Here is another collection of maps that have caught our eyes since the last “Maps of the Month” post. They are taken from the CC3+ Facebook community and the ProFantasy forum, and as usual are just a quasi-random selection from the multitude of maps that have been posted. Enjoy!
A small town in a far-away land…
was created by Lorelei (Christina Trani) using City Designer 3 symbols, tools and textures as well as some of her own tree symbols.
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We used to collect all the user-maps posted on the Profantasy community forum in one post to show them in the blog, but frankly we have to admit the community’s output has become too large for us to keep up. Especially since the inception of the Community Atlas Project and the setup of the CC3+ Facebook User Group the number and quality of maps has skyrocketed.
So instead of trying to keep up with the flood of quality material, we’ll pick out a few highlights each month that caught our eyes and post them here. This does not mean these are the best maps out there or any other maps are worse! We might easily have missed some and we also try to pick out unusual stuff and maps by new users. So take this just as a start, pointing you to the places where more of these awesome maps may be found, and as an invitation to participate by sharing your own work.
The Emerald Crown Forest
ScottA created this maps for the Community Atlas project, using Herwin Wielink’s overland style straight out of CC3+.
Interstate Hotel Horror
For the monthly Cartographer’s Guild contest, Quenten Walker mapped a pub from his hometown on Flinder’s Island and used Pär Lindström’s Horror House style from 2016’s Annual to flesh out the rooms.
The Wound
Josh Plunkett leveraged Perspectives 3 and the Temples of Bones Annual by TJ Vandel for this awesome isometric dungeon map.
The Dungeon
Jason Payne posted this impressively detailed dungeon map to the CC3+ Facebook group.
The City of Curton
Tony Crawford came up with this incredible city build from from Mike Schley’s overland structure symbols.
The community atlas project is a project where the ProFantasy community comes together and maps out a complete world for everyone to use. Here, we provide all kinds of maps, from world maps to continent maps to area maps to city maps to dungeon maps and much more, and they are all hyperlinked together in an interactive atlas.
Remy Monsen
Over on the Profantasy Community Forum a group of mappers has come together for a huge project: They are mapping a whole world of their own, collaborative design, and you can join the project if you like! It is a great opportunity to share world-building and map-making techniques, as well as learn a lot about CC3+ in the process.
Remy collects all the maps available on the project website, where you can view and download them at your leisure.
Here’s one of the contintental maps of the project, Kumarikandam, by Charles W. Robinson.
To celebrate the 35th Anniversary of her gaming group forum user Shessar hosted a map-making competition on the forum. You can see all the entrants and the rules here on the forum thread.
Here are the winners.
This is a perfect vehicle for miniatures when printed out at a suitable scale.
I love the lighting in this, which provides a sense of mystery and foreboding.
This map cleverly combines the mundane modern with the archaic and occult.
Here are a couple of others which show techniques I particularly like – this shows a great use of outer glow and bevel effects on the walls, as well as glows from the symbols.
This demonstrates CC3’s lighting features, and a variety of pallets to contrast the different areas
If you’ve been following the blog posts collecting user maps from the Profantasy forum, you’ve no doubt come across the maps of Charles W. Robinson who has been meticulously mapping his game world in CC3+. We asked him to write a few lines about his world and mapping project(s). Thanks, Charles!
The Ramblings of an Old Gamer
My name is Charles W. Robinson. Ralf recently asked me if I would like to submit an article for the blog about my world, and I am so honored to do so. I did not really know what to talk about and Ralf said to simply talk about whatever I wanted, hence my title above. I have only been mapping for about a year, and I really like the new Campaign Cartographer 3+ software. I also love the interaction and the great new friends that I have made on the forum.
