dysonlogos.blog

Dyson's Dodecahedron (dysonlogos.blog) is the blog of Dyson Logos, a cartographer and designer of fantasy RPG maps and dungeon locations. It is a working archive of hand-drawn maps, adventure locations, and design articles for tabletop roleplaying games, and it is also where official D&D maps he has drawn are republished in expanded, system-neutral form. If you run fantasy RPGs and need ready-to-use maps or adventure sites, this is the site's core offering.

What you'll find on the blog

The content falls into a few recurring categories:

• Maps — hand-drawn dungeon, regional, and location maps, often released as free low-resolution samples.
• Adventure locations — map plus original text describing the site, its history, and what's there.
• Official D&D maps — maps originally drawn for published Wizards of the Coast products, re-released with new, unrelated text.
• Design articles — posts about the craft of dungeon design and mapmaking.

Posts are tagged by system and theme, so you can filter by things like Dungeons & Dragons, Old School Essentials, Labyrinth Lord, OSR, Fantasy, Regional Map, or Ruins.

Free vs. paid content

Not everything is free, and the split matters if you're deciding whether to follow or support the site.

One structural detail worth knowing: the official-product map releases are not bundled into the Patreon-exclusive end-of-month PDF. They ship as their own separate PDF alongside it.

Licensing and usage

The maps are released under the blog's Restricted Release License, found on the copyright page. The stated intent is personal gaming use — using the maps at your own table. Distributing them outside your own sessions is described as a violation of the agreement.

There's also a copyright split to keep straight on the official maps: the map itself was drawn for a Wizards of the Coast product and is copyright Wizards of the Coast, while the accompanying text is original to the release package and unrelated to the official product's version of that map.

A concrete example

The Isle of the Abbey post shows how a release is structured. The map was drawn for Ghosts of Saltmarsh and is copyright Wizards of the Coast; the low-resolution version is free, the high-resolution version is patron-only, and the descriptive text — an island of sheer cliffs, skull dunes, submerged reefs, and the ruined Abbey of Saint Varro — is written fresh for this package rather than reused from the official adventure.

Who it's for

• GMs running OSR or classic fantasy games who want maps they can drop into a session immediately.
• DMs who want system-neutral location text they can adapt rather than a full published adventure.
• Mapmakers and designers interested in the design articles and the hand-drawn style.
• Patreon supporters who want high-resolution files and the monthly PDF.

If you only need a map to run tonight, the free low-resolution samples are enough to evaluate the style before deciding whether the high-resolution tier is worth it.

Maps published on Dyson's Dodecahedron are released under a Restricted Release License, which permits personal gaming use only. Redistributing a map outside your own game sessions violates that agreement. Some maps carry an additional layer of restriction because they were drawn for official products and remain copyright Wizards of the Coast, even though the accompanying text is original to the release package.

What the Restricted Release License Allows

The license is stated on the blog's copyright page and is referenced directly in the release posts. For the Isle of the Abbey release, the post describes the terms this way:

• The map is covered under the Restricted Release License.
• It is intended for personal gaming use.
• Distribution outside of your own sessions is a violation of the agreement.

In practice, that means you can print it, display it at your table, and use it in your own campaign. You cannot upload it to a file-sharing site, bundle it into your own product, or pass it along to people who aren't in your session.

When a Second Copyright Applies

Some releases are based on maps originally drawn for official published adventures. Isle of the Abbey is one example: the map was drawn for Ghosts of Saltmarsh and is copyright Wizards of the Coast. The post notes that all text in the package is original and unrelated to the official version of the map.

So a single release can involve two separate rights holders:

How the License Interacts with Access

The license and the delivery method are separate things, and it helps to keep them apart:

• Low-resolution samples are available to everyone who reads the blog.
• High-resolution versions are available to patrons at the Level 1 Adventurer tier and above, and to all Legacy Patrons, or through the Patreon storefront.
• These official-product maps are not included in the Patreon-exclusive end-of-month PDF; they are released as their own PDF alongside it.

Paying for access does not change the license. A patron receives the same personal-gaming-use terms as anyone else viewing the sample.

Practical Checklist Before You Reuse a Map

1. Check the copyright page and the individual release post — the license is stated per release, not just site-wide.
2. Confirm whether the map was drawn for an official product, which adds the Wizards of the Coast copyright.
3. Use it at your own table, in your own sessions.
4. Don't repost, resell, or redistribute the file, including inside another published or shared product.
5. If you need rights beyond personal use, the license as described does not grant them — treat any broader use as requiring separate permission.

High-resolution maps on Dyson's Dodecahedron are not sold or downloaded directly from the blog. They are released through Patreon: patrons at the Level 1 Adventurer tier and above, plus all Legacy Patrons, get the high-resolution versions. Everyone else can view a low-resolution sample of each map in the blog post itself, and some releases can also be bought individually through the Patreon storefront.

What you get at each level

The blog's own wording is explicit: the low-resolution sample is "available for everyone," while the high-resolution versions are "only available to patrons and people who purchase the release through the Patreon storefront."

