Fantasy maps and mapmaking tutorials by Jonathan Roberts
I was asked to create a map of a (slightly) alternate France map for Interaction Point Games – for their product Kingdoms of Legend: Knights of France. It’s great fun to take a shot at real world locations. I previously did a map of the west coast of Scotland, but this time it was over the channel to Brittany and Orleans:
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 latest installment in the Fantastic Maps series takes us to the high seas with pirate ships! I’ve always enjoyed sailing and the tales of dashing captains and dastardly pirates, and when running my home game I decided it was time to get them onto a heaving deck. As Ben McFarland once said to me ‘nothing good ever comes from getting on a ship’. That turned out to be true, and the ship in question ended up on the floor of the bring deep (in this shipwreck map).
Now you too can have your players adventure on the high seas. This map pack has two ships. The first is a modest 35′ two masted pinnace (25′ without the bowsprit) suitable for green adventurers starting out island hopping in an archipelago, or for sneaking up on a larger vessel silent-like: Continue reading “Pirates off the Starboard Bow!”
Roll up! Roll up! Get your free dragon skeleton here! Profantasy are celebrating 50 annual styles by giving one away for free – and they picked my dungeon style! You can grab it from their website here.
Wayfinder #5 is out in time for PaizoCon. It’s great to see this fan created magazine going from strength to strength. 5 is a good number – it shows that it has legs and it’s digging in for the long haul. The magazine keeps getting better and better, with this one containing 79 pages of adventures, monsters, variant rules and great art. The production quality is excellent and there are adverts by Paizo, Open Design, NeonCon and Rite Publishing (amongst many more). With that kind of backing, the magazine should have no difficulty continuing to grow. It’s a great place for people to try out their art or writing chops so there’s lots of new names in the contributor list as well as some familiar faces. You should definitely download your free copy to see who’ll be writing for Kobold Quarterly in a few months time!
I have some work in this Wayfinder as well. I created two more map tiles of city locations – to expand the set I created for the last Wayfinder. This time it’s a temple and a cathedral. Feel free to download these and use them for any non-commercial purpose.
This map was created for the Pathfinder adventure The Elusive Foe by Interaction Point Games which has just come out. The action takes place in Scotland and the route takes in rolling forested hills and ruined towers. The real fun here was in the icons, and the inset map. I’m from Scotland so it was great to have the chance to illustrate a part of the world I know really well. Continue reading “New Fantasy Maps from The Elusive Foe by Interaction Point Games”
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”
Streets of Zobeck has been unleashed upon the world by Open Design this week. It’s an adventure anthology of 7 Pathfinder adventures for levels 1-10 set in the city of Zobeck in the Midgard world. But that’s not all, it details drop in locations and stand alone NPCs as well as feats, traits, spells and gear for your gritty inner city gutter rat. The majority of the maps are by Gill Pearce, but I got to work on one of the lairs of villainy – the Old Stross Bathhouse:
The Dwarves of Redwall are builders. Their city stands on three great terraces carved from the side of a mountain, and the walls are grounded by massive octagonal cannon towers. As with any dwarven city, the overground structures, temples and railway stations are just the surface. Below the city, mines and tunnels probe deep into the earth.
