Crux's Cartography

Haha no worries. I really appreciate it. Thank you!

Very cool of you to put this together! I'd love to be included.

I've always loved an old map by @czepeku.bsky.social called "Thieves Guild Hideout". It's one of my all time favorites, and I wanted something similar for a smugglers guild in my home game, so I thought I would make my own set of maps inspired by it.

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Okay, but what about thingamabobs?

I just learned the five golden rings aren’t actually rings - they’re ring-necked pheasants. The whole song is a circus of lies.

To me it feels like a liminal space - an unknowable mystery, lost to time, inviting you.

Last Murder at the End Of The World has some pretty wild world-building, and is a fun mystery.

I made a new map, called Old Gully Road [30x30]. It's the second map on my new little Patreon. I thought it could be great as a catchall for early encounters. Right now, high-res day and night phases for Summer and Autumn are available. Winter and Desert are to come.

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Glad to hear, I’m excited for it! A Star Wars Goonies/Explorers? Sign me up.

For now, I’m working backwards from where a milestone would be, then looking ahead and fudging it.

For example, I’ll always give something, but when I knew they were about to go from odd jobs to a first major arc, I made sure to nudge them over the line.

Working well so far!

I love the lighting!

So true about the details. I feel like, once you start adding those details in, and the world feels more and more lived-in, it can be tough to know exactly when to stop.

You always have such beautiful lighting. Seeing you doing it in a timelapse with just a palette of colors totally blew my mind. I really thought there'd be an adjustment layer trick involved. So impressed.

This is definitely something I struggle with when making maps - balancing interesting features against the need for a DM to justify it.

How can you tie it in with your worldbuilding? Was it magically created to contain something? Or maybe it's the steam exhaust of a gnomish submarine city?

The Thief of Always, by Clive Barker. It's spooky and beautiful, and stands apart from the contemporary trope-heavy YA books.

This is an eternal challenge for me. In my current campaign, I'm awarding XP by objectives/encounters that they complete (even if it's objectives they came up with) . Hopefully it ends up feeling like milestone leveling, but with a granular sense of progress.

How and when do you introduce the villain of a first major arc? Do you give the party a bit of time to do odd jobs and get their feet planted in the world first?

So sweet! Mine purrs to himself when he makes biscuits, but if he thinks I'm listening, he stops. Every time.

I like this idea a lot. I think my players panic in social situations.

During a gala to recon a heist, they ended up spilling wine on the host, clogging the toilets, punching a guard, and jumping out a window.

Some opportunities were missed, but it was still a lot of fun.

One of the first maps I made was for a tavern in my game called The Salt Flat Swill. My party has visited several times, but they've never seen the map. Does this ever happen to any of you? Here's the first and second floor, 20x17 grid. I think it's due for a remake.

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Very thoughtful! I only just started sharing maps on social media, and something about seeing your work get reposted is incredibly validating.

Thank you, I appreciate that! It’s my first shot at a winter variant.

Or me when I realize I under-tuned the encounter.

Here's a snowy winter variant of the tavern from my last post. Feels very seasonal! Again, made for a 16x13 grid. I may post one or two more variants of this one over the holiday week. Here's wishing everyone a wonderful time with friends and family!

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You can never have enough taverns and inns, whether you're starting an adventure or recovering from one. Here's another! I call it "The Hilltop Hearth", but you can make it your own. Made with a 16x13 grid. I'll post a night and/or a seasonal/biome variant soon!

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This is a nighttime variant of the bridge battlemap I posted yesterday! Somebody put up spiked barricades and is keeping warm by a campfire. Players could be sneaking up on a checkpoint, keeping a horde at bay, or more. I made these with an 18x18 grid in mind.
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Sometimes all you want from a map is a place to fight stuff. This is a great spot for an early campaign encounter. A bandit ambush, goblin scouts, or fending off dangerous wildlife - many possibilities! I'll post my desert night variant tomorrow.
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This is the rooftop night variant that goes with the house from yesterday, clipped from a larger map. Very simple, a couple skylights, and light spilling from an upper window - great for anything that might involve sneaking around at night.
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The interior of a house on the edge of a dusty desert city. This particular building is clipped from a larger night-time variation of the neighborhood. Rooftop night variant to come!
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This house belongs to a hermit on a desert island. In my home game, a teenager ran away from his family to protect them from his newly acquired wild magic, and the party needed to find a way to help him control it so he could come home.