How I'm Making a Fantasy Atlas
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- Опубликовано: 5 фев 2025
- In this week’s video, I take you behind the scenes of creating the Fantasy Atlas-sharing my techniques for generating compelling locations, crafting lore, and illustrating maps that bring a world to life. This project has been a long time in the making, and I’m excited to share it with you!
Download this atlas for free on the Red Quills Patreon page and join our mapmaking community: patreon.com/RedQuills
CHAPTERS:
01:55 - What I'm Doing with the Atlas
03:44 - How It's Been Done Before
07:08 - How I'm Making It
14:15 - Why I'm Doing It
Stick around for updates on the new Cosmology series, collaborations with the Shop of Many Things, and an exciting competition where you can win a free map bundle by signing up for the Red Quills mailing list.
Moon Light Pens (UV-ink pens) | INVISIBLE INK
The Moon Light Pens are a tool to add invisible ink to your maps, only revealed under UV light. Each pen comes with a UV light on the back for ease of use, and they are great for adding hidden clues, map reveals, secret messages, and more!
The UV ink does have a slight sheen in bright direct sunlight, and it's important to have a light touch on the paper if you don't want to leave the impression of the pen tip, but under normal artificial light or candlelight, it is completely invisible.
LINK: www.theshopofm...
Elemental Ink Pens (temperature-activated ink) | REVEAL YOUR SECRETS
Use heat to make the ink disappear and cold to make the ink reappear, and you can combine with regular ink to create interesting puzzles and reveals. They work on pretty much any surface.
It won’t light your paper on fire unless you keep the flame on the same spot for a long time. The Elemental Ink disappears at 104°F (40°C) whereas normal paper lights at 451°F (233°C). Direct flame works well but also a hot lightbulb, a hot mug of just boiled water or even an iron work too.
As for reappearing, freezer cold works well but dry ice or other arrangements work too if you want to take it to the next level!
LINK: www.theshopofm...
Join the Red Quills Community:
Discord: / discord
Blog tutorials and maps: red-quills.com...
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I’ll never take a map or atlas for granted again ✊
Thank you!
I can’t wait till this channel blows up, I love nothing more than sweet sweet Maps and lore
Won't be long now
I'm a long time DM/GM and an author, as well as a big fan of worldbuilding in general (so much so I wrote a book about it), so I really love the idea of doing an atlas for a campaign (or literary) world. Also, I like the style of your hand drawn maps.
I honestly wish that they were a full genre of books: my shelves would be full of them! Thank you
How has this channel never appeared on my feed? This is amazing stuff. Thanks!
Glad you enjoy it!
This project sounds delightful, and I'm glad I took a chance on this recommended video. My favorite part of D&D is reading about the various settings; my own art skills are pretty novice-level, but the idea of making some kind of atlas for the world I'm writing in is quite compelling. Going to spend some time going through your backlog, and I look forward to watching your project unfold!
I'm glad to have your interest and insight!
You've got serious talent. Absolutely gorgeous work. Are you going to market this? It would sell off the hook!
Terrific job!
Thank you! When it's done, I'd like to see about getting it published, definitely. I'll keep everyone updated about how that goes.
Untapped market - I would spend so much hypothetical money on more atlases based off of fictional or fantasy lands.
Good to know!
I would realistically spend between $50-100 for a nice atlas. The larger size and more maps/descriptions/pictures etc the more I’d spend. 100+ pages in quarto size would easily be $80-100, and the same in folio size could be as much as $150-250
@Orcra956 Now THIS is a helpful comment
This is an incredible project! A real love letter to worldbuilding and crafting.
@@LegendKeeper Thank you, that's the idea. Nothing I love more than a good fantasy world
Awesome video. Also found your voice crazy soothing. Mapmaking ASMR, much? :)
My favourite worldbuilding step was when struggling to visualise how each continent (which we had made 2D maps for) fit onto a sphere, I just bought a styrofoam ball, and drew them onto it. Then I realised I could turn that into a globe. So I did. Still my favourite DnD prop - I'm running the 4th, 5th and 6th campaigns that have been run on this world, and getting to show new players the globe, and helping them understand the regions, so their character can be grounded and then they feel like they know their homeland.
