The most awesome FRPG maps ever: HUGE!

[Geoffrey]

I paid a mere $6.96 for my local printer to print all 18 of Necromancer's Wilderlands maps on 72 sheets of white cardstock. I then cut the borders off of each sheet, leaving only the map itself. On the back of each map I identified it in this manner (for example):

Wilderlands Campaign Map 9
Ebony Coast
NW Quarter

Last night I finished all the cutting and labelling, and I was able to lay-out all 72 sheets in order on the floor. The vast map measured 7' 3" by 4' 9.5"

Although I've long admired the Wilderlands maps, I never realized just how cool the whole thing was until seeing it in all its glory like that.

Here's the whole thing, with Supplement V: CARCOSA (5.5" by 8.5") near the top left for scale:



Here's a closer one of the more northerly part:



Here's a closer one of the more southerly part:



It's weird how the print-outs of the scanned maps alternate with lighter and darker bands. But what the hell. It's still awesome.

[Thorkhammer]

But stunning.

[DungeonDevil]

Very impressive!
The alternating strips do look rather odd though.
If only I could make a huge print-out of my pdf's of Greyhawk.
Printing is so blasted expensive these days. It would be more economical to finance an entire monastery of scribes working for me than to keep buying HP ink cartridges.

[Dragondaddy]

Happily, I managed to acquire the last module of the original JG Wilderlands, City State of the World Emperor early last year. It took three diffferent buys on Amazon and E-bay to get the full module. With that I completed my mapset of the original 17x22 mapset, and it's a delight. Been meaning to take a photo of it for some time.

There were always two maps for each in the original, a completed GM's map, and a partial players map that had a few prominent details and maybe a town or two (with a few keeps, towers, and castles included) for the players. Back in the day the players were actually expected to map out their exploration and adventures....

I think the shade variance in your printed maps is due becuase the original maps were done up as Black and White halftone maps.
When you scan a halftone print that was done up originally with the frequency modulation method of screening, you have to either match that frequency modulation with your scan, otherwise the tiny dots are offset just a hair and it creates a lighter/dark band effect.

You can also remove the halftone screening after scanning, There are tools in Quark and Photoshop to help you do this, This may effect the quality of the original scanned images though, and when you print them you get to decide how you want to screen your scanned printouts.

Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halftone

[Knight of Gondor]

That is very cool!

Knight of Gondor

[Kent]

Superbtastic! A few questions now you have aroused my lust and envy:

Can pdfs of these maps be bought anywhere online?

Did you scan them from the wildly expensive oop Wilderlands boxed set?

How did you manage all that cutting assuming you didn't use a scissors?

Will you be using these maps for your recent Leiber influenced C&C campaign?

[Saunatonttu]

I can answer at least the first. I think zee PDFs are available from RPGNow and suchs. Dunno about the quality as I have the freakishly expensive (35 eurobucks, from the store, not too long ago) Boxed Set and haven't seen the PDFs, but they are available.

[Kent]

I can answer at least the first. I think zee PDFs are available from RPGNow and suchs. Dunno about the quality as I have the freakishly expensive (35 eurobucks, from the store, not too long ago) Boxed Set and haven't seen the PDFs, but they are available.

Thanks. Yes found this at RPG. Hmm, there are 18 of them so they would need to be printed on A2 which would be awkward to store if printed on card. If only someone sold the original posters separately.

[Maliki]

Very cool.

[Flynn]

Wow! That is very impressive! You know, I have this blank spot on my wall that would look great with that.

Thanks for sharing,
Flynn

[Vile]

That is pretty impressive! Only one question:

On the back of each map I identified it in this manner (for example):

Wilderlands Campaign Map 9
Ebony Coast
NW Quarter

Is that so you could assemble the map upside-down on a tablecloth before cunningly whipping said cloth from under the map sheets with a flick and a twist of the wrist (too fast for the eye to see), depositing the whole array flawlessly aligned on your living room floor?

Just wondering.

EDIT: Ey! It's that Flynn bloke above me! What are you up to these days?

[chrisspiller]

That is one awesome map!

I am not familar with the Wilderlands setting at all but the map alone makes me want to check it out. Is there no product you can buy with the map in its entirety?

Pax,

Chris

[Matthew-]

Very cool to see all laid out like that.

[Sleepy Voiced]

WOW!

[froglegg]

Very nice.

John

[Damaja]

if I were to want to print me one of those out just as you have, what pdf book could I go grab for it to be in? I just woke up, still half asleep so maybe I have not missed this info.

[Bochi]

I think the pdf scans of the originals that you can get from RPGnow are not very good when they are blown up to a decent size so I don't know how well they would work to make a giant map. But they are not expensive, one could experiment with a single one and see if it is acceptable.

I am so impressed with Geoffrey's map that I have a scheme for my own Necromancer maps now...

