Cosmeeto's Daily Mini-Dungeons

Entrance: Broken Balcony
Special Features: Raven Swarm, Last Journal
Unusual Features: Hanging Rope, Blood Smear
Regular Features: Weapons, Bones, Windows
Exit: Shadow Door

 As I sat down to catch the premier of the Glass Cannon Podcast's new episode, I figured it was a perfect time to knock out a mini-dungeon, and this time we rolled the Haunted Watchtower. I'm starting to realize as I upload these that many of them are missing features that I rolled for, but I think overall telling a more simple story rather than making sure I have every detail is helping my creative process. I haven't been uploading much art to the other portions of this website, but things are brewing right now that I am pretty excited about, and will share more about when the time comes. I'm keeping it short today, as I have finally rescued my sleep schedule from doom for now, and I'd like to continue that trend!

Media consumed while drawing: The Glass Cannon Podcast - Shadowdark Episode 13: Hold your Breath (podcast)

Entrance: Rope Ladder
Special Features: Possessed Helm, Doom Bell
Unusual Features: Spectral Fire, Time Scar
Regular Features: Panels, Doors, Debris
Exit: Hull Rupture

 I finally got back to a normal sleep schedule (for now), and I managed to get another mini-dungeon down. I've shifted my workflow and decided to care less about isometric perfection, which has saved me a lot of time on the last two drawings. Overall, I feel like the story these tell is more important than their dimensional accuracy. In any event, we have a crew of ghosts operating a haunted airship, complete with a time scar right down the middle. I feel like this one is still incomplete, maybe they needed an adversary for some conflict, but at the end of the day I'm just glad I got one done. I am beginning to run out of prompts, so I'm having to re-roll quite a bit. While I work on the next few, I'm wondering if I should make new prompts in case I decide to continue, or do this again in the future.

Media consumed while drawing: Red Sonja (1984 film)

Entrance: Stone Arch
Special Features: Idol, Divine Sigil
Unusual Features: Prayer Chains, Silent Choir
Regular Features: Stone Tiles, Ash, Candles
Exit: Reliquary Door

 I'll be honest. After being sick for a few days, I'm a little burnt out on mini-dungeons. They usually take two to three hours a piece, which I usually wouldn't mind, but I have been motivated to dip my toes into other projects as a byproduct of this project, and these eat into that time. Not to say I'm done with this project, I'm totally not, there just may be other creative endeavors going on in the background that won't be seen here for a while. I will still post mini-dungeons, but not at a daily frequency.

Now, on to the drawing. In an effort to speed up the process, I did a rough sketch without a grid and scanned that in, going digital the rest of the way. The drawing ended up being much quicker to do that way, but I did make a couple of dumb mistakes that ended up making it look bad. First, I was experimenting with brush stabilization yesterday, and never re-loaded my trusted configuration, so many of the details are lost. Also, I inked on the background layer and didn't realize until I was finished, so parts of the pencil sketch can be seen. I'm not going to worry too much about it though, I'm just glad I'm feeling better and will have more time to produce art.

Media consumed while drawing: Merlin (BBC Series)

Entrance: Collapse Breach
Special Features: Ore Vein, Prospect Map
Unusual Features: Hidden Shaft, Bone Tools
Regular Features: Water, Buckets, Tools
Exit: Cave Mouth

 After staying up all night in a manic state, and then sleeping all day following, I didn't think I was going to be able to get a drawing in today, but I ended up wrapping this one up before trying to go to bed again. I attempted to mess with the scale a bit in this drawing to see if I could get more interesting layouts using larger features. It ended up working well compositionally I think, but overall I am not terribly pleased with the drawing overall. It is too plain for my taste, and there is not a story to be found in it. It doesn't matter to me though, I don't care if every drawing I do is inspired or not, only that I stay drawing. This has been a fun process overall, and I'm glad I was able to get one done today. I may be more forgiving to myself in the future if I do want to take a day off, as I don't want this project to become a source of stress. However, I will be sticking to my guns and trying to complete one on as many days as possible. Up to this point I have completed nearly half (9 of 20) of my prompts. This one felt more rushed than most, as I was able to complete it from rolling to uploading in less than two hours. I am hoping I get some better sleep so I can stay consistent!

Media consumed while drawing: The Glass Cannon Podcast - Shadowdark RPG Episode 12 (podcast)

Entrance: Willow Arch
Special Features: Glamor Stone, Dream Gate
Unusual Features: Living Shadow, Floating Pollen
Regular Features: Leaves, Stones, Roots
Exit: Hollow Log

 Today's drawing features a nice break from the usual grim battle scenes, featuring a young half-orc in the Fey Glade staring into the dream gate, powered by a glamor stone. What visions will he see staring into the gate? I was disappointed that I forgot to include the floating pollen, but hey, perfection is for architects, I'm an artist. I also included a little satyr hiding behind a boulder, because it felt fun. This is what I love about doing these drawings: feeling inspired in the moment and including details because they seem fun. The same applies to the snail. I saw an open space and in a very Bob Ross fashion thought to myself, "I think a large snail lives here". While I did have fun with those little features, my favorite thing to draw on this one was the dream gate. I love doing stone arches, even if the perspective does get a little skewed sometimes. One minor detail that I fell in love with early on was the living shadow. While it is a subtle detail, I think without the prompt one might wonder if the shadow is mismatched on purpose, which could be fun. Now that this project has entered its second week, I am feeling more and more confident that I will be able to complete all of my prompts!

