TTRPG battlemap makers get paid by turning custom encounter-map requests, map-pack funding, free-map thank-yous, and quick software questions into priced, asynchronous offers. The key is to separate a GM’s brief from casual comments: define map size, grid, VTT format, lighting, deadline, and what is not included before work starts.
Custom Work lets you offer clearly scoped commissions and services: you set the price, the scope and the delivery time, and followers submit a brief and pay before you start.
You do not need a follower minimum or platform approval to start. Put Custom Work, Personalized Videos, Paid Questions, Tips, and Goals behind one Brillay link; followers pay by card without creating an account. Purchases are one-time, not memberships. No monthly fee, you only pay a small platform fee when you get paid. 8% platform fee when a follower pays for work, 5% platform fee on tips and goals. Card processing is separate. Creator payouts are available in 41 countries (pricing).
Which map requests are worth charging for?
Even with a small audience, charge when one GM asks for work that changes your schedule. You do not need every follower to buy; one clearly scoped $25 review or $50 map commission can be a better fit than leaving every request free. A tavern resize, a cave with two entrances, a printable gridless version, or “can you make this fit my boss fight tomorrow?” are all different from someone saying they liked your free forest road.
For TTRPG map makers, the paid line usually appears in five places: custom battlemaps, funded map packs, thank-you money after free releases, quick technique questions, and rare convention or table Personalized Videos. A priced menu makes charging feel less like asking followers for money: a GM chooses the map commission, paid feedback, quick answer, or tip that fits instead of sending a vague DM and promising to pay later.
Be especially careful when a request uses someone else’s intellectual property. Wizards of the Coast’s Fan Content Policy is relevant for many D&D-adjacent creators because it explains how Wizards treats unofficial Fan Content that uses its IP (Wizards of the Coast Fan Content Policy).
“Your Fan Content must be free for others (including Wizards) to view, access, share, and use without paying you anything, obtaining your approval, or giving you credit.” — Wizards of the Coast
That does not mean every original fantasy map is restricted, and it is not legal advice. It does mean your paid offer should describe your own deliverable: “custom encounter map to your brief,” “original battlemap layout,” “Foundry-ready export,” or “lighting pass,” not an official product or licensed setting unless you have the rights.
How should custom battlemap commissions work?
For a map maker, a priced Custom Work listing is the cleanest fit for a GM who wants a custom battlemap, encounter map, VTT-ready scene, printable file, or small map asset made to a brief (Custom Work).
A strong custom-map service starts with boundaries. State the canvas size, grid type, file format, color or black-and-white style, number of rooms or zones, whether commercial use is included, and what counts as outside scope. “One 30x30 forest ambush map, day and night PNG exports, square grid and gridless versions, no revision rounds” is easier to fulfill than “make me a cool forest encounter.”
A GM can attach up to five files, 50 MB each, with a sketch, party path, dungeon level, mood board, or encounter notes. You deliver once with a note plus up to five files or links, and the listing defines the finished map and exclusions before checkout.
Editorial pricing examples, not Brillay prices, averages, or guarantees: $25 for a lighting/grid audit or small map asset, $50 for a fuller single battlemap deliverable, and more only if the scope truly expands.
How can supporters fund bigger map packs?
A Goal is one named goal with a progress bar: followers make one-time contributions, and you decide which production need the money pays for; every contribution is yours whether or not the goal is reached, with no deadline unless you set one and nothing to ship. For a TTRPG map maker, that target can be “haunted city map pack,” “12 modular sewer tiles,” “printable wilderness encounters,” or “Foundry VTT module export.”
Goals work best when supporters understand exactly what they are helping unlock. Do not make the goal sound like a preorder if you are not promising individual rewards. Instead, describe the production cost: asset work, export passes, walling and lighting, printable variants, hosting, layout, or testing. Nothing about a Goal turns into a monthly tier: funding the next pack never becomes a posting schedule you owe supporters every month.
Foundry VTT’s own module-development documentation is useful if your map-pack goal includes a module release rather than simple image downloads. It describes a manifest-first workflow for making a package recognizable to the software (Foundry Virtual Tabletop module development).
“The first step of your module development should be to define the manifest file and ensure that your module is recognized as valid by the Foundry VTT software.” — Foundry Virtual Tabletop
If you also sell completed packs elsewhere, keep the Brillay goal narrow: funding the next pack’s production, not replacing your storefront.
Where do thank-you tips fit free maps?
Tips let followers send a one-time thank-you, with nothing for you to deliver and no membership for them to join. That makes tips a natural fit after a free map release, especially when someone used your bridge crossing, ruined shrine, market square, or cave entrance in last night’s session and simply wants to say thanks.
Tips should not become hidden commissions. If a supporter writes “thanks, and could you also make the throne room version?” that belongs in a service request, not in a tip. Your tip copy can say something like: “If this free map saved prep time, you can leave a thank-you here. No extra file or reply is included.”
Supporters can leave a message and may stay anonymous. Tips have a $1 minimum and a $10,000 maximum, and followers pay upfront because you have nothing to deliver in return. Because nothing is owed, tips are useful when a free map gets shared widely and you do not want every grateful comment to become another task.
A practical setup is to make the tip wording emotionally specific: “Bought me time for the next free map,” “Helped cover asset-library costs,” or “Thanks for the gridless version.” Suggested amounts can include small choices, but followers can choose a custom amount within the allowed range.
What quick questions deserve paid answers?
Paid Questions let a follower pay upfront to ask one private question, and you send one written reply on your own time — no live call or scheduling. For TTRPG map makers, that fits the tiny but time-consuming questions other creators ask: “How did you make that torchlight?” “What grid size should I export?” “Why does my walling look wrong?”
