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Description
Call this another one of the ones I had sitting around that I wanted to finally do something with. The original, I should say, was actually a collection of about 8 illustrations of completely different little things. I wanted to put them all together to make one strange, confused map, which was what this was. Think of American McGee's Alice and call that a campaign map. Of course, traveling around in the Plane of Shadow is to be unpredictably unpredictable. Let me fill in a little mythos that would have gone with this map.

The first thing you have to understand was that on this map there would have been, essentially, a dismembered god. You can see his foot on the far right of the map. Also listed in my gallery is an illustration of one of his eyes, which was an enemy creature. Essentially, this God, lets call him "Hobbes" for now, created the world of the Plane of Shadows, as far as the people on this continent are concerned.

The most tangible sign of his hand is the Clockwork Tower. No one really knows what purpose the clockwork tower has, though the denizens of the continent have a lot of theories. What is know is that it is big, it has a wind-up function that is so large that only Hobbes can wind it, and no gnome tinkerer has ever left. No, not all things in the Plane of Shadow are dangerous, but the impossible workings of the tower require more than a lifetime of fascination to explore.

There are a few settlements on the continent. 'People' live there, though really shadow people are as much a part of the landscape as a tree... which granted could be quite lively itself. They go about their lives as a computer simulation for lack of a better turn, and though things frequently change in the Plane of Shadow, as far as they are concerned most of these natural changes have always been. There is no sense of history there aside from mythology.

Salem, bottom right, is a very troubled town. Its name is not unintentional here. Its meant to be pretty much anything from Sleepy Hallow to a witch infested nightmare.

In order to get to Salem, people pretty much have to go through the Briar, which is at times a pleasant candy coated experience, and at times a razor coated horror. Most things in the Plane of Shadow function off of human emotion greatly, so fantasy, doubt, sarcastic thoughts, and pondering can make reality in the plane shift quickly.

The Dark Tower is the place of the Queen's seat of power. It is far from accessible, as the only way to get to it is over or under the High Lands, which is quite dangerous to go over, quite frightening to go under, and in all cases rather mazelike.

That is not all that different than the Porton Mais, which is the only conventional way to get to the other continents on the Plane. It is the only port to the endless sea. While it might make sense that anywhere around the continent people could travel using the ocean, but most of the continent seems to be surrounded by a nearly bottomless drop. It doesn't make sense. It isn't supposed to.

The Porton Mais is probably the place where things make the least sense to most city dwellers. The streets are winding, nonsensical, and tend to change from day to day as new buildings appear and disappear. No where more are the Shadow People seemingly oblivious than here

To get to Porton Mais, characters would have to travel either through the Swamp of Sorrow or the Living Wood -- which isn't called such because the foliage is vibrant, quite the opposite. Both places are places where an imagination is a liability. A creeping feeling of dread permeates the place and the fear of what might be behind the next tree or lurking just beneath the water is all too often exactly what is there. The Swamp of Sorrow is also the only way to get to the Outter House. Whats there? Hopefully someone who can shed light on the Plane.

Finally, the Strange Hills are so named for obvious reasons. Generally anything that lives there is abnormal. Think shape people or impossible animals. Random geometric forms protrude from the earth. The ground is a bizarre texture, striped, and flows ever so gently.

In any case, I hope it at least makes the top 10 of strangest or most unique D&D or general role playing 'campaign maps' ever produced.

Description
Call this another one of the ones I had sitting around that I wanted to finally do something with. The original, I should say, was actually a collection of about 8 illustrations of completely different little things. I wanted to put them all together to make one strange, confused map, which was what this was. Think of American McGee's Alice and call that a campaign map. Of course, traveling around in the Plane of Shadow is to be unpredictably unpredictable. Let me fill in a little mythos that would have gone with this map.

The first thing you have to understand was that on this map there would have been, essentially, a dismembered god. You can see his foot on the far right of the map. Also listed in my gallery is an illustration of one of his eyes, which was an enemy creature. Essentially, this God, lets call him "Hobbes" for now, created the world of the Plane of Shadows, as far as the people on this continent are concerned.

The most tangible sign of his hand is the Clockwork Tower. No one really knows what purpose the clockwork tower has, though the denizens of the continent have a lot of theories. What is know is that it is big, it has a wind-up function that is so large that only Hobbes can wind it, and no gnome tinkerer has ever left. No, not all things in the Plane of Shadow are dangerous, but the impossible workings of the tower require more than a lifetime of fascination to explore.

There are a few settlements on the continent. 'People' live there, though really shadow people are as much a part of the landscape as a tree... which granted could be quite lively itself. They go about their lives as a computer simulation for lack of a better turn, and though things frequently change in the Plane of Shadow, as far as they are concerned most of these natural changes have always been. There is no sense of history there aside from mythology.

Salem, bottom right, is a very troubled town. Its name is not unintentional here. Its meant to be pretty much anything from Sleepy Hallow to a witch infested nightmare.

In order to get to Salem, people pretty much have to go through the Briar, which is at times a pleasant candy coated experience, and at times a razor coated horror. Most things in the Plane of Shadow function off of human emotion greatly, so fantasy, doubt, sarcastic thoughts, and pondering can make reality in the plane shift quickly.

The Dark Tower is the place of the Queen's seat of power. It is far from accessible, as the only way to get to it is over or under the High Lands, which is quite dangerous to go over, quite frightening to go under, and in all cases rather mazelike.

That is not all that different than the Porton Mais, which is the only conventional way to get to the other continents on the Plane. It is the only port to the endless sea. While it might make sense that anywhere around the continent people could travel using the ocean, but most of the continent seems to be surrounded by a nearly bottomless drop. It doesn't make sense. It isn't supposed to.

The Porton Mais is probably the place where things make the least sense to most city dwellers. The streets are winding, nonsensical, and tend to change from day to day as new buildings appear and disappear. No where more are the Shadow People seemingly oblivious than here

To get to Porton Mais, characters would have to travel either through the Swamp of Sorrow or the Living Wood -- which isn't called such because the foliage is vibrant, quite the opposite. Both places are places where an imagination is a liability. A creeping feeling of dread permeates the place and the fear of what might be behind the next tree or lurking just beneath the water is all too often exactly what is there. The Swamp of Sorrow is also the only way to get to the Outter House. Whats there? Hopefully someone who can shed light on the Plane.

Finally, the Strange Hills are so named for obvious reasons. Generally anything that lives there is abnormal. Think shape people or impossible animals. Random geometric forms protrude from the earth. The ground is a bizarre texture, striped, and flows ever so gently.

In any case, I hope it at least makes the top 10 of strangest or most unique D&D or general role playing 'campaign maps' ever produced.