were in turn converted into storage and holding areas. The main cave drops down into the lower caves, some of which are partially flooded, and the remnants of the silver mine in the depths (which will be detailed next month as we continue with the Longboat Mountain series).

A colony of Dark Creepers has taken over the mine but find these caves too “exposed” and generally avoid them. To their annoyance, this has allowed a small group of goblin refugees to move in.

The goblins maintain a watch in the northeast corner of the cave where they can monitor use of the trail up to the mountain through the small cave entrance that overlooks the trail (the entrance is well concealed, appearing just to be a shallow overhang in the hill unlike the main cave entrance to the south). Otherwise they have one “family” group living in the central chamber where they’ve secured the doors, and a second family in what appears to have been a strongroom for the silver at some point in the southwest corner of the structure.

The Dark Creepers are trying to spook the goblins out of the caves, while also trying to do the same for the prospectors in the vale (and not get eaten by the giant birds in the process).

The 1200 dpi versions of the map were drawn at a scale of 300 pixels per square and are 9,300 x 6,600 pixels (31 x 22 squares). To use this with a VTT you would need to resize the squares to either 70 pixels (for 5′ squares) or 140 pixels (for the recommended 10‘ squares that make sense with the design) – so resizing the image to 2,170 x 1,540 pixels or 4,340 x 3,080 pixels, respectively.

I love how you continue to share your work. That's pretty awesome of you.
I appreciate how you not only post the maps, but some information about it. Even if I'm not going to use a map, it's fun to read and imagine!

LordEntrails said:

I love how you continue to share your work. That's pretty awesome of you.

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The big thanks belongs to the patrons who support me on Patreon. They make this continued flow of 10 maps a month possible. Without them I'd be likely working in marketing again and doing this when I could on the side.

Scavengers’ Deep – Map 6

The Scavengers’ Deep is a reminder of the amount of work that went into underground structures during the great war. Generally, the elves only built underground when hiding their breeding and research facilities, whereas the forces of the kingdoms, assisted by the dwarves, were constantly building underground as the elves were unrelenting and would completely raze any surface defences that they defeated.

But the structures now known as the Scavengers’ Deep are atypical, an elven complex mixing some (ruined) surface structures, natural caves, and significant sprawling underground complexes dedicated to research, training, and breeding their slave species.

This is the sixth map in the Scavengers’ Deep series – sitting just south of Map 4 and west of the rocky defile entrance at the eastern edge of Map 5.

The rocky defile continues from Map 5 almost to the centre of this map. The defile (still open to the sky above except where a small bridge spans over it) descends to a pond that collects from two sources and proceeds further underground. Following the water to its source through the caves on the north side leads to the giant mushroom cave of map 4 and eventually to the two streams that feed into it on maps 1 and 3. Following the new water source up into the caves to the east and we find a large cave with a kidney-shaped pond fed by a small waterfall that comes from further to the east.

This part of the Scavengers’ Deep again has two sections provided as upper- or lower-level vignettes. These are of the two “watch towers” that are built into the end of the defile, overlooking the pond.

The northern tower is built into the defile wall as well as the wall of the cave to the north of the defile, peeking into said cave before climbing above it. This tower extends down one level and up three levels above the entry and the top level digs back into the hillside giving the top layer a much larger footprint than the lower levels.

The southern tower isn’t quite as tall, and is breached up at the highest level allowing birds and stirges access to the complex within.

The 1200 dpi versions of the map were drawn at a scale of 300 pixels per square and are 14,400 x 14,400 pixels (48 x 48 squares) in size. To use this with a VTT you would need to resize the squares to either 70 pixels (for 5′ squares) or 140 pixels (for the suggested 10′ squares that this is designed around) – so resizing it to either 3,360 x 3,360 or 6,720 x 6720 pixels in size, respectively.

Here’s a low-resolution compilation of the six existing maps of the Scavengers’ Deep set. If printed at miniature play scale (where 1 inch equals 5 feet), each of the individual maps making up the Deep would be 8 feet by 8 feet in size (so with this release, the Deep is now 16 feet wide by 24 feet long).

Graxworm – Map 4 – East Eye Orreries

The Graxworm is a massive dead dragon of mythic scale, fully miles long and large enough to contain a town in the mouth. Creatures have set up here to “mine” the massive corpse for its valuable materials – leather, scales, ichor, tendons, and more. Practically every bit has some value to someone, and in the long term the expectation is that nothing will remain, not even the massive bones. We’ve started our explorations of the Graxworm at the top – the head of the deceased creature – today we are on the opposite side of the skull from last time – the eastern eye socket.

Climbing above Graxworm Town via the stairs cut into the rearmost teeth of the great dead wyrm, one eventually reaches the eye sockets. From here the paths diverge – leading further up to the watch towers on the horns, or back down into the skull towards the council chambers. There is also a small passage in the walls (an old tear duct) that leads forward and down to the sinuses of the great beast. This is the eastern eye socket that is used as an observatory and contains a pair of linked orreries to attempt to make sense of the skies as well as the conjunctions of micro-planes, demiplanes, and various “outer” and “inner” planes.

