[This map was created and this article written by forum user anomiecoalition.]

Mapping has become one of my favorite escapes from the drudgery that is graduate school.  Whether it’s developing a mystical environment from scratch or recreating a classic adventure, I look forward to spending a few hours playing around with CC3.  Lately it’s been the latter, and I’ve found quite a few gems mining my mini-library of TSR adventures.

This particular map is a reproduction of a “Buried Temple” encounter in the “Master of the Desert Nomads” module (X4).  Our adventures leave the comforts of a desert oasis to investigate a recently unearthed buried temple – Once inside they’ll discover all manner of nefarious creatures, but should they survive, the rewards will be well worth the effort.

The most challenging aspect was trying to find a way to depict areas that are both above and below ground on the same map.  I spent a great deal of time (and got lots of great suggestions from others on the Profantasy Forums) messing with my underground section.  After creating my underground walls, I multipolied the area outside the walls and placed that shape on my Background sheet (which sat below my wall sheet on the list).  From there I applied a subtle edge fade inner effect so that the sand was slightly covering the wall.  I then multipolied the area inside my underground wall, applied my sand fill to that shape, and then added a transparency effect to that sheet.  My hope was that these two techniques would give the view the impression that this area was underground.

After that, it was just a matter of dressing my dungeon utilizing various symbols from the CSUAC and textures from CGTextures.com.  I also created a bunch of sand dune sheets (edge fade inner and glow effects) to muddy up the background.   I’d be lying if I said that I was completely satisfied with the final product, but I think its human nature to demand more of yourself.   I made a lot of mistakes with this map, but I learned even more. ..And I can’t wait for my next opportunity to start the cycle all over again.

If you’re not tired of my Desert Maps, you can see more in full resolution on my blog:  http://drunkennerdery.wordpress.com/

I’m a bit late – due to the holidays and the release of the new Annual – but I don’t want to keep December’s beautiful new creations of the Profantasy user community from you.

Moskva very slightly missed the November round-up, so the first draft at his nice Hurland Country Map didn’t make it last time. This is kinda fortunate, because you can now see it in full detail!

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[This map was created by forum user anomiecoalition.]

After a rather lengthy hiatus from the world of fantasy and roleplaying, I recently convinced a few friends to give it a try and set about constructing a world that would keep their interest. Along the way, I stumbled upon Campaign Cartographer 3 and was amazed at the maps that people were producing with it and the possibility that it provides to even the artistically challenged (like myself).  After a short couple of week tinkering with the program and learning a great deal from the tutorials available I constructed Brightstone Keep.

The map and its back story are loosely based on a free adventure provided by Wizards of the Coast.  The keep protects a mining operation that has been overrun by a variety of nefarious creatures.  The symbols utilized can be obtained from the CSUAC.

The first step in creating this map was to establish the basic layout.  I depicted a mountain wall running from the top left to bottom right corner  for which I used three separate sheets and shapes. Then I added cliff running left to right towards the bottom of the map on another sheet.

Adding the Mountain

I began by drawing a rough outline of the mountain wall and filled it with a dirt texture. I learned that it is a good idea to draw beyond the map border on these shapes to ensure that if I applied any edge-fade effects, they wouldn’t appear on the border side of the map. Using effects I then applied a slight blur and two black outer glow effects – one with strength of 0 above another with strength of 1. I then created two more shapes and sheets to go above this mountain wall and utilized different dirt textures.  To these sheets, I applied a slight blur and an edge-fade-inner effect.

Adding the Cliff

Depicting the cliff was a bit simpler – here I just reused the dirt texture from the background but constructed a separate shape on a separate sheet and applied a similar setting as that use on the first mountain wall sheet (but with an inner glow).  The final step was to add some hill overlay transparencies to add some character to the terrain.  I applied these symbols on a separate sheet and varied the size/orientation to achieve the desired effect.

Adding the Keep

In constructing the walls of the keep, I created four sets of sheets and shapes.  I began by drawing some solid gray lines (width of 6 – adjust to scale) to create the outer wall.  I then applied a texture sheet effect (stone texture of your choosing, Intensity 1, size 15); on top of that a black outer glow (strength 1, blur 2); a wall shadow (length 15, opacity 65, blur 5); and finally a bevel (length 1.5, strength 35, and fade 1).  I next wanted to create a walkway for that wall.  I copied the image to a new sheet and reduced the width to 3.  I then applied a texture sheet effect (with a different stone texture but same settings) and an inner black glow (strength 1, blur 2).  I followed the same procedure to construct the towers/ramp and placed those shapes and sheets on top of the wall. (The ramp actually required that I draw in a black shadow on the right side to give it some dimensionality.)

