World Anvil’s interactive maps are one of our platform’s most popular features, but where can you find or make the actual maps for worldbuilding? After all, World Anvil is not a map-making software, and you’ll need one or more map images to get started!
To help you out, I’ve created this blog post – which contains a tonne of other blog posts – to help you find maps for worldbuilding!
Types of maps for worldbuilding?
There are a lot of types of different types of maps you might need for worldbuilding – the main three are:
- World or region maps – great maps for worldbuilding overviews!
- City or settlement maps – perfect for getting your characters or PCs through crowded streets, and mapping out shops and houses.
- “Battle maps” – this also translates to building maps and scene maps which Game Masters and Writers will find very useful!
What types of maps do you need for worldbuilding? World maps, region maps, city maps and battle/ scene maps! This imagery is from Project Deios, the worldbuilder’s mapping software!
Once you have your map images, of course, you can upload them to World Anvil in seconds to get started with interactive mapping! Dropping pins onto a map and linking them to information in your world makes it so much easier for you – and for anyone else you share your maps with – to quickly understand how your world works. It’ll help you find the information to write your novel or run your game really quickly. And, of course, they look freaking awesome too!
You can also layer the maps in World Anvil! For city or world maps, use layers to denote subterranean layers, political regions, or climate biomes. For building or dungeon maps, that’s the perfect way to show the different stories or levels of a building!
The mapmaking resources
I’ll be rolling these out over the next few weeks, so check back for more posts linked below, or keep an eye on our social media!
- Click here for our micro-review of free map auto-generation software for world and region maps!
- Or check out these amazing fantasy and scifi cartographers who create work you can use for your own worldbuilding
- Check out this post if you want mapping software and resources to make your own world maps
- Resources for city and settlement maps (both drawn and premade)
- Battle maps, building maps or scene maps
And if you need some inspiration for your adventures, check out some Free DnD Oneshots from our community!
Are there other kinds of maps for worldbuilding that you use? Please let me know in the comments!
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Janet,
Great list.. I would add Anna Meyer (just because I’m a greyhawk enthusiast. There are no better Greyhawk Maps), but she has also created maps for Kobold Press’s Midgard Campaign Setting. I would also include Alyssa Faden. Alyssa specializes in more of the micro approach working towns cities, etc.
https://www.annabmeyer.com/
https://midgardmap.koboldpress.com/
https://www.facebook.com/AlyssaFadenCartography
Best Regards from TEXAS
I’m currently looking for a browser based map making app but am still looking. Here’s a list of them over at dndCompendium https://www.dnd-compendium.com/dm-resources/maps-map-tools. Several that stand out to me are: Inkarnate, Wonderdraft, and Flowscape. But I am interested in Project Deios, but it’s coming out a little later than I would like.
Under the THE MAPMAKING RESOURCES heading, both the first and the second link seem to go to the same page…?? Am I missing something?
Just wanted to let you know that the first link in the “The mapmaking resources” section points to the wrong blog-post. It points to a list of artists and their pre-made maps instead of auto-generation.
FYI: The clickable link for the micro-review of free map auto-generation software leads to the page for the artists that create custom maps.