[Geoffrey]

Superbtastic! A few questions now you have aroused my lust and envy:

Can pdfs of these maps be bought anywhere online?

Did you scan them from the wildly expensive oop Wilderlands boxed set?

How did you manage all that cutting assuming you didn't use a scissors?

Will you be using these maps for your recent Leiber influenced C&C campaign?

1. I think this would have the same maps as what I used: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php? ... =2836&it=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

2. I acquired a PDF of Necromancer's Wilderlands of High Fantasy boxed set, and I had my local print-shop print-out the PDF's maps.

3. I used scissors. Yep, I made 288 cuts. It was not fun.

4. I made a few failed attempts at the beginning of a map for my forthcoming Leiber-influenced C&C campaign, but I was uniformly disappointed. Nothing I did could touch the awesomeness of these Wilderlands maps. Therefore I am strongly leaning towards using this giant map as my campaign map. Caveat: I will not be using Judges Guild's or Necromancer's text that describes the contents of these maps. I am going to do all the text myself, so "my" Wilderlands will be very different than that of Judges Guild or of Necromancer Games.

[Geoffrey]

That is pretty impressive! Only one question:

On the back of each map I identified it in this manner (for example):

Wilderlands Campaign Map 9
Ebony Coast
NW Quarter

Is that so you could assemble the map upside-down on a tablecloth before cunningly whipping said cloth from under the map sheets with a flick and a twist of the wrist (too fast for the eye to see), depositing the whole array flawlessly aligned on your living room floor?

Just wondering.

How'd you know?

[Geoffrey]

That is one awesome map!

I am not familar with the Wilderlands setting at all but the map alone makes me want to check it out. Is there no product you can buy with the map in its entirety?

Pax,

Chris

Alas, no.

If I could afford it, I would hire Peter Bradley (who did an awesome, color version of one of the 18 Wilderlands maps [the Southern Reaches] for James Mishler's Wilderlands of High Adventure) to redo all the maps into one, giant color map. Then I'd have it printed A) without the hex-grid (for artistic display on my wall), and B) with the hex-grid (for game-play).

[-Defjeff-]

Great Jeebus-- thats a big map!

It would take a while, but think of the impact on viewing taking some color pencils to it would do.

Dont feel bad about the expense of printing these/other maps out in color. Remember, printer ink fades over time.

I dunno if you have Photoshop, but if youve scanned in the originals I may have a way to reduce or eliminate the "striping" effect. Simply go to the contrast and brightness adjustment and turn both settings UP. It will have the effect of darkening the absolute darks and lightening the lights. The gray should disappear, leaving the darks very crisp and black and making for a printworthy copy to be jealous of.

Dj

[Damaja]

omg scan yours and upload them somewhere haha
/grovel /beg

I would love to be able to print what you have out, map looks really really good.

[themattjon]

Wanna impress me? Frame it

[rredmond]

Really nice Geoffrey, it looks awesome all laid out.

[Grimaryl Atyar]

For those in the states, I know of a guy you can work with via mail who has permission directly from Necromancer Games to print out these maps in larger sizes, and laminate them, and his pricing is pretty fair. You don't have to get them laminated either.

But its a nice option for all your RPG map printing needs, because he went and got permission directly from a lot of the smaller RPG companies.

http://www.gamer-printshop.com/

[Kent]

3. I used scissors. Yep, I made 288 cuts. It was not fun.

If it still works that's a +1 scissors right there. I *hate* making any more than about 16 cuts.

4. I made a few failed attempts at the beginning of a map for my forthcoming Leiber-influenced C&C campaign, but I was uniformly disappointed. Nothing I did could touch the awesomeness of these Wilderlands maps. Therefore I am strongly leaning towards using this giant map as my campaign map. Caveat: I will not be using Judges Guild's or Necromancer's text that describes the contents of these maps. I am going to do all the text myself, so "my" Wilderlands will be very different than that of Judges Guild or of Necromancer Games.

Yeah they set the highest standard. I have 5 of the 18 maps printed on A3 in a decrepit dusty state with faded numbers yet it is still obvious how special they are. Like you I love the maps for their own sake, I provide my own detail and make some name changes. My players have just set foot on the easternmost edge of Tarantis, the first Wilderlands map I have used.

One problem though is that any desire to publish campaign material for free or not that uses the maps becomes a headache so its tempting to try to create one's own imitations.

[Grim]

ya know theres places that can print that on one big sheet for you, right?

[havard]

Wow, that looks awesome Geoffrey! Thanks for sharing, its an inspiration!

Have you considered adding the Blackmoor map?

Havard

[Damaja]

I am not familiar with the necromancers stuff whatever it is. Exactly what world is that supposed to be on that map?

[Random]

I am not familiar with the necromancers stuff whatever it is. Exactly what world is that supposed to be on that map?

http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php? ... s_id=59811" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Or you could get the Judges Guild originals. They are also available in PDF there at the same site.