Tags
Dungeon, Dungeons & Dragons, Fantasy, Isometric, Labyrinth Lord, Maps, OSR, RPG, Tomb
Return to Durahn’s Tomb
Let’s set the wayback machine for 7 years ago. Just like now, the One Page Dungeon Contest is taking submissions, and I figured I would give it a shot. I tried and tried to draw a decent isometric map for the tomb idea I had, but I just couldn’t get it to work. So instead I finally surrendered to my lack of cartographic skills and drew a simple overhead map.
The Tomb of Dûrahn Oakenshield
I topped it off by using a horribly derivative name for the dwarf entombed therein (I hadn’t read the Hobbit since I was ten or twelve or so, and only re-read it in 2010, where my embarrassment over this naming faux-pas became acute).
Having improved my skills slightly in the seven intervening years, I finally pulled out the old tomb map and redrew it according to my original vision in a proper isometric view that really shows off the way the upper chamber looks down over the entrance room and the platform therein.
I’m REALLY quite happy that it turned out so well – it took seven years of practice, but I can finally get pretty much exactly what I want (cartographically at least) to transfer from my mental image to the final map.
This map was drawn in a single draft (well, mostly… I guess if you count the original version seven years ago it took me a total of four tries to get here, as it took me three tries to get the original version to a level that I was willing to use) using Mitsubishi Uni Pins on isometric drafting paper from http://www.squarehex.co.uk
Dyson's Dodecahedron 
Well, that’s a great ISO map! I have this adventure all planned out for the original version and this is just frosting on the cake.
Great Work Dyson!
Any chance you can post a picture with the graph paper? I’m trying to wrap my head around how you got such amazing perspective 🙂
I see 2 scans and one photo and they have the grid on them.
Confused as to what other graph paper you’re looking for.
The photo with the dice on it has the iso paper showing still.
jesse, isometric graph paper is different from regular graph paper, google that and you’ll understand.
I still can’t figure out the relationship of the walls to the floor of that upper chamber. The stairs seems to me on floor level at one edge and above floor level at the other edge.
The upper chamber is three flights above the floor of the main entrance.
The upper platform of the main chamber is one flight above the floor of the main entrance.
Thus, the upper chamber is two “flights” higher than the raised platform
Or am I misunderstanding the problem?
Since I’m having trouble explaining what I am seeing, I’m going to post some pics for you later and see if that helps us get clarity.
Constantly raising the bar for dungeon mapping. Love it. Seven years certainly makes a difference. You are quite the inspiration, as has become the norm for all of your work.
Okay, I tried to communicate my difficulty in a blogpost. Maybe the combination of words and images can get across what I failed to write.
http://mythopoeicrambling.blogspot.com/2016/05/deciphering-dyson.html
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