BackerKit - Worldographer 2025 (World Mapping Software Plus)

I've been using versions of Hexographer / Worldographer for the better part of a decade, and I'm excited to see what the latest version of the Worldographer software offers.

You can back Worldographer 2025 for 60 bucks, and it should release before the end of 2024.

If you haven't heard of Worldographer and its predecessor Hexographer, Worldographer is a map-making program that lets you create and edit world and region maps; city and village maps; as well as dungeon, building interior, and other battlemats, plus cosmic sector maps.

What makes Worldographer different from other map-making software?

• It installs to your computer: Unlike a web app, if the company goes out of business or if you're just on a bad connection, you can keep using it. Use it on Windows, Mac OSX, Linux, or anything that supports Java (it is written in Java, but has native installers for the most common platforms).
• Worldographer has many built-in generators. Want to create a world? Just choose a few settings and it creates one in seconds! Or generate a region, city, village, tower, shop, dungeon, and more! The results are fully customizable.
• Have a specific world or region in mind? Start a blank map, then rough in a fraction of the terrain. Next use our "Terrain Wizard" tool to fill in the rest of the map and edit the result.
• It doesn't just help you create and edit the map.  It also creates data about the world or city. For a world, it will generate a few bullets for each of several cultures, nations, and religions as well as details of cities, villages, forts, and other points of interest.  For a city or village, it generates a list of residents or staff/patrons/prices for a tavern or store.  All the data is fully editable.
• It can also generate locations of interest for a sandbox or hex crawl style campaign.

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Kickstarter - Worldographer: Hexographer 2 - Easy Map/World Creator (Happy Mapping)

I'm way behind on showcasing some of the Kickstarters that really excite me, so bear with mw over the next few posts as I attempt to catch up. Things can move fast when you don't pay attention, and I've been doing my darnedest NOT to find really cool Kickstarters. I need to budget a bit over the next few months.

Then I see that stuff like +Joe Wetzel 's Worldographer Kickstarter, where he takes Hexographer and basically turns it up to 11 (Spinal Tap anyone?)

I've had a lot of success with Hexographer. The learning curve is very small, and for someone like me that has ideas but lacks many of the technical skills to implement them, Hexographer is awesome. I'd like to call it idiot proof, but I'm sure if we look hard enough...

Anyhow, here's some the the new, key features for Worldographer:

• A new architecture allows us to have undo/redo functionality.
• Better "child maps." Create a world map and from that same map create a continent level map as well as a kingdom level map. It will remain one file so most changes to one level map will be reflected in the others.
• Hexographer's rather simple "note" functionality can expand to allow you to detail each location as well as things about your world not tied to a location: religions, cultures, important NPCs, etc. It becomes an interactive Gazetteer!
• We're adding an entirely new, more realistic icon set to the software.
• Polygons, Lines, Ovals, etc. have more options for shadows and textures.
• Easy drag and drop of labels and features: Most apps make this tricky, but we're improving it.
• Icosohedral Maps have been planned into Worldographer from the beginning.
• Configuration of new terrain, features, and textures is much easier. (Just drop files to a specific folder.)
• The new user interface framework gives the software a cleaner look.
• Mini-generators create details for notes about cities, castles, ruins, etc.

What's a "child map" you may ask?

I backed at $50 without giving it a thought. It really was that simple a decision.

Do you need to generate geographical maps for your campaign? Look no further.

Did I mention Joe even hangs out on the Wednesday Night Tavern Chats on occasion? Yep, he's that kinda down to earth guy. Oh, and it launched just over 2 days ago and it's nearly funded. Damn.

Now I need to get back to work ;)

Meandering Through "Monstrosities" - Bringing Life to Tenkar's Landing

This is a "non-gaming" weekend at the Tenkar household - I figured folks in my gaming group would either be guests for the weekend or receiving guest for the weekend, and I was right. So, in addition to getting ready for the guests we are receiving tomorrow for the Easter Holy Day I'm also working on some gaming thoughts.

Like - "What's going to inhabit the world that Tenkar's Landing exists in? What kind of monsters, natural and unnatural creatures, humans and nearly humans are my players going to find?"

For a Swords & Sorcery flavored Swords & Wizardry / Crypts & Things campaign, I think the idea comes down to one that is found in the DCC RPG as well LotFP's Weird Fantasy - the best monster is a unique one.