The History
The name of my fantasy world is Kelleemah. It was originally created way back in junior high school in 1982. The original world was slowly built up from a host of regional maps that I created for my gaming group. Each region was created as the group explored the world and we played all the way through high school. I had joined the military in 1986 and I made my first world map for Kelleemah in 1987 for my new gaming group. It was a paper and pencil map and I placed all the regions that I had created before, within this new map and made changes as needed. I also added a lot of additional regional maps. All of these were done on the old square grid paper that was popular during the heyday of fantasy roleplaying. The world map was huge and consisted of several sheets, duct-taped together. I had army green duct-tape all across the back. We jokingly referred to it as green dragon skin. After many years of running campaigns and building up the mythology and history of my world, I finally put it to the side in 1996. It had become harder and harder to find gamers.
I came back to fantasy roleplaying in 2007 during the 15 month surge in Iraq. I had ran into some fellow old school gamers and we started up a campaign. I had my spouse send me all of my old roleplaying stuff and I redid my world using a spreadsheet program of all things. My green dragon skin map was reborn. We had a lot of fun and I continued to play when I moved to Hawaii. I have retired from the military now and live back home in Southern Illinois. I have not had time to play since retiring, but I still love fantasy roleplaying.
I had originally found the Profantasy website while I was in Hawaii, and I purchased the old Campaign Cartographer 3, but I did not do much more that make a couple of islands. When I saw that the new version had come out, I decided to purchase it. Since last year, I have been remaking my old world again. As such, I have been exploring the software to see what I can do with it and have been making a lot of regional maps. So far, I don’t have a group of gamers yet. I have just been too busy. I really like the software and have been having an absolute blast!
I have become known for my detailed maps over the last year and have been working at a small scale. Some really like my maps and others have not. That is okay. Everyone has their own tastes. As a piece of advice for mappers out there; I say, make the map for yourself or your client. If it meets your/client’s needs then that is what matters. Don’t worry about trying to please everyone. A second piece of advice is; make it your own. Explore and find out what works for you. Develop your own style.
Setting the Stage
I went through a very specific design process for my gaming world. During the mid-80’s, roleplaying games were under attack by many religious leaders that did not really know much about it. I am a Christian and have obviously played for a long time. As such, I wanted to design a world that my religious friends could feel comfortable in playing in. This overriding goal drove the creative process and overall theme of Kelleemah. In addition, I also wanted to represent several historical cultures in my world. My father was also military and I have lived many years of my young life in Europe. For me, I felt that developing the mythology was central to creating the maps. I wanted the maps to reflect the cultures and their mythology.
The following is a very abbreviated overview of the key mythologies that I developed for my world. The central concept of my world is focused around the Grigori. For those who do not recognize the term, it relates to Christian mythology about angels that rebelled against God and took human wives among men. They brought a lot of bad things to the world and God had to send his angels to defeat them. In my fantasy world, the Grigori, which means the watchers, were banished to this world after they were defeated. This world was cut off from the rest of the Planes/Worlds and the Grigori named it their Kelleemah (their Shame). Most of them repented and tried their best to atone for their sins. The reason for this design idea was simple; this gave religious players that did not feel comfortable having their characters worship “false” gods to be able to worship the “Hidden God” of the Grigori. Since this takes place before the coming of Christ, it worked well for my Christian, Jewish, and Muslim friends. This became my Creation Mythology.
The second part, I call the Migration Mythology. This covers the arrival of four groups to Kelleemah. The central concept is that a great earthquake struck Eden and a great chasm swallowed up the tree of knowledge and damaged the tree of life. The tree of knowledge has never been found and the tree of life has been slowly dying. There are no longer any leaves upon the tree. It is believed that this event may have damaged the barrier between worlds. After the earthquake, dragons and giants appeared in the lands of the Kelleemah. Since this first event, a great storm of heavenly lights has enveloped the world three times. The span of time between each of these events has been hundreds of years. With each one, new beings are drawn onto Kelleemah. The first one brought the beasts and their gods (Such as Centaurs and Minotaurs), the second one brought the fey and their gods (Such as Elves & Dwarves), and the last one brought man and their gods. In addition, several foul beings were also drawn to Kelleemah along with their gods during these events (Such as Goblins and Orcs). This Migration Mythology brings the other races, besides the Grigori into the mix.
