{"id":1840139,"date":"2025-05-02T10:28:50","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T14:28:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1840139"},"modified":"2025-05-02T10:28:52","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T14:28:52","slug":"fantasy-mapmaking-tools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2025\/05\/fantasy-mapmaking-tools\/","title":{"rendered":"Fantasy Mapmaking Tools"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019ve been making note of procedural fantasy map generators for a while now<\/a>. These are tools that generate a map of an imaginary landscape, town or dungeon, mostly (but not necessarily exclusively) for the purposes of role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons. The latest to come to my attention is Watabou\u2019s Procgen Arcana<\/a>, a set of free-to-use map generators by Oleg Dolya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, for those who draw their fantasy maps digitally, but without a procedural map generator, there has been more than one project to extract symbols and signs from real old maps for use as stamps and brushes in, say, Illustrator or Photoshop. I mentioned David Stark\u2019s library of map elements<\/a>, taken from a 17th-century map, last year. The author K. M. Alexander (previously<\/a>) has put together a number of brush sets based on old maps<\/a>, allowing users to \u201ccreate fantasy maps that can add a touch of historical authenticity to any project.\u201d The latest<\/a> is based on an 18th-century map of Bohemia. He also has packs of compass roses, sea monsters and other cartouches<\/a>, as well as typefaces<\/a>. Quite a lot of stuff, actually. Free for personal and commercial use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have notes on an article about fantasy maps in the digital age, in which I\u2019d discuss the development of maps from entirely hand-drawn to digital to algorithmic. I\u2019ve been meaning to write it since before the pandemic. I wonder if it\u2019s all out of date by now. Possibly not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been making note of procedural fantasy map generators for a while now. These are tools that generate a map of an imaginary landscape, town or dungeon, mostly (but not necessarily exclusively) for the purposes… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[467,4],"tags":[87,31],"class_list":["post-1840139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-games","category-maps-and-literature","tag-fantasy-map-design","tag-fantasy-maps","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5892,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2017\/11\/more-fantasy-map-generators\/","url_meta":{"origin":1840139,"position":0},"title":"More Fantasy Map Generators","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"16 November 2017","format":"link","excerpt":"Maps Mania has a roundup of fantasy map generators\u2014applications that generate maps of imaginary cities or landscapes algorithmically. Sometimes even with names. Two of them I'd previously heard of:\u00a0Uncharted Atlas, a Twitter bot that tweets out a new map every hour, and the\u00a0Medieval Fantasy City Generator, which generates a random\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Maps and Literature"","block_context":{"text":"Maps and Literature","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/maps-and-literature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/uncharted-atlas-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/uncharted-atlas-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/uncharted-atlas-150x150.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/uncharted-atlas-150x150.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/uncharted-atlas-150x150.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1787906,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/10\/a-fantasy-maps-update\/","url_meta":{"origin":1840139,"position":1},"title":"A Fantasy Maps Update","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"15 October 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"It\u2019s been a while since my last post. That\u2019s because I spent most of last week with my head down, working on a presentation about fantasy maps for a science fiction\/fantasy convention that took place over the weekend. The presentation was called \u201cThe Territory Is Not the Map: Exploring the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Maps and Literature"","block_context":{"text":"Maps and Literature","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/maps-and-literature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1789658,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/11\/lord-of-maps-more-real-world-fantasy-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1840139,"position":2},"title":"Lord of Maps: More Real-World Fantasy Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"22 November 2020","format":"link","excerpt":"Here\u2019s another map artist who draws maps of real-world places in the style of fantasy maps: Isaac of Lord of Maps has around 30 maps\u2014mostly of U.S. states, but also a few countries and one city\u2014available for sale as prints of various sizes. Style-wise they\u2019re dead ringers for Christopher Tolkien\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/lord-of-maps-ky-1024x499.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/lord-of-maps-ky-1024x499.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/lord-of-maps-ky-1024x499.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/lord-of-maps-ky-1024x499.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4860,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2017\/09\/the-territory-is-not-the-map\/","url_meta":{"origin":1840139,"position":3},"title":"The Territory Is Not the Map","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"27 September 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Critiques of fantasy maps have more to do with the shortcomings of fantasy worlds than the maps that depict them.","rel":"","context":"In "Book Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Book Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/book-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"From Jared Blando, How to Draw Fantasy Art and RPG Maps (Impact, 2015).","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/blando-example.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/blando-example.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/blando-example.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/blando-example.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/blando-example.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/blando-example.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1785166,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/03\/callum-ogdens-fantasy-map-of-north-america\/","url_meta":{"origin":1840139,"position":4},"title":"Callum Ogden’s Fantasy Map of North America","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"22 March 2018","format":"link","excerpt":"Last year Callum Ogden started making real-world maps in the style of fantasy maps; his most recent is this map of North America, which is very much in the post-Lord of the Rings-movies style of things.\u00a0In this Medium post he talks about the process of making it.","rel":"","context":"In "Maps and Literature"","block_context":{"text":"Maps and Literature","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/maps-and-literature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/callum-ogden-north-america.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/callum-ogden-north-america.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/callum-ogden-north-america.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/callum-ogden-north-america.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/callum-ogden-north-america.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1787185,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/03\/what-does-a-fantasy-map-look-like\/","url_meta":{"origin":1840139,"position":5},"title":"What Does a Fantasy Map Look Like?","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"19 March 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"New from me on Tor.com this morning: \u201cWhat Does a Fantasy Map Look Like?\u201d This is the first of several planned pieces that will take a deep dive into the look and feel of fantasy maps:\u00a0their design and aesthetic, their origins and inspirations, and where they may be going in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Maps and Literature"","block_context":{"text":"Maps and Literature","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/maps-and-literature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1840139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1840139"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1840139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1840140,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1840139\/revisions\/1840140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1840139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1840139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1840139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}