Maps

Back in the early eighties, I ran a Dungeons & Dragons campaign with a group of close friends. One of them, my good friend Steven Thomas, launched his own campaign so I could finally play instead of DM. From the very beginning, his maps were leagues ahead of mine. More detailed and more imaginative. Better in every way.

As his campaign evolved, so did his maps and handouts. The pace of improvement was staggering. From the start, I was standing in a dust cloud watching him disappear over the horizon.

Here are a few of his maps and handouts that I managed to save from those unforgettable years.

The Pirate Base

Starting off with a classic pirate adventure.

A player map handout

A wilderness adventure, searching for bandits.

A Fortress

The maps are evolving and becoming more ambitious.

Plen Valley

The level of effort going into the wilderness maps jumped by a level of magnitude beyond his earlier maps

Tomb of the Lich

The maps become ever bigger and had player handouts to bring them to life.

I am pretty sure that door had a breath weapon attack.

The Last Fortress of the Suloise

Yes, we were playing in the World of Greyhawk setting.

Isometric Fortress

Steven’s mapping went isometric after he had seen the maps for the original I6 Ravenloft module.

Tower of the Archmage

One of his best works. A nine level mage’s tower also in an isometric view.

Erelhei-Cinlu

And finally a map for Erelhei-Cinlu, the Drow city from the module D3 Vault of the Drow.

It should be no surprise that with his raw talent, Steven went on to qualify as an Architect.