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I saw a random internet picture the other day - a coastal mountain. I think it was somewhere in Europe. Anyway, couple that with my current fascination with dwarven fortress/cities, and I had an idea.
A coastal mountain like that, with a dwarf kingdom built in and under. However, since it is there on the coast, maybe there's a big cave in the side of the mountain, facing out onto the sea. Maybe the dwarves have turned this cave into a port.
They allow ships to come in, and they even have some more sea-worthy dwarves who take ships out. Or, since dwarves are stereotypically not very good sailing, maybe they're experts with clockworks and have created clockwork run ships. Maybe the handful of dwarves who are good at sea command these clockworks.
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I was watching The Mummy last night (the '99 version with Rachel Weis and Brendan Fraser), and the opening sequence had the Egyptian city of Thebes. So, that kind of inspired me to rethink one of the cities I'd recently done.
This, in turn, led me to looking at modern Luxor, which is where the Thebes was located. I never realized just how big the ruins of the Karnak Temple complex were. Three of the sides each measure over 1600 feet, while the fourth side measures over 1900 feet. F~~~ing huge.
So now, if I go ahead with the redo of this city, I'll probably change the map size, making it about 7000 x 5600. The previous version of the city was 6000 x 4800.
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Since my last post here, I’ve done another level of my Halls of the Dwarf King. I also touched up one of the older maps, adding some columns and stairs (up and down).
I’ve also picked up some books to help inspire my map making.
The first one is part of a series - History of World Architecture. The book I got is Ancient Architecture, which covers Mesopotamia and Egypt. There’s another in the series I’m really interested in, Byzantine Architecture. Half Price Books didn’t have it, but it looks like I can get it from Amazon. Huzzah.
The second book was Castles of the Western World. It has 240 illustrations.
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I finished my Shrine of the Four Winds. It turned out pretty decent. And I enjoyed doing it so much, I was inspired to do another along those lines.
This second one was the Temple of the Crocodile God. Complete with Sacred Pool and Sacrificial Platform. It even had some beach area for the crocs to sun themselves on.
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I was watching the Justice League animated series, and came across the episode with the Manhunters and Kanjar Ro framing Jon Stewart in an attempt to attack the Guardians.
It got me thinking about creating a race/organization similar to the Manhunters. Maybe created by the gods, or by one of the older races (giants/elves/dwarves), but then cast aside. So now they live in secret and plot evil things against whomever they were cast aside for.
If I did it, instead of constructs, I'd maybe use doppelgangers.
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When I first started this most recent round of mapping, somewhere around a year ago, I was pulling some inspiration from various Pathfinder Bestiary volumes. Sadly, however, I've exhausted my interest in the monsters from those books (for now).
So, when I was in the comic book store today, I picked up a copy of the 5E Monster Manual. I did a brief glance through the entire book, and nothing jumped out at me, but I'll go through it in more detail at some (hopefully soon) future time and see if anything inspires me.
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My purchase of the 5e Manual has borne fruit, so to speak. While perusing it, I came across the Fomorian entry. Remembering them from my Irish mythology, I created a map for The Fane of the Poisoned Eye, a sort of shrine to their legendary king, Balor.
The first map was a surface building: flagstone floors, columns, etc. It consisted mostly of a long entry hall, and a circular, main shrine. It was okay.
Then I remembered the Fomorians were underground dwellers, so I did a new version of the map as an underground cavern. This one has some side chambers and passages delved around the main cavern. I used some slightly fractal lines for these side chambers, just to give a more rough-hewn look. The side chambers were quarters for a high priest, junior priests, a prison, dining hall & kitchen, and treasure chamber.
Both versions of the Fane had an "evil eye" mosaic, which I tried to create so that it looked like it was made of colored tiles. That came out better than I'd hoped for.
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Last week, I volunteered as a den walker for the district Cub Scout Day Camp. The theme for the week was space, so each den was named after a constellation.
That got me thinking about the Zodiac. I decided to make a fantasy version, based on monsters and the four elements: Minotaur, Unicorn, Chimera, Pegasus, Wyvern, Phoenix, Dragon, Sphinx, Air, Earth, Fire, Water. Then I made up symbols for each. I reused the Taurus symbol for Minotaur, and used some stylized art as inspiration for the Sphinx and four elements.
Once I had my twelve, I made up a simple map of a temple for this Fantasy Zodiac. This first map was pretty simple. I've already got an idea for a second version.
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When we were breaking down Cub Scout Day Camp, my brother asked the director of the camp (another young-ish dude) if he would be interested in gaming. The dude said 'yeah', prompting my brother to speculate enthusiastically about getting an adult gaming group together (right now, my brother only has an occasional 5E game with his wife and kids).
While that would be cool, I hope my brother isn't thinking I'd be the one to DM such an endeavor. I'm not really that good at being a DM, and don't like to do it, especially for people I don't really know. Also, unlike my brother I currently have an adult game going. Granted, it's only over the internet, with my old Philly group, but it works for me.
