how to draw a fantasy world map
If you lot desire to take your fantasy worldbuilding to the next level — whether that'due south writing your next novel or crafting your newest RPG campaign — at that place'due south nothing quite like a beautifully drawn map that's plucked from the world of your story.
To assist you bring your 'other' world to life, hither's a list of our favorite fantasy map generators, tools, and resources!
ane. Reedsy
Base Price: Varies between illustrators
Type: Market place
Of course, the best manner to make a fantasy map is to hire a professional person. For a personal and expert arroyo, it'south definitely worth hiring an illustrator. Here at Reedsy, we have rigorously curated the all-time freelance illustrators in the publishing business — and they're merely a click abroad from helping your work stand up out.
Exercise you like the designs you lot see higher up? They were all created by Leo Hartas, one of our talented freelance illustrators who specializes in creating the finest illustrated fantasy maps. Cheque out Leo's profile on Reedsy and browse through our network of talented artists!
Looking to give your maps that professional person border?
Reedsy is abode to professional illustrators with mountains of experience crafting tailor-fabricated fantasy maps. Sign upwards for free to meet them!
Learn how Reedsy can help you arts and crafts a beautiful volume.
Not looking to rent a professional? Don't worry — at that place are enough of bully, cost-free alternatives to cull from below!
2. Azgaar's Fantasy Map Generator
Base of operations Cost: Gratuitous
Type: Browser-based
Azgaar's Fantasy Map Generator has long been the go-to for fantasy writers and Dungeons and Dragons players alike, with expert reason. Azgaar currently provides twelve different crude templates to offset your map, ranging from "Pangea" to "Volcano". This arroyo is intuitive considering the majority of users already accept a rough idea of what their globe will look like (eastward.g., "a big island" or "hot with lots of mountains"), with the idea to fill in the details subsequently.
Of class, if you lot don't like something in your randomly generated map, Azgaar provides a tool to paint new terrain. Numerous options allow you to characterization continents, countries, cities, regions, and even dissimilar religions, each of which can divide or unite the map.
If yous need a map for a particularly socially and politically driven (or divided) world, then Azgaar's Fantasy Map Generator is undoubtedly the one for you!
iii. Watabou's Medieval Fantasy City Generator
Base of operations Price: Free
Type: Browser-based
Only a globe marked by dozens of complex divisions isn't for everyone — maybe your story is set in a single large city or moves between a couple of different cities.
In that case, yous'll love the Medieval Fantasy City Generator by Watabou. This software tin create as many cities equally you like, with customizable names (including street names), points of interest, and colors. Though in that location are fewer options to manipulate the city maps themselves, chances are you can find a city map that fits your needs or inspires your writing in just the right way.
And don't let the generator'south name fool you: the cities you generate tin can fit more just a medieval landscape. After all, no thing where yous are, you lot may detect that the cities well-nigh you still retain a lot of their historical layout. So give this fantasy city generator a endeavor and let your imagination run wild in whatever forms y'all desire.
Base Price: Gratuitous
Type: Browser-based
Information technology'due south often difficult to make a map's layout readable and indicate its relevance to the story. Globe Anvil'southward Interactive Map is the 'become-to' tool if you are the kind of creative writer that starts with a rough map prepared.
Through Earth Anvil's software, you can upload your map to add whichever various (and interactive) elements suit your needs. For example, you can chart the courses of heroes and villains as they venture across the map, adding waypoints to show moments of disharmonize or rest. Or yous can make employ of the function that allows you to interlink maps — adding icons linking to city maps — and make sure that you never lose rail of what's where.
Substantially, World Anvil's tool allows yous to take your map to the adjacent level through customization options that but aren't possible through traditional pen and paper cartoon.
v. Wonderdraft
Base Price: $29.99
Type: Software download
This side by side entry is ane of the pricier pieces of software on this listing only information technology'south also 1 of the best-reviewed. Wonderdraft's fantasy map-making software occupies a happy center footing in size, specializing in creating continental and regional maps.
Wonderdraft's maps are particularly praised for their detailed, cute, and indeed Tolkienesque art style, as well every bit their customizability. It can generate endless elements to add together to your map if you wish, from rivers and roads to mountains and cities. Of course, if yous don't like what the software generates for you, y'all can also use the "paint" tool and mold the landscape to suit your needs.
The beauty of this Wonderdraft is that, no matter how many crazy combinations of landscapes you throw at it, it maintains your map's style, allowing you to fearlessly customize to your eye'southward content.
6. donjon Worldbuilding Generators
Base Cost: Free
Type: Browser-based
If you're looking for basic ideas to help you shape your world, and so consider using donjon's gratuitous fantasy world generator as your muse. Generating your initial country formations is a quick and painless process, leaving yous more time to get into the details — whether that'south printing information technology out with pen and paper, or uploading your map into a dissever tool like Globe Anvil!
Simpler, and then maybe sweeter, than other tools, donjon allows you to customize the appearance of your randomly generated map by changing its color or style, the ice/land/h2o ratio, the number of cities, and the font. Later on you choice out the customization options that suit you, the outcome will appear on a new tab every bit an easily downloadable prototype.
If you need more inspiration, endeavor sparking up your creativity by using Reedsy'southward fantasy plot generator as you create your map to enrich your map-making with some awe-inspiring lore.
7. ProFantasy'due south Entrada Cartographer 3
Base of operations Price: $22.45
Type: Software download
With Campaign Cartographer, you tin can draw cartoon maps, hex maps, medieval maps, and far more than than that, whether y'all cull to use the inbuilt landmass generation tools, or describe your ain with tools to aid you.
