caeora

Sneak Peek: Treetop Adventure

Just a quick sneak peek today, This is an awesome dynamic map centered around a huge tree, with a bunch of platforms, rope bridges and swinging ropes. It was commissioned by the amazing Jeff Stevens who is going to be writing an adventure with this map! 

If you want to check out his work, click here! http://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?x=0&y=0&author=Jeff%20C.%20Stevens

And go say hi, and follow him on twitte...

Ashenrend

Phew.. So this was a tough one. This region map is for a game I’m running this weekend, It wasn't going to very involved but ended being one of the hardest maps for me to actually finish because It just didn't look right no matter how hard I tried. I streamed myself trying to do the basic colours on Sunday but at the end of the stream I wasn't happy with it. I ended up re doing all the basic colours and trying another 2-3 different colour schemes before going back to more vibrant look. 

I somewhat like the end result at this point even...

Jungle Raptors

To accompany the Raptor Ravine I finished up yesterday, I decided to make some jungle raptors to go with it! These are not true Velociraptors or even a Deinonychus so they are not supposed to be accurate dinosaurs but I think they look pretty good. They definitely fit into a jungle setting quite well.. like chult for example :D 

I also made sure there was a bunch of different colours for these, you might use one colour like the brown for normal raptors and then another brighter colour for an alpha but that really up to ...

Raptor Ravine

Hey everyone, just finished another battlemap, this one is called the Raptor Ravine! The dinosaur bones give the map its name only in part because I’ve made a raptor creature token to along along with it, which should be done tomorrow or the next few days! :D

This map was coloured fully on my twitch channel, so if you are curious as to how I made this, or want to ask me any questions directly, head on over to https://www.twitch.tv/caeora and join me for a stream at some po...

Wormwick

For the first time in awhile I’m going to be able to run a game of D&D with some degree of forethought and planning! This is the small hamlet of Wormwick based on a setting I’m calling Eternal Tyranny. It will be the starting location of the party and is very different to your typical fantasy village. The entire population is undead and the majority of those are the braindead muted, that are similar to zombies expect they make no sounds and unless controlled and ordered to complete tasks they remain completely passive. This hamlet is al...

Firas Timelapse

One of the benefits of drawing my maps on stream, is that this kind of this is now possible! One my patrons, Jhamm has put together a timelapse of the world map I made for them and both the inking and colouring stages can now be seen in a slightly easier to digest way!

The inking videos can be seen here:

https://youtu.be/O2sY6umwY6U

I think these are really awesome and personally love watching other artists do timelapses of their work you can learn alot about the...

Firas

This map seems like it’s taken me forever to finish! Despite that fact, It has been incredibly satisfying to get all the details right and to really try and get some distinct biomes and places of interest! There are four massive creatures that you can see dotted around the map, a purple worm in the desert, an awakened tree in the forest, a kraken in the ocean and a titanic dragon in the snowlands to the east. Almost all the maps was inked and coloured on twitch, which was a great way to show people what I was working on and how I actually mak...

Sneak Peek: Raptor Ravine

Todays sneak peek is a first look at a new battlemap I'm calling the Raptor Ravine, its somewhat based on the jungles of Chult which will make Tomb of Annihilation players very happy! For a few months now I've been trying to create great looking jungle/rainforest maps. I don't think I’ve found anything else that really nails the look and feel, with undergrowth, strange plants, vines and colours. I tried sketching things over and over again until I came to the conclusion that in order for a jungle to look different from a temperate forest it n...

More Streaming Stuff!

Just a little update today, mostly regarding streaming on twitch! 

The stream on sunday was huge success, at least to me anyway and I got up to 50 followers after only an hour or so! I was only inking a world map but it really seemed to go well and in response I will be streaming more often. So below is the new schedule for streaming 4 nights a week. 

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Sunday. 

London, UTC +0 19:00 - 23:00

New York, UTC -5 14:00 - 18:00

San Francisco, UTC -7 12:00 - 16:00

I might s...

Gods Graveyard

Todays map is set in a swamp like area with the remains of a massive titan or god, left to rest and crumble into the bog, along with what's left of a massive sword! This map was inked and coloured live on twitch! The colouring videos are currently saved on there so if you go to https://www.twitch.tv/caeora you should be able to get a good view on how I make my maps! :) 

During the test stream where I was fixing auido issues I ended up inking everything, this video isnt ...

