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...With some basic plot hooks to give an excuse for it. :P
Hello, everyone! I'm trying my hand at more than just baseline cartography, and it seemed like Starfinder offers literal worlds of opportunity in that arena. Plus hey, maybe someone will like these things and toss a buck in the e-hat, as I am amazingly poor.
But who cares about that depressing malarkey? Let's get to the CARTOGRAPHY!
What is the point of this thread, exactly? Why, it's maps, my good madam/sir/nonbinary sentient! At least once a week (possibly more, we'll see), I'll make one planet illustration, and a more localized map (a continent, region, or encounter map) for that planet. Both will be available in marked and unmarked versions, so folks who would prefer to use said maps independent of whatever jib-jab I scrawl on them can snag 'em for use with whatever they'd like.
And why are you bothering to do this? Multipart answer:
1): Because it's fun.
2): Because there's a lot to explore in Starfinder, even without official books on Starfinder being a thing; same goes for any sci-fi/fantasy game.
3: Because maybe, just maybe, folks will like this stuff enough to pay for custom maps for their home game, hire me to make some maps for their company, or join my Patreon. The money infusion would be immensely helpful in ways my upbringing prevents me from admitting to.
Why weekly, weirdo? To prove I can do it, in a nutshell. Folks want to see results for their hard-earned dimes (or screen time, as the case may be). I've been enjoying doing these maps so far, and I've learned a lot as I've made 'em.
I like to know technical details. So give me those. Every map, as presented in this thread, will be 7.5" x 5" (half a page with .5" borders) at 300 DPI resolution. I'm hoping to offer at least 15" x 10" master files (PNG and PSD, for those who have Adobe programs and like to edit) for Patreon patrons and folks commissioning art. For combat-style maps (those with a 1" grid) I can likely do those in printable map tile format (8" x 10", multiplied by the number of necessary tiles). We'll see about those as we get to 'em.
Anyhoo, the relevant Google Drive for the full list of available maps can be found here. Patreon patrons and the like will get links as appropriate. I'll probably add links to my Paizo profile, and maybe toss some of this stuff onto my DeviantART page.
Onto the first batch! Write-ups to be provided some time in the next week.
Varos (Orbital View)
Varos (Orbital View- Unmarked)
Heated Mining Dispute
Heated Mining Dispute (Unmarked)
I don't have any interesting ideas for worlds at the moment, but I'm definitely dotting.
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Two days ago, Marika Tentwose, the android director of MagCore Outpost 1, sent out a distress signal requesting assistance. The message was slightly garbled but mentioned something about a siege, and included an access code to get into the outpost's surface bunker. MagCore is a run-of-the-mill mining concern, and the outpost on Varos is supposedly minimally invasive and unlikely to stir up the ire of Varos' few sentient inhabitants, but the planet is home to a few fire giants and at least one red dragon, so an assault is possible. Scans indicate a massing of fire giants close to MagCore Outpost 1, along with some large, serpentine fire elementals.
The threat to MagCore Outpost 1 is real, though the reason for it is a bit more complex than simple fire giant aggression. The technomancer Marika Tentwose (of the Tentwose Creche on Verces, thank you for asking) came to this outpost knowing there had to be something more exciting than palladium deposits to dig up on Varos, and last week she found it. Some time in the distant past a massive meteor loaded with skymetals slammed into Varos, triggering a volcanic reaction that buried it in a caldera surrounded by a massive magma lake. Excavating the meteor (a relatively simple affair with the tech at hand) would yield unfathomable wealth. Certainly enough wealth to buy a brilliant, underappreciated android out of her contract with an unimaginative mining firm and fund a lifetime of research on any planet of said android's choosing. Perhaps one of those nice ocean planets where the only landmasses are strips of pristine beaches surrounding tranquil forests, where the native inhabitants spend all day concocting new and ever more delicious alcoholic beverages. Lot of research to be done on a planet like that.
Unfortunately for Marika Tentwose (doctorates in geophysics, robotics, and technomagistics, and a pioneer in the field of arcano-engineering, thank you for asking), that big ol' payday has a bunch of stupid fire giants sitting on it. It seemed a simple enough task to outfit some large excavation robots with zero cannons, remove their combat inhibitors, and assign them to "survey" the caldera while keeping her idiot subordinates in the dark, but apparently excavation robots are as susceptible to masses of hurled boulders as anything else, and now there's a bunch of angry fire giants knocking at her door. But space is loaded with adventuring types who don't ask a lot of questions if the payday's big enough, right?
For unscrupulous adventuring parties, this is a pretty straightforward mission: kill fire giants, get paid, maybe stay on the payroll of a billionaire genius android. More inquisitive or do-goody types won't take to long to piece together what's happening, however. The fire giants have a good guess that someone in the mining outpost wants their skymetal meteor (which they need to pay annual tribute to the red dragon Faurexos, who's really into collecting adamantine coins these days). A diplomatic solution between Tentwose and the fire giants is unlikely (by attacking the fire giants, Tentwose broke interplanetary law, and the point of discreetly eliminating the giants and mining the meteor was to take all the money and leave, not send most of it back to MagCore and continue being a mining corp wage slave), but perhaps the Bronze Sybil, whose proclamations are as good as law 'round these parts, can help them work out something. Or perhaps the only good solution is to bring justice to Marika Tentwose, even if it means wading through dozens of weaponized mining robots and trigger-happy security systems to do it.
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After all that fire and magma and choking gases, I think we all could go for a swim. Fortunately, I know just the place, and we don't even have to leave Brethedan orbit! Let's pop on over to Kalo-Mahoi and see what the kalo are up to.
Kalo-Mahoi (Orbital View)
Kalo-Mahoi (Orbital View- Unmarked)
Fishing for Clues
Fishing for Clues (Unmarked)
Nice work, looking forward to the game.
If you're looking for map ideas, maybe a cross section of a gass giant or a non-spherical world?
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maybe a cross section of a gass giant
Gas giant cross-sections, you say? That was something I'd had on my list of "stuff to try out." I've worked out a basic template that, with va few modifications, should work for our purposes. Learned quite a bit doing it, and I think future renditions will be far better, but for now, try this bad boy:
Now that we're beyond Golarion's system, write-ups are probably more relevant. I'll have one for the Kalo maps soon-ish (it's been a busy, hectic week, and it's just Monday), and I'll talk about that gas-bag Enlil some shortly after that.
