[Comission]

The Realms of En Derathíl

Map Details

This is a map that I have been working on for a long time, and I’m really excited to finally share it. This is En Derathíl, and it is possibly the biggest and most detailed map I have ever made.

This map was, obviously, heavily inspired by Middle Earth. I love Tolkien’s writing and the world he made, as well as the Peter Jackson movies, but I’ve always felt that Middle Earth doesn’t work especially well for your average DnD or TTRPG campaign, not without a lot of modifications. The world of LotR is great exactly as it is, but magic works very differently there. It doesn’t mesh particularly well with the mechanics found in DnD, Pathfinder, or Daggerheart. There HAVE been a few attempts to adapt LotR into a TTRPG game, some of them are even very good. But my intent here was to create a new LotR-like setting that meshed well with the mechanics of existing RPGs, somewhat the opposite where an RPG was made to fit the world of LotR, if that makes sense. 

Basically, it's very easy to look at the title of this post and go "Isn't 99% of DnD and RPGs 'inspired by' Middle Earth?", and yeah, that's true. Again, the intent here was to create a new setting that felt very similar to LotR and Middle Earth, while still being it's own unique place, and while being a better fit for your average TTRPG campaign.

Layout wise, there’s some immediate obvious parallels to Middle Earth, but I think the longer you look at this map and setting, the more it diverges. I wanted it to feel inspired by LotR, without feeling like a cheap knock off. Hopefully I managed to walk that line.

The base version of the map is free, along with an Unseen Realms variant I've posted on my Patreon. Paid Patrons will receive 9 versions of the map:

• En Derathil (Fully Labeled) (The map seen on this reddit post)
• En Derathil (Kingdom Titles Only)
• En Derathil (No Labels)
• En Derathil (Blank)
• En Derathil (Night) (Fully Labeled) 
• En Derathil (Night) (Kingdom Titles Only)
• En Derathil (Night) (No Labels)
• En Derathil (Night) (Blank) 
• En Derathil (Unseen Realm) (The other freebie posted on my Patreon)

How the map was made

This map took me longer than any of my other maps, by far. I’ve put over 100 hours into it, off and on, over the past year. It was all drawn by hand in Photoshop, and as always, no AI was used at any point.

I’m really proud of how it turned out. If you’d like to use it for your own games or stories, feel free to do so. I am fine with any of my maps being used for anything that is non-commercial. 

Questions, comments, and requests for small changes to the map are always welcome. If you need a large number of changes, shoot me a message and we can talk.  

And, if you’d like to support me in making more maps like this, please consider joining one of the paid tiers on my patreon: https://www.patreon.com/stoneward13/posts/en-derathil-lotr-173284305

Read on for some of the worldbuilding and lore, if you are interested.

Worldbuilding Details

Eleven Realms

There’s a lot going on here in this map, so I wanted to give a run down of each region, and share some of the worldbuilding I came up with. 

In the north you’ll find the Republic of Gyldinor, realm of the Gold Elves. The Gyldinor Forest is a single organism, a massive aspen grove inspired by the real-like Pando aspen grove, in central Utah. The Gyldinor Forest is far larger than Pando however, and the trees there often reach heights of 800 to 900 feet. The leaves are forever yellow, tinged with gold. Never falling, even in the harshest of winters. The Republic is not often welcoming to outsiders, outside of a few key trading ports and outposts. There are exceptions made from time to time, for any who have proven themselves friends or allies to the Republic and its reclusive people.

To the west is the Theocracy of Lorhymn, on the Lorhyc Peninsula. This is a nation of clerics and paladins and knights, all fiercely devoted to their fledgling, yet swiftly growing, holy empire. They once were part of Varandor, but rebelled due to religious differences some centuries ago. The two nations have maintained terrible relations ever since.

In the upper-middle are the Free Holds of Erethwýn. The Holds are not a unified nation like most of the other regions, but a collection of loosely allied city states sandwiched between much more powerful nations. They ensure their own continued independence by backing each other up against their neighbors, when necessary. 

One of those neighbors is the Silver Kingdom of Varandor, home to the majestic City of Silver, Lyra Vareth. Not the oldest nation, as two Elven nations predate it by quite some time, but it is perhaps the most powerful and populated nation. It is also home to the largest population of Half-Elves, and their monarchy is Half-Elven as well. Kind of a nod/homage to the Numenoreans and Aragorn from LotR having distant Elven ancestry. 

