Over the course of fantasy RPG history we have seen the published dungeon map evolve from simple black and white (or blue and white) graph paper style maps to more modern renderings that border on the photorealistic. Somewhere beween the old school and the new came a golden age of dungeon maps (at least in my opinion) that can be seen in the old 2e AD&D Forgotten Realms boxed sets, Ruins of Undermountain and Ruins of Undermountain II. I have always loved those Undermountain maps, not only for their shear size and scope, but their use of colors and symbols in new (for the time) yet familiar ways. They emanate complexity in their simplicity.

In this WIP thread I am going to document my progress in creating techniques for reproducing dungeon maps with Campaign Cartographer 3 (CC3) and the Dungeon Designer 3 (DD3) add-on that mimic the style of the maps found in the Ruins of Undermountain I and II boxed sets (UM1 and UM2 from this point on). I will share what I learn along the way in case anyone wants to use CC3/DD3 to do the same.

Here is a sample of a section of a UM1 map:



And here is a sample section of a UM2 map:



I have already started to run into some technical difficulties, particularly with the ways grids work in CC3 and trying to get them to work with these maps. I look forward to crossing that bridge when I get to (with fingers crossed that Elminster won't pull a Gandalf and proclaim "you shall not pass!").

Stay tuned for more....