D&D – The Map Room

Atlas Obscura Shares Your D&D Maps

Jonathan Crowe — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 23:06:20 +0000

Remember how Atlas Obscura put out a call for Dungeons & Dragons maps? They’ve received a pile of entries and are featuring two dozen of them: “[Y]our D&D maps are more incredible than we could have imagined. Every single one calls out for exploration.” Some of them are familiar in form, others are really out there, which I appreciate.

Previously: Atlas Obscura Wants Your D&D Maps.

Atlas Obscura Wants Your D&D Maps

Jonathan Crowe — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 14:45:53 +0000

Atlas Obscura is looking for your Dungeons and Dragons maps. “Not unlike the maps found in many fantasy novels, DIY D&D maps act as blueprints to imaginary spaces. Usually, once a campaign is complete, these maps get tossed out or put up on a shelf somewhere, but it doesn’t have to be this way! We want to help share your dungeon maps with the world.” There’s a form at the link, and instructions on how to share your map; they’ll post their favourites in an upcoming article.

Fantasy RPG Mapmakers

Jonathan Crowe — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 13:15:17 +0000

Geek and Sundry looks at four cartographers who make maps for role-playing games: Dyson, Derek Ruiz (Elven Tower), Mike Schley and Deven Rue (Rue Ink).

Previously: The RPG Maps of Dyson’s Dodecahedron.

The RPG Maps of Dyson’s Dodecahedron

Jonathan Crowe — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 22:30:18 +0000

Dyson Logos, “Crypts and Sewers,” 2016. CC licence.

Dyson’s Dodecahedron started out as a blog about role-playing games that over time transformed itself into a source of dungeon maps; the impetus was a dungeon he’d written up for a one-page dungeon contest:

I wasn’t happy with the map I drew for that dungeon, and started looking at the maps drawn by other members of my various RPG groups. I started to develop a new style for my maps. Not an “original” style overall—it is strongly based in the cartography I enjoyed from old Palladium and Chaosisum products, but significantly less like the style of the traditional D&D map which is very grid-oriented.

Then I started to post maps drawn in this style. As I practiced the style, I challenged myself to draw a geomorph every other day until I had at least 100 geomorphs. The blog got pretty boring during this stretch, but I learned a lot about mapping and dungeon design, and the blog got a reputation as a mapping blog.

Dyson’s archive of maps is now quite extensive; the maps are generally free for personal use and available under various licences. He’s also got a Patreon page. [Boing Boing]