Okay, I was wondering: would anyone be interested in entering a cartography "contest" of sorts? Well actually, since there would be no winner and no prize, it's not a contest per se but a "challenge." Just for fun & for the intellectual/artistic exercise.

The challenges themselves could either be conventional (ex: create a temple crypt in the shape of a 100' wide giant hexagon), OR.... here are some other, quick ideas I jotted down:

  • Create a tutorial teaching someone to draw a multi-level castle ruin in under 2 hours.

    Transform a map of your home state/province/country into an island fantasy/sci fi realm that is at once recognizable and unrecognizable as a real place

    Create a reasonable, "realistic" dwelling for some hitherto unknown race (ex: Holskhinn, otherwise known as "Hedgehog Men")

    Create a map (both 2-D & 3-D sketch) of a mountain slide-revealed, eon-long abandoned fortress

    Change this basic map [post pic of lame sketch] into an Arabian-themed medieval map.

    Lord Gystric chartered construction plans for a great ditch to be dug & a wall to be built to surround the holy landmarks of Glak; recreate the blueprints

    The city is on fire! People are fleeing in panic! It's spread from the docks to the hilltop & threatens the keep itself! (Draw it)

    Given such-and-such parameters, create a city/village/hamlet in 1 hour or less

    Create a "snapshot" of the game board for "Pikes," King Valdric's of Thew's favorite strategy game (Bonus 1: in 3-D also draw the wooden pieces on the board) (Bonus 2: create playable rules for the game)

    A faerie found a giant's buried bones & transformed them into a home; draw it.

    Using only black & white, crate a map in 4 hours or less depicting the multi-level prison ship to which the Gorgon creature Naechtolyptefiamindor was banished by the great heroes of old.

    Turn this photograph [insert pic of wild geographical cliffs/seaside/oasis/valley/etc.] into the site of yesterday's battle between units of __________ and a legion of ___________.

    In insanely minute detail, draw a 30' diameter woodland pond.

    Create official region map for the Land of Wamp, a fairy tale region (ala' The Wizard of Oz) split into the Land of the Wicker People, the Land of the Mimosa Men, the Sapphire Spire of the Soots, etc.

    The aboriginal tribes of this desert have long held the secrets of survival; map out their country from which their techniques could be surmised.


These are just some ideas

If our benevolent Guild webmasters would agree, we could run the fun right here, issuing challenges and then assigning a due date, say, 1 month later.

So would anyone be interested in these "challenges"l? Can you think of improvements to my idea? I like this sort of thing, & I'd definitely like to see what others could come up with! Just brainstorming ideas here. Thoughts?