So - have you done a globe, or will you?
(It's a secret, but I finished the video today! It'll come out next month)
Well done on upping your video game. Your maps are utterly beautiful. I greatly envy your talent and hope you receive that as a compliment.
Thank you! 🙏🙏
I almost never comment, but I wanted to say that I subbed almost immediately after finishing this video. This is SUCH a fun concept, I really want to try it myself with my own world. I can't wait to watch yours progress!
Yay! Welcome, then, it's great to have you!
This is a fantastic idea. I've spent the past 3 months (and probably the next 12) working on an in world travel guide written from a demi-god's perspective. It's not an atlas seeing as how it includes much more than maps, but it certainly includes them. I'll be following this project closely I'm sure! Good luck
-A New Subscriber
Sounds like a very ambitious project! I'd love to see it when you're done.
This is so exciting! Every time I watch, I want to go draw a new map!
Do it! 😀
This 👏🏼 wish I had a group of map makers to have coffee with while map making 😩 thank goodness for RUclips lol
The Discord's the next best thing!
This is my first video of you. Immediately subbed
Delightful!
What a great idea. My games are set in Middle Earth but i do tend to flesh out areas with smaller maps. I really like the idea of an atlas.
In Middle-Earth?? Jealous. There is an Atlas of Middle Earth for sale, but I can't deny your choice of setting
@@RedQuillsI run the One Ring, just love it. Thanks for the reminder. I had totally forgotten I had the book.
I'm generally reticent to spend a lot of time creating a finished map, as then in the future, if I want to make changes I'm going to feel stuck, or like throwing that map away and starting over is a huge undertaking. I suppose I'll keep everything digital so I can mess around at will without having to ditch prior work.
I completely get it - everyone's got their own medium that they work in. I just prefer physical.
I cackled at 'player enemy no. 1' 🤣
It's true, alas
we make very different maps, so this was extremely interesting to watch! i'm working on a compendium of sorts for my worldbuilding, but more....illustration-y style ?? but i cant wait to see more of this series!! keep up the good work :-)
Illustration-y?? You must share!
@@RedQuills i'll post them on the discord!!!!
For me, i tend to struggle making my maps into more interesting shapes other than amoeba with pseudopoda of various sizes. It's a hard thing to break from even when using stuff like the rice method.
I've been thinking about making a video on fractal design, so it's good to know that there's need for it!
So, a Silmarilion. That sounds really cool
It's an honour even to be compared
I love this idea a DnD world atlas it such a good idea im def gonna attempt to do this
Do it!
This is a really cool idea, can't wait to see more!
Thank you!
Man, this is such a cool project
You flatterer!
I think it’s a really neat concept, but I have a little bit of doubt that accuracy is necessary, especially given that the NPC author has never been to 90% of the locations. Misinterpretation and exaggeration seems like a natural part of worldbuilding as well and could easily create plot hooks this mapmaker NPC could present
Accuracy is something that will tend to make or break the immersion of the world. If you're creating a resource and making it deliberately inaccurate, the players won't use it as a resource, only a storytelling tool. If you're happy for that, then that's great!
LOL, I just thought of this the day before yesterday❤
(Just found your channel, I live the vibes)
Beat you to it! 🤣 (But I'd love to see what you come up with. Convergent development and all that)
It would be so cool if you and Tales of Temuin guy collabed
I'll look into it!
Shout out to my boys Mercator and Ortelius - and don't forget the OG Sebastian Munster.
My man Munster, he deserves his own video
@@RedQuills I would watch you just talking about maps throughout history!
@joannalusty4694 Good to know!
Really cool idea, I working on a big map of the antire kingdom for now, but I think I will give less detail regional maps to ma players.
