Wednesday, April 27, 2016

[map] Mr Hassle's Shoppe

Originally drawn as a practice map for a commission that did not pan out, I thought I would flavor this one up with some text. Hope you like it!

And the obligatory black and white version:


Monday, April 18, 2016

[map] The IMPLICARUS of ARCHDEACON SAN DENARAMIS

The Implicarus is the tomb of the Archdeacon San Denaramis, a once powerful and respected member of the clergy of Bethmoora. His modest tomb - as proscribed in his will - is exactly one turn down from the Black Gate.  Those of the respectful sort will say a prayer to the Archdeacon as they pass.

There have been many attempts by ne'er-do-wells to enter the tomb but the protections that have been placed are formidable and yet to be breached. Inside are two statues, one of Valira, the Goddess of Life, along with an altar. Another chamber holds a statue of the Archdeacon himself. Valira's statue is in solid gold, said to be worth thousands and thousands of gold, while the other is a solid white marble.  A small tomb holds the final resting place of Feladornia, the faithful servant  (and many say the secret lover) of the Archdeacon. The actual tomb of the Archdeacon is hidden in a secret chamber. Rumors say that if the altar or statue of Valira are desecrated, the statue of the Archdeacon will become inhabited with the soul of the Archdeacon and defend the goddess.

Mold and fungus has grown in the pool over the decades and a green slime has taken up residence in a pool that has formed in the farthest chamber. Merely entering this chamber can be deadly as the slime emits a foul vapor into the air which can render a person inhaling the vapors unconscious. The slime will then move to begin devouring the victim.

The black and white version.

Thank you to my supporters on Patreon!

Thursday, April 14, 2016

[map] The entrance to Claim number 19950421-V

I am running a play by post over on the Basic Fantasy Forums and my group is just enter Ghorl Nigral and have located the entrance to the dungeon they are charged with exploring. These are blown up quite a bit but I am hoping to eventually combine a slew of minimaps into a larger single map at some later point.





Tuesday, April 12, 2016

[map] The Six Unholy Pillars of the Vinagroon

This map began as nothing more than a quick idea for a drawing and then I found myself with some freetime.

The Six Pillars of the Vinagroon is a unique stone circle nestled against a steep cliff. In the middle of this stone circle is a deep well that disappears down into darkness, This is the lair of the Vinagroon, a vile, tentacled demon. The small cavern to the south of the lair is a cave where the current priestess of Vinagroon resides, exiting only to satiate her deity by tossing sacrifices into the dark maw. In another small cavern to the northwest rests a glowing statue, a crude vision of the Vinagroon the priestess reveres.

Saturday, April 9, 2016

[map] Today's ick map

I utterly hate it. I messed with this map all morning, trying to make something of it and nothing seemed to pan out. So rather than waste the afternoon as well, I give to you dear internet. Do with it what you will.

And the bnw version:

Thursday, April 7, 2016

Willard of Aquitane and the Stinking Tower of Verroragun

Willard of Aquitane is a brave adventurer, but is he brave enough to vanquish whatever lies beneath the stinking tower of Verroragun? If Willard is brave, and smart, he may find the trapdoor and gain access, otherwise - perish the thought - he will have to shimmy through the ventilation shafts to gain access to the catacombs below the tower. Either way, cotton stuffed in his nose, he is ready to face the odorous fiend that lies beneath the tower!

All due respect to +Luka Rejec for my attempt at his awesome artistic styling.

And of course, the old school black and white version.

If you enjoy seeing these maps on my blog, free for everyone to use in their personal games, consider supporting my mapping through Patreon. Visit my page at https://www.patreon.com/msjackson

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

[map] The Moon Spire

I had a little time alone in the office today with nothing going on, complete shocker there. SO I set about drawing a map on the only thing available, my newest Stormtrooper Moleskine. I used my now constant Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen and omg it bleed through something terrible. I thought I might show you how my maps begin and end. Below is the initial map.

Below is the finished map, scanned in, cleaned up, and color added. As with most of my maps I always include a color and a black and white version, an homage to the origins of our hobby.

The maps above or reduced by over 1/2 in size, if you would like to see and download the fullsize map, please visit my patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/msjackson Without further ado, I give you...


The Moon Spire was created decades ago by the now ill-spoken-of mage Garudein the fourth, the Fouldblade of Nestracurcoum. It was originally intended to be used as a summer retreat from the heat of the blighted desert of the Horrucluem but Garudein found it quite pleasant that he took up residence and rarely left the spire. The Spire is quite magical and will provide all the requirements needed to support life so long as it is replenished by moonlight every nightfall. If one simply retires to bed in the evening, they will awake to find a table full of wonderful food, decanters full of marvelous wine and the oxygen in the spire clean and refreshed as if by a summer breeze.

Sadly, as with most secluded mages, Garudein eventually grew nutty and pushed the boundaries of his magical ability. He lusted for a mate and conducted his experiments, which only resulted in disaster. He was slain by one of his monstrous creations when he attempted to fornicate with the beast without properly announcing himself and his intentions. It promptly slew him and set the previous creations free. Today their various offspring roam the Spire, dining and enjoying the constantly replenished food and wine.

Monday, April 4, 2016

[map] The Beach Head

What began as a way to play around with my new fountain pen, and waste a little time while the family slept in during last week's vacation...

The day prior I had seen the World War II memorial in Washington DC and when I woke the following morning Mark Hunt had released his new WWII game based on the OSR darling, WhiteBox. This is actually the second WWII game being worked on - Pete Spahn is currently finishing up his WWII: Operation WhiteBox which also uses the WhiteBox rules. I have been working on a few WWII maps for Pete and well, let's just say I was inspired by all the WWII goodness floating around.
I scanned it in and cleaned it up last night, adding some color - I do like a little whitewashed color - and playing around with it a little. I wanted to try something a little different for the cliffs, based off a style another mapper uses, 2-Minute Table Top, which I really like. As is typical for me, I am not entirely happy with how it turned out.
I also wanted to play around a little with something that could look like it came out of the era the map depicted, while still remaining a useful map for RPGing purposes. Probably should have added the much cliched coffee stain or folds to give it that really old feeling.
All my maps are free for private use, feel free to print them out or upload
to your favorite VTT and utilize them in your games.