#dungeonqueering

My life has recently been flipped on it's head. I finally left my abusive, manipulative, gaslighting, ableist fiance. Things are complicated, though. He's found a legal way to prevent me, for now, from having even partial custody of our daughter. Between that and the fact that I've been a completely financially dependant home maker / stay-at-home mom for 3 years, and so I don't presently have any income (remedying that soon), I have very little at the moment.

If you'd like a late holiday gift, or to perhaps spend some holiday money, or perhaps you're just interested in my jewelry, now is the absolute best time to buy from me.

I'm a queer artist who has been making chainmail jewelry for 7 years. In addition to my standard colors and weaves below, I can also order the materials to do custom weaves, colors, and sizes on request. Everything is made-to-order, sized to the nearest quarter-inch.

Bracelets are $25

Necklaces are $35

Plus shipping.

Custom pieces can be priced on request, including more complex body jewelry and alternative weaves/sizes.

I accept Paypal, Facebook Pay, and soon I'll have Zelle and Cash app.

I specialize in queer flags, but I have also received requests line "I'd like something evoking the sea" or specific color combinations.

Message me for details or message me at facebook.com/dungeonqueering

$15 for a bracelet

$25 for a necklace

+Shipping

I can do single color, multiple color, patterns, flags, etc.

Message to commission or for more info! You can also contact me at my facebook page, facebook.com/dungeonqueering

For custom pieces not using this weave, size, or styles of jewelry, prices available on request. I accept both Paypal and Facebook Pay.

I’m a small queer crafter who’s been making chainmaille for 8 years and only just started to monetize it right as the pandemic hit and crashed my mental health. But now I’m back and in full force! Hoping to save up for some quality of life upgrades and to be able to commission other artists as well!

Reblogs appreciated!

As You Wish is the (working) title of a game I am going to do when my current in person game wraps up. That is a working title, if you have better suggestions I would LOVE to hear them.

In fifth edition DnD, the spell Teleportation circle becomes a permanent circle if you cast in in the same spot every day for one year. Each circle has a series of arcane runes that acts like a serial number. It takes one round to commit these to memory, and once you have done so, you can use that number to travel to that circle either from any other teleportation circle, or by using the Teleport spell. That’s how it’s listed in the PHB, at least.

The spell Wish is, of course, one of the most powerful spells imaginable. It has a list of possible effects, but it could theoretically do much much MUCH more. However, if you order “off menu” it is up to the DM’s discretion if the spell messes up or has unintended consequences in some way. These are the two spells that are the crux of this campaign.

I have no natural artistic talent, nor skill that I’ve built. Hell, my handwriting is only legible if I make sure to write slow. But I want to have nice maps for the many, many, MANY tabletop games I GM for, so what’s a girl to do? This! In the last post I gave you some examples of where I came from, here I’m giving actual advice, from a person who doesn’t know shit about shit. I literally bought nice pens a few weeks ago specifically for maps, and the last time I touched Photoshop was 13 years ago.

So, if you also want maps and don’t know what you’re doing, or if you DO have artistic talent but want to have a general idea of the mapmaking process, here is MY general process.

First things first: Supplies. At minimum, you will need a pencil and graph paper. I highly advise a pen as well. I have a .5mm pencil, and 4 pens: .7mm, .5mm, .3mm, and .2mm. Personally, I’m a big fan of the Pilot Precise V7 and V5 for the larger pens, but for the smaller ones I’m using some Pigma Microns I picked up at Michaels.

STEP 1: WHAT IS THE DUNGEON

This step is somewhat optional, or can be done later, but may inform your design. Figure out what the dungeon currently is, and if its a ruin, what it used to be. This may be informed by entries in the Monster Manual, but its ultimately up to you. For this example map, I’ve decided it’s an old Dwarven temple space dedicated to Gond. It was abandoned for any number of reasons. I want it to be a low level dungeon, so I’ve decided it’s now inhabited by Goblins and animated objects that the goblins fear. I also want it to have a secret treasure room that neither the goblins, nor any other previous inhabitants since the dwarves, have found.

STEP 2: BASIC OUTLINE

This works for any game system, but I’m assuming we’re using 5th Edition DnD because that’s what’s hot at the moment, and thats the main game I GM these days. So go ahead and do the basic outline in pencil, in whatever way you want. For this, I used the DMG’s random dungeon generation tables because I hadn’t before and I wanted to see how that would do. It’s less compact than, say, a castle or something would be, but it certainly makes sense given that every foot of stone wall is going to have religious carvings on them.

