Observations of the Fox

A geomorph is basically a tesselating frament of a map, a bunch of them can be mixed and matched in a variety of configurations to make a huge variety of potential maps. I've toyed with them before (notably  here and the geomorph guide here ). I'm at it again. But this time focusing on fragments of maps that might build up into a dungeon. It's basically an add-on for Catacomb Quest , where a cluster of four map geomorphs (in a 2x2 configuration) or nine geomorphs (as a 3x3) might be used to define a single section of the underground world being explored. In Catacomb Quest, I used suits of cards to define 4 distinct types of threats that might be found under an ancient ruined city. This means I'm probably looking at 36 of these geomorphs (if I do 9 for each of the four suits), for starters I'll create five generic geomorphs including the catacombs entrance, a pair of generic rooms, a branching passageway, and an underground crossroads. Then I'll add fiv...

This map is pretty loose, it's for a blank slate world that will be defined as we go. But it's nice to have some hooks for players to latch onto, and for GMs to base adventures around. I've been given a rough framework (as indicated in the last post), but pretty free reign with specifics. Here's the working sketch. Or, more accurately, here are the pages on which the rough sketch has been printed, scaled up to be more impressive.  Due to the printing on A4 pages, I need to guillotine the edges... Then tape the fragments together... ...gradually building the complete map. I've discussed fractal hexes before , in my geomorph series a few years ago. So it's nice to see a map given to me where this system is in place. Four of the smallest hexes across make one of the mid hexes, four of the mid hexes across make one of the large hexes, four of the large hexes make one of the largest hexes.  This works as a fairly convenient...

As we start this post, I've got the basic layout for the geomorph pencilled in. I'll remove the template from behind the hex, so that we can get a bit of a clearer image. Here, I've got streets and coastlines marked in for the small harbour, and a couple of vague ship shapes.  Next, I'm one of those terrible people who starts inking things before the pencilling is complete. I've got a pretty good idea of where I'm heading and how to get there, but I like the chance of screwing up a bit to make the workflow a bit more prganic and unexpected.  I have a range of felt-tipped pens in varying thicknesses (0.1, 0.3, 0.5, and 0.7mm). I like to work with the idea that a thicker line means a more dramatic shift between the mapped terrain on either side of it.  0.1mm lines reflect things that can be easily traversed (moving from concrete path to road, or rocky terrain to sand). 0.3mm lines reflect more significant changes that present a minor obstacle (fenc...

I've drawn up an improved Urban Geomorph template. The way I'm using it, it's a large image. It's designed to be used as an A3 sheet (420mm x 297mm) to produce a hex that is 300mm across the points. But if you're interested in using it, there's no reason why you couldn't scale it down to A5, to produce hexes that are 150mm across the points (or whatever other size you wanted). Here's the link.   Feel free to use it, but please tell me if you do, I'd like to see what is done with it.

I'll work through a geomorph example. I've got a basic idea of a small industrial dock, a big dock might sprawl across two or three hexes,but this might be suitable for a few small container ships.  The contrast on these early images has been turned up, so that you can more clearly see the geomorph template through the page. The total size of the hex I'm using is 30cm across opposite points.  First, I lay a blank sheet over the template, and mark in the corner points so there are good anchor points for this page if it accidentally slides off the template underneath.  I haven't always drawn the hex, but I've decided it might be a good idea to do it regularly from now on. Next I start drawing in some of the streets.  In this case I'm just drawing streets on the bottom edge and the lower left. All of the other edges of this hex will be aquatic, so I don't have to draw streets there. I'll be adding more streets in and con...

