r/mapmaking

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Leaf Valley, once a lush and peaceful haven, now stands on the edge of catastrophe. Known for its emerald forests, tranquil streams, and towering willows, the region’s harmony has been shattered by the fiery wrath of a dragon that scorch­es the skies. Yet, this is no ordinary dragon, for the truth of its origin lies in a terrible curse. Unbeknown to most, the incredible creature is not a natural-born terror, but a man who defiled the sacred—Eustace Gibett.

Hello, normally I just lurk here but felt like sharing some maps. The context is that there is a worldbuilding project (mostly used for my Dungeons and Dragons [D&D] games) that involved a lot of maps. 55 settlement maps to be exact.

It started off years ago as a city for a one shot, then became a region for future games. I made a table to randomly roll a settlement NPCs could be from, then put them on a map, and eventually decided to make a map for each one.

I'm not dumping all the maps here, but I am including the main map all the settlements are on, its original form, some rough encounter maps (inspired by Runequest beastiary), and some settlement specifc maps to give ideas.

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A small mapmaking tip: scan your map at every stage

Maybe this is obvious, but I thought it might be useful to someone.

Whenever I draw a map, I make a scan at every major stage. I just use my phone camera, though obviously a proper scanner works too.

Coastlines and basic outlines — scan.

Terrain — scan.

Settlements and roads — scan.

Names — scan.

And so on.

This means I can always print an earlier “clean” version and modify it without worrying about ruining the original. I can also use the same base map to make political, strategic, physical, or pretty much any other kind of map of the same area.

It’s probably not very useful if your map is meant to be a finished piece of artwork (not that I know how to make those anyway), but for maps that are actually used in a game, I find it really handy.

You might say, “Hey, man! You know you can just do all this on a computer, right? You can use layers! It’s much easier!”

And you’d be right. But I still like doing it by hand.

Sorry for the machine translation — I don’t speak English

I haven’t finalised the results yet; this war is still ongoing

We are publishing a few maps from a few years ago...

Map of the "Passo delle Radici" created for the RPG project "Terre Furiose" RPG inspired by Ariosto's trip to Garfagnana, developed by Lucca Comics & Games and Acheron Games. A great pleasure and honor to have taken part in this magnificent project, Thanks to Mauro Longo for involving us in the project!! 🗺️🧭

Moreno Paissan and Angela Gubert art 2022 Acheron Games all rights reserved!

Visit our official IG account for see more maps :

https://www.instagram.com/inkcompass.maps?stkn=dnc3ajhta3cyYnJs

The Drowned Docks are one of the many points of interest in the undead-infested city of Sestia.

Once a busy centre of trade, the docks have now become a dangerous and abandoned stretch of the river, with only the dead moving between its ruined wharves.

This map is also the setting for a bonus side quest we're creating as part of our upcoming Halloween adventure, Senna's Legacy.

A vital food shipment bound for the surviving citizens of Sestia has disappeared into the Lower City. The PCs must venture into the Drowned Docks, recover the ship and its cargo, and somehow make it back to safety while the undead close in around them.

What could possibly go wrong?

About The Reclusive Cartographer

I create hand-drawn fantasy maps and battlemaps for D&D and tabletop RPGs. Every map is drawn by hand no AI and designed to be ready to use in your game.

You can also find more maps and WIPs here:

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Thanks for supporting independent, human-made RPG art!

George — The Reclusive Cartographer