Sneak Peek: Patron Maps

So this month, in addition to the village building series I'm going to try and tick off a few of the backlogged patron requests I've been trying to get done. Normally I do one map at a time but I needed to get a lot of the requests out of my head and onto to paper to speed things up in the long run.This is just a quick sneak peek at some of the sketches, none of these are inked yet but the world map of Firas is on the top left, the Gods Graveyard I was working on last night in the top right, a zombie green dragon token in the bottom left and a ...

Streaming Setup

Well everything's coming together quite well for streaming, I said I would keep people updated and this is the result so far!

I had a huge amount of trouble trying to get the camera in a position that would enable me to actually draw and ink whilst still having the camera pointed down at everything. You can't see it here but I had to make a t-shaped brace thing.. that goes against the back wall and holds the camera up without blocking any paper. Lets see how long that holds up... :)

The camera I ordered arrived yesterday, a C922 Logitec...

Building Map 03: Herbalists Hut

Todays map is another building for my village series, the very bushy and green herbalist hut! I always thought that a herbalist would have loads of house plants inside and windows boxes outside rather than going out all the time to gather things from the wild, so this hut is half house and half greenhouse! The roof even has a big skylight to let in even more natural light :) 

I actually finished this one yesterday but didn't have enough time to make the different versions for online or print and after a long day cooking a roast dinner I ...

Streaming!

First up I just want to say thank you to everyone that has recently started supporting me here on patreon and everyone that is still supporting me. Ive had a great month here on patreon with loads of new people finding me and starting to support me, it's so amazing that the majority of my income each month now comes from people that really love my work and want me to keep making stuff. Thank you all so much! <3

Next up, lets talk goals. So a while ago, I took the goals off the patreon sidebar because I wanted to slowly work on them in the ...

Forest Glades

I just finished up four maps today! All done for the Kickstarter Forest of Oakenspire that I talked about in my previous post. Loads of options for these maps with a slightly greener version if you want your forest to be a little more mossy!

The grid is a little bit small on these but it makes them much easier to print onto A4 bits of paper, you can add your own grid onto the gridless versions and print onto A3 if you need bigger maps. :) 

If you’re interested in the Forest of Oakenspire Kickstarter, check out the link below for ...

Sneak Peek: Forest Glades

As I mentioned in my previous post I’m currently drawing up a commission for a kickstarter called the Forest of Oakenspire! This is a quick look at the maps that are ready for colour over the next few days and weeks. So if your interested in the 3D models that go with these check out the link! :)

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ecaroth/forest-of-oakenspire-3d-printable-tabletop-models

2018-03-25 19:01:19 +0000 UTC View Post

Building Map 02: Basement

Another map today in the building series, even smaller than the cottage map! But dont worry the only small bits to do after this are the village well and the outhouse, so buildings like the herbalists and blacksmith are coming up next! Although this basement can be used across a bunch of the buildings in time so you can potentially find a lot more uses for it. :) 

You might be wondering what the greenish area is, or how you get into it? If you look closely you can see a small mechanism that represents a hidden door. It's also empty so yo...

Building Map 01: Small Cottage

This is the first map in a series where I try and map out an entire fantasy village! This was the most simple and one of the smaller buildings that was all hand drawn and inked, before being coloured in photoshop. However compared to a chapel building I did last year this one really pops! Mostly because the layout of the rooms are set I can really work on the lighting and get a really nice glow from the windows and fireplace.

In addition I got a little bit crafty by testing out how it would look printed. At first I was worried it might be a l...

Small Commerical Use

Another post today but this one is a little boring and not directly related to any new maps or new content. Instead I'm going to talk about freely giving away content here on patreon. I started working full time on maps and Blue Sword Games in Sep 2017. While I do not make much from doing this compared to a full time job, on the bright side, every month more people support me here on patreon. I recieve more recognition and commissions and I can see my income going up and up. I think this is because of two main reasons. The first is the content ...

Forest Battle

A pretty unusual map for me this week, with a map made for a patron that is half battlemap and half an area map! This will be used primarily by units and armies rather than individual characters. The colour palette was chosen because its a night map, in fact the entire island is under perpetual nighttime (similar to being above the arctic circle in northern cities). I was also asked to add in a shield wall facing away from the mountain that can be both a magical effect or something a little more sci-fi. 

