milbysmaps

The Digging Machines

This map is an underground mining complex run by mechanical constructs. It has equipment for stamping and smelting ore, as well as a factory for making more constructs. I imagine this place being built by deep gnomes or duergar, since they are:

A) Good at engineering, and

B) Crazy enough to think building self-rep...

The Digging Machines - Patrons' Edition

This map is an underground mining complex run by mechanical constructs. It has equipment for stamping and smelting ore, as well as a factory for making more constructs. I imagine this place being built by deep gnomes or duergar, since they are:

A) Good at engineering, and

B) Crazy enough to think building self-rep...

The Vagabond Queen - Spelljammer Version

Explaining Spelljammer to people can be a little difficult. I posted a spelljammer map to Reddit once and someone commented that it was a completely unrealistic spacecraft. He pointed out that there was no engine, no fuel tanks and no airlock. He also thought there should be toilets next to all the passenger cabins. These are...

Accessories for your giant ship

I made maps and tokens of the small boats on the Vagabond Queen, along with some cannon tokens in case you want to arm it. If you'd prefer non-gunpowder weapons, allow me to introduce you to the 2023-12-22 17:19:24 +0000 UTC View Post

The Vagabond Queen, or "The City of Sails"

If you're planning to run an adventure on the Vagabond Queen, here's a good way to kick things off:

1. When the party boards the ship, have an NPC mention that there's a tavern on board.
2. The players will head there because 90% of all D&D characters are degenerate alcoholics.
3. When they walk in, t...
   2023-12-21 12:10:30 +0000 UTC View Post

The Vagabond Queen, or "The City of Sails" - Patrons' Edition

If you're planning to run an adventure on the Vagabond Queen, here's a good way to kick things off:

1. When the party boards the ship, have an NPC mention that there's a tavern on board.
2. The players will head there because 90% of all D&D characters are degenerate alcoholics.
3. When they walk in, t...
   2023-12-21 12:10:12 +0000 UTC View Post

The 63rd Cartographic Congress Final Runoff

The ship is close to finished and it should be done in less than a week. Until then, here are your two finalists for this month's Cartographic Congress:

Shawn proposes an urban fortress modeled on the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome.

Ethan proposes the Goblin Queen's Carriage, an enormous carriage with several levels w...

Giant Ship Update. Also, Baldur's Gate 3.

Well, the color is taking a bit longer than I expected, but I'm over halfway done and I decided to finish up this deck completely to give you a look at it.

There's one other thing I wanted to say before I get back to work. I just started playing Baldur's Gate 3 with my wife and it's pretty good so far, but there's somet...

The 63rd Cartographic Congress Vote

We've got 11 proposals this month and I've got a boat to color, so I'll shut up and let you get to it. As always, feel free to ask questions and discuss your choices below.

Silas proposes a cathedral for giants, with smaller passages meant for their humanoid servants.

DireSquirrel proposes a sky pirates' zeppelin....

Big Ship Update: Everything is drawn and inked. Time to color this monster.

After almost a month of planning, drawing and inking, this thing is ready for color. I'd guess that'll be around two weeks of work, but we'll see.

People seem pretty excited about this map and I've already had people tell me they're planning campaigns around it, which is really cool to hear. I've also had people say the...

Giant Ship Update: The Last Four Decks are Drawn

These are the pencils for the bottom three decks and the topside. All that's left to do now is ink these and then get them scanned and colored. That's actually quite a bit of work, but this absolute beast of a map is now well past the halfway point and I think it's looking pretty good so far.

Something a lot of you migh...

Third update on the big ship.

The first half of the ship is inked and done. I've got three lower decks and the topside left, but those should go quicker.

I've also redesigned one of the remaining decks, which will have a promenade around the sides. It makes the layout a little more unique and allows people to use it as a gun deck if they want this m...

The 62nd Cartographic Congress Final Runoff

It's down to the last two. What's it gonna be?

Silas proposes Scaligero Castle, an Italian castle with a walled port.

Jon proposes the Black Citadel, a giant ziggurat floating through the astral sea, which serves as the base of operations of a sinister organization. A non-floating version would be made as well. 2023-11-13 17:45:32 +0000 UTC View Post

An update on the giant ship.

