Mapping a planet!

[LegendaryGames]

The new Legendary Planet adventure path from Legendary Games​ visits a new planet in each adventure, and today we started previewing maps from the first planet the PCs visit in the adventure path, which got me thinking about how we do maps in fantasy.

When you're creating a fantasy world, how important is a map of the WHOLE planet? The standard is just a regional or continental map, but I wonder: Have people seen settings where the whole planet is actually mapped?

The old Forgotten Realms Atlas is the only example I can think of, and maybe Krynn if the Taladas maps were complete. We've seen a lot of Golarion, but not the whole thing. Any others I'm missing (aside from games just set on Earth)?

 

[bone_naga]

I can't think of many official campaigns that included world maps. I like to have world maps for my own campaigns, even if everywhere else is just a rough sketch of the continents with some major terrain features.

 

[gamerprinter]

Starfaring games would likely have more whole world maps than most settings (which generally have only one world map, if any). Personally, I prefer to show regions that might depict the major city and starport for a given world, with an inset map showing the planets position (orbit) within a given star system, instead of a world map (but I can create world maps). A world map is a lot of work for most cartographers, so the given planet would require intended adventures all over the planet, to justify including (paying for) any or multiple world maps.

By the way, do you have all your cartographers chosen for doing the maps for your Kickstarter (This is Michael Tumey, you know...)

 

[Gradine]

Pretty sure Eberron is fully mapped. Well, as much as Xen'drik can be mapped, in any case.

 

[LegendaryGames]

True, I had forgotten about Eberron, and Xen'drik and Sarlona even got full hardback supplements to flesh them out, so it got pretty well covered.

 

[LegendaryGames]

Hi Michael,

Agreed on the idea that it's probably more trouble (and expense) than it's worth to dial out full-scale world maps when the action is going to be focused in just one place. A campaign setting could certainly have more room to expand things, though in an adventure you really want to concentrate on where the action is. I think conceptually our campaign setting has in mind more of a "points of light" kind of model, rather than a heavily and densely populated universe. A lot more like Tatooine or Naboo than Coruscant.

As for maps for the AP, The Assimilation Strain maps are done and To Worlds Unknown maps are in progress right now. I'm pretty sure we could use you on one of the later adventures down the road. I was thinking in particular of Richard Pett's asteroid belt adventure Confederates of the Shattered Zone, though he's only just started outlining his adventure so it will be a little while before that gets going in earnest with maps. I'm a big fan of avoiding single points of failure, so we may also look at alternating cartographers to make sure that if a person gets backed up on one, it doesn't cascade onto the next and the next and the next.