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Several days ago, I revisited a map I had started back in April. The initial map was inspired by a rewatching of the Brendan Fraser Mummy movie, which had the opening narration set in (Egyptian) Thebes. A big feature of the map was a precinct similar to the Karnak Temple Complex.
Anyway, after losing interest, I finally got back to this map. I added several more precincts (for a total of six), placing them relatively close together. Then I filled in the areas between and around the precincts with various city quarters. The largest of the quarters were to the east and west of the various precincts.
Since this was inspired by the real world, I also set the city along my version of the Nile, which I called The Ibis River. So there’s a lot of green in and around the city. Which is cool, since it gives me room to revisit and expand the city if I ever feel like it.
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I had a thought earlier today. It lead me back to the 5E Monster Manual, and that classic D&D monster - the Mind Flayer. I started to wonder what kind of map I'd do for a city that had slowly, insidiously been brought under the illithid's authoritarian groupthink control. Over the course of a few decades, maybe.
And now that I think on it more, some ideas are popping in my head. Mostly for the idea of an existing city, with subtle alterations to show the well-organized control of the flayers, but without being too obvious.
The only thing that bugs me, at the moment, is what they would do about religion. It'd be to dangerous to have independent priests running around. They'd need something they could control. Some kind of mystery cult, maybe. So, would I have completely abandoned and locked up temple section, or one that's carefully controlled....?
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Going back to this previous post, I figured the first thing Mind Flayers would do is try to eliminate the existing churches. They could simply kill some, and perhaps frame others. Then, they start their own cult/church of the mind - like striving for mental discipline and harmony, or some s+$@ like that.
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I've been watching the animated series Primal on HBOMax, and I've found myself wondering what that world would look like in game terms.
Maybe the primitives are all humans - nomadic hunter-gatherers with limited speech and limited tech. They'd go around in mostly small family units, or perhaps the occasional tribe. Some (very) few might have permanent settlements in or near caves and such. Most would roam around. Many of the more settled humans would probably worship demon lords and Old Ones/Elder Gods, using the cult divine magic to help secure their homes.
The more advanced civilizations, but still somewhat primitive, would be elves and dwarves. They have crude (for them) settlements they've built. Some of them would be worshipping early proto-deities.
Maybe you could also have a few humanoid tribes running around. Orcs and goblins would be a good choice. Gnolls would be cool, as I could see primitive humans just calling them Dog Men. These would also worship demon lords, or Old Ones/Elder Gods.
I'm sure someone has already done a published setting similar to this.
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I finished my map of a mind flayer controlled city. Now I've got to think of my next one.
One thought that popped into my head was City of Sepulchers.
Another thought that popped into my head, thanks to my aforementioned viewing of the Primal series, was Fane of the Dog Men (or something like that), and make it a temple of Yeenoghu (who would probably fit in really well among the Lovecraftian mythos.
Then again, I also had this idea for a shrine to Blibdoolpoolp, because her name is epic. And because I had an idea for the map that I want to see if I can make work.
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Even though the map wasn't all that great, I still enjoyed doing my previous work. So much so, I delved into my old, and quite battered, copy of 2E's Monster Mythology. I picked out a couple of names I might like to try and do shrine/temple maps for:
Cegilune the hag goddess
Maglubiyet the goblin god
Kurtulmak the kobold god
Ilsensine the mind flayer god
Not sure if I'll ever actually get around to them, but we'll see.
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I've been taking a second look at Neogi, in my opinion one of the best things to come out of Spelljammer. Here we have a cross between an eel and a spider, highly intelligent, and with a world view that seems to see every other living being as either property they own, property they don't YET own, or an enemy to be killed (and likely eaten).
Sure, the design of their ships were probably more appropriate for drow (something Paizo did back in an reimagining issue of Dungeon/Polyhedron). And their ability to control the minds of others was kind of a rip off of Mind Flayers. Still, there was always something about them I liked. I think, because of these things, there are those who see them as kind of second class villains to both drow and illithid. And they might be right.
Still, I can't help but think if Neogi had been introduced in first edition, they'd be right up there with these other two classic evil races. Hel, if they had been introduced, maybe the Dark Elves would never have been given this whole "spider" theme they've been saddled with all these years (probably one of the biggest mischaracterizations of a classic mythological being in the history of RPGs).
Anyway, this is just me spit balling because I'm bored. Also because I find myself really wanting to do map of a planet-based, Neogi fortress, complete with a "docking" tower for their spelljamming ships (since the old stats show the bigger ships can't land).
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Another thing about the neogi that kind of bugged me was their ships versus the idea they were big time slavers. If I were a slaver, I’d want some big ships that can make landfall, where I can then raid some defenseless villages and get a bunch of slaves.
So, of course, their two biggest ships can’t land on the ground or in water. Only the smaller ships can do that. Sure, they could steal or buy some big ships capable of landing on a planet, but then what’s the point of designing your other ships?
So I started working on a map for a Neogi Egg ship. Not sure if I’ll run with it, or go with something simpler. I was working on it this morning, but got sidetracked by dad stuff. Now I’m not sure I feel like going back to it at the moment.
