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Not long back, I added some ruins I called Abudos. I kind of figured it as an early human city, maybe even the first. It eventually fell to wickedness and was destroyed.
I also have my pre-human, Anakim ruled island city of Lymiria (again, sooo creative!). Although, as things work themselves out in my brain, it might not be so much "pre-human" as "primitve human ruled by" the remaining Anakim.
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My Anakim I treat as human-looking giants (maybe 8-9 feet tall on average), with great psi powers. The background I gave them is they were created to help battle the forces of Chaos. Most of them sacrificed their power to once again lock Chaos' power behind the Doors of Time, at which point they became human. The ones who stayed Anakim ruled over their former brothers and sisters, until they were wiped out.
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Did another map over the past few days. This one was from a random location name I came up with - the Diamond Tower of Heshet.
Needless to say, it’s kind of diamond-shaped. Like on a playing card. Damn, was that a pain in the ass when I first started working on the interior. Took a few tries to get something I liked.
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Started on my Hexspire map. The direction I’ve been going in is having it as a kind of magical school. Since it’s a huge tower, I’m going to show some levels as being as typical of several levels: sleeping quarters, class rooms, laboratories, greater and lesser). The first three levels are unique. I may do a few more unique levels at the top, and I’ll definitely do one or two underground.
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On impulse, I reworked one of my older maps, The Citadel of the Crescent Moon. I had developed it as a sort of elven naval base. This first version still serves as the "cover photo" of my Facebook map page.
The original map was done before I really started paying closer attention to scale. The new version is more accurate, scale-wise. Subsequently, the citadel itself is much bigger. I'm pleased with the new version.
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Anyway, after completing the rework of the citadel map, I started thinking about doing another elven city. This new one would be more along the lines of Qualinost, the elven city from Dragonlance. I really liked the pattern of the roads.
So, this new elven city map, subtitled City of Roses, has the roads laid out in the pattern of a rose. I found a suitable stylized drawing through the Google, imported it into the map, and drew the roads over the lines. After I was done with the roads, I hid the drawing I used as a template, and asked the wife to tell me what she thought the roads looked liked. She said "rose" so it seems I did it correctly.
I'm happy with the way it's coming so far, and look forward to sharing it on my page.
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I finished my City of Roses map. It came out better than I thought it would. After I drew the roads over the stylized rose template, I put all the ground buildings along the roads to strengthen the pattern. Then I filled in the sections between roads with trees/tree-houses.
I was less pleased with the way I did the area outside the city proper. Instead of putting lots of individual trees (which would have taken a lot longer), I used a "woodlands" background to fill in those areas. It doesn't look as good, but I think it's better than having left them empty.
Although.....I do have waayyy to much time on my hands, so maybe I will go back and fill in with individual trees.
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I find myself stuck for a new map idea (again). So I go to my old standby of fiddling with the world map I developed to keep everything organized. Typically, I just pick a region and make...adjustments. Sometimes that means a geographic change. More often, it means adding locations or naming kingdoms/geographical features.
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Every time I find myself stuck, I surprise myself by coming up with some new map to work on (or old map to rework).
In this case, I took an old idea from my world map - a place holder location I called the Tomb of Koura (name after the villain from The Golden Voyage of Sinbad). I'd had it on the map through numerous revisions, but hadn't done anything with it.
So I developed it as a Valley of the Kings style tomb, hidden away because my version of Koura was an evil sorcerer king, who achieved lichdom. Thus, he much preferred a more hidden tomb, as opposed to something flashy.
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With my latest elven city maps, I started using Google Translate and the Welsh language for suitable names.
Just for s%&#@ and giggles, I also used Welsh to come up with some names for dragons:
Cythraltan the Red
Mydynglas the Blue
Gwyrd the Green
Sargor the Black
Dangwyn the White
Not great, but suitable to begin. Maybe in the future I'll find a better language for naming wyrms.
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Incidentally, I was always bothered about too many dragons existing in a campaign setting. And I was never crazy about all the different types.
Forgotten Realms is particularly overdone with that crap. Ridiculously so. I don't recall Greyhawk doing much with detail with them. Dragonlance needed lots of them, but they went about it in a pretty unique way that works for them.