Not that ALL the monsters need to be unique, but enough of them need to to actually make all monsters special. So, there might be a whole tribe of cannibal veggipygmies, but only one Queen Rosatunda, Immortal Progenitor of the Veggipymies of the Ruins of Azagath. Kill her and the tribe will die out. Let her live and at some point in time, the Veggipygmies may over run whole island.

So, i want to go through both Monstrosities and Tome of Horrors Complete, find monsters that will fill the range from common (skeletons, giant rats w/ 2k coppers, wolves) through unique (as above) and the world in between.

There are no demihumans or humanoids by default, although most humanoids could be brought in reskinned as primitive humans or magically warped ones - but they would be localized - none of this "a goblin behind every tress and an orc in every cave" bullshit ;)

As a side note, the OGL'ing of Dwimmermount leaves room for a Swords & Sorcery style conversion of the megadungeon...

In This Corner, Weighing in at Six Hexes - Tenkar's Landing and the Surrounding Landsi

Tenkar's Landing is where the new campaign will kick off. A den if villainy and thieves - it is run by merchants after all ;)

I'll map out the town later.

To kick the campaign off, I want them to get their blades wet so to speak. I'm thinking of setting Sailors of the Starless Sea on the north edge of the mountains in hex 1313 and dropping some adventure leads in their laps at the beginning of the session. The DCC Adventures have a nice Swords & Sorcery feel in general.

Maybe leave them some hints of the activity going on in the ruins to the south west of the mountains and the tomb to the south east. Oh and something on the other side of the river - maybe hex 1512.

I need to tweak up some S&S flavored encounter tables ;)

Where Do the Cannibal Veggipygmies Live?

So, where do the Cannibal Veggipygmies live? Probably The Ruins of Azagoth.

Egaden, The Two Headed Ogre? The mountains around The Tomb of the Damned.

The mysterious Red Wizard? In his tower on the south end of the isle.

Who was "Thocar" and who rules Thocar's Castle and the surrounding lands these days?

Just how large is Tenkar's Landing, and is it really ruled by the Merchant's Guild? What of the Privateer  Cyrus the Bold and his influence?

What is the name of the island anyway?

I am finding the easiest way to finding answers is to ask the right questions ;)

Zooming In on Tonight's Map Work - Tenkar's Landing and the Surrounding Areas

This would be, for all intents and purposes, the initial "sandbox" for the players in my Crypts & Things Campaign.

I'm still trying to put everything together, and locations and and names are subject to change.

So, for the brief outline:

Tenkar's Landing will be the starting point. A large merchant town that does much trade by sea. Nominally under control of the current occupant sitting on the throne at Thocar's Castle. So long as Tenkar's Landing pays it's taxes, the merchant are left to run the town as they will.

Ruins of Azagath - this might become a "mini sandbox", as I see this as a remains of a mad sorcerer's tower. The explosion was large enough to partially destroy the mountain in hex 1213 and laid ruin to hexes 1214 and 1314. There are rumors of treasure and possibly magic still left in the ruins. The creatures that roam hexes 1214 and 1314 are believed to be cursed.

Tomb of the Damned - place holder for a newbie adventure - either the one in the C&T book or the Halls of Nizar-Thun or one of my own creation (or a DCC RPG adventure conversion).

Alright, not bad for a night's work ;)

Played With Hexographer This Evening and Here's The Results

Not bad for screwing around with a program and not reading how to make it work ;)

I like the way it came out. I'm thinking the island in the lower center would be where the party would start out. It limits their ability to go all screwy on me before they level up a bit.

I need to add a crapload of locations, populations, sites of interest and the like but it's a damn good start for less than 2 hrs work.

I may also change around some of the terrain, but that's neither here nor there at the moment - I need something to work from and I'm surprised at how quickly it came together.

Definitely for the Crypts & Things Campaign, so any empires are in decline. I see it more city-states and less nations, but who knows as it get's fleshed out.

I'm going to give Hexographer "Two Thumbs Up!", because if it can make my mapping look decent, it's got to be an amazing program ;)

I'm leaning towards 6 miles per hex, which makes the initial island roughly 15-20 miles wide and 65 miles long. Decent sized area to adventure in I think. A "sandbox with walls" for the early levels.