Why these maps are separate from the monthly PDF

The "official maps" series — adventure locations redrawn from maps Dyson Logos produced for published products — is handled differently from the regular Patreon output. According to the blog:

• These maps are not included in the Patreon-exclusive end-of-month PDF.
• Instead, each is released as its own PDF alongside the end-of-month one.

So if you are a patron expecting everything to land in the monthly bundle, this series is the exception. You need to look for the individual release.

Licensing: what you can and cannot do

These releases fall under the blog's Restricted Release License, found on the copyright page. The key condition stated in the post:

• The map is intended for personal gaming use.
• Distribution outside of your own sessions is a violation of the agreement.

That means using the map at your own table is fine; reposting, resharing, or bundling it for others is not. If you plan to publish, stream, or redistribute anything built on one of these maps, read the full license text on the blog's copyright page before doing so, since the excerpt here only summarizes the personal-use term.

A worked example: Isle of the Abbey

The Isle of the Abbey post shows the pattern in practice:

1. Read the post on dysonlogos.blog — you get the low-resolution map plus original descriptive text (the island rising "like the stump of a broken tooth" from Black Sphinx Bay, the skull dunes, the collapsed northeast pier, the ruined Abbey of Saint Varro).
2. Check the access note — it states the high-resolution versions are exclusive to Level 1 Adventurer tier and above and to Legacy Patrons.
3. Choose your route — join Patreon at the qualifying tier, or buy that specific release through the Patreon storefront.
4. Note the copyright split — the map was drawn for Ghosts of Saltmarsh and is copyright Wizards of the Coast, while all text in the package is original and unrelated to the Ghosts of Saltmarsh version of the map.

That last point matters if you are trying to match the blog release to an official product: the cartography originates from the official map, but the accompanying text is Dyson Logos's own.

Common snags

• Assuming the monthly PDF covers everything. It does not cover this series; these ship as standalone PDFs.
• Looking for a download link on the blog. The blog hosts the low-resolution sample; the high-resolution file is delivered through Patreon.
• Confusing the two copyright layers. The underlying map may belong to a publisher (Wizards of the Coast in the Isle of the Abbey case) while the package text is the author's.
• Treating "personal gaming use" loosely. Sharing the file with players outside your own sessions is the kind of distribution the license prohibits.

Quick decision guide

• Just want to see the map and read the description? Use the blog post — no account needed.
• Want the high-resolution file and ongoing releases? Join Patreon at Level 1 Adventurer or above (Legacy Patrons already qualify).
• Want one specific map without a membership? Buy that release through the Patreon storefront.
• Planning to share or publish it? Check the Restricted Release License on the blog's copyright page first.

Dyson's Dodecahedron (dysonlogos.blog) is a fantasy RPG map and dungeon-design blog whose content centers on hand-drawn maps for old-school and OSR-style play. The maps span dungeons, regional/overland maps, and full adventure locations, and the blog explicitly tags its work for systems including Dungeons & Dragons, Labyrinth Lord, and Old School Essentials (OSE). It also publishes maps originally drawn for official D&D products, such as Ghosts of Saltmarsh, alongside original text and releases.

Map types you'll find

The blog's posts are organized around several recurring map categories, visible in its own tagging:

• Dungeons — the classic underground complex, the format the site is best known for.
• Regional maps — overland and area maps, tagged "Regional" and "Regional Map."
• Adventure locations — self-contained sites built around a single map, such as the Isle of the Abbey release.
• Official D&D maps — maps the author drew for published Wizards of the Coast products, later re-released with original accompanying text.

A single post can carry multiple of these tags at once. The Isle of the Abbey entry, for example, is tagged both "Regional" and "Regional Map" while also being an adventure location.

Game systems and compatibility

The blog's own tags name the systems its content is aimed at:

Because the maps are system-agnostic drawings rather than stat blocks, the tags signal the style of play they suit — old-school, exploration-driven fantasy — more than a strict rules dependency. A dungeon map works with any of the listed systems; the tags tell you which audience the author is writing for.

Official maps and how they're released

Some content comes from professional work. The Isle of the Abbey map was drawn for Ghosts of Saltmarsh and is copyright Wizards of the Coast, but the text packaged with the blog release is original and unrelated to the published adventure's version.

These official-map releases follow a specific distribution pattern worth knowing before you go looking:

• A low-resolution sample of the map is available to everyone.
• High-resolution versions are limited to Patreon supporters at the Level 1 Adventurer tier and above, plus all Legacy Patrons, and to people who purchase the release through the Patreon storefront.
• These maps are not included in the Patreon-exclusive end-of-month PDF; they ship as their own separate PDF alongside it.
• They're released under the blog's Restricted Release License, intended for personal gaming use — distributing them outside your own sessions violates that agreement.

So if you see a map you want at full resolution, expect a paywall or storefront purchase rather than a free download. The free version is a preview, not the full asset.

What this means for you

If you run old-school fantasy games — D&D in its various editions, Labyrinth Lord, OSE, or anything in the OSR space — the blog's maps are built for exactly that style of exploration and dungeon-crawling play. If you specifically want the high-resolution files or the official-product maps, plan on a Patreon tier or a storefront purchase, and check the license terms before sharing anything with your group beyond the table.