I try to make interesting stories in every town and city too, but it take quite some time ^^'
It does take a while - best for those who are spending years in the same world. But if you're making maps, share them on the Red Quills Discord!
@@RedQuills oh, good idea, I wasn't considering that ^^
Very cool!
All the info about my own world is a mish mash of info in my mind, random things written in pieces of paper... Like... I would really need this lol
Never too late to start compiling and organizing! I'm in the process of doing just thar myself
Bring it all together! Atlas time!
Mine too. I actually did start systematically, top-down, but that isn't how my mind works. It doesn't help that I prefer to make notes with pen and paper and so organising them becomes difficult - though I do also have Google docs for some things.
I want to do something similar in a 10th or 11th century style. I just doubt i have the time.
Never say never!
Internal Screaming
I actually laughed out loud 😂
I came across it while editing, and I had to keep it
I have found my people !
One of us!
Is that the skull of the inventor of the isometric map
Yep, that's why he doesn't have a brain
You could have more accurate maps in a world where you have a creature or race that can fly and can aid in seeing how the world really looks. But most maps should have the mapmakers country in the center.
Very true!
Well, this is making me want to make my own. (Uh oh.😅)
(A new hyperfixation approaches)
4:46 the funny thing (which I'm sure you Red Quills already know, but the reader might find interesting) is that current map making is still not 100% 1:1 accurate
It's true!
Do you have an archive where I can see your art?
Most of the new stuff is on Patreon, but the stuff before about October last year is on the Red Quills blog. All for free!
But I'm looking at making a proper gallery/print option this year!
I AM FINALLY BACK ON THE FANTASY SIDE OF YT
WELCOME BACK
My dog’s name is Atlas!
Then I love him
Wouldn't a simple flying creature or wizard able to accurately to draw any kind of map?
Maps were still inaccurate until we had planes (giant eagles?) and satellites (a... celestial being looking down the whole planet)
That's... actually a great point. I can't believe I didn't think of that.
But now I like the concept that creatures that can't naturally fly (or really have to work for it magically) having inaccurate maps and depending on species that they don't take seriously otherwise (like Kenku) for their maps.
We had balloons for a long time, though.
What is the level of your player in your campaing
They're level 16 at the moment, soon to be 17. We go somewhere between 8 - 10 sessions between levelling up
What drawing pad are you using for this endeavor?
I use a variety for the Atlas: Montmartre A4 240gsm for the watercolour, Born 180gsm A4 and A2 for the maps.
@@RedQuills Thank you 🙏
*Smeagol voice* Give it to us. We wants it. Its my birthday.
Keep it secret. Keep it safe
Deep, dark, safe in the vaults. Never to be used... unless at the uttermost end of need.
I would say that 100% accuracy isn't that important. If you look at the history of maps, it's not just the one person making maps is it, over hundreds if not thoudands of years. It could actually be more interesting to have innacurate maps, showing all sorts of biases and superstitions etc etc
Definitely! Inaccuracies can make things very interesting. I'm just suggesting that you take a single map as the accurate measurement when you begin, to avoid unintentional contradictions. Then you can measure when you have inaccuracies and incomplete sources. Inaccuracies in maps are to be expected, but for you the mapmaker, you need to have a rule of thumb. Historical mapmakers - particularly when compiling atlases in their early development - also worked off of existing maps to develop new ones. It's the same principle
@@RedQuills That makes sense for worldbuilding purposes. Like when you're writing a book - there are things you as a creator know to be true but the characters may not know. If it unintentional or accidental it could lead to plot holes. Know the truth and then purposefully mislead. Like you said in your video
This has made me think about maps in post-apocalyptic settings, say like Fallout. Of course you'd still have a rough map of the pre-war area, but if natural disasters, nukes, or settlements have changed the landscape dramatically, the map would be extremely outdated and inaccurate.
Fair point!
Maps within maps awaits you-timeout, who the heck wrote this script!?
It's me, not even AI 😔 My real talent is maps, not talking