Dark Fantasy Symbol Set - suggested content

RalfRalf Administrator, ProFantasy 🖼️ 18 images Mapmaker
Hi folks!

We are considering a new set of symbols that can stand alone and supplement Mike's basic overland set. It's supposed to have a darker theme, so the current working title is Dark Fantasy. This is a list of the material we've come up with and would love tog et your feedback. Anything you're missing? Something you think it absolutely unnecessary? We're happy for further suggestions for what to include.

Cartouches
Scale Bar (simple)
Scale Bar (ornate)
Compass Rose (simple)
Compass Rose (ornate)

Map Icons
Battle (victorious)
Battle (defeat)
Blighted Area
Blessed Area
Evil
Good
Neutral
Lawful
Chaos
Monster Lair
Orcs Here
Trolls Here
Goblins Here
Dragons Here
Hidden Treasure
Hidden Treasure (cursed)

Coastal (dangerous)
Lighthouse (working)
Lighthouse (derelict)
Sea cliff w cave
Sea cliff
Maelstrom
Shipwreck
Safe Harbour
Sargasso Sea
Storm
Tsunami (big wave)

Mountains (foreboding)
Great Peak 1
Great Peak 2 (with stronghold)
Mountain Range 01
Mountain Range 02
Mountain Range 03
Mountain Range 04
Mountain Range 05
Mountain Range 06
Mountain Large 01
Mountain Large 02
Mountain Large 03
Mountain Large 04
Mountain Large 05
Mountain Large 06
Mountain 01
Mountain 02
Mountain 03
Mountain 04
Mountain 05
Mountain 06
Mountain Small 01
Mountain Small 02
Mountain Small 03
Mountain Small 04
Mountain Small 05
Mountain Small 06
Mountain w Cave Entrance
Mountain w Glacier
Mountain w Pass
Mountain w Tower
Volcano Active 1
Volcano Active 2
Volcano Dormant 1
Volcano Dormant 2
Great Peak snow-capped 1
Great Peak snow-capped 2 (with stronghold)
Mountain Range snow-capped 01
Mountain Range snow-capped 02
Mountain Range snow-capped 03
Mountain Range snow-capped 04
Mountain Range snow-capped 05
Mountain Range snow-capped 06
Mountain Large snow-capped 01
Mountain Large snow-capped 02
Mountain Large snow-capped 03
Mountain Large snow-capped 04
Mountain Large snow-capped 05
Mountain Large snow-capped 06
Mountain snow-capped 01
Mountain snow-capped 02
Mountain snow-capped 03
Mountain snow-capped 04
Mountain snow-capped 05
Mountain snow-capped 06
Mountain Small snow-capped 01
Mountain Small snow-capped 02
Mountain Small snow-capped 03
Mountain Small snow-capped 04
Mountain Small snow-capped 05
Mountain Small snow-capped 06
Mountain snow-capped w Cave Entrance
Mountain snow-capped w Glacier
Mountain snow-capped w Pass
Mountain snow-capped w Tower
FootHills 01
FootHills 02
FootHills 03
FootHills 04
Hill Range 01
Hill Range 02
Hill Range 03
Hill Range 04
Hill Range 05
Hill Range 06
Hill 01
Hill 02
Hill 03
Hill 04
Hill 05
Hill 06
Hill w Cave 1
Hill w Cave 2
Hill small 01
Hill small 02
Hill small 03
Hill small 04
Hill small 05
Hill small 06

Natural
Rock spires 01
Rock spires 02
Rock spires 03
Broken ground (cracks)
Lava flow
Chasm
Chasm w Lava
Chasm w Fire
Chasm w Bridge
Cliff (facing south) extendable Should repeat when placed next to each other
Cliff (facing east) extendable Should repeat when placed next to each other
Cliff (facing west) extendable Should repeat when placed next to each other
Cliff (facing southwest) extendable Should repeat when placed next to each other
Cliff (facing southeast) extendable Should repeat when placed next to each other
Cliff (facing south) west end Should match to extendable symbol above
Cliff (facing south) east end Should match to extendable symbol above
Cliff (facing east) north end Should match to extendable symbol above
Cliff (facing east) south end Should match to extendable symbol above
Cliff (facing west) north end Should match to extendable symbol above
Cliff (facing west) south end Should match to extendable symbol above
Cliff (facing southwest) north end Should match to extendable symbol above
Cliff (facing southwest) south end Should match to extendable symbol above
Cliff (facing southeast) north end Should match to extendable symbol above
Cliff (facing southeast) south end Should match to extendable symbol above
Waterfall 1
Waterfall 2
Dunes 1
Dunes 2
Dunes 3

