“Svart Grift” is Swedish, and means “Black Grave”. This map pictures an ancient burial tomb filled with secrets, traps and probably a few restless dead. I hope you will enjoy it – I’m sure your player’s wont! š
Click here for a larger version of the map.
Of all the tropes of fantasy, the Underdark of Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting Forgotten Realms is probably one of my favorites. It is a concept I often borrow for my own world building.
My own, loosly defined, fantasy world has an extensive underdark filled with both wonder and horror – a world beneath the world, usually referred to as “The Underside”. While large parts of the Underside is a pitch black, mostly lifeless labyrinthine wasteland, there exists also beacons of life and (to some degree) civilization. It is a vast, dark cosmos in which subterranean societies thrive beneath the feet of an unsuspecting world.
To the people of the above, this place is alien and terrifying and very dangerous.
The underside of the world has it’s own sprawling network of connections, much like the roads of the “surface”. Tunnels stretch for thousands of miles, and are used for trade and travel between the different creatures and settlements of the inky blackness.
One such “road” is the endless tunnels of the Stygian Trail, and to use it means paying tribute to whoever currently occupies the ancient toll houses. It is contested territory – bitter wars and countless skirmishes has been fought over the Stygian Trail and its fortified tollhouses. This map shows one of those toll houses, with enough room to house a small band of humanoid guards and plenty of storage for tribute.
Getting past the small fortress will not be cheap, and the toll master might not settle with gold coins – there are more valuable resources in the dark.
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Oh, and if I’ve inspired you to run underdark adventures of your own, make sure you pick up a copy of Veins of the Earth by Patrick Stuart – it’s by far the best module I’ve ever read on the subject!
A small map I made with dungeon masters in mind. It should be quite easy to fit into any typical fantasy/horror dungeon! Feel free to download it for personal use, to spice up your next adventure.
The MURDER HOUSE consists of a Prison Wing, where the Sacrificer keeps his unfortunate prisoners, and a Murder Wing where they are offered as sacrifice to the dark lord.
I’m working on a project describing a cult of snake worshipping knights – the Ordo Vipera. Thought I’d share the map of their chapter house, should anyone want to use it for their own campaign in the meantime. There’s much love and labour behind the map, so I hope you’ll enjoy it!
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This is (one of the levels of) the underground chapter house of the Ordo Vipera – the Knights Viper. The Knights Viper are one of several knightly orders in my world, and quite likely the one that is viewed upon with most suspicion.
While not necessarily “evil”, the Knights Viper are secretive, non-transparent (more so than other orders) and has many hidden agendas. They rarely intervene openly with politics or the general struggle for power but tend instead to keep a watchful eye from the shadows. They do not have the martial striking capacity of some of the other knightly orders, but knowledge is power, and they use it well. The serpent knights know secrets that could potentially topple kings and queens should they be revealed.
Snakes, especially vipers, are revered by the Ordo Vipera. The inner sanctum of the chapter house is the lair of a large female viper referred to simply as āmotherā. Mother is very old and very intelligent. She whispers advice to the knight-brothers, and her offspring forms tight bonds with them. Mother shares her venom with the knights, and they are considered to be the most proficient alchemists in the realm (some would rather call them poisoners, but that is not the full truth).
At any given time there are nine brothers of the Knights Viper (each filling a specific role, such as Master Librarian, Keeper of the arms, Apothecary, etc.) and nine squire-acolytes. Ruling them is the chapter master ā the Lord of Scales. The order commands a host of two hundred men-at-arms.
Built in Sweden, and considered one of the first true exploration vessels capable of manned missions beyond Mars, the HMS Nordenskiƶld is mankinds greatest explorer, and our biggest hope to bring us answers to the riddles of the great unknown.
Captain Palander and his crew of sixteen (incluing legendary adventurers like Giacomo Bove and Ernst Almquist) have not seen Earth in eleven years (only restockning occasionally at the Martian colonies), as they tirelessly explore the moons of Jupiter and Saturn.
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This is my first attempt at drawing sci-fi maps, and I was going for a bit of a retro style. I’m currently reading Arthur C. Clarke’s “The Sands of Mars”, and felt really inspired by this great story about a human settlement on the red planet, and the scientific experiments they conduct there.
Science Outpost Thule is located at some backwater moon in the outskirts of the solar system, and some bad shit probably happened here. Might write a short adventure based on the map. Let me know in the comments if you have any ideas!
Like all the content on this site, this map is free for personal use (although I ask you not to publish my work elsewhere without my written consent). Click the below link to download a 300 dpi file for print.
The sturdily built and fortress-like Angelās Spit inn and alehouse is located on the edge of the borderlands. It is the last homely house before the vast and wild frozen tundra and is frequented by trappers, adventurers, couriers and outdoorsmen. While the name of the inn might sound peculiar, even off-putting, it was originally meant…
A potential client asked me if I could draw an isometric hex map, and I realized I donāt know! Iāve drawn plenty of isometric maps, and plenty of hex maps – but never a map with isometric hexagons. So naturally I had to try it out While it started out as an experiment, I decided…
The Bogpike Tower settlement is build in and around the remains of an ancient bridge abutment. To get away from the horrors of the swamp, the inhabitants of the village have added walkways, huts and houses to the sturdy stone structure. In my own campaign environment of Fourtower Bridge/Western Thistlemoor, the Bogpike Tower settlement is…
I drew the image of the keep some time ago, just as a small sketch in a notebook. However I found myself returning to it as I took a liking to the idea of a small keep in the middle of a deep and dark forest. Just recently, I decided to draw the maps of the keep, should someone want to use it as an adventure location. At some point, I might just flesh it out a bit more and add it to an adventure.
I’m not a great adventure writer, and certainly not in English (it’s not my native language) but I do try to give my adventure sites descriptive names, and I hope they can provide some substance to the place.
In this case, I’m picturing an elderly ronin-type knight, his master killed or disgraced. The knight is living out his last years as a recluse, not participating in whatever game the outside world is playing. Perhaps the player characters need to convince him to take part on one final quest. Perhaps he is a keeper of great secrets and has information the adventurers need. In any case, just finding the Knight Hermit could very well be an adventure in itself.
As DM, you could act out the Knight Hermit a bit like Obi-Wan Kenobi from the early Star Wars movies. If you want a more corny character, perhaps slightly mad from the isolation, you could base him on Yoda.
Have you ever been to Rappan Athuk? The mega-dungeon adventure by Frog God Games is a hefty tome, and quite an iconic piece of roleplaying paraphernalia.
There are few places in Rappan Athuk’s surroundings where adventurers can rest up in relative safety, but Zelkor’s Ferry is one of them. I didn’t particularly like the map in the adventure, so I re-drew it myself. Hope you enjoy!
Feel free to download and print this map for personal use. Click the link below to download a larger version.