Either way this is a very interes...

Village Center

All of the village buildings I set out to do are now inked and ready for colour! This is going to be a really useful series for a bunch of people, and I can see myself printing these out and using them myself for encounters and settlements. In the picture below you can see the mill, library, top floor of the inn, mine and a tiny outhouse. I added the outhouse because let's be honest most village buildings and even towns won't have a working sewage system with indoor plumbing :)

2018-03-13 19:25:14 +0000 UTC View Post

Throne of Brass

A small little map today that was made after someone requested a throne room in the city of brass on the elemental plane of fire on reddit. I don't normally do this kind of thing but I had a great idea and used the opportunity to try a different colour pallete and to get back into the swing of colouring after a week spent inking the village maps.

This map was done very quickly I started this morning and finished after 10 hours of work. Again not something I normally do because now my hand hurts and it's a little rough in places but overall i'...

Sneak Peek: Village Buildings

I've been very quiet over the last week and you guys can finally see why! This is actually a commission that is kindly being shared here with you guys but it's also a project that I decided needed a lot of extra detail so it's gone beyond what I was originally commissioned to do. I really wanted to be able to have building that you could walk around and use with 1 inch scale mini's or tokens at the tabletop so these are pretty big and pretty detailed! 

2018-03-08 18:04:41 +0000 UTC View Post

Sand Skimmer

A nice quick token today based around the sand skimmer map I did right at the beginning of my patreon!

https://www.patreon.com/posts/desert-maps-sand-14143507

As you can see there is a little bit of progress going on here! There are a few different colours for the sails, which you can find in the download as well. :) 

I would love to do some more boat based tokens/maps as they are actually really quick for me to get out. Rather tha...

The Red King

Following on from the Forgotten Tomb map series I did a few days ago, I just finished up the Red King creature token that goes with it! 

The stats that come with this token were done by JLunit on my patreon or thorn1993 on reddit! Who released a fantastic compendium of monsters recently so check it out if you haven't already! :) https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-L34nqJSSVbdkg-6oVhk

This was the first homebrew monster/boss that I ever made and ...

The Forgotten Tomb

Sometimes you just need to try and capture that evil glowing look! These three maps are all tied together with a unifying theme and can be played in order from left to right if you want, but they can also be used separately of course :) 

As I said in my sneak peek for these maps, they are actually based on my very first dungeon. I decided to run a game in order to start playing D&D and the first dungeon I made was a gloomy tomb with an undead boss called the Red King at the end. The players started out already captured and locked up ...

Sneak Peek: Forgotten Tomb

This sneak peek is just to show you guys the next small series of maps and a creature token I'm calling The Forgotten Tomb. They are all linked together by descending into the pit at the top and then into the black depths to confront the insidious corruption of the Red King. This location and creature token is very close to me, representing both my very first experience with RPG’s and DM’ing a game. Back in university I decided to run a game in order to start playing D&D and the first boss I ever created was called the Red King.  2018-02-22 17:39:10 +0000 UTC View Post

Sneak Peak: Big Maps and Worldbuilding

Abit of a rambling post today due to one major reason, I've had the flu, in fact I spent almost the entire day yesterday in bed. Which is very frustrating, because I cant make new content and I’ve had so many awesome ideas for maps lately! Anyway, enough complaining about my health, let's talk about new stuff!

First up as a few of you already know on my discord, I have made a new worldbuilding channel where I post my setting on World Anvil called The 4th Race. Not much on there right now and still very much a work in progress but if you are...

Dragon Turtle Island

I've finally decided to combine my creature tokens and maps! This is a test for big combination maps and I think it works pretty well! 

You can use the Turtle Island first, to hook you’re players in before surprising them with the fact they are actually on the back of a giant dragon turtle! I was trying to think of a way to make a stat block for this guy which I might still do, so that you can fight this guy shadow of the colossus style where you need to attack weak points, race around the island and risk being thrown off and eaten but...

Sneak Peek: Dragon Turtle Island

So I've been watching a few people play Sea of Thieves recently and I been meaning to try and combine creatures and maps for awhile. This is the result!

It's nice and light right now and still needs to be inked but there's a few bits that might interest people. Such as, I'll be including a cannon token to use around the island and some cannonballs, the island itself has a few structures on the highest points and I'll be making a version with water underneath and a transpare...