The Road and the Rest

The last step was to draw in some roads and tracks.  I laid down a road (added a texture, blur, and edge-fade-inner sheet effect) and then drew in the tracks according to the instructions provided in the Jon Roberts Special Issue of the Annual.  From there it was just a matter of placing some vegetation, rocks, buildings, and text to complete my map.

I had a great time making this map and was amazed at how easy it was once I familiarized myself with the program (the video tutorials and assorted blog entries are invaluable.)  I just hope my friends enjoy playing with this map as much as I enjoyed making it.

*I plan on posting more of my maps on my new blog

Mark Wolnik, a fresh member of the ProFantasy community offered to write a few sentences about his initial experience with the Campaign Cartographer 3 and we gladly accepted. Here are his words. Thanks, Mark!

Since my youth, one of my favorite parts of reading fantasy books and playing fantasy games over the decades, has been poring over the maps that add that extra amazing amount of immersion. I would marvel at the skills needed to draw something in a manner that looked like a gifted and patient elven hand was at work here.

Thank you so much!
Mark Wolnik

And as a special treat, here is the very first map that Mark created with CC3:

It’s time to take another look at the beautiful user maps posted on the Profantasy forum. The numbers have risen again, and it’s possible I may accidentally skip the occasional map. Check out the Show and Tell category on the forum to see them all!

Henrie61 created this map of the Flow Country in Djekspek’s overland style from the Annual 2012

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For my own ongoing Deadlands Reloaded campaign, I’ve created this battle map of a run-down home out in the Weird West. It’s based on the DD3 Battle Map template from the Annual Vol 2 and uses textures and symbols from DD3, Symbol Set 2 and the CSUAC. The roof texture on the upper level is from City Designer 3.

Click on the images below to load the full-size A3 pdfs.

You can download the CC3+ version of the maps (FCW format) here, but be aware that you need all the afore-mentioned products to view them properly in CC3+.

Six years ago we began the Cartographer’s Annual, a monthly series of style, maps, and other cartogrpahic contents for CC3 and we thought it was about time for a little retrospective. The Annual has brought an immense wealth of style options to the ProFantasy community and we have been thrilled by all the beautiful maps our users have created. What better way than to highlight the the full scope of the Annuals than with some of these works of art?

2007 – Volume 1

When we set out with the new concept of a subscription for Campaign Cartographer 3 users, we were really feeling our way around for what content was most popular. It quickly became apparent that new overland styles were the most popular type of Annual entry – but far from being the only thing people were looking for. We decided to strike a balance between generally popular topics like overland styles and more specific ones as seen in the “Parchment & Paper” June issue of 2007. The inaugural issue – the Mercator Historical style as shown on the right – represents the type of popular overland style that we strive to include in every volume of the Annual. The depicted map is by forum user Rogdor and was posted as a work-in-progress on the ProFantasy forum in March 2010, and there is another complete one here.

Another very popular and beautiful style from the first Annual is the John Speed City style, a black and white style emulating the city maps of famed British cartographer John Speed. Take a look at the map created by community member Modric.

Other highlights of the Annual 2007 include the multi-level floorplan of the “Tendril’s Oak Inn” complete with description and adventure ideas, an overland style based on the artwork of Sarah Wroot ( a user map here), and a tutorial on how to create your own drawing styles from scratch.

2008 – Volume 2

We received very positive feedback on the Annual 2007 – users were enthusiastic – which made the decision to continue the subscription model an easy one. And we were able to start the second year with a real bang as we got permission from one of the rpg industry’s cartography legends to emulate him: Pete Fenlon of Middle-earth roleplaying fame allowed us to recreate the style he used for those beautiful maps of Middle-earth.

The map here was created in the Pete Fenlon style (again by Modric) just recently, proving that the old style from the early days of the Annual are still used to great effect.

As a second overland style for 2008 we produced a black and white vector style which also proved very popular. So popular in fact, that we added a simiular – but distinct – b&w style to Campaign Cartographer 3 as a free download.

The sample map on the left shows ever-prolific Modric using the style with a parchment filter to create a beautiful in-game artifact.

As a special highlight the 2008 Annual saw the first video tutorials for CC3 produced by Joseph Sweeney. His videos have become a staple of introducing new users to CC3 and by now he has created a whole range of them for various products and add-ons.

2009 – Volume 3

2009 started with a style created by Master Mapper Allyn Bowker. The Fantasy Realms style captures the look used in some Forgotten Realms maps and still produces pangs of sweet nostalgia in many people who see it. Originally the style was produced for CC2, but the lack of drawing tool functionality made it hard to use by anyone a little less meticulous (and may I say “brilliant”) than Allyn. CC3 allowed Allyn to make the look easier to use  and, with sheet effects, more attractive. Here you can see forum user Henrie61 applying the style to a custom world.