Another aspect of the Migration Mythology are the Shedim Wars. Shedim is the term used for Devils and Demons of all kinds. With each migration, Shedim have also come into the lands. But, unlike the other races, the Shedim came organized for war. Never has Demons been known to work alongside Devils, but this has been happening here in Kelleemah. Each time, they came from the most southern lands. Hordes of Demons swarming out in front of organized formations of Devils. The Demons wreaking havoc and panic while the Devils enslaved survivors and destroyed any organized resistance. Some believe that the Shedim actually arrived the same time as the Dragons and Giants, but used dark magic to hide, plan, and organize. Each time, they have been defeated, but at terrible costs. The first Shedim War was led by the Devil known as Satan. He was killed by the “Sleeping” god of the Centaur upon the Blood Fields. According to legend, Satan spread his arms wide accepting the blow with a smile. The power that was unleashed destroyed the gods axe splintering it into shards that scattered all throughout the world. Since then, the god has never awoke, instead laying in eternal slumber. Some believe, that Satan’s spirit lives on, and has become evil incarnate. The Devil known as Lucifer took the name of Satan, using it as a title of Kingship. He was Lucifer, the Great Satan. He was not destroyed as his predecessor was, but simply disappeared. Once he disappeared, the Shedim fell into disarray and fled the lands of Kelleemah. The third Shedim War was led by Asmodai, and he took on the title of the Great Satan as Lucifer did before him. This time, it was a mysterious hero who saved the world of Kellemah. It is said that a band of heroes had infiltrated the lines of the Shedim. Asmodai and his guard were caught unaware by this band and was ambushed. In the end, Asmodai and a man shrouded in a grey mist were all that were left. These two fought back and forth with neither landing a cutting blow for hours. Asmodai could not be killed by a mere mortal, and was surprised when the shadowed man finally struck him in the leg; for the blade bit deep. Asmodai new fear at last, and he fled along with all of the Shedim armies. It is said that the wound has never healed and Asmodai sits crippled on his throne. Mephistopheles disdainfully refers to him as “The Devil on Two Sticks”. It was during this route, that Mephistopheles, a Captain of Lucifer’s guard, decimated the armies of the fey by sinking the southeastern portion of Kelleemah beneath the ocean and drowning them.
Next, is our third part. It is not so much, a mythology as it is history. My world history is divided up into Ages, with no set time for each Age. They simply represent major events. As such, the age between the 3rd Shedim War, and the present, the Chess Wars, was known as the Faith Wars (You never do see an Age of Loving & Peace in these kinds of stories). The concept that drives this time period is that Deities draw their power from worship, and therefore, the more worshippers you have, the more power the Deity has. Because of the barrier between worlds, the Deities that have been drawn into Kelleemah have been cut off from most of their worshippers. As such, they are not as powerful. This led to the Faith Wars, were Deities and their followers fought for control of Kelleemah. Many Deities were destroyed, and it only ended when the Grigori known as the Lords of War stepped in and ended it by force; for the Arch Angels of the Grigori are as powerful as any Deity in Kelleemah. A number of major Deities still exist, and a large number of minor Deities as well. A major Deity is very powerful, immortal, and cannot be harmed by mortals. A minor Deity, is far weaker, but is powerful compared to most mortals, and is immortal in the since that it will not die from age or illness, but it can be killed by mortals. The major Deities have agreed to withdraw from world, living in lands that can only be reached through great magic. Only avatars of the major Deities are allowed among their followers, and even then, there are rules as set by the Grigori. The minor Deities were allowed to stay in Kelleemah among mortals if they wished.
Finally, we come to the fourth part. This is the Prophecy Mythology. This centers around ancient artifacts that are themselves gods, twenty swords forged from the axe shards of the “Sleeping” god of the centaurs. These are the gods of the Fee Peoples, and are said to hold the souls of their greatest heroes. The Prophecy Mythology speaks of the fate for each of these god swords. Many believe that if the fates of these swords come to pass, so too will the end times. My many campaigns are centered around these swords.
