vexillation | cartography

Maps, Art, and Lore by Adam J. Bradshaw

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First attempt at a new workflow. Honestly I just had fun doing this so it’s been refreshing enjoying something for the sake of fulfillment rather than obligation. This is the Cenotaph of Worlds, which was originally sketched out in 2021 before I went on hiatus.

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Been quiet for a bit because my dog, Scully, had been sick and we’ve been busy trying to get her back to 100%. Unfortunately, I haven’t been as productive as I’d like to be considering I have a ton of patron projects to finalize, but life takes priority, I think.anyway, enough ramblings from me - here are my belated Days 11-19 of the #howyoumap challenge! Still got some catching up to do but there’s more on the way! #maps #cartography #cartographyart #handdrawn #drawing #sketch #penandink #ttrpg #worldbuilding #worldbuildingart #mapmaking #fantasyart #fantasymapmaking #fantasymaps #fantasy #cartographycommunity https://www.instagram.com/p/CMxOGcphYE5/?igshid=1uqi8j0hjoc7a

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A new map of a city (Satun) that my players recently arrived at - I used it to help construct some 3D terrain that I built for the upcoming encounter (which I will post up after it resolves in-game). Haven’t touched the colors on this one yet because I’m still fiddling with the photoshop magic needed to get it dialed in. I have a website that I put together to post the finished products if anyone would want to use them, as well as read about the campaign. I’ll post the link in a future post (once it’s prettified and up and running). #dungeonsanddragons #fantasycartography #rpg #pathfinder #dnd #cartography #fantasymap #map https://www.instagram.com/p/BwUqxS4DlK8/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=zb99uunnpjh7

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Decided to post a few of the maps I’ve been using for my current campaign, set in a world called “Barasea” (like Earthsea but obviously not as cool as anything Ursula LeGuin can imagine). I’ll post more eventually, but I can’t show too much since some of my players will see these. Rendered in ink and colored pencil on graph paper...I like using graph paper because it allows me to create an overall world map at 1” = 100 mi and enlarged sectors at 1” = 25 mi. For game use I like these to be more diagrammatic. I’ll post up some wilderness and dungeon maps as the players clear them...eventually. #dnd #fantasycartography #cartography #pathfinder #rpg #dungeonsanddragons #dndmaps https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvw9SF1l8-7/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=116asu03hu70a

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Posting inktober day one a little late....I was just too lazy last night. Following the prompts this year, and day 1 is “poisonous”. Decided to start with a villain from one of my stories. I apologize in advance for the barrage of forthcoming posts >< #inktober #inktober2018 #art #artistsoninstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/BocZArunekI/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=44hiix7nq0c0

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Preliminary pencil pass for a drawing of Cayde-6. Excited for Forsaken, but bummed that we lose one of the best NPCs :( I’ll update after I add the inks and colors #destiny2 #destiny2forsaken #cayde6 #destinyfanart https://www.instagram.com/p/BnSjgVFA9ot/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=f7sv67ivmy7x

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Play of the Game.

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The product of an ongoing exercise in worldbuilding for fantasy settings - a detailed map of one of the major countries. In many ways, this could be considered Phase Two of the entire setting design process.

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After a lengthy hiatus, I've decided to resume working on the Dragonsgate worldbuilding project. Various ups and downs got in the way of my personal projects for a while, but with any luck, I'll be back in the swing of things now. In this article, I map out and take a detailed look at one of the major countries in Dragonsgate, Anderlane (formerly named Windmarch). Hope you enjoy the read - critical feedback, as always, is most welcome :D

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Worldbuilding - Part 7

In this post, I continue exploring the history of the example world of Dragonsgate. Things are starting to come together. Next up, we'll start hammering out the Nation Profiles of each of the major kingdoms/realms in the world.

http://airmailpress.blogspot.com/2013/02/w-o-r-l-d-b-u-i-l-d-i-n-g-p-r-t-7.html

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Thought of this one during Construction class today...thought it was worthy of sharing ;D

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Hexographer: A Review

A while ago, I stumbled across a cool map-generating program called Hexographer; it recently also appeared as an extension on the RPG Tools site I've used for my own mapmaking purposes. Decided to give it a review and showcase some of its capabilities.

Here's the link to the article I wrote about it - hopefully it's useful for anyone undertaking any worldbuilding efforts (kind of streamlines the process).

http://airmailpress.blogspot.com/2013/02/h-e-x-o-g-r-p-h-e-r-r-e-v-i-e-w.html

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Worldbuilding Update

Finally getting around to linking the next three posts of the Worldbuilding series. I'm definitely open to feedback and suggestions for articles and/or ideas about the worldbuilding process. Here are the links to the articles on my blog.

Part 4 - People and Races: http://airmailpress.blogspot.com/2013/01/w-o-r-l-d-b-u-i-l-d-i-n-g-p-r-t-4.html

Part 5 - Nationbuilding: http://airmailpress.blogspot.com/2013/01/w-o-r-l-d-b-u-i-l-d-i-n-g-p-r-t-5.html

Part 6 - History: http://airmailpress.blogspot.com/2013/02/w-o-r-l-d-b-u-i-l-d-i-n-g-p-r-t-6.html

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Just some Saturday night speedpainting for fun.

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Trying out some new coloring techniques.

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D&D Worldbuilding Series

I've been giving a go at a collection of posts meant to offer help for any nascent worldbuilders out there. I know that creating a homebrew setting can often be one of the most challenging and rewarding aspects of DMing. With a little bit of dedication, some tips and tricks and some logical design choices, designing your own campaign setting can be accomplished with relative ease.

Here are the links to my blog where the process is explained in greater detail.

http://www.airmailpress.blogspot.com/2013/01/w-o-r-l-d-b-u-i-l-d-i-n-g-p-r-t-1.html

http://www.airmailpress.blogspot.com/2013/01/w-o-r-l-d-b-u-i-l-d-i-n-g-p-r-t-2.html

http://www.airmailpress.blogspot.com/2013/01/w-o-r-l-d-b-u-i-l-d-i-n-g-p-r-t-3.html

And here's an image of the map that we have so far: