Towns & Villages

This is our first Guest Post on FreeFantasyMaps.org – it’s a map of the town of Megetrs, by Nick Pelletier. Thanks Nick for sharing your map with us!

This smallish sized town was originally just a fjord left under the control of an ambitious young magistrate. He quickly realized that the geography gave a unique location to become a traffic hub both from land and water traffic. He had a bridge built and enough quays that prevented larger ships from going any further up river or large river boats from going down river. As a result, all cargo had to land, unload, go through the town and be reloaded on the other side. This quickly became a hugely successful business venture (which the Magistrate owned major interest). Before too long, the Magistrate was able to build himself a full fledged castle despite being common-born.

The city grew fast and so did the Magistrate’s wealth. Walls were built in order that the magistrate could control who came and went from the city. The island in the middle of the river was designated for unauthorized traffic. Anyone new arriving to the city had to first be subject to rigorous ‘inspection’ before being allowed off the island and into the city. Many ‘undesirables’ found it easier to just catch a ride on another boat than attempt entrance to the city.

Commoner Harbour, to the north became a small town in it’s own right. Lawless and uncontrolled outside of the strong city walls.

Greenville sits at the edge of the kingdom, a small town with big aspirations.

Despite its small size and frontier location – and thanks to its fortunate proximity to unusual resources – Greenville has attracted the attention of a wealthy patron and the powerful Mage’s Guild. They have come to gain control of the rare spiritstalk, a magical herb needed as a component for the most powerful of spells.

Only the bravest of families live and work this deep into the Spirit Wood, where ‘strange events’ occur frequently: wicked howling fills the night air; bizarre creatures forage on the town crops; apparitions lure children to unsightly demises. It’s not an easy way to make a living, but the opportunity for wealth far outweighs the inherent dangers.

This map was made with Campaign Cartographer.

Pleasant Hill is my first attempt at mapping with Adobe Photoshop. I was trying for a hand drawn style and I’m pretty happy with the results, though I think next time I’ll try to make the paper more wrinkled and give it better defined edges. What do you think?

This map was made by following Butch Curry’s excellent Fantasy Cartography with Adobe Photoshop podcast series. If you have Photoshop (not cheap!) and want to make fantasy maps, this is a must-see tutorial. I learned a lot – not only about making maps, but also about Photoshop techniques in general.

This map was made with Adobe Photoshop.