Sizing Up the Target
Cartographica: Journal of Maps is a new release from Green Ronin. This 64-page perfect-bound softcover showcases some of the fantastic work of Todd Gamble. The work retails for $16.95.

First Blood
If you play fantasy role-playing games, I’d say chances are you use maps. Let’s face it; maps are an integral part of FRP. Likewise, if you’re like me, most of your maps consist of a crude sketch roughed out on a sheet of graph paper. Okay, so they’re not exactly a thing of beauty, but hey, it’s functional.

Of course, there are mapping software programs available (Campaign Cartographer comes immediately to mind), but while these can make some very attractive maps, they also tend to be prohibitively expensive, have a high learning curve, or both. There are less-complicated (and cheaper) tile-based drag-and-drop programs out there, but they tend to be more limited and just can’t do some of the things I want a mapping program to do. So, it’s back to the old graph paper, right?

Not any more. The name Todd Gamble will be familiar to most fantasy role-players who have recently joined (or have remained with) the hobby. He is the award-winning cartographer that has provided the beautiful and detailed maps for a multitude of FRP products, including working for such luminaries as Wizards of the Coast (Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil) and Green Ronin (Freeport: City of Adventure). If, by some small chance, you’ve never seen his work, you can check out a sample (free for download) at http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/mw/mw20020425a.

Now, how about a whole book of that kind of quality? Did that get your interest? It should have. Cartographica: Journal of Maps consists of 64 pages of Todd’s best work. A castle, a wizard’s lair, a collection of sacred tombs, a traditional dungeon, a mysterious group of islands (including a small hamlet, a dragon’s lair, and a vampire lair), an abandoned mine, and a city sewer system are all detailed in glorious color, ready to be populated by the DM and dropped into the campaign.

Critical Hits
There’s really nothing more to say. You get an entire book of Todd Gamble’s most elegant works, with enough variety that almost any DM will find a use for at least some of these maps. Just perusing the book can provide a wealth of adventure ideas. I daresay this is a book that absolutely no GM should be without!

Critical Misses
Two major problems and a minor (but amusing mistake) plague the book. Though identified as the Exotic Islands on the first map (an overview of the archipelago), subsequent maps refer to them as the Erotic Islands. Admittedly, I had to double-check to make sure that the font used wasn’t just making it look like something else, but sure enough. This is a minor error, but it does present the island chain in a whole new light (sounds like the kind of place I might want to visit).

My two major complaints are somewhat less amusing. The first is that several of the maps are unusually dark. I understand that this is part of the atmosphere, but it does have the side effect of making them quite difficult to read (and therefore use). Permission is granted to photocopy the maps for personal use and I recommend that DM’s do so, perhaps lightening up the copy a bit to make the map more legible. I don’t recall the maps from the Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil being this dark and hard-to-view, and I was somewhat disappointed that much of Todd’s beautiful work is hidden beneath a veil of blackness.

Finally, very few of the maps are keyed in any fashion. While this serves to enhance the attractiveness of the works (no clunky numbers to get in the way), it also makes them difficult to use in a game. Again, my advice is to take those lightened photocopies you just made and key the rooms on there, preserving the beauty of the originals and still making the maps useful to you.

Coup de Grace
Strictly speaking, this is not a d20 product. You won’t find a whit of mechanics, text, or anything other than maps here. This book is a fantasy GM’s dream, regardless of what system you use. Books of maps are nothing new, of course, but Todd’s work is wholly original and of the highest quality. But for the complaints I voiced above, I’d give this product top ratings. As it is, I have to say, go and get this book. You won’t be disappointed.

To see the graded evaluation of this product and to leave comments that the reviewer will respond to, go to The Gamer's Corner at www.d20zines.com.

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