Winter Mapping Challenge - Snow and Ice
Monsen
Administrator 🖼️ 81 images Cartographer
Well, winter has arrived (in my part of the world at least), so I was thinking it was time to get inspired by that annual white horror.
So, with Christmas coming up, being the busy time of the year for many people, I am thinking we make this a two-month challenge, having it run from now and until the end of January.
The challenge is simple, make a winter-themed map. This can be a dungeon, village, city, overland or any other map type you can envision, the only requirement is that it is winter-themed in some way.
As usual, this contest will be linked to the community atlas. You should identify some location within the atlas you can map, and use that for the contest. As always, you don't have to submit your map to the atlas even if you participate in this challenge, we are only using the atlas as a setting for the challenge, but as always, we are grateful for anyone who do wish to participate in the atlas by submitting their map. For anyone planning to submit their final map to the atlas, you should register your claim with me before starting as usual, to ensure multiple people won't be working on the same location, as well as ensure you meet the atlas guidelines.
When picking a location in the atlas, please make sure it is a location where a wintry map would make sense. Doesn't have to be a location of eternal winter, but it should be a place where the location would look like your map for at least part of the year (i.e. in winter season).
Some suggestions:
- A snowy village
- An overland map covering the southern coast of Ezrute
- The snow-tower of the Ice Wizard
- An ice-level for our megadungeon below The Temple of the Unholy (See the previous Megadungeon Challenge for details)
For anyone participating, please post your intention here. I encourage everyone who participates to have a WIP thread for their map to show off their progress. If you make one, please link to it from your post here.
Hoping to see many people participating. The atlas now contain 373 maps, and I would love to see this number reach 400 before the 3-year anniversary in february.
So, with Christmas coming up, being the busy time of the year for many people, I am thinking we make this a two-month challenge, having it run from now and until the end of January.
The challenge is simple, make a winter-themed map. This can be a dungeon, village, city, overland or any other map type you can envision, the only requirement is that it is winter-themed in some way.
As usual, this contest will be linked to the community atlas. You should identify some location within the atlas you can map, and use that for the contest. As always, you don't have to submit your map to the atlas even if you participate in this challenge, we are only using the atlas as a setting for the challenge, but as always, we are grateful for anyone who do wish to participate in the atlas by submitting their map. For anyone planning to submit their final map to the atlas, you should register your claim with me before starting as usual, to ensure multiple people won't be working on the same location, as well as ensure you meet the atlas guidelines.
When picking a location in the atlas, please make sure it is a location where a wintry map would make sense. Doesn't have to be a location of eternal winter, but it should be a place where the location would look like your map for at least part of the year (i.e. in winter season).
Some suggestions:
- A snowy village
- An overland map covering the southern coast of Ezrute
- The snow-tower of the Ice Wizard
- An ice-level for our megadungeon below The Temple of the Unholy (See the previous Megadungeon Challenge for details)
For anyone participating, please post your intention here. I encourage everyone who participates to have a WIP thread for their map to show off their progress. If you make one, please link to it from your post here.
Hoping to see many people participating. The atlas now contain 373 maps, and I would love to see this number reach 400 before the 3-year anniversary in february.
Comments
I was thinking earlier this morning that It would be nice to make a Christmas card map now that I've practiced my inking skills a little.
Maybe, if I have time after I've finished the Ferraris map, I can do a wintery version of it of some kind :)
I'll claim #22 Tavern and Inn in Stormwatch located in the Emerald Crown Forrest on Alarius.
Here's the link, to my WIP thread
I'll reserve the area Varmstadt Springs in Skorra on Ezrute in the Glaciär Kristol region
We've got two finished maps so far, from Shessar and Lorelei. May they inspire others to take part in the challenge.
Turnout wasn't quite as I had hoped for, but at least we got three beautiful maps from Shessar, Lorelei and Quenten. Thanks for participating.
Of course, even with the challenge officially over, I wouldn't mind seeing more snow and ice maps posted to the forum, either to show off maps you made/are making for your self, or more maps for the atlas. I always love to see what you guys are working on.
We have no entered February, the month of the third year anniversary of the atlas. It would be nice if we could reach 400 maps before the end of the month. For that, we still need 12 more maps though. I won't hold a new challenge so close on the heals of the winter challenge, but I do encourage people to send more maps my way
Also, remember maps can be dual purpose, especially city/village and dungeon maps can easily be made to fit both your home campaign and the atlas. The atlas is full of city marker where you can place your city. Maybe it needs a little rotation to fit the river and/or bay, but here it is perfectly possible to take the easy route and just rotate the compass rose instead. North doesn't absolutely have to be up, as long as you use the compass rose to correctly indicate this.
And, the beautiful new Atlas Ferraris style is now available, should be great for making some local area maps for the atlas.
One thing I find difficult when pausing mid-mountain design to look at the challenge, is picking a spot and then getting an idea of the culture and community around it so I don't go and create an ornamental garden in the middle of a dark realm where nothing lives, or something equally weird.
I know! It's all in the notes, but maybe more people would join in (thinking of me in particular) if someone (umm... I guess that would be you, Remy!) could pick out 5 or 6 places with a sentence about what is required for that region/town/village/dungeon next time around? That might also help to fill in the spots that might not have as many maps as others do. Kind of a directed challenge.
EDIT: or, maybe the challenge could be about a particular region, which could then be basically described as 'dark realm', or 'elf country', or something like that?