If I were to do it, I'd go about it one of two ways, although either way they'd be super rare. One way would be to make them all your basic fire-breathers, though maybe their scales would be different colors. The other way would be to allow one each of the Chromatics (and maybe the metallics). Each time one was slain, a new one of that type would automatically hatch on some mystical island. Some kind of "will of the gods" crap.
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Working on my current map, and I'm once again reminded of what is, perhaps, one of the biggest flaws in the Campaign Cartographer program - stairs.
There are lots of symbols for stairs, several of which look decent, but many which look horrible. They usually come in either straight or spiral. So if you want curved or irregular stairs, you can either try to find existing symbols someone created, or go through a lot of effort to create some of your own.
What would really be awesome is if they came up with a tool for a kind of dragging and drawing stairs. They've already done that (to better or worse degrees) with some other types of features, usually walls (crappy), bridges (also crappy) and cliffs (it depends).
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If I were to do it, I'd go about it one of two ways, although either way they'd be super rare. One way would be to make them all your basic fire-breathers, though maybe their scales would be different colors. The other way would be to allow one each of the Chromatics (and maybe the metallics). Each time one was slain, a new one of that type would automatically hatch on some mystical island. Some kind of "will of the gods" crap.
I like the idea that there are five primary dragons in the world, and each of them is a force of nature / regional 'big bad' and not just some rando bag of EXP waiting for adventurers. Real 'end of an Adventure Path' sort of encounters, ruling / terrorizing entire regions visible on the map.
The red dragon would run a kingdom of ash, have an efreeti under-lord, azer workers pumping out armor and weapons for his armies of fire hobgoblins, kobolds and an elite cadre of fire giants, and some half-dragon fire giant minibosses as his even-more-elite inner guard and generals. I've sketched out a sort of mini-AP with six phases dealing with him expanding his realm from the mountains he already dominates (and his end-plan of setting it all aflame at the end, because he's tired of being an overlord, and just wants a big fight, even if it destroys everything he has accomplished and ends in his death!).
The black dragon would live in a swamp polluted by her presence, all twisted and acid-scarred and overrun with mutated beasties and undead, as she has turned to necromancy and shadow magic in an attempt to stave off mortal weakness (and is indeed already undead herself, but hiding this status from the rest of the world with illusion).
The blue dragon lives on a stone pillar/island out to sea and rules nothing, because that's not in her interest, and comes with the storm and a retinue of flying winged kobolds to loot, pillage and plunder ships all up and down the coast. (The kobolds loot the ships she cripples with her lightning, as she is too big and important for the scut work like carrying loot home.)
The white dragon is a savage brute locked in an endless fight with the frost giants of the frozen north, who seek to either subdue, or failing that, kill him, but he's so far proven too powerful and lucky for them. Still, frost giant prophecy has said that the next ruler of all the frost giants will either ride him into battle or wear his skull as a crown (the translation can go either way...) and conquer the entirety of the northlands, so the frost giants aren't giving up. The white dragon has killed a lot of them, over the decades, as a result.
Nobody knows anything about a green dragon. But the cruel elf-queen, with her kobold servants and decadent elven court, yes, they know her well. The notion that she's secretly a centuries old wyrm with an encyclopedic grasp on enchantment and illusion magic, keeping an entire nation of elves locked in servitude, while fooling themselves into thinking they are the masters, would make the beautiful hollow-eyed addicts and degenerates of her court titter and laugh, with nervous eyes and trembling hands. (She has a sonic breath weapon, and is a bit more bard-y than sorcerer-y.)
And that's the five. No good dragons. No metallics, primals, gem dragons, eastern dragons. There might be planar dragons, but that's planar stuff.
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Started my “inspired by Isengard” map. Mine isn’t quite as big. As I recall, the circle enclosed by the ring of Isengard is about one mile across. I just have my outer walls going about 300 feet from side to side. Thereabouts, anyway.
The shape of the whole thing isn’t typical. The tower consists of four squares, offset and lined up so they create a smaller central square, which will be the main stairs up. At least for the first few levels, but maybe the whole way.
The outer wall is the same overall shape as the tower, about 30 feet thick, and 40 or so feet from the tower at its closest. I’ve got rooms and such (smithy, stables, armories) built into the inside of the wall.