These are the pencils for the enclosed parts of the upper four decks of the ship. There are another three decks below this plus the topside left to draw, but I'm going to get all this inked first.

I'm pretty happy with it so far. What do you think?

Here's the plan.

I've got the giant city-ship planned out and I thought I'd share it with you. This thing has six full decks, two partial decks and a few hundred cabins (I think, I'm not counting). There are three taverns, two general stores, a library, a temple, a marketplace, a gambling hall, a broken-down area that's been sealed off and le...

The Tir Thelandira Codex

Tir Thelandira is now officially finished! I've updated the map, added descriptions of all the locations to the ...

The Tir Thelandira Codex - Patrons' Edition

Tir Thelandira is now officially finished! I've updated the map, added descriptions of all the locations to the ...

Five Wizards' Towers

Here are those wizards' towers I promised. I'm going to try to finish updating everything for Tir Thelandira and get a Tir Thelandira Codex done by tomorrow, so I'll be back with more soon. Almost there!

Download from Google Drive 2023-10-24 15:05:44 +0000 UTC View Post

Valley of the Five Mages

The Valley of the Five Mages is the last map for Tir Thelandira and, while it's mostly independent from the rest of the lore, I think it's a nice addition to the island. The basic story is that five mages have come here from far away to study a...

Valley of the Five Mages - Patrons' Edition

The Valley of the Five Mages is the last map for Tir Thelandira and, while it's mostly independent from the rest of the lore, I think it's a nice addition to the island. The basic story is that five mages have come here from far away to study a...

The Ruins of the Torre Scola - Dehumidified Version

As promised, here's the alternate version of the Torre Scola. It's occurred to me that I draw quite a lot of islands and that I should probably draw non-island versions of those maps as well for those DMs whose campaigns involve 2023-10-12 19:30:25 +0000 UTC View Post

The 61st Cartographic Congress Final Runoff

We're down to the final two. I think both of these would make fantastic maps, but which one do you want to see?

Joe proposes a mechanized fortress deep underground. The magical, intelligent machine controlling the fortress mines the area to expand itself and its army of automatons.

Shawn proposes a cemetery with a...

The Ruins of the Torre Scola

The Torre Scola ("Scola Tower") is a ruined tower off the coast of La Spezia, Italy. Built in the 1600s, it was heavily damaged during the Napoleonic Wars, then later used for target practice by the Italian Navy in the ear...

The Ruins of the Torre Scola - Patrons' Edition

The Torre Scola ("Scola Tower") is a ruined tower off the coast of La Spezia, Italy. Built in the 1600s, it was heavily damaged during the Napoleonic Wars, then later used for target practice by the Italian Navy in the ear...

Tir Thelandira Vote - Location #2 FINAL VOTE

These are the last two contenders for location #2 of Tir Thelandira. This one's for all the marbles. Which map do you want t...

The Monastery of Varlaam in Meteora, Greece

Whew, this thing was a ton of work, but it's finally done! This is a place I've wanted to draw for a long time and I was really glad to see someone propose it to the Cartographic Congress and win.

There's something I didn't realize about this place until I started working on it, though. I knew there was a mountaintop mo...

The Monastery of Varlaam in Meteora, Greece - Patrons' Edition

Whew, this thing was a ton of work, but it's finally done! This is a place I've wanted to draw for a long time and I was really glad to see someone propose it to the Cartographic Congress and win.

There's something I didn't realize about this place until I started working on it, though. I knew there was a mountaintop mo...

Tir Thelandira Vote - Location #2 Runoff Vote

Here are the three finalists for location #2 of Tir Thelandira. If there's no clear winner, there will be a final runoff aft...

Tir Thelandira Vote - Location #2

This vote will determine what location #2 (on the northern island of this map) will be. There were 9 proposals in total, all of which are on this ballot. The top 3 choices will move on to a runoff vote to de...

Varlaam Monastery in Meteora, Greece

The monastery of Varlaam sits atop a large rock formation in Meteora, Greece. Look at this place and tell me it's not absolutely epic. This ...