To ensure my city geomorphs line up correctly, here's the template I use. You'll note that the middle road can either be used in street configuration or motorway configuration, and also note that there are very few geomorphs (with the notable exceptions being the "Old Town" and the "CBD") where roads specifically follow one or more of these 'street lines' directly across the hex. The second step is to place a piece of paper over this and mark the corners of the hex, then maybe draw up the hex, and mark where streets will need to cross the borders. Then, what's inside is fair game. It's only the edges that need to line up with matching streets. In a few cases, I've drawn streets that form dead ends as they cross into a new hex. Where possible I've limited these dead ends to the street two in from the corner (moving counter-clockwise around from each corner, or four streets in from a corner if you're going clockw...

We've reached that part whe most of the photographed work-in-progress images are pencil sketches, and probably don't show up too well on a screen. These are the last of the geomorphs I found in my pile of paperwork, so they are being posted for the purposes of completeness. This second "Edge of Town" is a general suburban sprawl. They call it a sleeper suburb, because most people spends their nights here in relative safety and quiet away from the rest of the city, while they spend their mornings communting to factories, skyscrapers and other workplaces in other parts of town. This is the home of the dwindling middle class, the lower level managers, the well paid tradesmen, the small business owners. It's a very vanilla part of town, nothing particularly good, and nothing particularly bad. It's just quiet... But underneath the quiet, who knows? The "CBD" is the commercial hub of the city, unlike the capital where the laws of the l...

The "rural edge of town" sees a distinct lack of apartment buildings, and the detached houses exist on building blocks that grow larger the further you move away from the confines of the city. The city becomes more green here, with open plains, trees, and eventually scattered farmland. The people here are wealthy, those on larger properties own horses and other livestock; yet they still live close enough to other city facilities that they can keep their finger on the pulse of commerce and industry. Many of the citizens here have houses further in the country as weekenders and holiday homes, if they aren't a part of the 1%, these citizens aren't far off it.  The "capital" is inspired loosely by Canberra. It seems like all motorways lead to the "Capital", they radiate out like spokes from a central hub. At the centre lie the grand buildings of central government, where every approach seems to provide a picturesque and grandiose image of ...

Here's a few more detail shots of the modern city geomorphs. I might do one more post after these three before working through the design process over a couple of posts. The "signature industrial complex" is a massive factory, with accompanying warehouses and office buildings, owned by a global mega-corporation. The city was proud to get the company to have a base of operations here and it's been great for the local economy... Who knows, maybe the global corporation started here. A sweep in the motorway leads people toward the gleaming office buildings that control the complex before diverting them in other directions so they can't get too close a look...and certainly can't see the massive industrial workings on the other side of the steel and glass (except to acknowledge it's presence). Numerous houses and apartments cluster around the complex, feeding it regularly with workers. A dual carriage motorway travels across gently rolling pic...

Here's a closer look at some of the work-in-progress geomorphs. "Old Town" is the central and most established area of a city, it dates back to the 1800s or early 1900s when it was fashionable among town planners to lay things out on straight lines, north to south, east to west, regardless of the actual undulation of the terrain. There's an old cathedral in the middle of Old Town, which might once have been the centre of a thriving community, but now lies dwarfed by larger buildings that have also fallen into decay while the vibrancy of the city has moved to outer regions and suburbs. Between the decrepit buildings are dank and crime ridden alleyways, few people come to this part of the city anymore, except the occasional tourist who wants to get a feel for the way things used to be (they usually leave disappointed). Most people catch the motorway and drive past this "Light Industrial Area" without giving it a second thought. They see warehou...

While digging through some paperwork for the new iteration of FUBAR, I found a pile of paperwork containing some modern urban geomorphs. There are about 20 of these in various states of completion. It's another one of those projects on the current theme of modern urban storytelling, the kind of project that could easily link into my new version of FUBAR, or Other Strangeness... Or maybe could be released as it's own thing. Generally, these are two-phase geomorphs, with one side variant containing five equally spaced roads/streets linking across to the next geomorph, and another side variant containing four streets/roads and a split motorway. A few geomorphs (though not as many) contain blank edges that might be farmland or rural territory on the outskirts of a city, and a few contain water edges to help depict coastal cities. If there's interest, I'll finish off this project and release it.