How Mythology and History Relates to My Maps
I believe that often, the world history and its mythology should drive map creation. The oldest ruins should be named by the oldest races. It explains why the races of man outnumber the others, for the other races have suffered more from the Shedim Wars than the newly arrived mankind. It explains the many demon infested areas throughout Kelleemah. It also helps to explain unnatural phenomenon on the maps. I researched (and continue to research) the mythology of my human cultures, and incorporate them into the world of Kelleemah. My last fantasy map that I did, Niflheimr, is a good example of this. It represents the lands of Hel from Norse Mythology, which the Vagoth are based on. Where Niflheimr would normally be on another plane, here it is actually part of the world. I will eventually have several maps of Kelleemah, with each one representing a particular age. This is because, some of my campaigns take place in different time periods. The map that I am working on now is the present, during the Chess Wars, an age where mortals have been carving out their own empires in the aftermath of the Faith Wars. There is far more mythology to this world that has been built up over time, but it literally fills up books. This allows me to be very detailed for both the maps and the stories that go with them. I always post stories with my maps. For me, it breathes life into them and gives them context.
What I have done as far as mapping is concerned, is that I have started in the top left corner of my world and I am branching out from there, building regional maps. This means that I have started with the Vagoth, which are modeled after the Norse. And, you get to meet the Dwarves of the Sellevokian Colonies, and the Light Elves of Perinusa and the Hidden Folk. As the map expands, more and more cultures will be revealed. Even among the fey, there are many elves of different cultures, as well as for dwarves, and gnomes, to name but a few. There are over 20 cultures of mankind within Kelleemah. I also intend to create the maps for my campaigns, 21 and counting, using the other mapping tools that Profantasy provides. I also will be getting Character Artist 3. It will help me to really showcase the different cultures of Kelleemah. And, I am really looking forward to the underground style that comes out in June.
Final Words
Writing this has been a real treat, thank you Ralf! I think the biggest struggle with writing this is has been trying to figure out what not to put into this. Like I said, I have books of notes, stories, mythologies, history, non-player characters, and campaigns. And, I keep adding to it. I hope that this has made some kind of since and did not bore you too much. I just want to thank everyone that has taken interest in both my maps and the world of Kelleemah. I hope that you find inspiration from these for your own creative efforts, and that you enjoy, and maybe even adventure in the world that I have created.
Thank You,
Charles W. Robinson
https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleswrobinsonprofile
Here is a new panorama of user maps from our community. Check out the awesome work these forum members produced.
Let’s start with the most recent work by Grimur. His Region Martell map is a wonderful piece created in Herwin Wielink’s overland style.
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Hi folks, it’s been a while since we last took a look the maps the community users post in the forum, so let’s not dawdle any longer and get to it.
qwalker posted a lot of wonderful maps from his Myrirandios world, inlcuding the John Speed style city map of Alodosis and the Crazy Camel Inn mapped in DD3. And the best thing? You can download his maps in FCW from the forum thread too.
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We are making good progress on Perspectives 3, November means Black Friday sale, and the December annual is demoing. Definitely sounds like the year is coming to a close, doesn’t it? Let’s take stock with this month’s newsletter.
From 27th November until 1st December Tuesday morning, all of our cartography software is available at a 30% discount, including bundles and upgrades.
Use this voucher in the checkout to take advantage of the offer: BLACK@30%.
Get full versions in the store, and upgrades from your registered users page.
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Shall we take another look at what maps the Profantasy users shared last month? Of course we shall, what kind of stupid question is that? So without further ado, here are the user maps of November.
Kalnaren‘s series of maps for the Rise of the Runelords adventure path are a glorious place to start. They’ve been drawn with the Jon Roberts Dungeon style and complimented with a selection of DD3 symbols.
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We’ve got another round up for user maps from the Profantasy community forum. Take a look and wonder at the creativity of our prolific users!
Let’s star with jedius wonderfully atmospheric map of the Wildbyrne Outpost at night. He makes great use of CC3+’s lighting effects and light sources.
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