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When I create maps with CC3+, I find myself essentially world-building. Creating a city or dungeon can be easier, I find, when you have a landform map and some backstory to go with it. Maybe it's the same for other people.
I almost never do anything with the maps I create, other than share them with some folk on a FB page. There have been occasions where I make a specific map for use in a game, but those have almost all been for my old Philly gaming group.
Still, over the last year or so, I've found map-making and world-building to be a good way to keep myself occupied (and maybe occasionally obsessed). Which means less time being cranky.
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With that in mind, the main world map I use as the basis for most other maps is now on revision 14c. I've slowly evolved to this format over the last year. At first it was just changing the revision number. These days, I move to a new number for big changes, and a new letter for smaller changes. I'm not very consistent, though.
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Back in the day when I interacted with more Paizo people (before I realized most of them probably don't really like me all that much), someone started a website where we would share game stuff we had come up with. For that website, I contributed an island realm called Shandura.
The original map of Shandura was horrible. I actually did the first iteration with crayon. Don't judge. Before I had Campaign Cartographer, all my maps were either pencil or crayon (or both). Later, I made Power Point version of the same map. After awhile, participation in that website waned, and I forgot about most of the world-building I did for it.
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Anyway, around the time I started my FB page, I shared all those maps. Then I created some updated CC3+ versions. And, of course, I included the land of Shandura in the world I had recently developed.
Just recently, I was fiddling with the Shandura map, and accidently erased much of it (all but the landform itself). So I had to start over with it. The new version came out well. Better than the old, I think.
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I was fiddling with an overland map style I'd rarely used before, and did a new continent map. I called it The Silent Realms.
My original thinking was inspired by The Demon of the Flower by Clark Ashton Smith. This would have some evil, demon-possessed or spawned plant life having killed everyone (or nearly everyone) in the lands.
Then I thought maybe I could go with something more traditional, like actual demons, or maybe is undead now.
Then again, I do have a map for a Clockwork City (more than one, actually), as well as a Clockwork Fortress. Maybe all the talky folk were wiped out by their own creations....
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After finishing Lord Dunsany's The Book of Wonder, I was inspired to create a new map.
There was a story in the book, about some dude in London who buys a magic window from some old arab. Once the window is installed in his flat, he can see through it into a medieval city.
So, the map I created is kind of my version of Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum. Except, in the top room where the wizard practices his craft, I put a big window called The Window of Seeing. Simple, I know, but I didn't feel like coming up with something more elaborate.
I called the place Sable Manor. I named the Wizard who lives there Gard, after Gardner Fox (he helped created Doctor Fate for DC).
All in all, it was a fun bit of work.
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For my previous map, the Sunset Towers, I had it in mind the king of that land hired a famous dwarf architect/engineer to build it.
My most recent map, which I finished Friday and updated a few minutes ago, is another one where this same king hired the same dwarf. This map was a bridge, inspired by Trajan's Bridge (though only about half the length). Fortresses are built around each end of the bridge, with small towns built up around the roads leading to/from each fortress. I also put a temple on the east side.
I thought the it came out rather well, until I realized I had left off any sort of docks. So I revisited it today and added some on each side. I may revisit it again in the future, to expand each side into something closer to a large town or small city.
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After I updated my bridge map yesterday, I still had the itch to do some more mapping. So I started to run with an idea put in my head whilst re-watching episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars (I put things like that on as a kind of background static).
This idea was for a dwarven monastery carved into the peak of a mountain. They carved the peak into a tower, with the base of said tower being flattened out and formed into a courtyard. This courtyard has a crescent of wall around most of it. I used some shadow effects to give the wall the appearance of being high in the middle, then slopping down to points on either end.
The monks sleep and train in the tower levels. Dining and storage I put in underground levels.
All in all, I thought it came out rather well. And the work went quickly.
If it was possible to see some of these maps I'd be interested. The bridge in particular.
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If it was possible to see some of these maps I'd be interested. The bridge in particular.
That would be a big....It depends.
I put all my maps up on a Facebook page I created just for that purpose. IF you're on Facebook, and IF Facebook allows me to invite someone who's not a "Facebook Friend", then I could probably extend an invitation.
Of further note - my maps really are only decent, I'd say. Not remotely professional or anything. I use Campaign Cartographer, but I'm not like some folks who can create their own symbols and such for it. I pretty much use what I've purchased.
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Speaking of my just decent maps…..
The other day, I finished my most recent one. Months ago, I had done an overall map inspired by the island where the Chateau D’If is located.
This time, I upgraded that map a bit, then created separate maps for the castle on the island.
I made the whole thing headquarters to an elite mercenary company. I also made it the home of a dark Naha crime lord, for whose illicit trade the mercenaries series as a more legitimate front.
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Since I finished my recent city map revision, I’ve been trying to work up to doing a new idea I had - The House of Seven Gardens. Partly inspired by the Hawthorne story, partly inspired by an Ashton Smith story I was reading.
Unfortunately, I can’t seem to work past my ever-increasing apathy. Maybe soon….