If you use Campaign Cartographer to make maps, you need to check out these user-contributed CC3 tutorials.
Thank you Joseph Sweeney for making them!
How a Severely Inartisitic Hack Managed to Make a Decent-Looking Fantasy Map
I’ll get straight to the point - I’m not very artistic. I’m color blind and I can’t even draw a straight line.
I enjoy looking at art. I like the process of creative self-expression (which I usually only express to myself!). I love map-making. But if you’ve found any of my previous maps pleasurable to look at, I can’t take much credit for it. It’s mostly due to the spectacular Campaign Cartographer software and a little bit of perseverance on my part.
I don’t say this out of humility (sorry, anyone who blogs has plenty of ego), but I say it to encourage those of you who are similarly inartistic. If I can make a decent-looking map, so can you.
The Power of Sheet Effects - Before and After
Let’s take this map as an example. Click on this image to enlarge it and you’ll see how utterly lame it looks. It’s just a bunch of bland text on random blobs of color. I’ve seen very few things this unexciting in my lifetime. To be honest, I can barely even tell that it’s a map.
Now, here’s where the magic comes in.
Using the Sarah Wroot style pack from the The Cartographer’s Annual Volume I, I was able to make my map look like this just by clicking the “Activate Sheet Effects” option.
Yes, it’s that easy.
Just one click of the mouse and we get beautifully blended terrains, dynamic oceans and vibrant text labels.
Granted, this map isn’t great yet - I only took about 10-15 minutes to lay down the colors. But if I took a little more time, I would have a polished map, ready for your scrutiny.
So if you’re not a great artist but want to make great looking fantasy maps, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of Campaign Cartographer.
Greenville
Greenville sits at the edge of the kingdom, a small town with big aspirations.
Despite its small size and frontier location – and thanks to its fortunate proximity to unusual resources – Greenville has attracted the attention of a wealthy patron and the powerful Mage’s Guild. They have come to gain control of the rare spiritstalk, a magical herb needed as a component for the most powerful of spells.
Only the bravest of families live and work this deep into the Spirit Wood, where ’strange events’ occur frequently: wicked howling fills the night air; bizarre creatures forage on the town crops; apparitions lure children to unsightly demises. It’s not an easy way to make a living, but the opportunity for wealth far outweighs the inherent dangers.
This map was made with Campaign Cartographer.
New Fantasy Map Maker Blog Feature - Rate My Maps
Most of you subscribe to Fantasy Map Maker via email or RSS feeds – and for that I am grateful. If, however, you wouldn’t mind stopping by the site, I’ve implemented a new rating system for my maps and I’d love to get your feedback.
Rating the maps will help me see what you like (and what you don’t like) so hopefully I can then give you more of what you like.
At the bottom of each post you’ll see five lonely stars waiting for your sweet caress. Click on the star that best expresses how much you like that map (or post).
1 star = horrible, 5 stars = awesome.
Abuse me. Praise me. Just don’t ignore me! =P
Fantasy Cartography - Find Maps from Your Favorite Novels
If you love reading fantasy literature, you know that most good stories require a good map. If you’re having trouble finding a map for the story you’re reading, try the Fantasy Cartography website. They have a great collection of maps based on fantasy worlds you’re already familiar with.
In their own words:
It happens all the time. You’re reading one of your favorite novels, and you wish you had a good map to use as a reference. Here you will find a collection of maps from various fantasy and science fiction works for your viewing. I might also include other goodies from literature, the Bible (not fiction), or television programs, movies, and video games.
