Main Topic
Today we will add another voice to the mix. Author of a book I shouted out in Episode 57, D.N. Frost. She is going to help up talk about what it means to make maps and how not to back yourself into a corner when mapping.
What do you use to make a map? Start with pen & paper. Graphic Design experience isn’t required, and is less frequent. Doodle a coastline on your paper or in a design program. From their you can shape the mountains and forests around those. It moves down to labels eventually, but pen and paper is organic and easy to start over. It is easier to treat it as a rough draft and to evolve or iterate your map from that paper and pen version.
How Much Map is Too Much map? How Much Map is Too Little map? When Map Making is for world building and storytelling on its own, the internal results of the mapping process creates the more viscerally understood setting. The Map is Too Much when you overwhelm when sharing the maps with your audience (readers, players, or others) . As long as you know your map audience and your map, you can’t over map. Know your audience and know what you need from it.
Don’t Overlook Earth’s Amazing Features. We have an amazing amount of terrain and even unexplained features on Earth right now. Don’t overlook the wonder outside your door and around the world that may inspire you.
Stat Blocks
Zendead-
nulloperations- The Pitcher’s Talon
Small, easy to miss, but incredibly sharp; this talon appears at first glance to be an ordinary piece of keratin torn from a limb of some bird of prey attached to a cord and able to be worn as a necklace. Whenever this talon is held or worn on the body, its properties extend to certain objects thrown by the wearer. The objects must be small enough to be thrown one handed, and once released they will sail towards the thrower’s exact goal regardless of the distance.
Any distance.
If a plane is spotted miles away, the thrown object will fly to it at uncanny speeds. Distant moons are not off limit, although the survivability of objects travelling through open space at such speeds should be considered. Note: it is not recommended to throw live objects in this manner. A clear view must be visible between the thrower and the target, and even moderate fog can muddle the effects of the talon.
Guard-a-Manger- Sacrementum Letterman Jacket
You see it sitting in the thrift shop, alone in the corner of the store. A letterman jacket with a stylized “M” over the left breast. A classic piece of Americana from some unknown school. It’s turning chilly right now, so you think it’s as good as anything to keep you warm. It even gives you a little bit of flair and style, since you never quite made the team after the car wreck that left your knee just a little bit off.
The jacket felt a little heavy the first few times you wore it but it cut the wind well. It felt like a pick me up, a boost, a bit of an inspiration to move your feet a little bit faster. It is like a good coach that always knew just the right words of motivation. It felt good to actually move again, like high school. It felt like you had found some little part of your youth. Never mind the occasional nosebleed …. Or that a friend would keep tripping when you were around. The warmth of the jacket was something that brought you hope.
It’s the question of the “M” … the SacreMentum from the tag that keeps coming back to your brain. There is no record of this school anywhere in the Tristate area and its mystery is nearly unfathomable. The worst part is that you are starting to see other people in these jackets … but none of them will talk to you. They seem to be watching you … and when you run, it’s almost like they are evaluating you. Scouting you.
For a new team.
Lexicon
Fumarole noun fu·ma·role \ ˈfyü-mə-ˌrōl \
Definition
: a hole in a volcanic region from which hot gases and vapors issue
Origin and Etymology of fumarole
Italian fumarola, from Italian dialect (Neapolitan), from Late Latin fumariolum vent, from Latin fumarium smoke chamber for aging wine, from fumus
First Known Use: 1811
Popularity: Bottom 20% of words
Closing remarks
Zendead- Shadow myths Cards, SCRIBEdelivery monthly notebooks
nulloperations- Iliza: Elder Millennial – Netflix Comedy Special
Guard-a-Manger- Sherlock Holmes in Orbit – a Licensed collection of short stories, approved by Conan Doyle’s estate, taking the famed Detective of 221B Baker Street in a variety of different directions including vampires, cyberspace, and other science fiction places!
D.N. Frost – Cosmos A Spacetime Odyssey
Music is courtesy of The Enigma TNG you can find his music on YouTube or on Bandcamp
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