Dave Hargrave's The Arduin Grimoire (1977) and its two immediate sequels, Welcome to Skull Tower and The Runes of Doom (1978), are important artifacts from the first few years of the hobby of roleplaying and thus of great interest to all fans of old school gaming. These three books, often known collectively as The Arduin Trilogy, were not just mere flights of fancy by their creator, but outgrowths of Hargrave's home-brewed fantasy roleplaying game campaign, among whose hundreds of players was none other than Greg Stafford of RuneQuest fame. The Trilogy not only delighted many roleplayers during the '70s, but also included some of the earliest published artwork of Erol Otus.
Emperor's Choice Games, the current publisher and rights holder of Arduin, has big plans for Dave Hargrave's legacy, starting with the release of a large collection of maps based on those he made for his RPG campaign almost a half-century ago. These maps include not only the titular County of Arduin (an earlier version of which I positively reviewed fifteen years ago), but also maps of the continent of Khaora in which it is situated and the country of Chorynth as well. The new County of Arduin map is gorgeous and filled with lots of interesting and useful details.
If you're a fan of Arduin or just a lover of fantasy maps, please take a look.
Dumb question, but can anyone here elaborate on how modern rpg maps are created (process, software, etc)? I feel like I haven’t seen a really good fantasy rpg map since Pete Fenlon’s wondrous MERP maps.
ReplyDeleteHear, hear. For me Fenlon's maps are Middle Earth. Every loch, glen and burn represents a potential adventure in my mind's eye.
DeleteI second that _so hard_. The Fenlon MERP maps are, to me, the gold standard. Aesthetically, at least. I do admit that base maps with overlays and other modern technical improvements are hard for me to dismiss.
DeleteThe original Harn maps, both the regional/local maps, and their interior/building/dungeon cartography, is also really high up on my list. Like Fenlon's, analog rather than digital productions.
Great question, but you're setting the bar rather high; Fenlon's maps were incredible!
ReplyDeleteCampaign cartographer and inkarnate are popular
ReplyDeleteCheck out Mike Schleys website and how to videos. He has a lot of material and is widely published
I will say the quality of the maps, materials and packaging are of a standard that exceeds what's available out there. As an Arduin fan since 1978 I am excited about Empcho bringing that almost lost and forgotten world to life in stunning style.
ReplyDelete