Maps - Jon Roberts' Map thread

Qwillion · Mar 31, 2009

ummmm./.. maps!

I always love it when I get work from Jonathan Roberts (Torstan) for our products. He really know how to create a beautiful piece of cartography that is both a work of art and yet remains entirely functional. He is also a joy to work with.

I ordered my maps to scale from Gamer Printshop (and you can too) I should be using them at Origins and Gencon so in my demos.

When the adventure is available for sale I will post all the appropriate links here.

I look to more maps from Torstan on our next project "To Kill or Not to Kill"

torstan · Aug 3, 2009

Okay, so it's been a while. Here's a little update. I've had maps out for Open Design, two Kobold Quarterly Maps of Fantasy (like the old Maps of Mystery feature from Dungeon) and some private commissions, as well as creating a set of tile for use with maptool that allow you to create a dungeon from movable sections.

But is this a talking thread or a map thread? More eye-candy say I! Here's a map I created for Open Design's gazeteer: Dwarves of the Ironcrags:

This is obviously Rights Reserved, and this is at 1/3 the original resolution. It was great fun doing a regional map for Open Design, and I got to get my teeth into all that heraldry as well - which ended up illustrating the entries for each of the Cantons.

The book's great - it really takes dwarves back to their roots in myth and legend with Cults of Greed, secret brotherhoods with feats, prestige classes, new monsters and a very cool goldveined template. I'll admit to giving dwarves pretty short shrift in my games as short, slightly dull humans but this supplement really made me think twice about that. There are loads of great plot hooks in there. Definitely worth a read.

Oh, the crunchy info. It's 72 pages long (including covers), OGL and I hear it has a rather nice map in it too.....

If you're interested then you can get the pdf here:

Dwarves of the Ironcrags

More maps to come in due course...

Maidhc O Casain · Aug 5, 2009

These maps are fantastic! I love maps, and in my spare time I play around with Campaign Cartographer. From one map lover to another - your stuff is inspiring!

Scott DeWar · Aug 5, 2009

great work! You gave permission to copy for individual and non reprintable use as long as no map is altered. how about the title of the saved file, such as the green Knight at the mill pond map being shortened to just mill pond as the saved file?

torstan · Aug 6, 2009

Kobold Quarterly Interview!

What you do with these in your own home is your own business

I can't imagine that Open Design will send around their kobold knee breakers if you change the name of the file on your home hard drive. The copyright only comes into play if the maps are reposted or reproduced in the public domain. (Well yes, it also comes into play if you pass them around to your friends - but they can come on here and find them themselves so it's not really an issue).

Thanks all for the compliments.

In other news - the nice folks over at Kobold Quarterly did an interview with me and it's now up on the site:
The More Fantastical It Can Be:Map Talk with Jonathan Roberts « Kobold Quarterly

pogre · Aug 7, 2009

Great interview! Very inspiring. I spend most of my time on terrain and miniatures. I'm usually the only one that sees my maps, but your maps are fantastic! I wouldn't keep my maps on my side of the screen if I could do something half as good!

torstan · Aug 7, 2009

And excellent miniatures they are too! The CG actually has loads of tips on creating maps that don't require much in the way of drawing - instead using computer filters to do much of the heavy lifting. People get some really beautiful results.

Thanks for the compliments. I'm really pleased you enjoyed the interview.

torstan · Oct 2, 2009

It's been a while so it must be time for another map! I have been busy with a few ultra-secret projects of which more details soon....

Here's a recent map created for the Pathfinder setting of Mor Aldenn, for Headless Hydra Games:

It's a den of thieves and scum - a proper dive that reeks of adventure. It was created for use in a pdf supplement (great production values - certainly worth checking out):

RPGNow PDF

and it also comes in a $1 map pack for battlemap printing at home, or for use at high resolution in a virtual tabletop like maptool:

Map Pack

I did not do the linework on the sign, but everything else is mine. It's a commercial product so rights reserved. If you want to use the map in all its glory you'll need to scrape together that dollar

Oh, and I'm also involved in the first custom made adventure designed for a virtual tabletop (think D&D Gametable, but real). If you want to find out more, check out the link in my sig. I'll be putting up more details shortly.

Longtooth Studios · Oct 2, 2009

torstan said:
What you do with these in your own home is your own business

I can't imagine that Open Design will send around their kobold knee breakers if you change the name of the file on your home hard drive. The copyright only comes into play if the maps are reposted or reproduced in the public domain. (Well yes, it also comes into play if you pass them around to your friends - but they can come on here and find them themselves so it's not really an issue).

Thanks all for the compliments.

In other news - the nice folks over at Kobold Quarterly did an interview with me and it's now up on the site:
The More Fantastical It Can Be:Map Talk with JonathanRoberts « Kobold Quarterly

LOL @ kobold knee breakers!

I have got to get some of those! DO you find that they are more effective than goblin knee breakers? Gnomes maybe?

torstan · Oct 16, 2009

Can't beat a good kobold knee breaker - it's all they can reach....

As promised, here's some more details about the project I am working on. I am the lead designer on the Breaking of Forstor Nagar, an adventure in the frozen north to rescue an ambassador from a city built into a great glacier before it falls to the hordes. It's an adventure built from the ground up to played using maptool - either remotely or face to face. We have great people on board - ENnie award winning designer Ben McFarland will be designing and writing, Mark Moreland - editor of the Pathfinder wiki - will be editing it, I'll be doing the maps and the bulk of the maptool campaign construction, James Hazelett (DevinKnight) will be doing the tokens, and Tyler Bartley will be creating the illustrations that bring the characters and places to life. The other important person involved is you. This is a patronage project, so we need people to sign up and get involved. Patrons get a raft of benefits including daily input into the design and development, playtesting, input into the art and cartography, free high res graphics not to mention tuition on using maptool. If you're interested, check out the link above for more information.

It's great to be involved with this project. I've been a long term advocate and user of VTTs and it's exciting to be creating the first ever adventure designed specifically for use with maptool (free and open source, so no need to worry that you won't have the required software or hardware). Ever since the D&D gametable promised so much and then failed to deliver I think there has been a hole in the market for a good computer based aid to tabletop gaming. Maptool provides the software, and we'll be providing the adventure.

As a taster of what to expect, here's a screenshot from within maptool:

Now isn't that better than a battlemat and dry erase markers? The minis are by DevinKnight, who will be creating custom tokens for use in the adventure. The ship is by myself and is a movable, rotatable object that can be taken out and used in other campaigns and adventures.

If you are interested in finding out more, go to The Breaking of Forstor Nagar. It'll be great to have you on board!