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Illustration by Tim Hitchcock


Maps, Maps, Maps

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Here at Paizo, the normal process for ordering a map for an adventure or sourcebook goes something like this: First the author sends us a map of the imagined area, drawn out to the best of his or her abilities. With that in hand, we check it thoroughly for any contradictions with existing continuity, and redraw or retag sections as necessary to correct mistakes, make the map more interesting, or simply increase legibility. We then hand the map over to Art Director Sarah Robinson, who sends it off as reference to a professional cartographer. Once the professional version comes back, we check it against the original and make changes as necessary. It's a process that happens every day at Paizo.

And then, once in a great while, an author turns the whole system on its head.

In this case, that's Tim Hitchcock, who provided such amazing map turnovers for several locations in Heart of the Jungle, our guide to the Mwangi Expanse, that we couldn't in good conscience send them all away to a cartographer. Instead, we're doing something we very rarely do, and including several of Tim's original art pieces—such as this rendering of Usaro, city of demon-worshiping apes—as player handouts, perfect for GMs who want an in-game reference they can show their players. Between the loads of professionally rendered, heavily tagged maps and Tim's pages torn straight from an explorer's diary, this book is one of the map-heaviest supplements we've ever done, and I can't wait to hear what GMs think when this experiment finally hits bookstores.

Or to see what Tim draws next...

James Sutter
Fiction Editor & Developer

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Tags: Maps Mwangi Expanse Pathfinder Campaign Setting Tim Hitchcock
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Dark Archive

I'll bet he was not even trying, long haired scamp that he is.

Take a bow Tim !
Shadow Lodge

That is a really cool map, lot of character.
Dark Archive

But the big question is, did you pay Tim for the art, or does Tim just make your budget go down? ;)

That's a really nice map, and something it will be cool to hand out.

Hats off to Hitchcock!

That is very, very nice work.

That is fantastic! I would really enjoy giving that out to my players. I will often hand draw something but this is so much better. More please!
Dark Archive

I have to say that even though he's not a Chelaxian, Tim's an absolute genius with designing maps. And if that wasn't enough, the man is artistically gifted as well; whether it's a map turnover or drawn as a hand-out, Tim does a perfect job. I'd tip my hat, but I don't have one, so I'll just do a 'Dwarven Beard Dance' in Tim's honor!

(For those who didn't know, he's also the proud father of my pit fiend servant, Little Tim.)
Paizo Employee Director of Game Development

If all of you continue stoking Tim's ego, we may never recover.

Seriously though, great stuff!
Liberty's Edge

That map is seriously cool. Great work Tim!
Silver Crusade
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

I could definitely see Seltyel growling: "Get your filthy paws off me, you damn dirty ape." Somewhere in there...

Love the style!
The Exchange

That... is one nice map!

I'm starting to look forward to the AP now. The overview didn't interest me as much as Kingmaker - but I do love nice maps and handouts.

Nevynxxx wrote:

But the big question is, did you pay Tim for the art, or does Tim just make your budget go down? ;)

Hopefully, it makes the profit go up.

Dark Archive
brock wrote:

Hopefully, it makes the profit go up.

Ha! Paizo + Nice Art = Profit. Ergo this makes the profit go up, even if they pay Tim extra. That's a given.

Liberty's Edge

Was Tim sitting through a boring 1.5 hour Econ lecture?

Lovin' all the happy little trees!

/snif (Bob Ross 1942-1995)
Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy
Saint_Meerkat wrote:

Was Tim sitting through a boring 1.5 hour Econ lecture?

I think it's more likely that he was giving a rather boring high school science lecture.

Contributor

We paid Tim for his maps, because they are awesome. :)
Dark Archive
Sean K Reynolds wrote:
We paid Tim for his maps, because they are awesome. :)

That is a damn good way to spread the awesome. Then again, Paizo has that much awesome, they have to get rid of the excess some how.

Scarab Sages

Nice map. I can't wait to see more of that. I'd been thinking of only purchasing the PDF of Heart of the Jungle, but now methinks the hardcopy purchase is in order.
Liberty's Edge Contributor
yoda8myhead wrote:
Saint_Meerkat wrote:

Was Tim sitting through a boring 1.5 hour Econ lecture?

I think it's more likely that he was giving a rather boring high school science lecture.

Actually, I did this when I was reading your sections of The Darkest Vengeance.

Paizo Employee Director of Game Development

Burn!
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