Tags
City, Dead Rat Productions, Dungeons & Dragons, Fantasy, Maps, OSR, RPG, Urban
So, I’m drawing up a city for the upcoming Dead Rat Productions magazine. Instead of just posting the final work, I figured I’d let you all in on the process involved.
This particular map I’m drawing in a medium-sized booklet – roughly 8.5 x 5.5. The goal is to have a map that sits nicely horizontally on half of a page, so I can then put an ad on the page also. Or text. But really, it’s for the advertising space. Honest.

Stage 1 Complete
Here’s the beginning of the city. I drew out the coastline, roads and major fortifications in pencil first, and then starting inking. I don’t bother roughing out the buildings as they will fall into place as I ink. So this scan is slightly after the inking has begun – the coastline and fortifications have all been inked, and I’ve started on the city proper, within the city walls for now.

Stage 2 Complete
This part was drawn while half-watching the original season of Dr Who (100,000 BC). The city has filled the city walls and is starting to reach out beyond them. Some farmland is making an appearance, and I’ve re-drawn the coastline much thicker and added water.
You’ll also note that roads are starting to appear that didn’t appear in the pencil rough. These are the ones that are formed just by the shapes and placements of buildings – alleyways, paths, and minor roads that aren’t part of the city plan or the “recognized” roads of the city.

Stage 3 Complete
Not really a lot of change here. I’ve finished off the coastline finally, and most of the details of the areas outside the city wall are done, and I’m finally working on the areas on the other bank of the river. I decided to go without a bridge in this city – probably a choice the city planners made in order to make the city more easily defended.. but then the damned civilians started using boats to cross the river and are living on both sides of the river now. The western side of town is clustered around a port fortress, but is definitely less safe than the main town within the city walls.
That said, the city hasn’t seen much conflict for a few generations now. This is evident by the number of buildings outside the walls in general. While the region may be dangerous, the dangers have learned to leave a wide swath of safety around the city… probably because at some point there were some powerful adventurers based here who taught the local bad guys a lesson or two in how to keep their heads down.

Production Draft!
And here’s the final product as I sent it off to Dead Rat Productions for approval. I’ve added a screen for the water, more details of hills, beaches, trees, grass and farms, and a few more buildings.
If this draft is approved, expect to see it or something quite like it in the upcoming inaugural issue of Dead Rat Production’s magazine!
Besides the fact that it is a great map, seeing the process is very cool. It looks like a history of the town. It would be fun to have an adventure where players had to find a historic map of a town to locate the lost cemetery/church…etc and excavate to find the dungeon.
Beautiful, Dyson. I love seeing your technique, especially the process behind it. I’ve been trying to mimic your style (imitation and flattery) in my recent mapping work, and seeing your technique demonstrated is a great help. Thank you.
Very cool to observe the process Dyson. I was wondering though about bridges? Access across the river is a real headache in my current RL city so I always look to that in my fantasy cities. Perhaps the Ferryman’s Guild carries a LOT of weight in the town so bridges suffer accidents and construction delays… the Ferryman’s Guild is a cover for the Asasiyun and their nefarious deeds. Thanks again for sharing!
You’ve answered your own questions, and in the process you’ve created a great little twist to throw into the game… “Shh, don’t mess with him, he’s a ferryman!” “But he doesn’t work at the ferries…” “Exactly!”
Great work, nice post with the evolution. Inspiring!
I love the dungeon floors. I love the city maps. Keep it up.
BTW, a book much like the “Delves” but made out of city maps would certainly end up on my bookshelves. Just saying.
Understood and Noted!
With my rate of city drawing being as slow as it is, this is something we can expect to see at Christmas at the earliest. And it won’t be as big as Delves… unless I put a LOT more work into it.
Man,
My interest is way piqued! Where can i find out more about this magazine?
I’m already mentally rolling up stats for the Baron who lives in the keep. ..
The magazine is being published by Dead Rat Publishing with an expected release in October (late September possible?)
I’ll post an announcement when it comes out.
Wonderful map. Can I ask though, what pen do you use for inking? There are so many at the art store I don’t even know where to start!
See, that’s the issue, you are at an art store. I’m not an artist, I’m a hobbyist with a love of maps. I use a 0.7mm gel pen. The kind that clicks.
It’s NOT a good pen. It is not a fine-point pen. It -is- the pen that I have lying around though.
http://zebrapen.com/products/pen/sarasa
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Can you tell me what font that is that the words for Tenkar’s Landing is in?
Satan’s Minions
At first I thought you were messing with me, and then I googled it. Wow! I am surprised I have never heard of this font before.