The two orreries move slowly and often seem to be on the verge of colliding with each other. A small telescope is also on the edge of the eye socket, but most attention is spent on planar conjunctions and stellar phenomena that is visible to the naked eye.

For those using the east stairs to get to the council chambers, a pierced wall with curtains has been erected to separate the flow of workers and petitioners from those working and studying in the eye socket. A few study tables are here, but the actual library of the orreries is in the rooms cut into the southern bone structure of the socket. Here we have a library, a study area (including quarters for the head librarian separated from the study area by curtains and bookshelves), and beyond that the "secret stacks" where more important and esoteric texts are kept under lock and key.

The Graxworm Megadungeon was proposed to me by Gallant Knight Games – a dungeon set within the corpse of a dragon some seven miles in length. If I were to map out the whole thing we’d be looking at a good 100+ maps, so instead we’ll be focusing on points of interest as a sort of “point crawl” megadungeon setting. We’ll be posting a few maps in the set every month for… well… quite some time!

The 1200 dpi versions of the map were drawn at a scale of 300 pixels per square and are 6,600 x 9,600 pixels in size (22 x 32 squares). To use this with a VTT you would need to resize the squares to either 70 pixels (for 5′ squares) or 140 pixels (for the recommended 10′ squares) – so resizing it to either 1,540 x 2,240 or 3,080 x 4,480 pixels, respectively.

Graxworm – Map 5 – The Council Chambers

The Graxworm is a massive dead dragon of mythic scale, fully miles long and large enough to contain a town in the mouth. Creatures have set up here to “mine” the massive corpse for its valuable materials – leather, scales, ichor, tendons, and more. Practically every bit has some value to someone, and in the long term the expectation is that nothing will remain, not even the massive bones. We’ve started our explorations of the Graxworm at the top – the head of the deceased creature – today we climb into the centre of the skull where the brain has been harvested and the council chambers now sit.

Above the hive of scum and villainy that is Graxtown in the mouth of the deceased Graxworm (the corpse of which is being converted into a massive weapons and war materiel harvesting and production site) is the seat of Graxtown’s government – embedded in the thick skull of the wyrm is the brainpan of the beast. While remarkably small compared to the vast size of the beast, it still contained a brain over 200 feet wide by 300 feet long.

For most, the council chamber is reached via one of the passages from the empty eye sockets. There are also accessways to both tiers of the chamber from the spinal cord (which in turn is accessible via the throat at the back of Graxtown), but this entranceway is guarded and closed to all but the council members and their guests.

The main council chamber is decorated with massive bone pillars reaching up to the dark skull above, and is divided into two parts. The northern section rises above the southern by about 12 feet and is where the council sits during public sessions. The southern section contains a sunken central atrium with raised sections around it. This area is where the people of Graxtown come to witness any of the council’s major decisions (or to attend special events that they host including parading spies & special guests around).

Around the main chamber are a number of smaller chambers cut into the skull. The northern ones are for the council and their staff, with a few smaller chambers attached to the lower sections containing documents for those seeking information from the councillors.

Off to each side of the chamber are the passages up to the eye sockets as well as stairs that join those from the eye sockets and lead up to the watch towers set into the horns above.

Finally, in the south end of the chamber is the sealed and locked route to the sinuses and nasal passages, bracketed by a pair of “suites” used by powerful factions within the Graxworm when they wish to match over council activities. On the right we have the chambers of one of the more powerful necromantic clans who worship the death god that is “supervising” the tearing down of the Graxworm caracass. On the left we have a more secret suite of a group that operates in shadows and does not want to be known to or seen by the populace at large.

The Graxworm Megadungeon was proposed to me by Gallant Knight Games – a dungeon set within the corpse of a dragon some seven miles in length. If I were to map out the whole thing we’d be looking at a good 100+ maps, so instead we’ll be focusing on points of interest as a sort of “point crawl” megadungeon setting. We’ll be posting a few maps in the set every month for… well… quite some time!

The 1200 dpi versions of the map were drawn at a scale of 300 pixels per square and are 10,200 x 13,200 pixels in size (34 x 44 squares). To use this with a VTT you would need to resize the squares to either 70 pixels (for 5′ squares) or 140 pixels (for the recommended 10′ squares) – so resizing it to either 2,380 x 3,080 or 4,760 x 6,160 pixels, respectively.

Rok’s Pottery Workshop

This month I’m starting on yet another series of maps – based on a Patreon request from Mark Clover, I’m drawing up individual floor plans for a number of shops, stores, vendors, and businesses along a single market block. As I draw these, I also have the overhead views drawn out on a map of the city block as I go, so when the series is complete you can use them on their own, or as a fully mapped out block of shops.

Our first in the series is Rok’s Pottery Workshop.

