Fantasy maps and mapmaking tutorials by Jonathan Roberts
A couple of weeks ago I posted the world map for Lannithir, for the Illfrost adventure arc for Illusionary Press. The first adventure for the world of Illfrost is out now and I created the tactical battlemaps for it – and now I can show them off!
(more maps after the jump) Continue reading “A Temple of an Ancient Evil”
This month sees the release of the World of Illfrost, a new world for 4e D&D. Its icy grip is perfectly timed as winter descends our own frozen north. I worked with the guys at Illusionary Press to create the world map and the maps for the first adventure.
To give you a taster, Illusionary Press are giving away a primer for free over on RPGNow. Continue reading “Journey to the world of Illfrost”
It’s a new month, and that means a new map pack. Once again we venture to cold and wintery climes – unlike the current balmy weather we’re enjoying on the Eastern Seaboard. Today’s map pack takes us deep into the heart of a besieged city of ice, with the armies of the attackers camped outside the central compound. A moat, crenelated walls and sturdy gates bat the final assault. In the stalemate, the attackers have built a robust barricade of carts and wagons to fend off any counter assault. Buildings are shattered from artillery fire but calm reigns before the inevitable storm of the final assault. (map preview after the jump) Continue reading “Barricades and Bonfires – the Siege of the Inner City”
There’s a new IDW comic line out – the Legend of Drizzt. As with many previous comics IDW decided to do a special Module Edition of the first comic in the series, with an adventure for 4e D&D (written by Logan Bonner) included so that you can run sessions involving that most famous of the drow for your own players. I was very happy to be asked to do the maps for it. The module edition is a not-for-sale special edition, but might well appear in the compiled series, or in a special legacy edition as with earlier comics.
It’s the first of the month – and that means a new map pack! This month we’re starting off with the opening scene from the Breaking of Forstor Nagar. This is a chasm of icy water leading to the front gate of a city carved from a glacier. A great arching bridge spans the channel and a longship full of cold eyed killers and explosives hoves into view, heading for the frozen defences.
Here’s the map from the opening encounter as it appears in the adventure:
Of course the map pack does not assume you’re playing Breaking of Forstor Nagar. This could be the entrance to a Frost Giant stronghold, a white dragon lair or a viking clanhold. The pack is separated into pieces that allow you to use it in as many different ways as possible (lots more after the jump). Continue reading “New Map Pack – The Ice Bridge”
It’s been quiet around here for a few weeks – but that’s going to change. There will be updates on all sorts of fun developments through the week – so keep an eye out for new things. To start the week – two new products that spun off from the same idea. I pitched some map ideas for the back cover of Kobold Quarterly 18. Out of the collection the one that got picked up was a Keep guarding a Watchfire on the outskirts of the city of Friula in the world of Midgard. There’s a bit of Midgard lore in there, but the core of the adventure is that the adventurers have to storm the castle and light the watchfire. It’s a capture the flag adventure with lots of ways in to the keep.
Just before I go on to talk a little more about the map, let me just spare a few words for Kobold Quarterly 18. That cover is just astonishing. That stands up to the best Dragon covers I can think of. The Kobold is growing some very sharp claws indeed. The content stands up to the cover’s promise. It’s a fantastic balance of fluff and crunch, and continues to walk the line between the different games it supports (now Dragon Age, Pathfinder and 4E) with deft aplomb. Above all, every article can be easily repurposed for use with your own game. A great game idea is a great idea no matter what you play.
For this Kobold I created the Watchfire Keep map for my adventure “Who Watches the Watchfires” that lies within the pages. Continue reading “Castles, Kobolds and 3D terrain”
The Lost City has been found! Logan Bonner and Open Design have released their archaeological delve into the secrets beneath the sands this week and I had the pleasure of mapping the crazy locations that Logan and the patrons came up with. I’ve never before been given an art brief that involved drawing a deity – I’m just saying.
The Lost City takes place under the sands that hide the crashed remains of a flying city. As the PCs investigate they uncover the history of the city and must find out why the city fell from the skies.
A flying city is a wondrous location anyway, but the patrons and Logan pulled out the stops when coming up with fun sandbox locations for adventurers to explore. I don’t want to give away too many spoilers (but there are some – so if you’re a player you should look away now), but here’s a selection of some of the maps I created for the book: Continue reading “Enter the Lost City and unearth its secrets”
Any self respecting bandit needs a lair. This month’s Fantastic Maps release, in partnership with Kobold Quarterly, presents a cavern lair that any Bandit prince would be proud of. The cave system was carved from the rock by the waterfall that still run through the middle, cascading between the two levels. Continue reading “The Bandit’s Lair”
I’ve been keeping up a game with a couple of friends from university (using maptool as we’re now on different continents). We take it in turns to run sessions, and in one Pathfinder game we’re exploring the manifold intrigues of the Kingdom of Thulaan and the royal court of Orphaleson. There are scheming Dukes, warring religious factions and dispossessed sons of nobles, along with a looming orc threat and some unwholesome undead raised by forbidden necromancers.
It’s great fun and we’re starting to get a feel for the world. The GM has managed to create a great suspension of disbelief by keeping most of the foes human and the plot lines believable – no mean feat in the fantasy world of dungeons and dragons. I suspect his PhD in Mediaeval Polish history has come in very handy whilst building this campaign.
But this is a cartography blog rather than a campaign journal – so it should be no surprise that I’ve been playing with putting together a map of the lands of Thulaan. Continue reading “Work in Progress – The Kingdom of Thulaan”
Today sees the release of The Ship’s Graveyard map pack released in partnership with Kobold Quarterly. The pack details a huge underwater map (25 square feet when printed out full size) with walls of kelp, schools of fish and shipwrecked hulks. The perfect lair for a kraken or aboleth and their dark designs upon the world. When I used this map the players found themselves in the deep after their ship was destroyed by a kraken. At 6000px square (25 square feet when printed out at 1 square = 1 inch) there’s more than enough room for an epic battle against the horrors of the abyss.
Here’s a low res preview of the map in the pack: Continue reading “What lurks in the shipwrecks of the briny deep?”
