Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Black & White Campaign Map Style

In my search for more inspiration for the style of the Grymvald setting, I ran across Dan Cruger, a cartographer and artist, whose work dates back to the Mid-Nineties as used in the second edition of the Middle Earth Role Playing Game (MERP) from Iron Crown Enterprises (I.C.E.).  Although I only played the system a couple of times, I always found the work of Cruger to be elegant and compelling.  As a long time Tolkien fan, I was first drawn to the system for reasons of nostalgia but perhaps my prediliction to fashion my own stories, at the table and with the players, free of the constraints of a literary giant kept me from doing more with that particular game.

Nevertheless, I just love the work done by this master of maps and illustrations.  Cruger began posting some of his old work on his blog, Tales from the Tower, back in March and April of this year but it is only with his recent August post of more of it that I caught up with his work again.  Some of his blog posts include work highlighting Dol Guldor, Gondor, Moria, Lake Town, Minas Tirith, and Mirkwood.  Check it out and I'm sure you'll agree on its fine quality.

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