This store is two floors plus an attic and sits on the intersection of Little Market (North/South) & Random (East/West) streets. The ground floor has pots all around the outside and inside of the shop, and a workshop in the back where the pots are made and fired. Access to the upstairs is via a set of stairs around back that leads up to Rok’s home upstairs (and up to the attic above that were there’s a single cot for an apprentice and more stored pots of various types).

The entirety of the store is fairly small for a D&D shop (at 35 feet by 30 feet), but still quite roomy. In addition to the stock of pots in all sorts of sizes (from 4 feet in diameter to only inches across), Rok’s workshop will make just about any special order that will fit into their largest kiln.

The 1200 dpi versions of the map were drawn at a scale of 300 pixels per square and are 6,300 x 7,500 pixels (21 x 25 squares). To use this with a VTT you would need to resize the squares to 70 pixels (for 5′ squares) – so resizing the image to 1,470 x 1,750 pixels.

Rok’s Pottery Workshop

Rok’s Pottery Workshop (300 dpi promo, no commercial license) This month I’m starting on yet another series of maps – based on a Patreon request from Mark Clover, I’m drawin…

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The Golden Fishmarket

This is the second shop in the new collection of small shops set along a single block based on a Patreon request from Mark Clover. As I draw these, I also have the overhead views drawn out on a map of the city block as I go, so when the series is complete you can use them on their own, or as a fully mapped out block of shops.

Sitting across Random Street from Rok’s Pottery Workshop, The Golden Fishmarket sells just about whatever fish-like things make it to the docks in the holds and nets of the many independent fisherfolk of the city.

The building itself is a two-story affair with a peaked roof – the ground floor being the fish market with the owners living upstairs. The small upstairs is awkward, with low sloped ceilings on the east and west sides. More interestingly, there is no door between the two floors, with stairs leading directly from the main fishmarket room downstairs into the common living / eating space of the apartment upstairs.

The ground floor is divided into three sections, four if you count the displays outside under the awnings on Random Street. The main area when walking down Market Street is the fish market proper, with a massive marble slap in the centre of the room where the prize catches are shown off (currently entirely covered by something that resembles but is definitely not quite a “fish” on this map). This area also has the staircase to the residence above. To the left of the market is where fish are prepped for sale, and the back room is for storage and holding special orders for preferred clients.

The 1200 dpi versions of the map were drawn at a scale of 300 pixels per square and are 9,300 x 4,800 pixels (31 x 16 squares). To use this with a VTT you would need to resize the squares to 70 pixels (for 5′ squares) – so resizing the image to 2,170 x 1,120 pixels.

Stonewill Estate

A dubious ally and patron of adventurers in town, “Lord” Eldric Stonewill conducts most of his business from his family home on the ancient cobbled Avenue of Whispers. Here he lives with his suspiciously quiet family and retainers. The building is an old two-story affair with a servants wing, four family bedrooms, study, smoking room, music room, and a crafting room where Lady Stonewill holds her own private court over needlepoint.

The west wing of the building is the servants quarters (for servants and men at arms) on the second floor, and the kitchen & dining area on the ground floor. Beneath the kitchen are the cellars and wine cellar – connected by a secret passage to a small chamber hidden beneath Lord Stonewill’s study. This secret chamber can be for whatever use you have in mind, but is most likely either for dark rituals of some kind, or more likely that central furniture is a massive bed for tawdry affairs with one of the staff.

Lord Eldric is a tall and gaunt figure with piercing grey eyes that almost seem to glow faintly in the dark. His skin is alabaster white and his long, black hair is always meticulously combed back under a silver coronet. He wears ancient ornate robes adorned with symbols that hint at arcane knowledge. He takes it upon himself to communicate primarily in riddles and only shows emotion as a calculated ploy to manipulate those around him. Some believe that much of this is a side-effect of his quest for immortality in his youth, and that he at least partially succeeded and is now something not quite human. At some point during this quest, he learned the ability to manipulate shadows – using them to communicate (sometimes directly to someone else’s shadow), to spy, or even to transport himself across short distances.

Playing the role of “good wife”, Lady Glavin Stonewill is, if anything, more clever, more devious, and definitely more observant than her husband. Not as lean as her husband, she keeps her greying hair pinned up with a set of jewelled hairpins that double as magical weapons that can both block spells against her and steal spells from those she strikes.

She keeps her husband’s shadow pinned to the wall of the crafting room trapped in a piece of dark needlepoint – it is through this that he has his powers over shadows. She often observes his meetings with adventurers and underlings and then advises him on what she noted about them. And whatever goes on in that secret room under his study might be a mystery to everyone else, but definitely not to her.

The 1200 dpi versions of the map were drawn at a scale of 300 pixels per square and are 8,400 x 13,200 pixels (28 x 44 squares). To use this with a VTT you would need to resize the squares to 70 pixels (for 5′ squares) – so resizing the image to 1,960 x 3,080 pixels.