Paid Questions are text only: the follower asks one text question and you send one plain-text reply. If the question needs screenshots, map files, or a worked pass, sell it as a service instead.
A practical example is $25 for one useful, bounded written answer, while a custom asset or full commission should cost more. You set the price and reply in writing on your own time, up to 5 days.
Good paid-question prompts sound like: “Ask one DungeonDraft export question,” “One Foundry lighting answer,” “One printable-grid question,” or “One mapmaking workflow question.” Bad prompts invite unlimited teaching: “Help me learn mapmaking” or “review my whole style.”
When do Personalized Videos make sense for mapmakers?
Personalized Videos let a follower pay upfront for one personalized video for themselves or someone they care about: you set the price and the delivery time, then record it on your schedule. For TTRPG map makers, Personalized Videos are occasional rather than central, but they can fit convention tables, charity games, club events, or a GM who wants a short video for the group.
Keep the offer narrow. A good shoutout might be: “30–60 second convention table hello from the cartographer,” “happy campaign anniversary to the party,” or “thanks for running the release-day one-shot.” It should not be a custom map briefing, a rules consult, or a sponsored brand read hiding inside a follower request.
Personalized Videos are one video only, delivered through a private link. Personalized Videos accept one MP4, MOV, or WebM video up to 10 minutes and 500 MB. You set the price and delivery time, and you can decline unsafe, harassing, explicit, illegal, or off-scope requests before you deliver.
Editorial example only: a $25–$35 shoutout might fit a small convention-table greeting, while a fuller custom map remains a service, not a video message.
Which offer fits each GM message?
Match the offer to the amount of creative work requested. A GM asking for a bespoke boss arena needs a service; a supporter asking when the swamp pack drops may need a Goal link; a fellow mapmaker asking one export question needs a paid private answer.
| Follower or GM message | Best offer | Why it fits | Editorial example price and delivery time |
|---|---|---|---|
| “Can you make a 30x30 ruined chapel for my boss fight?” | Custom Work | A defined custom map deliverable with files | $50, 3–5 days |
| “Can you check why my night version feels flat?” | Custom Work | Feedback or a small lighting audit may need attachments | $25, 1–2 days |
| “I want to help fund the sewer tile pack.” | Goals | A named release target with a progress bar | $5–$25 contribution, paid upfront |
| “This free bridge map saved my prep.” | Tips | Gratitude with nothing owed back | $3–$10 thank-you, paid upfront |
| “What export size should I use for VTT and print?” | Paid Questions | One private question, one written reply | $25, within 2 days |
| “Can you say hi to our con one-shot table?” | Personalized Videos | A short custom video, not map work | $25–$35, 2–3 days |
Those figures are illustrative editorial anchors: roughly $25 for one useful written answer or a small feedback job, and $50 or more for a fuller custom deliverable. They are not Brillay prices, market averages, or earnings guarantees.
If your audience mostly wants answers rather than assets, read the broader guide to getting paid for expert advice online. If your page is mainly organizing links from social profiles, a Linktree alternative comparison may help you decide what belongs on the page. Mapmakers who also sell illustration or tokens may find overlap with the workflow for digital artists. The request and the payment happen on the page itself, with the follower checking out as a guest — nobody drops out in the hop between the link and the checkout.
What fees and delivery rules matter?
Fees, unpaid DMs, and card disputes can all cut into a map commission. A $25 paid question and a $50 custom map absorb processing costs differently. Stripe’s published US online card rate is commonly listed as 2.9% + $0.30 for successful card charges (Stripe pricing). Actual fees can vary by country, currency, payment method, refunds, disputes, and account terms.
For Custom Work and Personalized Videos, followers pay upfront before you start the work. That replaces “I’ll pay later” DMs with a real checkout. Delivered files are retained for 90 days, so do not treat the delivery link as your only archive of source work or final exports.
Connect your bank through Stripe, and Stripe pays you out. Stripe explains that payout timing depends on factors such as country and risk review, and the first payout can take longer than later routine payouts (Stripe payout documentation).
If you compare this to storefronts, use each platform for the right job. DriveThruRPG’s partner help center describes exclusive and non-exclusive digital sales earnings for publishers, with different royalty treatment depending on whether DriveThru is the exclusive reseller for digital titles (DriveThru Partners). itch.io explains that creators can choose how much revenue share goes to itch under its open revenue sharing model (itch.io Creator FAQ). Those can be useful for finished map packs; on Brillay, a Custom Work listing can take the order before the requested map exists, because the listing sells what you will make rather than requiring a finished pack to upload.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sell D&D battle maps directly?
You can sell original map work, but be careful about official names, logos, art, settings, and other protected material you do not own or have permission to use. If a request depends on someone else’s IP, describe your own original deliverable and check the relevant license or policy.
What should I ask a GM before drawing?
Ask for map size, grid type, VTT or print use, file format, terrain, encounter purpose, must-have features, deadline, and reference files if needed. If the answer is still vague, require a simpler brief before accepting the service.
Should custom maps include revision rounds?
On Brillay Custom Work, delivery is one-time, so your listing should say exactly what is included and what is not. If you want to offer a corrected export for your own mistake, define that separately from open-ended revisions.
Can supporters fund a map pack without rewards?
Yes. A Goal can fund a named map-pack or module target without reward tiers or all-or-nothing rules.
Do followers need an account to pay me?
No. Followers can check out by card with name and email for the receipt; a follower account is optional. That keeps a GM’s custom-map request or thank-you tip from turning into an account-creation chore.
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