Structures
Evil Empire City
Evil Empire City Walled
Evil Empire City Ruined
Evil Empire Town
Evil Empire Town Walled
Evil Empire Town Ruined
Evil Empire Village
Evil Empire Village Walled
Evil Empire Village Ruined
Evil Empire Outpost
Evil Empire Stronghold
Evil Empire Stronghold Ruined
Evil Empire Castle
Evil Empire Castle Ruined
Evil Empire Tower
Evil Empire Tower Ruined
Orcish City
Orcish City Walled
Orcish City Ruined
Orcish Town
Orcish Town Walled
Orcish Town Ruined
Orcish Village
Orcish Village Walled
Orcish Village Ruined
Orcish Outpost
Orcish Stronghold
Orcish Stronghold Ruined
Orcish Castle
Orcish Castle Ruined
Orcish Tower
Orcish Tower Ruined
Elven City
Elven City Walled
Elven City Ruined
Elven Town
Elven Town Walled
Elven Town Ruined
Elven Village
Elven Village Walled
Elven Village Ruined
Elven Outpost
Elven Stronghold
Elven Stronghold Ruined
Elven Castle
Elven Castle Ruined
Elven Tower
Elven Tower Ruined
Dwarven Stronghold Entrance
Dwarven Outpost Entrance
Necropolis huge
Necropolis small

Vegetation (sinister)
Dark Forest
Dark Woods
Dark Copse
Dark Tree Fill 1
Dark Tree Fill 2
Dark Tree Fill 3
Dark Tree Fill 4
Dark Tree Fill 5
Dark Treeline 1
Dark Treeline 2
Dark Treeline 3
Dark Trees 1
Dark Trees 2
Dark Trees 3
Dark Tree 1
Dark Tree 2
Dark Tree 3
Dark Tree 4
Dark Tree 5
Dark Tree 6
Dead Forest
Dead Woods
Dead Copse
Dead Tree Fill 1
Dead Tree Fill 2
Dead Tree Fill 3
Dead Tree Fill 4
Dead Tree Fill 5
Dead Treeline 1
Dead Treeline 2
Dead Treeline 3
Dead Trees 1
Dead Trees 2
Dead Trees 3
Dead Tree 1
Dead Tree 2
Dead Tree 3
Dead Tree 4
Dead Tree 5
Dead Tree 6
Carnivorous Plant 1
Carnivorous Plant 2

Textures
Black Desert
Lava Fields (cold)
Lava Fields (burning)
Poisoned Swamp
Burned Forest
Burned Fields
Stormy Sea
Heat-cracked dry earth
Dead Marshes

Comments

  • Oh, this is exciting and a much needed set.

    The only additional request that I would have is an extendable set of chasms, much like you are doing with the cliffs.
  • I concur with Shessar, and would also like the respective equivalents of manors, chateaux and religious buildings. i absolutely love the idea of waterfalls as separate from cliffs.
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer
    :O

    :D

    Wonderful!

    Yes please.

    And thank you very much!
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    edited January 2020
    Some suggestions for additional symbols

    Coastal
    More than one shipwreck would be nice to reduce uniformity when mapping dangerous coasts
    Ghost ships
    Pirate ships

    Structures
    Throw in a few bridges (stone, wood, rope), and preferably more directions than usual since these don't rotate well.
    Necromancer's tower
    Vampire's mansion/castle
    Mine entrances
    Prison
    Burning Cities
    War Camp
    Ruined Pyramid
    Ruined Ziggurath
    Plundered burial mound
    Broken Obelisk
    Snow-covered building set (village, town, city, etc)
    Overgrown ruins

    Textures
    Blighted plains and forests

    Vegetation
    Some snow-covered options would be great

    Mountains
    The active volcanoes should have variations with and without lava flows

    Map Icons
    Evil version of the normal races (human, elf, dwarf, halfling, gnome)
    Necromancers
    Vampires
    Undead
    Dead (rotting/skeletal) horse, cattle, sheep, camel.
    Dead people (as in dead, not undead [A skeleton laying in the desert makes it much more foreboding than just a plain desert])
  • ScottAScottA Surveyor
    Oh, yes, please. Sign me up!
  • In my view, a Battle Won and a Battle Lost are sort of superfluous. Every battle is both.