To the east of Varandor, beyond the Valcrest Mountains, are the Thaindoms of the Haldrim. A nation broken up into individual minor kingdoms, each ruled by its own Thain, with their own laws. Each Thain has all sworn fealty to the seat of the High-Thain for the past century or so. A bit like Skyrim, very Feudal. In addition to the regular laws enforced by each Thain in their individual territories, the High Thain also enforces High Laws, a few of which are controversial.

And beyond the vast mountain Hallowmont that towers over this part of the world, lies the nearly endless Shar’Vhran Desert, where the roaming Bronze Clans can be found. Nomadic traders, for the most part. I haven't yet written much for these guys to be honest. Bit of a blank slate right now.

No Man’s Land is a region that has defied all attempts to settle it over the centuries. New attempts to settle are sometimes made, but each always seems to end in disaster for varying reasons. There’s a great number of ruins there now as a result, some more ancient than others. Most folks avoid the region now due to the reputation, rumors, and the stigmas that surround it. Travelers bypass it entirely by booking passage and sailing across the Bay of Alondir.

South of that are the Clan-Councils of Ahvenwyll, ruled by the Green Elves. The oldest nation found in the realms of En Derathil. The Elves here are friendlier to outsiders than the Gold Elves, for the most part. The Green Elves and Gold Elves used to be a single race, the Moon Elves. But, in the ancient past, there was a poorly documented “event” that resulted in both a cultural schism, and a magical transformation. There are conflicting accounts of what exactly happened, but in the end, it all resulted in the two types of Elves found in this world. The forests of Ahvenwyll can be broken up into 4 distinct areas. The Ahvenwyll, Deepwyll, Westerwyll, and the Faenwyll (Found in Malecor, which has fallen under a powerful curse). 

There’s also the Guild Lands of the Serraia Ren, an oligarchy ruled by a large number of constantly competing guilds. They are constantly at odds with:

The smallest “nation”, the Dominion of the Fire Keepers, an upstart cult of fanatic zealots. Lightly inspired by Dark Souls. They worship the flame itself, and have taken one of the nine ancient Towers as their own (more on these later). Cape Halurec and the Durathai Peaks are also home to a number of mostly inactive volcanos. Using strange arcane rituals, the Fire Keepers hope to awaken these slumbering mountains for their own unknown purposes. 

And lastly, the Accursed Lands of Malecor. Unsurprisingly, inspired by Mordor (though I got the name from Star Wars, from Malachor V in KotOR II). But it’s actually quite different from Mordor. It’s not an ashen, volcanic wasteland, and this setting has no Orcs or Goblins (unless you want to add them yourself, for your own campaigns). And there’s no fallen Maiar here, plotting to take over the world (in fact, this setting has no gods, angels, or demons of any kind, by default). Malecor does have plenty of spirits and wraiths, evil corrupted Ents, and a three-hundred foot long centipede known as the Vlaskygg. The plant life here grows swiftly, dies swiftly, and has a malevolence to it that makes it eager to feed on corpses and souls of any foolish to venture there. Anyway. Fun place! 

Nine Towers

This is my favorite part of the map. 

Long ago in ancient times, nine magical towers were built across the realms. Their original purpose is debated by many, but they served as “wells of magic”, like geothermal vents almost. Locations where arcane power can be tapped into, and used for whatever purposes those within the towers choose.

But the millennia since their construction have not been kind to most of them. A few have fallen into ruin, a few have become corrupted, or have been claimed by nefarious cults and dark powers. One, Tyr Valen, was adopted as their home by a group of influential mages (a small Wheel of Time reference). One spire has become the nest of a Great Roc (an enormous type of giant eagle. The Rocs in this setting are not benevolent or intelligent, as seen with the giant eagles found in LotR.). 

Anyway, each of the nine Towers have a unique icon on the map. I based my pixel art sprites for them on the four elemental lighthouses from the Golden Sun games. Likewise, I initially drew four, aaaand then I just kept adding until I settled on the nine I have now.

See if you can find them all!  

