I have received a couple of reports of problems with loading the map. PDF's are notorious for being a resource hog, and the full JPG is large enough to bog down even the best of computers.
As a temporary fix to this here is the JPG version in 6 parts:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ag6lxn9q8mxkk9n/AACM9pGkC1Kr8ji-exT7mME7a?dl=0
Due to the election and upcoming PatreCon this weekend, there are less time for me to devote to my Patreon and Greyhawk. I'm so sorry for this and hope that you will forgive me for being a bit absent this week. I feel l have to as a permanent resident help a couple of my local candidates get elected. I hope you all do the same, which is as political I want to be, this patreon is not about politics!
PatreoCon is a gettogether where I hope to learn others and be inspired to try and do more, and it is in LA so close enough for me to drive daily. Really looking forward to this!
Today is my Greyhawk Day of the week, and working on the 2018 Edition. The list of changes grows and there are new heraldry in the making as well. My goal is to have a release candidate done by the end of next week, so you guys plus a select group of Greyhawk experts can scrutinize it for a month to tell me what needs to be fixed. In the meantime I will go over the terrain one more time to touch up the last annoying bits.
This is a screenshot of what I'm working on for the moment, the Hands of Light, a fighting order of Pholtus of the Gran March.
Thank you again for your support!! 🙂
The quest to place the Flanaess have now reached the first tentative steps. My approach to this is to create an Equirectangular map of Oerth and superimpose a map of Earth using the same projection, and then georeference using the the overlayed map of Earth. To create an Earth overlay on top of the Oerth map I'm using Nasa's Global Map Projector tool: https://www.giss.nasa.gov/tools/gprojector/ It is easy to use use, support Equirectangular map input and its available for free.
Using G Projector I can create a myriad of Oerth maps using different projections, like the Equirectangular Oblique seen on the title image for this post. Various projections are useful for different things and for the purpose of confirm coordinates of the Flanaess I will need to stick with the Equirectangular projection for the first stage of this project. But before we go into the details here are some cool (and weird) projections.
If you want to try it out, here is the Oerth map I created and used for this: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ce16npzhb87q446/Oerth%20Equirectangular-2-01.jpg?dl=0
To place the Flanaess, my approach is to start with the big picture and then gradually move in for more and more accuracy. This first step is to get the Flanaess to align with the illustration that best shows its location, from the 1983 Gazetteer.
Here we run into a problem right away the longitude lines are straight which is makes me think that they just made it easy for themselves. I'm going to assume that they are most accurate around Greyhawk and then become less and less so as you move towards the edges of the map.
This map also shows an islands suspiciously similar to the Isle of Dream much farther north than I remember seeing it in later sources. I used the later sources for my decision to place it south of the area covered by my Flanaess map, there might be reason to take a new look at that again. This map also has shows plenty of islands scattered around the most of the oceans visible which is something I really like, lots of small "worlds" to develop. There are even a few small islands I have missed! Glad I looked at this old map again, there will be to add some new bits of land 🙂
Next step will be to zoom in and fine tune the reference points of the Flanaess.
Thank you again for make it possible for me to spend lots of time doing this, to have the base coordinates right will be very useful going forward!
My personal campaign map needed to be updated with re-edited terrain and new styles, and here it is.
PDF version: https://www.dropbox.com/s/enx9fbpy4ftf9mx/Flanaess%20Campaign%20map%20181018r.pdf?dl=0
JPG version: https://www.dropbox.com/s/0oh3ka111tpuvz5/Flanaess%20Campaign%20Map%20181010.jpg?dl=0
Here is the latest pre-release map in JPG version:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/181550s8dym8wcr/Flanaess%20Full%20Map%202018%20Edition%20A3.jpg?dl=0
Here is the next pre release version of the 2018 map. The big change to this version is the terrain, is almost ready for release. Added shallow water and touched up the coasts lines, and lots of other small corrections here and there. I will probably find a few more things to be corrected. But all in all the terrain bit is done, and after more than a hundred hours of work I'm starting to feel like it's up for the job of being the home of my campaign for a while longer.
Content wise it is not much new yet, most of that work is still to be done. Here is the list of changes so far:
Added Tal Aska in the Vesve
Added Fairdells area in Highfolk
Greyhawk Heraldry - removed a chain link
Settlements near Tringlee - Harrington, Glodnen, Dariax and Loradden
Brannigan's Farm - Highfolk
Island names near Dyvers
Village of Bracken
New Iuz Heraldry
New Heraldry for the Knight Protectors of the Great Kingdom
You can get the PDF file here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/74cuvqycpg5dmee/Flanaess%20Full%20Map%202018%20Edition-A3r.pdf?dl=0
The next update will be all about content, trying to through my list of some 140 items to be looked at.
