FANTASY MAPS ON REAL PAPER

I was first introduced to Dungeons and Dragons by a work friend back in the summer of 2018, during which I discovered Critical Role, a D&D podcast show, which was just at the start of its second season. I fell in love with the creativity of the players and the Dungeon Master and wanted to dive head first into the game.

It took a few tries to find a group that I really clicked with, but I had a couple of tries in the Dungeon Master seat. My first run as a DM was for a group of kids and it was also the first time I made a battle map so that the kids had a visual of what was happening.

Rolling ahead to 2022, I met what has become more or less my permanent group. The original plan was to alternate being a DM and a player with two campaigns running simultaneously. I had a campaign set in the world of Tal’Dorei, from Critical Role, and seeing the incredible maps from Devon Rue, their resident cartographer, wanted to try it for myself. I made a couple of reference maps for myself and players which were strong enough to draw the interest of a friend for commissions.

My good friend Ty is an incredible DM who has a three part campaign series in his original campaign setting with the premise being three different eras in the world (Origin of Magick, Fall of Magick, and Rise of Magick) where the players actions directly impact the next phase of the campaign. It was really fun to work with him on creating a map for his players to reference during the game. 

Originally he had been working with a map that he made through Inkarnate, a web based map making software that a lot of DMs use for both world and battle maps. He sent me this as a starting point and I went through the process of turning it into a full sized map in the Tolkien/Devon Rue style.

When I take fantasy map commissions I always recommend to the client that they use Inkarnate as a starting point so that I can see the general shape of the continent, locations of major cities, types of terrain etc. before we get into the more nitty-gritty details. While the world of fantasy can allow us to bend some rules, I generally try to keep in mind how the rules of geography affect the realm. This includes topography/elevation, the way water moves, and how civilization affects the environment.

When Ty commissioned his second map from me it was for the Origin of Magick campaign where the primary rulers of the land were four different dragons representing the cardinal directions. As such I had the opportunity to draw dragons, something I am always excited to do, make a unique compass rose, and pull out my coloured inks. Additionally, it was fun to chat about how over time land masses and areas of civilization moved and expanded over time through the different campaign eras.

Commissions for fantasy maps are open with different sizes available to suit your needs. If you are a writer and looking for a map to include in your book, because everybody loves a reference map, I offer digital products in addition. 

In the meanwhile, my next fantasy map project is taking a Pokemon twist. More information to follow.

Stay curious,

Cat