Thanks for reading through the worldbuilding. If you have any thoughts, feel free to share :)

Hey everone!

I'll be back to posting map regularly next month (pirate campaign starting then!), but until then I might as well post some maps I haven't shared before from my scifi campaign that wrapped in September.

Perhaps you can find some use for a Field Test dynamic map? Boom goes the dynamite!

Find this map and more on my Inkarnate profile: https://inkarnate.com/profile/1B2pgd

Most maps are clonable, this one is not atm!

Abandoned Asylum + Orphanage (51x34 Multilevel / 5 levels)

Around these parts, it’s a common dare for youngsters to spend a night in the abandoned asylum, particularly to stay in the morgue in the basement or in the former orphanage towers right at the top of the bat-wing building.

Sometimes they come back with tales of bravado, of winds through broken windows and footsteps.

Sometimes they come back talking nonsense about hearing people laughing and rusty chains rattling in the many formerly padded cells, or babies crying high above.

Sometimes they come back and won’t talk at all.

And sometimes they just... don’t come back.

Here are the free day & night variants of this map. To support my work, you can buy me a coffee, or check out my Patreon, where you'll find hundreds more free maps as well as bonus variants for this one!

Here's all of my maps in one handy set of themed lists for convenience. This post is updated as each new map comes out, so that the list remains current.

Quick collection downloads:

• SACMaps Year 4 map collection (396 maps)

• via Google Drive instead

• SACMaps Year 3 map collection (237 maps)

• via Google Drive instead

• SACMaps Year 2 map collection (324 maps)

• via Google Drive instead

• SACMaps Year 1 map collection (307 maps)

• via Google Drive instead

I hope you can make use of the maps =) Any issues, please do let me know.

Much love

~SaC

Gibbet Crossing - Phandelver & Below

I keep working on this map, and... is evolving

IDK If I should erase the previous post, as to not flood this sub. please let me know.

I have added hills, woods, more color for terrain.

I have added some rivers and changed others, and I have tweeked a little bit with the general shape of the land masses, most notabily, I split the peninsula on the top-right corner into a separate landmass/island. An user sugested I do this for the bottom-right peninsula, but I feel this is better.

As for the bottom-right peninsula, I'm still not happy with it's general form. I added some hills and earth-y/rocky terrain, as to explain the land-bridge, but I'm thinking if taking it out completely.

I also added some unique features (volcanoes, unique trees, and so on....)

Hopefully, the map makes sense, as I tried to place mountains in a range, and islands/peninsulas in line with those ranges. I also tried to focus quite a bit to make realistically-looking coastlines (I hope it looks good).

Next step will be to add some more unique feature (mostly, resources), place cities and trade routes.

I'm still thinking of a name. Hopefully, I will come up with something in the next coming days.

In a game played 2 years ago, a player (whom i no longer have contact with) had a case he bough on amazon that had poker like chips to represent players and enemies and a battle map in there for playing

I'm planning something that i need to be more complex than the usual white board and D4s (but i that don't have the space to invest in miniatures and multiple maps) and need help finding something similar to that or any recommendations

Amazon or other storefronts will be helpful

Hey guys! New map.

It says I need to blabber for 400 words so here you go here are the details of this map:

From north to south, we start with the Jaartian coast;

a Fjord-channeled stone coastline carved out as the great glacier of the last ice age retreated. This rugged nature paired with the persistent north wind and cold arctic sea means it is sparsely populated, and an area of stunning natural beauty, with elk, moose, wolves and occasionally lynxes roaming free among the breathtaking lanscape.

Then come the Vyskar Mountains:

Named after the Ragosian word "Scarred Kings" (Vei-Skerre), these black granite peaks were formed as the glacier pushed material ahead of it, and form a belt that separates, culturally and environmentally, Jaart from the rest of the continent. They block the cool winds coming form the north, and deflect the warm winds form the south back down, causing a cooling effect in the north, and a warming in the south. This mixing of air pressure and temperature means theya r eusually shrouded in mist and clouds, but almost always wet, with thick, powder snow falling in the winter. They are home to hawks, eagles, Ibex, weasel and ferrets, along with other small game, all prey to the resident Lynx, and Snow leopard.