Thank you again for making it possible for me to work on this!! 🙂
Crater:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/mckl4uv57d55gmq/AACMdlxNX6cUwTp6bALODrL3a?dl=0
Islands:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lbet04acuglsu4y/AADZxppuRAe_H7REX8cL5j4Pa?dl=0
Crater:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3d5ap4m5bjgzvso/AAD34teVSDxMPDWGCHJE8oXya?dl=0
Islands:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1w8et9kwnktqhtp/AABI5JPJg6nqu94NNbD4ePAea?dl=0
Before I revamped my Patreon to be focused on my Greyhawk cartography it was focused on generic projects. I managed to run two of these projects, Craters and Islands that was set up to deal with how to tackle the technical difficulties of mapping a fantasy world in detail.
The Crater project was a test to work out how to take on the huge elevation spans needed in order to properly map a fantasy world. In this sense it was a huge success, even if the map itself is not among the more prettier or even useful ones I've done.
The Island Project was my first attempt at trying to map an sizable area in minute detail and do so with photoreal quality. The resolution is 10 ft/pixel and the whole area are 32K which turned out to be almost too much for both my computers and my sanity ho handle. The render to over 4 days to do, and thanks to Edison for keeping the power flowing steady that whole time, the best technical achievement of mapping career was made.
Most of the posts from back then was locked up behind the much higher pledge levels I used then, so I decided its was time to go back and adjust them to the new regime.
You can get the final images here
Crater:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9s5q35t695ckkgv/AADAqoeqCrea-qjqfics_pO_a?dl=0
Islands:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lzm075e2wylvswe/AACRwdgxJuGdCZptbmSARLXZa?dl=0
Here is the latest finished heraldry - The Bannermen. Here is their story from Ivid the Undying:
The Bannermen are a surviving unit of the Glorioles Army, once drawn from Pontylver. Led by the 8th-level fighter Ranxxen Strangender, they are the remnants of an elite heavy cavalry unit. There are 13 in all, apart from Ranxxen; 12 fighters (two each of 6th- and 7th- level, and four each of 4th- and 5th- level) and the 8th-level mage Alavend.
Ranxxen is a fine fighter (Str 18/77, Dex 16, Con 16, with AC -2 and 96 hp). All the fighters have heavy horses, with 50% having chain barding to boot. The fighters all wear plate mail, although each has a 50% chance for damage to the armor which reduces the AC value to AC 4 base. Ranxxen has plate mail +2 and a longsword +2, +3 vs. extraplanar creatures. For the other fighters, use standard rules for determining magical item possession. The mage Alavend has a wand of frost with 37 charges remaining and a ring of invisibility.
The Bannermen are so named because Ranxxen owns a magical war banner, proudly displaying a red dragon with a severed head on a green background. This is a specially crafted family heirloom and can only be employed by Ranxxen or one of his bloodline (the unit has none of his kin). All within 100' of it and allied to Ranxxen can gain from the magical effects it can create: prayer once a day, changing morale to Fanatic (18) once a day for 1 turn; regeneration (1 hp a round for one turn, useable once a week). Note, however, that the banner will enrage any dragon which sees it, so that the beast will automatically attack, gaining a +4 bonus to all hit rolls (but a +2 penalty to AC).
This group actually turned renegade and fought against imperial troops in the sack of Pontylver. Having seen what happened to that city, and their families within it, these are hollow-eyed, grim-faced, fanatical warriors now. They seek any opportunity to strike at imperial forces, and while they are not reckless they don't fear death. They have been employed by Drax as shock troops to strike against Lone Heath raiders, and to raze the keeps or settlements of those who have offended Drax or tried to resist his rule. This has been acceptable to them to date, especially since they gained the ring of invisibility in payment, but they now want more aggressive action directed more specifically against imperial targets.
Hiring the Bannermen is ideal for PCs who need to make some strike against a fortified target and to create a distraction while they strike at a secondary area. The Bannermen are all evil, of course, but most are LE (including some ardent reverers of Hextor) and they don't desert their employers if they have been fairly dealt with.
They demand high payment rates; above all, they want magical items. They also want a share of booty, which varies depending on the number and levels of PCs hiring them. They don't waste their time with anything which isn't dangerous.
The Bannermen doesn't really have a proper place on the map depicting 596 CY, they might have become just a mercenary band of hire swords, or are now only a memory, or they might be a unit loyal to Xavener himself...
I couldn't resist creating the shield so here it is. And you can grab a PNG with transparent background here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tl7udemk9ovhp7q/Bannermen-01.png?dl=0
More is coming soon!