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Finished my “inspired by Isengard” map. It came out okay, although I may change the color of the tower walls at some point in the future.
After I was done, I started considering my next map. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do another dungeon style map, or a city. So I started perusing the Monster Manual for ideas. Then it hit me - drow.
I had done two elven cities where I used stylized pictures (one a rose, the other a harp) as the basis for the street layout. Now I decided to do something like that for an underground dark elf system. Of course, I used a spider web picture. So far, it’s coming along nicely. I’m even going back to my old Menzoberranzan Boxed Set for some ideas.
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Since my last post, I’ve finished another elf city, this one inspired by both Minas Tirith and the city of Caras Galadhon in Lothlorien. That was my last map of February.
After that, I did a map inspired by Thranduil’s halls in Mirkwood, which was itself inspired by Nargothrond and Menegroth from Beleriand.
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I’ve been working on a new city map - the capital city for a kingdom of (mainly) half-elves. So I’m trying to make the city a mix of elven and human.
For the most part, it’s almost done. Which, of course, explains why I suddenly got the idea to make the main road actually two roads, separated by a median of grass and trees. Kind of like Canal Street in New Orleans (and, I’m sure, some other streets in other cities). So, now I’ve got plans for revision #1, where I go back and “adjust the main road, and all the buildings along it, to align with my new idea.
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Finished off that city map without making any street changes.
After that, I took an hour or two and did another map that started percolating in my brain while I was working on the city map. This one was a Elven Eagle-Rider Mountain Outpost. Simple, but nice.
Then, this morning, I started working on the village of Ten Oaks.
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The name of the village of Ten Oaks was inspired by a not too far away subdivision. I finished that.
Now I’m working on the capital of what was once a large and powerful human empire. I’m pulled some real-world geography of coastal islands to use and the land shapes for the city. So far, it’s coming along nicely.
The only problem with doing so many city maps is trying not to repeat myself with locations. Some are pretty standard, but I also like to have something newish each time.
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Finished my big city map a few days ago. Then I spent some time combining various overland maps into a global map. I had to redraw one map because of size considerations, but in the end they all fit surprisingly well together.
Today, to celebrate the premier of Moon Knight on Disney+, I did a Temple of the Moon map. I included a floor mosaic of the phases of the Moon. I thought it came out rather well.
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I completed my Ghost Rider inspired map - The Scarecrow Inn. The main structure is built up against a cliff. There are caves behind it, some used by the inn as store rooms, other hidden behind secret doors and used by smugglers. It came out really well.
The smuggler part was inspired by the old Scarecrow of Romney Marsh special from Disney, which came out back in the 60s.
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My most recent map is a place called Nyr’s Deep - a small(ish) dwarven mining settlement. The first level consists of two maps, the second of which is where the key feature of the mines starts. This is a big spiral road/tunnel, going down to the deeper parts of the settlement. I’ll have other tunnels and rooms branching off the spiral as it goes down.
Not sure how many levels I’d make it, but that’s the beauty of this set up. I can just keep adding levels whenever I feel like it. I’ve already got level 2 started.
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When I create maps, I use a lot of little tricks to come up with names of places. I’m sure anyone else who does world building does the same. Sometimes it’s a name that just pops out and sound cool. Other times I’m naming something after a favorite character, writer, actor, etc.
For example, last October I created a map for a Savage Land (Marvel Comics) style location. So when I was adding in names of places and land features, I pulled a lot from people who’d helped develop or written about the Savage Land:
Romas - a village named after Roy Thomas, who helped create Sauron and Garokk the Petrified Man.
Klar-Mont - a village named after X-Men scribe Chris Claremont.
Syd - a village named after Syd Shores, and who helped develop the Savage Land.
Steen - a village named after Stan Lee
Somin’s Citadel - named after Joe Simon
The Kir-Be Mountains - named after Jack Kirby
Car-Seul - named after Carole Seuling, co-creator of Shanna the She-Devil.
Wal-Tar & G’Nola - villages (or maybe cities) named after Walt Simonson and Mike Mignola, writer and artist on Wolverine: The Jungle Adventure.
I’ve also got The Jungles of Kul-Thuak and The Fortress of Uth-Lir, which I’m pretty sure I just pulled out of my ass.
