Mapping Guide: Dark Fantasy Maps
Introduction
Welcome to
August issue of
the Cartographer’s
Annual 2018.
While you are
reading this the
ProFantasy crew is
most likely at
GenCon in
Indianapolis. We
hope you have as
much fun with this Annual issue, as we have at the “Best 4 Days
in Gaming”.
This issue is based on vector artwork originally created for
Campaign Cartographer 2 Pro: The Dark Fantasy symbol set by
yours truly. While the symbols have been available from
[Link] for a long time, they were never updated to
CC3+ and never made into their own style, always having been
an adjunct to one of the vector styles from Symbol Set 1.
This is now rectified and with this Annual issue, the Dark Fantasy
symbols have their own
overland mapping style
with template, drawing
tools, sheet effects and
everything else they need
to be a proper part of
CC3+.
Creating a Dark Fantasy
Overland Map
The Dark Fantasy style is
well suited for medium to
small scale overland
maps, from continents
and countries down to
regional maps. For larger
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world maps the detail may be a little too high which means it will
get lost on most prints and exports.
Starting a New Map
Start out as usual, using the New drawing wizard. Choose the
map type Overland Maps, map style Annual Dark Fantasy and
the option Decide your own setting.
From the template wizard create a map of the size you want. For
this example I will create a map of 1000x800 miles, showing
the peninsula of “The Claws” jutting north from a southern
landmass.
You can add cartouches, a title and a scale bar at this point, but I
prefer to do this at the end of the creation process, so I simply
put in my size values and click Finish at the first opportunity,
saving the map in a convenient location.
Drawing the Landmass
Use the Default Landmass
drawing tool to draw your
landmass and coast outline.
Tip: An interesting coastline is a
first and very important step to
an overall good-looking map.
Here I let myself inspire by the
dark fantasy theme, which gave
me the idea of giving the
landmass the rough shape of a
monstrous claw.
The Sea
The next step is to draw some
sea contours around the land.
Right-click the Default Sea
button, choose the Contour, Sea
Default 1 tool and draw a first
contour into the sea, away from
the landmass. This leaves the
darkest blue around the coast, a
nice contrast to the bright land
color that this style uses.
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Right-click Default Sea again, choose Contour, Sea Default 2
and draw a second contour at the edges of the map, signifying
the deeper ocean.
Mountain Ranges and Hills
Usually the next things I
draw are the major
mountain ranges of the
area, as they define the
geography almost as much
as the coastline.
Click the Mountains
catalog button and start
placing symbols.
I use the differently
colored symbols for hill or
mountain ranges that I want to stand out visually, like the
volcanic range in this map. Use the hill symbols to represent
foothills to the big ranges and hilly terrain elsewhere.
Rivers
Now I add rivers and lakes
to the map, because the
mountain ranges give me
an idea where these
should flow. The Rivers
drawing tools contain
settings for lakes and a
variety of river widths.
Tip: Pay attention to the
flow of your rivers. One of
the most common
mistakes in fantasy map-
making is to create
impossible river flows. On the other hand, real world rivers
sometimes flow in quite unexpected directions, even vanishing
underground!
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Terrain
Next up are the different
terrain fills available by
clicking the Terrain
drawing tool button.
Add burning deserts, fetid
swamps, barren
wastelands, poisonous
marshes, scorching plains,
frozen tundra and any
other imaginable deadly
fantasy terrain to the map.
Forests and Vegetation
The Dark Fantasy style
contains a large number of
different tree styles and
other vegetation symbols
in the Vegetation
catalog, as well as forest
settings and corresponding
drawing tools. This makes
placing large swaths of
forest quick and easy.
Place the larger forests
down first, then add
individual and small
groups of trees to make the borders more organic.
Structures and Roads
Let's add cities, towns and
special sites to the map.
You'll find the necessary
symbols in the Structures
catalog. Then connect
at least the major
settlements by roads
using the Road drawing
tools or the tool shortcuts
in the catalog window.
Tip: When placing
structures, I tend to start
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with the largest settlements (cities) and then connect them with
major roads. Then I add towns and minor roads, finishing with
villages and minor paths. That way you create a nice web of
major civilization centers surrounded by the successful smaller
settlements.
Text Labels and Final Touches
It's time to add text
labels to the map. The
Dark Fantasy style uses
the font Old London as
the default, which comes
with the Annual. I think it
is nicely gothic, and
therefore goes well with
the dark fantasy
atmosphere.
But of course you can
use any true type font
you have installed of
course. It usually pays to experiment a bit until you find the font
that you like best.
Tip: You can use the Text along a curve command (from the
Draw menu) to label larger features like mountain ranges, coasts
and kingdoms. This often looks nicer than using the standard
straight text command. First draw a smooth path or arc to define
where the text will go, then use Text along a curve on this entity.
I also place a title, a scale bar and possibly a compass rose on the
map at this point. You'll find these in the Cartouches symbol
catalog after clicking the All Symbol Settings button.
Sheet Effects
Finally it's time to turn on Sheet Effects to see the map in its
full glory. You can tweak the effects to your liking if some details
don't match your expectations.
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The Final Map