    Next to a Battle Lost, nothing is so melancholy except for a Battle Won.

    There is of course, the possibility that someone may raise a battle lost into a myth, such as the Alamo, so perhaps I am hasty in my judgement.
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    Posted By: mike robelIn my view, a Battle Won and a Battle Lost are sort of superfluous. Every battle is both.
    It is a big difference if the ones making the map was involved in those conflicts....
  • I tend to agree with Mike - the symbol for the Battle of Alamo would be the same for both Mexico and Texas; but the significance would be different to both. Not that it really matters
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer
    I'm quite interested to see what Mike makes of it.

    Presumably he has already seen and approved this list, so he must think there is a difference.
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    edited January 2020
    Posted By: Quententhe symbol for the Battle of Alamo would be the same for both Mexico and Texas; but the significance would be different to both.
    That implies that you read a history book along with looking at the map, or otherwise assume that just by seeing the symbol the viewer would know about the battle and the result.
    On the other hand, if the government of France published a map of historic French battles, you can convey a lot of extra information on the map itself by using different symbols for battles they won and lost. Since it is their map, it makes sense to view battles from their viewpoint.
    For fantasy maps, they are usually made from the viewpoint of the good/civilized races (humans, elves, dwarves, etc), and battles occur more against the "evil" races (orcs, goblins, drow, troll, etc) than against other civilized races. Here it makes a lot of sense to differ between victories and defeats.

    Of course, it only makes sense if the map itself is aligned to one of the participants, a completely neutral map couldn't display anything but a neutral battle symbol.


    Personally, I just believe that more variation is always good though. Even if I don't have a use for a particular symbols and can't justify it's existence, others will have use for it.
  • I really like Monsen's additions. I would just add variations. Things that I would like to see variations of include;
    - blighted area
    - dungeon entrances
    - ruined everything (especially locations)
    - all the map icons (evil, orcs, etc)

    Some other ideas
    - Ruined seaport
    - Ruined anchorage
    - evil/dangerous sea rocks
    - sahuaghin here
    - sharks
    - abominations here
    - lich here
    - unholy site/defiled site (maybe just a variation of blighted?)
  • Posted By: LoopysueI'm quite interested to see what Mike makes of it.

    Presumably he has already seen and approved this list, so he must think there is a difference.
    I haven't seen the graphics. I'm just stating an opinion. :)

    On the other hand, I had not considered the context that the person making the map is doing it from a personnel/national historical viewpoint or by the view that some participants are evil or good. Interesting.
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer
    LOL! Oh no - sorry Mike Robel. I meant Mike Schley :) I forgot to add his surname ;)
  • This would be really cool! I like all of these suggestions and would most likely purchase this set since I have purchased I think all of the others. :)
  • thehawkthehawk Surveyor
    edited January 2020
    Posted By: mike robelOn the other hand, I had not considered the context that the person making the map is doing it from a personnel/national historical viewpoint or by the view that some participants are evil or good. Interesting.
    My favorite example of this sort of perspective is the map 'The World According to Orcs' from the old D&D Gazetteer 'The Orcs of Thar'.
  • My oops! Now your comment makes sense. :)
  • edited January 2020
    Posted By: thehawk
    Posted By: mike robelOn the other hand, I had not considered the context that the person making the map is doing it from a personnel/national historical viewpoint or by the view that some participants are evil or good. Interesting.
    My favorite example of this sort of perspective is the map 'The World According to Orcs' from the old D&D Gazetteer 'The Orcs of Thar'.


    I loved that Gazetteer!
  • RalfRalf Administrator, ProFantasy 🖼️ 18 images Mapmaker
    Thank you folks, we're taking all of these into consideration!
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