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I recently had an idea for an order of assassins inspired partly by Marvel’s The Hand, and partly by the Thenta Makur, a Narn assassin’s guild from Babylon 5.
I was reading how in some Asian cultures white is a symbol of mourning. So that led to an idea about the name of the group - the Pale. Or, in full, the Brotherhood of the Pale. The idea is they’d leave pale white flowers as calling cards, either to mark their targets or victims. And I’d maybe have it they refund their fee if they fail to kill the target.
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I completed two new maps. One was just finishing up Nyr’s Deep Level 2, which I started earlier in April.
The other was a revision of an older map from about a year ago. This was two large islands - Basilisk Island and The Isle of the Cyclops. Previously, the map was the standard 1000 x 800 miles. I cut that in half, and then changed the map style to the same I use for a lot of my other overland maps. Doing this allowed me to add the islands to my main continent maps.
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I had what I thought was a cool idea for a mystical artifact or relic this morning.
The Black Cup (or maybe The Cup of Souls): Its origin would be something like some BBEG came along, but like Sauron he pretended to be good. He had a magic cup he claimed could take away the evil in someone’s soul, so they could be judged positively in the afterlife. The cup would, in fact, absorb some of their evil, but also enslave them to the will of its master. Over time, the cup itself began to exude a strong aura of evil from all that it had consumed.
I’m not sure about the name. It popped in my head because I was drinking coffee out of my Disney travel cup with the black handle and lid. The second possibility was just something I thought sounded a bit more flowery.
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I’m also working on a new map - a place called Tempest’s Hold. It’s on the east coast of a large island which is often hit by powerful storms. I had the idea of an ancient, elven-built sea wall protecting the harbor.
I used the real world location of Old Town Dubrovnik (Croatia) as a model for this place. So far, it’s coming along nicely.
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A week or so ago, I revised my map of what I called The Okiran Islands. They’re kind of my fantasy version of Japan.
Today, just for the hell of it, I did a map inspired by Puente del Inca, Argentina. It was simple, but fun.
For the foreseeable future, however, I’ll have to dial back on my rate of map production. I’ve got a job again. It’s only part time, and I don’t really like it, but it’s better than the long drought I was going through.
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I can’t remember why, but the other day I was looking at an image of New York City showing Central Park. It got me thinking of a map for a city built around a huge park area. At first, I thought maybe the center would be dedicated to the worship of a nature deity, some sacred grove perhaps. Rather than disturb that grove, and risk the deity’s wrath, they just built around it.
Now, however, I’m considering something a bit different. I had developed a kingdom that started out as the border area between a human kingdom and an elven kingdom, then slowly evolved into its own half-elven kingdom. So this city could be one where the center is still the home of some powerful elves, but all around it has been built up by the humans and half-elves. Probably more humans, since this city would be closer to the border with human lands.
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After watching the 3rd volume of Love, Death & Robots Friday evening, I was inspired by the episode where sailors have to deal with a giant, crab-like monster called a Thanopod (I think).
So it finally encouraged me to buy the Profantasy 2021 Annual, which contained a new style for Marine Dungeons. That let me do a map for the sunken Lost Shrine of the Great Crab. For a first effort and something completely under water, I thought it came out rather well.
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Going back to Profantasy’s CC Annual 2021, there was another overland map style I wanted to try, so I did a small(ish) island. The style itself was nothing special, but it had some cliff symbols that would also allow you to make a plateau.
So that’s what I did, an island where the northern half is dominated by a jungle-covered plateau. The name I had in mind for the island is Ynysdawel (Welsh, Silent Island). Between that, and the plateau, I was reminded of the 2E Complete Book of Necromancers. That had an island which was once home to Necromancer Kings. So I thought maybe this Silent Island would be home to a lot of undead.
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Since then, I’ve also started two different city maps using two different 2021 styles. I’ve done a bit of work on each, but haven’t been inspired to finish them.
Instead, I revisited another map style to do a big city - capital of a kingdom inspired by Smith’s short story The Demon of the Flower. For big cities like this (6000x4800) I’ve found it better to use a very simple map style. I’ve found that, as you fill in the map, simple and big help cut back on the program freezing up.