Moleskine Maps quick review and dungeon-stocking

I recently won one of Inkwell Ideas' Geomorph Mapping contests, and the prize package included two volumes of Matt Jackson's Moleskine Maps.  

The maps are typically mini-dungeon size, most having 10-12 encounter areas. Each map is paired with a complementary notes page for keying the map with a brief outline of background, locations, critters, and treasure. This makes for a very usable on the fly creation format for a side adventure, ancillary area for a larger scenario, or when those pesky PCs wander off the map...

Matt's mapping is spare and clean, with features indicated but not crowding the spaces (along with the ever-popular crosshatching borders...).  Plenty of information, or inspiration, is hinted at.  And for being small dungeons, several have either multiple entrances, or enough tortuosity, that they aren't a bunch of one-way streets.  

Matt is one of the more proficient and prolific OSR mappers.  His Patreon maps include colored variants, as well as designs suitable for SF gaming, such as maps intended as futuristic bases or spacecraft interior layouts.  

So, I randomly selected a map from Moleskine Maps IV, and did a evening's worth of populating and storyline creation:

P. 19-20 of Moleskine Maps IV, numbering mine.

Geomorph Contest - Buildings

Four entries this week for Joe's Geomorph contest, the theme this time to incorporate buildings:

A city market square - dominated by a huge enclosed market building, where vendors can drive their wagons and goods for sale within its shelter.  The building is surrounded by livestock pens, and a fountain dominates its front facade.  The square is surrounded by guild halls and the residences of the city burghers (inspired by Krakow's Cloth Hall).

A city's temple square, dedicated to the Cobalt Warrior, the city's legendary protector.  A blue ziggurat stands, flanked by massive statues of the Warrior and his leonine mount, the Siban.  Priests to the warrior's legacy-cult make sacrifices in his memory, and run races and other contests of skill in the arena facing the temple. Flagstone-paved boulevards surround the temple, and fruiting trees and flower gardens line promenades along the streets.

An outpost-village at a rural crossroads.  The crossroads is overlooked by a small motte-and-bailey, and is surrounded by a number of homes roofed in thatch or slate.  Several ancient dolmen flank the north road, and are thought to protect the village from evil incursions.  They glow bright blue under the Harvest Moon, but their true purpose has not yet revealed itself.

An arboreal village among the trees inhabited by a clan of affable wood elves.  Their treehouse village is connected by rope-bridge walkways over several forest paths.  The elves patrol the area against forest despoilers, and guide the lost back to their intended routes.

Update:  I won!

Inkwell Ideas Geomorph Contest - October

Joe over at Inkwell Ideas took a bit of a break from his geomorph contests in order to hit the cons and push a few projects out the door.  He revived the contest with a 'mini-map' theme, for contestants to draw up four to six related maps.

Well, I saw the post, forgot about the post, started a draft, threw away the draft, forgot the contest, remembered the contest, did a draft I liked but messed up on the scaling, did this draft.

Anyway...

A set of geomorphs of massive thorn-hedges, intertwined and maze-like, grown and tended by a sect of minotaur-druids.... The plants are iron-hard, with dagger-like thorns that cause numbness and infection if one becomes entangled.

Geomorph Map Contest, Traps!

Skipped a few weeks of Joe Wetzel's weekly Geomorph Contest, so, as per usual, a couple of dodgy, last-minute entries...

Trap 1: Kobold's Paradise:  A series or corridors built out by a troupe of kobolds with a penchant for the classics.  All in one area... Explorers will trip a portcullis (P), blocking retreat.  A stone ball (S) will tumble down a narrow corridor, squashing any who fail to dodge into a side-tunnel.  A pair of well-hewn corridors lead to a lovely tapestry, marred by several holes.  Those, of course made by a pair of crossbow traps (C).  On the other side, a stone block (B) will fall, both blocking retreat and perhaps crushing a straggler... Those exploring farther may be trapped under a weighted net covered in bells (N), notifying allied gnolls that fresh slaves have been delivered.  And finally, a trapdoor will open to engulf the first 1-2 in the marching order, its hatch snapping shut, the fate of the trapped unknown....

Trap 2: Explorers entering a large hall from any of the four doors will find a smooth stone floor. Hung from the arched roof is a naked girl in a cage, calling, "Please sirs, before the ogre returns and eats me!"
The 'girl' is actually an aged naga, her true form hidden in illusion.  Upon stepping below her cage, a pair of massive springs release, hurling a stone block against the far war.  Perhaps a sharp-eyed explorer, less-distracted by the apparent damsel in distress will have noticed the stained wall and floor.
After the sprung trap is re-set, the naga descends from her cage to consume pulped adventurers (her teeth long gone) and pick through the detritus for a few valuables...

Geomorph: Shrines

This week's installment of Inkwell Ideas' Geomorph contest centered around 'shrines'.

Two entries:

First, a shrine to a twisted god - its adherents following tortuous paths to a font of black flame.

And a shrine to some nameless (or at least difficult-to-pronounce) spider god, its alter ringed by four massive, glowing cabochons.

THE FLOOR IS LAVA!!!

Joe Wetzel's second geomorph contest theme was lava.

Well, I completely lost track of time until I looked at the contest page and realized that I had about three hours to draw up my entries. At 10 PM local time.  So they are really low quality. Yes.  Even lower-quality than my usual pieces..

So, two entries, in under the wire.  Lava.  And because basalt often forms hexagonal columns as it cools, the floors of the two geomorphs are hexes.

Others can obsessively cross-hatch, I'll do little hexes.

One hex is occupied by a lava stream, with a resident salamander.

The second is a lava pool with basalt column islands to negotiate across safely.

Again, sorry for the crap quality - I'll craft a bit more carefully next time, I hope.

Next up, shrines!

Dungeon Geomorph Contest

Mapper extraordinaire Matt Jackson linked to Joe Wetzel's  page announcing a bi-weekly Dungeon Geomorph Contest.

Map up a 10x10 grid using the proffered theme of the particular contest.  This first installment is 'Thrones.'  Entries for the first installment were due the 20th.

Cobbled mine together between housecleaning and packing episodes in preparation of vacation...

Hidden within the heart of the dungeon is the throne of a paranoid overlord - a disk suspended over a bottomless shaft by massive chains. The overlord, and perhaps a trusted adviser, hold forth here within an anti-magic shell, only dropping it to levitate a chosen few across. Foolhardy assassins may attempt to leap or climb across, but none have succeeded, their screams fading into the inky depths.

color/gridded

B&W/no grid