The 2009 Annual also saw another artist contributing his first style to the subscription: Pär Lindström. His beautiful world map caught our eye and although he did not use CC3 at the time, we came up with a way to transfer bitmap-based art into a CC3 drawing style. The artist supplies us with layered Photoshop files of his work and we extract the symbols and textures and convert them to assets in CC3.

The Fantasy Worlds style proved extremely easy to work with, so that first time users of CC3 managed to create very beautiful maps. The example here was done by Neilander as a first map!

2010 – Volume 4

As we had learned from the black and white overland style in 2008, monochrome maps where quite popular (in part certainly because they print easily), so we decided to add dungeon and city styles in b&w to the 2010 Annual. Especially the city style became a fan favorite. The example shown on the right was created by community member bearclaw and shows the beautiful layout of a riverside town.

Another option for quick and easy maps that’s popular with role-players is the hex-based map. Back with Cosmographer Pro hex map functionality was introduced to Campaign Cartographer, and with the Annual 2010 we added a new style for old-school fantasy overland maps. Here you can see forum member Skycast using the style to create the map of a wooded peninsula.

2011 – Volume 5

2011 was undoubtedly the year of fantasy cartographer Jonathan Roberts. We can across his beautiful work on the web and asked him whether he’d be willing to produce a couple of styles for us. He obliged and the Annual 2011 could boast both an overland and a dungeon style created by him. We even made the dungeon style available for free at the end of the year.

Community member Koth produced the gorgeous map called Kern’s End shown here, by exporting a coastline he liked from Fractal Terrains 3 and then build upon with the Jon Roberts Overland style.

Pär Lindström (who writes on this blog) used the matching dungeon style to create this little encounter map for a role-playing session with his children.

2012 – Volume 6

As 2011 was the year of Jon Roberts, 2012 will prove the year of another great fantasy cartographer: Herwin Wielink. His overland style (going by his DeviantArt handle “Djekspek”) was the single most popular style every created for the Annual, measured by the amount of maps shown on the forums. So popular in fact, we will be publishing an extension of the style with more symbols and textures in November. And his isometric dungeon style is just extremely clever and beautiful. We are thrilled that all new artwork from Herwin will also be included in the upcoming Perspectives 3.

The user map in Djekspek’s Overland style was done by Modric, and the isometric dungeon here by forum member Tommek, who even commissioned custom symbols for his map from another artist. There are other amazing maps in this style.

Conclusion

When we started with the Annual back in 2007 we hardly imagined that we would be able to fill six years of subscription with material and keep everyone’s interest. But now the Annual is still going strong and the new and amazing talent within and without the ProFantasy community means we can rely on a steady influx of new ideas for upcoming issues. We’ll keep it coming.

The Annuals website is here, and you can see the full range of styles and other content on the gallery pages.

I’m not sure I can handle the flood of beautiful new user maps posted on the Profantasy forum. I may have to go weekly instead of monthly in the future. I certainly hope I didn’t miss anything.

Anomiecoalition awed everybody with this beautiful floorplan of an Al-Quadim style temple. Check out the forum thread for the second floor!

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More and more beautiful user maps are appearing on the Profantasy forum, if you’re not regularly following the posts there, here is an overview:

Grimur Fjeldsted has updated his Naturns city map, done in the Jon Roberts Cities style.

Forum member HadrianIV has created this beautiful regional map “Sea of Tears” in the Herwin Wielink overland style.

Community member soldyne created this map of the “World River” as his very first map in CC3.

Henrie61 drew this “quick and dirty” town map to try our the Jon Roberts Cities style and was impressed how quickly you can create a beautiful map this way.

The Jon Roberts Cities style seems very popular as shown by the “Yellowmire” map created by Dargurd. The unusual, swampy location of the city comes acress very well.

In a change of pace Modric created this black and white map of “Avern” and added a great parchment style filter for a great player handout. The style used is from the Cartographer’s Annual Vol 2.

And last but not least, forum member anomiecoalition drew this neat little Al Quadim-flavoured dungeon, using resources from DD3, the CSUAC art collection and Dundjinni forums.

Kudos to all the great maps our users have been creating!

There’s been another rush of beautiful new user maps posted over on the Profantasy forum.

Using symbols found in the recently re-posted CSUAC user art collection, user anomiecoalition created these beautiful encounter maps for Al-Quadim locations (an oasis and a desert obelisk):


Look for an upcoming blog entry on this Brightstone Keep maps in this place!

Equally beautiful and generally extremely useful are henrie61’s floorplans of a small roadside inn and a town or city library. They were created using Jon Robert’s Dungeon Style (mixed with some DD3 symbols):

Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work folks!