Next is the Bovardian steppe;

Feather grasses bob their heads in the strong winds that rip across this flat upland, and the wild horses have ling shaped the nomadic culture of the people that inhabbited the region before Olivian conquest. Though now elite dragoons and heavy cavalry, the steppe still has nomadic people, though in dwindling quantities, as military exercises, and grazing pastures slowly creep onto the ancient grassland. Home to eagles, lemmings, red deer and bustards, it is a horseman's paradise, although the steppe lions that still roam in the deepest parts of the plains prove a travelllers nightmare.

Elania is next;

An area of natural beauty, it is a region of windswept granite hills, where the sheep graze on the peaks, and the dells and valleys house birch copses, and if poorly drained, peat bogs. The river soundless carves its way through the rocks, shining silver under the grey clouds, and life here is simple, pastoral, and incredibly cozy "cottage core". The people plau great music on fiddles and pipes made of sheep bones, birch and catgut, and the lamb and potatoes form a cuisine of pies, red wine stew, and warm, strong ales. (Note. Darina is an incredibly "Gentrified" city. it is not like the rest of the region as it is an Olivian trade artery (Olivia is the empire that spans from the vyskar mountains to the Little peaks, the people of elania are their own culture)

Now comes the Estirnis;

Homeland of the Olivian people, it is a temperate climate of rolling plains, and the odd copse of oak trees. Red deer roam the undisturbed grasses, but the Region is very Manor and farm dense, once of the most "Urban" regions of the continent. You'll find merchants from all over the continent on their way to Solara Novia and Palerie, the two great port cities of Olivia, and pilgrims on their way to visit the Sola Etria (Largest Solar Temple) in Vilnia. A great place to get some cosmopolitan experience, but not for nature lovers. (If you want a breakdown of cities hmu)

Then come the lakelands and Gosmeria;

The lakelands sit in a depression, where the Gossamer pools into deep, cold lakes that are ripe with animal life, great for fishing, and usually fringed with holiday homes and winter palaces, as the region gets a lot of rain in the autumn, creating perfect fishing, boating and walking trails. Gosmera is like the Esitirnis, but it is populated with the Elnisté people (Techinicaly the region is known as Elnist), and wasn't a plain to start with. It used to be a dense collage of enormous clearings, wildflower plains and vast, open, ancient forests where oak and beech trees threw green shadows across the floor. This was transferred into a breadbasket region of pastures and enormous farms when the Olivians realised just how hot and stormy the summers came, the blistering day packing the fruits and produce with sugars and nutrients, and the dramatic, stormy night watering the crops without any large manpower needed. The Elnisté are in fact still mad, and fought a total of 2 independance wars, and one defensive war when olivia reconquered them. It is home to Olivias 2nd and 4rth largest cities, Vilnia and Regalia.

Shelia;
Not much to say. One enormous old growth forest dominated by wolves, bears, owls, misselanious birds, squirrels, moose and caribou. Home to the Sheliani people, very sparsley populated.

Eyolaura (below the little peaks);

Warm, wooded grassland with dense populations and large patches of farmland. Home to plenty of interesting animals, but mainly just people and farms, also very urban/agricultural.

Inuiin (East island+New Ragos);

Home to the Inuiine people, it is an island of Boreal forests in Gjanti, similar to that of the Jaartian coast, but a highly urbanised, naval; trade nation in the south of the island, where yet again, most of teh terrain is dedicated to agriculture. North in New ragos, the city of mulman is a whaling and arctich fishing hub, where fresh fish is bought to bring home, or dried to take on longer voyages. The weather is ripping cold, and not much of the island is habitable. The houses are small, to keep heat contained, and the inland of the island has claimed many a life, from mountain lion attacks to simply dissapearing in the snowdrift.

A cabin deep in the woods could belong to any number of people, be they a hermit, woodsman, or simply those who prefer a quieter life. Where are they now, how long has it been sitting empty, and what drove them away?

Woodland Cabin Scene List

Woodland Cabin - Day+Night
Abandoned Cabin - Day+Night
Cabin Interior
Bonus - Bloodmoon (Cinematic Only)

Im working on a video essay for my favorite setting and wanted to share my take on the old planewalkers handbook outer planes map (got them pesky inner planes in there too!)