STEP 3: OUTLINE, BUT INK THIS TIME

You will want to ink your outline, and erase any errant pencil lines. If you have multiple pens, ink the lines with the thickest one. Spill a little water on it afterwards because you’re a dummy. Wait, no, that’s just me.

And now CRUCIALLY for one of the later steps that is really going to elevate this dungeon, Double up your dungeon lines in thickness (and go ahead and number your rooms while you’re at it)

STEP 4: HATCHING

This is the step that’s going to give your dungeon that important POP that, regardless of your skill level, is going to make your dungeon look and feel far more professional. There are different types of hatching, but I will be using the kind found here, from Dyson’s Dodecahedron , but there are other ways people do this that look just as good. I just personally like the way Dysonization looks, but there are tons of good ways to do this, and you can definitely come up with your own style, or use them situationaly depending on what genre or location the map occupies.

Anyway, for the Hatching, I personally suggest using your second thickest pen. For me, that’s the .5mm, however I’m going to be using the .3mm because my Pilot Precise .5mm ran out of ink, and I happen to think it looks nicer. Do lots of test lines in the margins, or on scratch paper or whatever suits you. This process will take a while (I will time myself for you) so put on your favorite podcast or music. 

If you look closely, you can see the exact moment I realized I could be in my bed asleep. Lazy hatching aside, this took about 25 minutes.

STEP 5: FILLING YOUR DUNGEON

This is the step where you decide what monsters and loot go where! The room numbering is going to make that far easier. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to see my notes because I usually name the rooms on the original document, like so:

This is also where I would make a document saying what monsters live where.

STEP 6: DETAILING

So I’m not actually going to detail this map, mostly because I am not at all confident enough to put that out there. And you don’t have to! This step is more for the artistic folks. I’m done, this is good, I’m happy. Now you know how to make maps! For advice detailing, I recommend moving beyond Dysonizing your dungeon, and move further into Vulpinizing Your Dungeon. These guides have tips on EVERYTHING including how to do isometric maps, hex maps, and so on and so forth. It is a VERY good guide, and I cannot recommend it enough. But you can do all sorts of things at this stage. You can color it, you can add very fine details, you can do SO MUCH. There are even ways to remove the grid, if you’re savvy with editing software (I am not).

For a very very long time, I never used maps for DnD or any other tabletop, I just did my best to describe the spaces my players inhabited. After all, I exclusively use theatre of the mind combat, so maps aren’t needed, right? WRONG

You don’t necessarily need maps, but they do absolutely add a flair to your game, especially in locations that your players will be revisiting frequently. In fact, this post will enhance a post I am making later about a highly custom and kinda weird game I’m doing that will be very map heavy. There’s already a post going around* that recommends how to use elbow pasta to make country maps. That’s absolutely wonderful. There are also tons of resources on how to make dungeon maps, and there will be links later. However, a lot of those require artistic skills that I simply do not have.

I CAN’T DRAW FOR SHIT

So what does someone like me to do make dungeon maps that are at least pleasant to look at? Well buckle in, because we’re gonna see it. This is part one, and is not necessary to enjoy part two. The rest of this post is mostly going to be some old maps, next to a single new one. Part two will cover how to actually make maps, so skip there if you want.

First thing I want to do is let you know exactly the background I come from. In that vein, here are a couple pictures of the maps I did way back when, when I used to do encounter maps and all that good stuff.

So these are my old works, that last one probably being the only one I may reuse. The B&W ones are a Snake Temple in the jungle, the two colored ones are a secret base in Cyberpunk Seattle. I was going to show you some of my old battlemats, but apparently I threw them away in one of the 5 times I’ve moved in the last year and a half.

Here, now, is an example of a map I did for my current in-person game:

It’s not perfect, but it is FAR better. Crisp, defined edges, cleaner lines, just generally pleasant to look at. But it gets far better than that with experience.

Just for reference, here is the (colored) version I’m handing out to my players, and the final version in my notebook.

Obviously, some of the things I tried to do here worked and some did not.

Until I realised the cape is exactly the same as any other skillcape, albeit looking a bit cooler.