Tags
Caverns, Dungeon, Dungeons & Dragons, Fantasy, Labyrinth Lord, Maps, RPG
Yeah… the name.
One of the harder parts of putting a few hundred maps up on the internet is finding / making up good names for them all. In my latest notebook I’m keeping a table of contents at the beginning, so I actually have to scribble down a name for each map within a few days of drawing it, and sometimes inspiration escapes me.
Like GrimHall Depths.
Original, eh?
A little stone fortress built into the side of a mountain – classic D&D fare. And in the mountain? A few rooms, some caves, an old cave-in, and a hungry gelatinous cube.
GrimHall Depths was drawn with a 0.5mm black gel pen in a dollar store plain unlined notebook (with slightly off-white paper). As usual, it was drawn in a single draft. This one took me about 40 minutes.
GrimHall Depths
As a change of pace, later today I’m probably going to try my hand at a 5 minute map after months of procrastination. I probably won’t post it until tomorrow. After all, you are already getting spoiled with my weekly map releases – why not make you come back tomorrow to see how my #FridayFiveMinuteMap turned out?
Curious, do you scan the maps still in the notebook or do you remove them and the scan? If you leave them in the book, do you find that the contrast or brightness are uneven across the document when first scanned?
I scan them in the notebook. But I make sure to squash the scanner lid down hard on the notebook to make the book lie flat on the scanner plate, and I try to avoid drawing within 1/4 inch of the interior margin of the book.
For the times you have no naming inspiration a fallback might be to grab some output from a name generator and simply use either “{name}’s {description}, or “The {description} of {name}”.
e.g.
Vanca’s Tomb
The Fortress of Saindur
The Gateway of Igothorni
I’ve created a fairly clear history and mythology for the area my players live in, so it’s usually pretty easy to take a name on the historical list and tack on some noun; folly, fist, claw, depth, tower, ramparts-of.
I love your maps and have used many of them, and their mirror image. My players have an artifact that allows them to move into an alternate reality where the entire world is completely covered in ruins and full of unusual creatures so I have a neverending need of tunnels and warrens and broken towers.
I cannot thank you enough and can’t wait to lay my hands on any book you publish.
Holy moly! I stumbled across this site, and man, these maps are just too awesome. LOVE the look of them!