The Best Fantasy Map Hacks
These are the best fantasy map hacks for those writing in the fantasy genre. Use them when you are worldbuilding.
If you are writing a fantasy book, playing Dungeons and Dragons, or just want to make a cool fantasy map to hang on your wall go no further! I have looked into the best methods and distilled them into a short and helpful guide.
Worldbuilding is one of the most important things you need to do when you write in the fantasy genre. Creating a map is a great way to help you with this.
‘If you’re going to have a complicated story you must work to a map; otherwise you’ll never make a map of it afterwards.’ ~J.R.R. Tolkien
The Best Fantasy Map Hacks
1. The Traditional Way – Paper Methods
Tolkien was one of the first authors to say that you need a map if you are writing fantasy. He thought that he needed a map so that he knew where everything was happening in his world.
There was so much that he needed to keep track of in The Lord of the Rings. Where battles were, what the climate was like in different areas, and how long it would take to walk to Mordor.
Eventually, it was just easier for him to get a big piece of paper and a pencil and roughly sketch out a plan for his events.
Over time, he neatened this out and drew in some simple black ink mountains and forests.
Of course this took him ages (decades), and while it led to the classic Middle Earth map, it does not look very impressive or realistic. As seen below:
2. The Rice Method
However, if you want a map that looks good and does not need to conform to your plot, then the rice method is the easiest way to make a map by hand.
- Get some paper.
- Paint some tea onto it to make it look old.
- Pour rice on the page.
- Arrange it into continents and islands.
- And, trace a line around the rice.
- Then fill in the land with lakes forests and settlements.
You can then paint it or ink it to make it look as professional as you desire.
This is a fun project that will probably take about an hour if you are good at drawing or a life-time if you have two left hands.
Now, if you are making a map for DnD (Dungeons and Dragons) or some other game, you will need to add a grid to it. You can use squares or hexes depending on the kind of game.
DnD Style:
Pathfinder exploration style:
3. Digital Methods
On the digital side, you can use tools like Photoshop or ProCreate (iPad) to draw maps.
However, if you want tools with powerful pre-generated titles and procedural generation abilities, I suggest the following apps.
Paid Option (none of these are sponsors.)
Inkarnate
Inkarnate is an online paid service with a free 7-day trial.
It gives you an incredible level of customisability and renders a professional looking map.
I do think it looks a bit soulless and computer-generated, but it’s a good starting point at least.
Free-ish Option
Dungeon Scrawl
Dungeon Scrawl is designed for smaller scale maps that you would traditionally find in games like RPGs. It lets you make forts, dungeons, and wilderness maps for illustration purposes.
It’s free, but you can upgrade it to get more and better options.
Free Option – And A Really Good One
Azgaar’s Fantasy Map Generator
This Fantasy Map Generator does only one thing, but it does it well.
It makes a random world map in the style of common fantasy map.
One nice thing is that it creates borders and town names as well as roads and rivers.
However, it is just a rough tool and does not look very good unless you spend some time customising it. But, it is highly customisable and you can even change some of the code if you know what you are doing.
It is also 3D so you can really get a feel for the world you have made.
And, surprisingly it has hundreds of options for maps from atlas, globe, and even cyberpunk neon styles.
It won’t be useful for towns or detailed small maps though. It does not make forests, but it will tell you where they should be.
The Last Word
Creating maps is a fun pastime for fantasy authors and daydreamers alike. These are all viable methods for creating maps, but why not try them all? Then you can pick and mix what works for you.
If you want to write fantasy or if you love reading fantasy, you will love these posts:
- What Is Fantasy Fiction? Plus A Fantasy Book Title Generator
- 101 Fantasy Tropes For Writers
- A Complete Glossary Of Terms For Fantasy Writers
- The Greatest Fictional World Builder Series
- The 4 Pillars Of Fantasy
Christopher Luke Dean writes and facilitates for Writers Write. Follow him on Twitter: @ChrisLukeDean
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Top Tip: Find out more about our workbooks and online courses in our shop.
1 thought on “The Best Fantasy Map Hacks”
This is truly fantastic. I have always made my own maps and can see the great potential in having a map generated for me. I have a world with kingdoms in different places and enemies who control areas. This would make it so much easier. Thank you!
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