Media consumed while drawing: Municipal Waste - Slime and Punishment (2017 album), Defeater - Lost Ground (2009 album), Lil Peep - Come Over When You're Sober Pt. 1 (2017 album)

Entrance: Root Hole
Special Features: Sacred Beast, Spirit Mask
Unusual Features: Hidden Den, Nest Remains
Regular Features: Stones, Tools, Fur
Exit: Hunting Path

 I decided this morning that instead of completely skipping the mini-dungeon today in favor of drawing other stuff, I would complete one with a very bare-bones and stripped back design. It didn't take me nearly as long as the rest of them, which will free me up for the rest of the day to draw whatever I want. Coming soon -- this will eventually be a sub-page for ALL of my art, so expect some pages with other non-dungeon art in the following weeks. Today's dungeon was done with a different workflow than all of the others as well. Instead of drawing it on paper and scanning it in, I went fully digital today in the interest of saving time. Very little planning went into this piece, and I just kinda stuck things where I felt they belonged. There isn't much detail to speak of, but I would rather have a simple, complete piece than nothing at all. Wishing everyone good health and plenty of warmth in this terrible winter storm that has covered the States in snow!

Media consumed while drawing: Necrophagist - Onset of Putrefaction (2004 album)

Entrance: Broken Road
Special Features: Ghost Regiment, War Specter
Unusual Features: Trampled Shrine, Shattered Shield
Regular Features: Shields, Debris, Trenches
Exit: Blood Rut

 Today's drawing was a challenge start to finish, but I did end up enjoying the process. It took a lot longer than normal because I felt like "battlefield" called for a different scale than I'm used to, and I work with limited space. Squeezing details onto the sheet of paper felt like an obstacle and a calling all at the same time. So, in our scene today we have a goblin horde, led by the deviant goblin king, out to desecrate a burial site by doing some grave-robbing. However, their efforts are being dismantled by a small platoon of ghost soldiers hurling boulders, and a large war specter shooting fireballs at the king. The mischievous goblins have knocked over a particularly important burial site for an important figure, which has angered the ghost army. A couple of the ghosts have decided to leave their post in the trenches to help load the catapult, while another cowers in the trench, too scarred by war during his life to engage in it in death. This is far from the best piece I've ever drawn, but at the same time I enjoyed the process more than most of my drawings. I look forward to projects in the future when I can move away from this small scale, but in the process I'm learning to simplify figures and silhouettes to make them convincing from a short distance away. I may step away from this project for a single day tomorrow to draw something that isn't a mini-dungeon, but I'll be back soon enough with more random rolls and goofy doodles!

Media consumed while drawing: Erykah Badu - Mama's Gun (2000 album), Protest the Hero - Kezia (2006 album), Howl's Moving Castle (1986 film)

Entrance: Ossuary Breach
Special Features: Spirit Funnel, Necro-beacon
Unusual Features: Corpse, Bone Fungus
Regular Features: Debris, Urns, Coffins
Exit: Relic Tunnel

 It still hasn't stopped snowing, but that didn't stop me from getting an early start on today's mini-dungeon: The Bone Pit. Today's rolls were interesting, even though there were some repeats I was O.K. with it because it fit the theme. Spirit funnel was a difficult prompt, so what I ended up going with was a cursed jar, which is siphoning the soul of the dead thief into it, trapping it forever. Necro-beacon was difficult as well, so I decided it was going to be a demon altar that powers the bone fungus, charging it with spells to cast on intruders trying to escape through the glowing tunnel to the rare relic beyond its final threshold. Slime covers the walls, and fungus also grows from small piles of dirt on the floor. I decided to go back to a more muted tone for this drawing, and as I complete more of these I am starting to see more of the finished product in the sketches. The last couple of dungeons, I decided to do a quick, scratchy thumbnail sketch before diving onto the isometric grid. This helped me decide where things belonged in the drawing, and helped me develop the story. I'm beginning to see the finished product in my head before I've completed my sketch, which I think is an indication that my design intuition is improving, even if it doesn't reflect in the drawings yet. Consistency will be the key to better art, I await the challenge of waking up during this challenge not looking forward to drawing. I am interested to see how I will overcome that obstacle.