You volition accept a huge diversity of mapping symbols, styles, and types that are easy to access correct away, without any additional paid expansions. The variety of what's available is office of what makes this map generator so good, as y'all're non express to a single map manner. If you desire to make an 8-flake pixel art map one day, and a map inspired past the Witcher books the adjacent, Campaign Cartographer has all of the tools to facilitate that.
8. Nortantis
Base Price: Free
Type: Software download
Nortantis is a simple fantasy map generator that creates hand-drawn-style maps. Once you lot've created a map you like the style of, y'all have the option to customize the terrains, icons, background, colour, and text font.
Fancy making a spooky swamp map? Why non choose a purple groundwork combined with a darker royal terrain outline? Or mayhap your characters are journeying through a land of volcanoes — combining a dark red background with Nortantis'south handy lighter red terrain outlines will surely fit the beak. One time yous've created your platonic story setting, you can easily export information technology in whatever image file you prefer, or ship information technology to impress direct from the app.
9. FlowScape
Base of operations Cost: $10
Type: Software download
FlowScape stands out from the residue of our list as the only 3D map generator. With FlowScape you lot can curate multiple dissimilar types of terrain, from snowy mountains to embankment paradises, or choose from 20 presets you can edit.
If we listed all of the elements y'all can edit, yous'd exist hither all day so here's a sample list of what you tin can practise on FlowScape: simulate living animals, build castles, play with physics (perfect for creating accurate castle ruins), rotate the sun, and even build on top of giant turtles. Sounds pretty fun, right?
You might be thinking that it'due south impractical to utilise a 3D map generator for the purpose of worldbuilding and writing, but many writers have confirmed the opposite. 3D ways you get to delve into your world as if you were standing there yourself, edit it in shut detail, then zoom out and screenshot the map from the acme-down. Information technology's the ultimate way to command your map and put yourself in your graphic symbol's shoes.
10. Inkarnate
Base of operations Price: Free
Blazon: Browser-based
Inkarnate is well-known amongst fans of fantasy map generators for its intuitive user interface, fast generating, and the numerous assets information technology has to offer. You can create large cities with sprawling angular roads or landscapes with winding hills, or, if none of that interests yous, why not endeavour building a whole town on a span in a canyon?
The shapes, sizes, and placement of everything from towns and dungeons to mountains is unlimited. Whatever your preference, it's probable that Inkarnate will have something for you, even offering features like the ability to create "battlemaps", which is perfect if you happen to be writing a fantasy globe at state of war or circuitous fight scenes.
11. Roll for Fantasy Map Creator
Base of operations Cost: Gratis
Blazon: Browser-based
Non lured in by the bells and whistles of the larger software packages here? You might similar this next entry. Curlicue for Fantasy is a slimmed-down, filigree-based map generator. You tin choose to randomly generate a map and so edit it, or build it from scratch.
The organisation is unproblematic: you click the square of the grid to place an element on the map (like a landmass) and then rotate it as you wish. Don't let the ease of employ fool you though, with a piddling fourth dimension and commitment, you can use the Whorl for Fantasy generator to create a rough draft and so develop some amazing map designs.
With convenient tools, such as a mirror to perfect your map'south symmetry, this generator definitely deserves more attention than it gets — peculiarly as it'due south costless to use (so you won't be tempted to spend on added content). If that wasn't enough, every time you use Ringlet for Fantasy's website, you lot also plant a tree in aid of the Eden Reforestation Project. Who doesn't honey a reforestation endeavour?!
12. Dungeon Scrawl
Base Price: Free
Type: Browser-based
If you're looking to describe expansive, snaking and labyrinthine dungeons, caves, or castles so Dungeon Scrawl is the fantasy map tool for y'all. Imagine if Adobe Photoshop was designed for the sole purpose of creating compelling indoor maps (and also much, much easier to utilise) — that's Dungeon Scrawl.
With no installation required, Dungeon Scrawl gives you the take a chance to build on premade dungeon templates, or freehand-draw your ain fantasy maps. The software's polish user interface makes it easy to develop maps with a handmade and personal feel, creating corridors, staircases, and rooms of all shapes.
If y'all're worried near cartoon only to potentially turn out shaky MS-Paint-looking lines: fear not, the software automatically makes your lines smoother, or more jagged, depending on your preferences. For certain, if y'all hadn't already wanted to, this software will make you desire to play around and make dungeon maps to include in your story!
13. HexTML Hex Map Creator
Base Price: Complimentary
Type: Browser-based
If you're a fan of the lath game Settlers of Catan, you'll feel right at abode with our list's mannerly final entry. HexTML is a browser-based fantasy map generator, with its unique selling bespeak being its board game-esque art style.
The tessellating hexagon filigree is surprisingly versatile too. For larger maps, y'all can combine lots of smaller hexagons to create the effect of broad territories, and for smaller maps, you tin can make each hexagon an individual biome. With a sizable listing of symbols, flags, and colors to choose from and place on your map, you can spend hours playing around with different combinations of tile placement. And on the off run a risk that y'all don't similar the resource that HexTML provides yous with, you can upload your own symbols to seamlessly integrate them into your map.
Eventually, when existent-life calls you lot away from the screen, you can easily export your map every bit an image file, or save the unfinished map to carry on with the next time y'all log on.
Then that concludes our list. Did you realize how many exciting fantasy map generators and tools were right at your fingertips? Now that your earth is ready to become, journey along and write a fantasy earth that volition knock people's socks off!
Source: https://blog.reedsy.com/fantasy-map-generators/
Posted by: silvawint1952.blogspot.com
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