Recently I watched a Youtube video by WASD20 about making realistic maps for a tabletop game such as Dungeons and Dragons. It was a fantastic video that made me think more and more deeply about the maps I make for my fantasy novels. Yes, he addresses the surface contradiction of making the map of a fantasy themed game "realistic", but that's not what I want to write about here.
He said that following these rules made the map more realistic and, by this token, the players can immerse themselves more into the campaign setting. It also enables them to make assumptions about the layout and landscape based on reality. This then leads to information resources for them to use in their strategies and/or roleplaying. I believe the term for this is "versimilude". I looked this up: "the appearance or semblance of truth; likelihood; probability". Incidentally, he mentioned these rules would come in handy for publishing an RPG playkit….or a novel.
There are two rules that sparked this blog post.
The first rule is "no lonely mountains". Mountains are created through factors that generate several mountains, i.e. mountain ranges. He even pointed out that Tolkien's "Lonely Mountain" in Middle Earth is not actually lonely because the Iron Hills, Grey Mountains and the Mountains of Mirkwood are nearby.
The second rule is "break the rules". By this he meant to break the rules deliberately. If you have a truly "lonely mountain" then there should be a reason why it is lonely, such as a wizard generating it for some arcane goal or a giant constructing a sculpture that appears as a mountain to humans.
It just so happens that I had a lonely mountain in a novel that I plan to write soon (it is after the one I'm currently writing which is the first one after The Highest Power). Instead of thinking "screw the rules, I'll do whatever I want", I thought of it as an opportunity. How can I deliberately break this rule? Then it came to me.
A reason for the mountain being lonely, and not only that but something that feeds into the society that lives on and around the mountain. Their culture, their religion, their history etc. can now be informed by this lonely mountain's origin.
This was groundbreaking (pardon the pun) for the story that takes place on and around this lonely mountain.
1. I got to thinking about the two groups who live here and were antagonistic to each other. Before there was little reason to their antagonism, but now the origin story provided a means rooted in their culture which could provide that dislike.
2. I thought about an Olympics style sporting competition that was based on elements of this origin story and how this event could be a mechanism for the antagonism, a starting point for the plot and maybe even the means by which my heroes accomplish the goal for which they came to this mountain in the first place.
3. The kinds of monsters that my heroes could fight and the kinds of supernatural events I could tie into the narrative also increased.
The addition of a little realism, rather, the justified departure from it, has tremendously helped to build this setting and the story that will take place there.
Again, I'm citing these rules from "10 Rules for Believable Fantasy Maps" which is a WASD20 video by Nate. You can watch it for yourself by clicking this link.
Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).
He said that following these rules made the map more realistic and, by this token, the players can immerse themselves more into the campaign setting. It also enables them to make assumptions about the layout and landscape based on reality. This then leads to information resources for them to use in their strategies and/or roleplaying. I believe the term for this is "versimilude". I looked this up: "the appearance or semblance of truth; likelihood; probability". Incidentally, he mentioned these rules would come in handy for publishing an RPG playkit….or a novel.
There are two rules that sparked this blog post.
The first rule is "no lonely mountains". Mountains are created through factors that generate several mountains, i.e. mountain ranges. He even pointed out that Tolkien's "Lonely Mountain" in Middle Earth is not actually lonely because the Iron Hills, Grey Mountains and the Mountains of Mirkwood are nearby.
The second rule is "break the rules". By this he meant to break the rules deliberately. If you have a truly "lonely mountain" then there should be a reason why it is lonely, such as a wizard generating it for some arcane goal or a giant constructing a sculpture that appears as a mountain to humans.
It just so happens that I had a lonely mountain in a novel that I plan to write soon (it is after the one I'm currently writing which is the first one after The Highest Power). Instead of thinking "screw the rules, I'll do whatever I want", I thought of it as an opportunity. How can I deliberately break this rule? Then it came to me.
A reason for the mountain being lonely, and not only that but something that feeds into the society that lives on and around the mountain. Their culture, their religion, their history etc. can now be informed by this lonely mountain's origin.
This was groundbreaking (pardon the pun) for the story that takes place on and around this lonely mountain.
1. I got to thinking about the two groups who live here and were antagonistic to each other. Before there was little reason to their antagonism, but now the origin story provided a means rooted in their culture which could provide that dislike.
2. I thought about an Olympics style sporting competition that was based on elements of this origin story and how this event could be a mechanism for the antagonism, a starting point for the plot and maybe even the means by which my heroes accomplish the goal for which they came to this mountain in the first place.
3. The kinds of monsters that my heroes could fight and the kinds of supernatural events I could tie into the narrative also increased.
The addition of a little realism, rather, the justified departure from it, has tremendously helped to build this setting and the story that will take place there.
Again, I'm citing these rules from "10 Rules for Believable Fantasy Maps" which is a WASD20 video by Nate. You can watch it for yourself by clicking this link.
Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).
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