I was inspired by a WebDM video (at this point I can’t remember which) to think of atypical or unusual resources for DMs or other game runners. The video referenced Barbara Tuchman’s A Distant Mirror, a book about life in 14th century Europe. For DMs who like realistic, perhaps lower magic, settings (like me) this book is a great resource for how large villages might be, what conflicts might about, and other details about nations the stresses they go through. These details adds additional layers of complexity and immersiveness to a story.
Along those lines, The Writer’s Map: An Atlas of Imaginary Lands is a wonderful and meditative read for any DM who likes to start their story or setting with a good map: either of a town, a region, a continent, or a whole world. The book is a collection of essays by writers such as Philip Pullman, prop makers for the Harry Potter movies like Miraphora Mina, and the map maker for the Lord of the Rings Trilogy Daniel Reeve. Maps from the Phantom Tollbooth, How to Train Your Dragon series, Middle Earth, Chronicles of Narnia, Watership Down, and Moominland–a surprisingly influential map for several of the contributors to The Writer’s Map–are juxtaposed with medieval and modern maps of the world.
In the actually writing, a common strategy/past time for many of the writers was map making, scribbling, or drawing. Often, especially with writers from the UK, they referenced starting with Ordnance Survey or other ‘real’ maps and writing on top of those to better ground their stories. Much of the essays spoke to me less as a writer and more of a DM. I rarely use predefined settings. When I run my campaigns I create the map from scratch (borrowing heavily from Tolkien without first creating my own language). Story arcs and hooks often come from the places and features that I draw. The overlay of fictional worlds over real maps is a tool I’m excited to try for a new session.
This book won’t teach you how to be a better DM through specific tips or tools for managing players or scaling encounters, but it does, softly, explore the drives and influences behind many author’s works. This book inspired me to revisit how I create my maps, specifically this passage David’s Mitchell’s essay Imaginary Cartography, “I found you can’t name a place without thinking about the language and worldview of the people doing the naming”. Naming a place cries out for more than just the name, the act demands connections and context the named place.
The Writer’s Map reminds us of the importance of maps both for writing stories and campaigns. It’s a delightful meditation, easily consumable essays, and pages of partially sketched out to fully painted maps from familiar to novel worlds.
Ross Blythe is a Chicago based gamer interested in all things tabletop. He enjoys reading history as well as fiction, and so has a soft spot for historical wargames like Pike & Shotte. For the campaigns he runs as a DM he often looks to history for inspiration, for the lessons of the past to challenge the players at his table.
https://www.nerdunion.us/2018/11/21/smuggles-n-snuggles-game-review-and-special-offer/
https://www.nerdunion.us/2018/11/12/authentic-agility-games-how-do-you-see-the-world-review/
https://www.nerdunion.us/2018/10/18/academy-games-gaming-through-history/
About Author