Media consumed while drawing: Split Chain - motionblur (2025 album), Violent Vira - Lover of a Ghost (2025 album), Kenny vs. Spenny (Showcase series)

Entrance: Flood Hatch
Special Features: Flood Gate, Sewer Lord
Unusual Features: Filth Idol, Hidden Drain
Regular Features: Water, Pipes, Rags
Exit: Rust Gate

 Buried deep in snow in the Midwest, today was a perfect time to bundle up in my warmest clothes and begin doodling. Today's mini-dungeon asks the age-old question: "What happens in a dungeon when the adventurers aren't there?". In this case we have our sewer lord, the Alligator King siccing his kobold minions against an amalgamation of filth spewing from a recently-collected idol. One kobold cannot bring itself to face the horror. The prompt of "filth idol" threw me for a loop, but I managed to overcome the creative block and throw in a large urn, with tentacles, filth, and stench spewing forth, leaving everything in its path gasping for breath. One of our poor kobolds was unlucky enough to be first into battle, having been swallowed whole, partially digested, and spit out. If I were to do this drawing again, I would add more moss and dingy features, but I spent a lot of time on the sketching phase trying to set the scene on this one and wanted to make sure I got something complete today. I will admit I cheaped out on a couple of the prompts, as the "hidden drain" is not-so-hidden, and I threw torn banners on the wall to satisfy "rags". I'm looking forward to creating more mini-dungeons!

Media consumed while drawing: Demons & Wizards (2000 self-titled album), Eluveitie - Slania (2008 album), Merlin (BBC series)

Entrance: Sarcophagus Lift
Special Features: Spirit Well, Lich
Unusual Features: Bone Door, Hand Pile
Regular Features: Bones, Urns, Skulls
Exit: Sealed Crypt

 I had a TON of fun on today's entry. Having gotten sick of paying a monthly fee for a workflow I'm used to, I took a bold leap and cancelled my Adobe Photoshop subscription. I tried to replicate my workflow in Krita, and while I found some features missing that I was used to, the workarounds and alternatives were more than satisfactory. The main benefit of switching, outside of cost, is that Krita seems to have a much better brush engine that I was highly pleased with. Now, about the drawing. I thought today's prompts were killer, and I wanted to experiment with a more cold, muted color theme for this necromancer's lair. Sitting high in the chamber upon his throne is the lich, being ambushed by a brave party. The wizard casts a mighty magic missile at the lich, but he has something up his sleeve as well, animating a pile of severed hands in the corner to sneak up behind the wizard. I sure hope he isn't wounded badly, as the priest is occupied attempting to turn the undead that are crawling out from the spirit well in the corner of the room. The fighter's inclination is always the same, bash everything in the room and ask questions later. Meanwhile, the sneaky halfling thief lines up a shot at the lich, hoping a well-aimed arrow will distract it long enough for the wizard to pull out all the stops. If the party is successful, they may be able to break the seal and exit through the crypt, collecting the lich's treasure along the way.

Media consumed while drawing: Black Death (2010 film), Robin Hood - Men in Tights (1993 film)

Entrance: Tunnel
Special Features: Mechanism, Barrier
Unusual Features: Symbols, Cage
Regular Features: Barrels, Stones, Ropes
Exit: Pit

 This ended up being an interesting day. I rolled for the dungeon, but after getting a repeat feature on just the second mini-dungeon, I decided to go back and re-work my prompts. It was a difficult and arduous process, and I ended up going through a lot of OSR materials and rolling on random tables to populate my random tables, but in the end I think the overhaul was well worth it, and should provide some more interesting narratives in the future. After that effort, I got to sketching out the Blood Arena. My idea for the mechanism was to have a floor that drops out to a spike pit below, where a dead adventurer lies. I'm not certain it reads that way from the image, but I am happy with how that portion turned out. Barrier seemed like an interesting feature, so I decided that maybe an adventurer was trapped in the entrance, watching his poor party members being completely dismantled by the angry troll, who has escaped from his cage by brute force. I noticed about 90% of the way through the drawing that I had a huge gap in the center, and decided to add more carnage by means of another dead adventurer, impaled on a large spike. My favorite part of this image, however, is the mage hiding behind the cage, contemplating his escape. Will he feather-fall down the pit to safety? Will his friend be alive at the bottom? Who knows!

Media consumed while drawing: Call of Cthulhu (audio-book), Saliva Grey - sincerely, leave me tf alone (album)

Entrance: Tunnel
Special Features: Idol, Relic
Unusual Features: Prisoner, Corpse
Regular Features: Crates, Buckets, Rocks
Exit: Stairs

 A strange relic being charged by a cultist, a prisoner being held against their will, a fallen warrior after a great idol, altogether I was pleased with the drawing visually, although I'm not sure a coherent story came through on my first effort. Why was the cultist charging the idol? What does the prisoner have to do with it? Who killed the knight, as there are no bows in the room? Maybe this is one of those instances where my job is just to present visuals and leave it to everyone else to make up their own story. Maybe my stories will be more interesting in the future. I had fun drawing this piece either way, and learned a lot in the process about what I like to do stylistically.

Media consumed while drawing: Xena - Warrior Princess