State of Play | December (Patreon)

Hey all!

We're here with December's monthly wrap-up, sharing what we've been up to and what's coming next!

Reforged Maps | December's Wintermas 2025 Map Set

If you haven't signed up to The MAD Network newsletter to receive additional exclusive Reforged maps then here's the three maps you're going to miss out on this month! Taking maps from our back catalogue and mashing them together into three new unique maps, and a mini Foundry VTT module for them as well!

We release three new maps each month to Newsletter subscribers before we put them up on various available webstores. December's Wintermas 2025 take some older maps and gives them a new snowy spin!

December Free Map Poll Winner: Gommage | Illuminated City

Every month we're letting Patreon followers vote on a map from the previous month to be added to our ever growing free map collection. From last month's Gommage theme the Illuminated City map pulled ahead from the moment the poll opened and remained the firm winner throughout the entire poll!

You can now grab the map from the original post here, and the free Foundry Module has been updated!

The Fall of Blackbottom | MCDM's Draw Steel

This month's The MAD Cartographer theme is The Fall of Blackbottom, with a range of maps that were featured in the newly released Draw Steel adventure of the same name. We've thoroughly enjoyed working with MCDM's team to create these maps and are thrilled we get to share them with you in a deluxe-sized theme.

"The Fall of Blackbottom begins on a calm morning at the Drunken Fool, a three-story inn renowned for its baths and jaunty atmosphere. When Ajax’s siege plunges the city into chaos, the heroes are instructed by a member of the Chain of Acheron to lead civilians to a safehouse where the Chain will regroup and help the helpless flee the city. When the heroes arrive at the safehouse, however, it becomes clear that no one is coming to help. What’s more, one or more of them are wanted by Ajax, known to the Overlord by name.

Their lives—and the lives of everyone they’ve saved—now rest solely on their shoulders."

The Fall of Blackbottom adventure for the Draw Steel game system is available now on the MCDM store!

Drake Hall | Character Art & Village Map

Drake Hall is our ongoing Dungeons & Dragons 5e adventure module set in a small rural frontier town. Each month we expand the village with a new town location and 2 encounter maps in the forests and caves surrounding Drake Hall village.

A loose adventure structure continues to unfold with each month's instalment; including NPCs, quests, magical items, equipment crafting and more.

This month, we were able to reveal the first in what will hopefully be an ongoing collaboration with Calebisdrawing, an extremely talented fantasy artist. Caleb created art for Kalec Highcroft, a prominent villager who was included in December's Drake Hall release.

We look forward to continuing to work with Caleb, and encourage you to check out their Patreon!

Additionally, we've been working on a village map for Drake Hall for you to display in your game to players, and are excited to announce that this will release alongside January's regular Drake Hall content!

The MAD Cartographer Sci-Fi | December State of Play

It's been a busy month for The MAD Cartographer Sci-Fi!

Foundry Version 13 Compatibility and Quality of Life

We've now made a pass through our The MAD Cartographer Sci-Fi Foundry modules, and have given them the same 'polish pass' that we gave The MAD Cartographer earlier in the year, including:

Interactive Splash Screens

Expanded journals detailing canopy heights and map features

Expedition Encounters - A system agnostic plot hook for each map, similar to TMC's 'More than a Map' prompts.

General pass for naming consistency and quality fixes

These have now been released for all modules except Boarding Party and Hopper Modular Tiles, which are undergoing some additional changes.

Patrons who are subscribed to The MAD Cartographer Sci-Fi at the Full Cargo tier are able to find a list of installation links for each monthly theme in the Full Cargo Master Post!

The MAD Cartographer Sci-Fi | Theme Gallery

We also finally released our map gallery for The MAD Cartographer Sci-Fi this month, giving you a means to quickly look through our back catalogue of themes to find where your ideal map can be found!

Check out the Gallery!

Free Content for The MAD Cartographer Sci-Fi

We've also now created and released a free Foundry Module for The MAD Cartographer Sci-Fi, sampling a map from each month's theme. Similar to The MAD Cartographer, each month we'll run a poll on the previous month's theme for free and public followers to vote on which map they'd like to see added to the module and map images.

This month was a vote on November's Swamp Expedition theme, which Fungal Bog soundly won! You can access the free map images in this post!

Hopper Drive Online | Theme Poll

We also ran our first Hopper Drive poll this month, asking paying Patrons to decide which of two planets the crew will investigate first during an upcoming theme. The votes were close, but not for long - and Infestation quickly took the lead. This means that in an upcoming theme the Hopper Crew will be touching down on an Infested Planet that has been overrun with a strange bio-parasite; our artists have already said they're feeling itchy and uncomfortable!

Thank you

Finally, we'd like to thank you for your continued support throughout the year for both The MAD Cartographer and The MAD Cartographer Sci-Fi. However you choose to observe the holiday season we wish you and your loved ones all the best and we're excited to experience 2026 with you!