The Labyrinth

This Week's Free Map

2012-05-21T17:26:00.000-04:00

Here is this week's free map for you. Like all of our Free Map Monday Maps, this map is 100% free for your personal use. It is devoid of city/town markers, mountains, forests, or anything else which leaves you free to add anything you want to the map with ease. Please feel free to leave thoughts on this map or the series of free maps in general in the comments section or email us by clicking on the "Email Us" scroll in the far right hand column.

Enjoy!

Free Map Muesday

2012-05-15T17:44:00.000-04:00

Enjoy!

Free Map Monday

2012-05-07T11:26:00.000-04:00

I don't like every one of these free maps that we do here (This one and this one both come to mind), and then there are those that I really loved (like this one, this one, this one, and this one). Most maps fall somewhere in the middle, but I think this one falls more toward the love end than the dislike end of things. I enjoy the colors, the aging effects, the wave effect and the landmass itself. Overall I'm calling this one a success.

But enough of me blathering on!

Enjoy!

Free Map Mondays... We're Back!

2012-04-30T21:18:00.000-04:00

My most sincere apologies for the interruption in our regularly scheduled program. Work, grad school, and many other obligations have taken their toll, but with the Spring semester finally winding down, and our 2012 Free Custom Map Giveaway winner's map completed*, we are finally returning to duty!

Enjoy!

*Keep an eye out in the coming weeks for a look at the winning map!

Game of Thrones Season 2 - One Month Away

2012-02-29T21:28:00.000-05:00

The premiere of season 2 of Game of Thrones is only a month away. Here is the full trailer that HBO recently released to help get ready and excited!

A Look at Season 2 of Game of Thrones

2012-01-20T12:00:00.001-05:00

Game of Thrones Season 2 is set to premiere on April 1. HBO has some great behind the scenes videos of the filming in Croatia.

Enjoy

From 5th back to 1st

2012-01-19T16:15:00.001-05:00

WotC has been busy as of late. First they announce fifth edition and now they are going old school and announcing that they are reprinting the 1st edition core rulebooks.

From the announcement:

In 1974, the world changed forever when Gary Gygax introduced the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. The legacy of his innovative ideas and the extensive reach of his powerful influence can be seen in virtually every facet of gaming today.

To help honor his work and his memory, we created limited-edition reprints of the original 1st Edition core rulebooks: the Monster Manual, Player's Handbook, and Dungeon Master's Guide. These premium versions of the original AD&D rulebooks have been lovingly reprinted with the original art and content, but feature an attractive new cover design commemorating this re-release. Available in limited quantities as a hobby channel exclusive in North America.

Your purchase of this monumental book helps support the Gygax Memorial Fund—established to immortalize the “Father of Roleplaying Games” with a memorial statue in Lake Geneva, WI.

I think it's awesome that they are reprinting the books. Tapping into the OSR market is a good businesses decision and one that is long overdue. The fact that a portion of the proceeds are going to the Gygax Memorial Fund is great news, and a classy move by WOTC. There seems to be a real culture change taking place over at Wizards.

Just like the reprint, it is long overdue.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2011-12-25T10:58:00.002-05:00

Have a safe and wonderful Christmas, everyone!

Prometheus Trailer

2011-12-22T14:46:00.000-05:00

A lot of great trailers this week. The Dark Knight, The Hobbit, and now Prometheus. If fans of the Alien series aren't excited for this movie, check for a pulse.

The Hobbit Trailer

2011-12-21T17:34:00.000-05:00

It's going to be amazing!

And the Winner of the 2012 Custom Map Giveaway is...

2011-12-20T11:46:00.000-05:00

Entry to our 2012 Custom Map Giveaway is closed. We had some great entries, but unfortunately we can have only one winner.

And that winner is...

Gerald O'Grady!

Here is his winning entry:

My map is of the world Eagonia, a land of Volcanic islands, a god-struck wasteland, vast giant-filled mountain ranges, deserts, swamps and huge forests. Twelve nations thrive including a large evil empire, a nation of city-states and several small embattled kingdoms. Explorers discover ancient ruins, mystic sites and underground cities but more interesting are the thriving cities half above and half below water, the holy city of Th’ir and the wastelands of a nation destroyed by gods. This map, from the quill of a daring voyager, seeks the limits of the continent and halts where “Here be dragons!”

Congratulations to our winner! Gerald, we'll be in touch.

Last Chance to Win a Free Custom Map!

2011-12-19T10:50:00.000-05:00

Today is the last day to enter our 2012 Custom Map Giveaway. Entry only takes a minute and will only be taken up until 4pm so don't wait, enter now!

We will announce the winner tomorrow around noon so make sure you stop back in.

2012 Custom Map Giveaway!!!

2011-12-14T11:44:00.004-05:00

We've been having some technical difficulties here over the past few days both with our feed and our site. I think they've all been resolved, but if anyone encounters further problems please email me directly using the "email us" scroll on the right.

Because of said technical difficulties I wanted to re-post about our 2012 Custom Map Giveaway.

From the original post:

Have you ever wanted to have a great digital version of your campaign map but lacked the skill and know-how to translate your vision into reality? Well we at the Labyrinth are here to help one lucky person make their dream come true! That's right we are going to give away a free custom made map to one of our lucky readers. Our rules are slightly different than last year's contest, so please read carefully.

Entry:
Entry to this contest is simple. There are only thee requirements:

You comment on this post stating that you want to enter the contest and describing the subject of the map that you want (world, kingdom, dungeon, town, or etc) in 100 words or less.
You must be a follower of this blog when you Enter via Comment
We must have a way to contact you (Since you are a follower this is pretty simple, just don't disable every means of contacting you!)

It really is that simple! Entry will be open for one week at which time we will select the best entry and furnish one lucky person with a great custom map.

So now you are probably asking yourself, "What if I win? How is this going to work?" Well if you are our winner we will contact you through your Google profile. You then have five days to respond and accept your prize. That's when the fun begins! Communication will take place back and forth so that we get an idea of what the map should look like, what colors to use, name locations, etc. We will furnish the winner with working versions leading up to the final version to make sure we are on the right track and the winner is happy with the progress.

The map will be the property of the winner with the artist(s) retaining the right to display them in their portfolio only. Finally, we will show the finished version (with watermark) on this site so everyone can see how it came out.

To enter the contest please make your submission in the comments section of the original post. Best of luck to all!

Game of Thrones Season 2 Trailer

2011-12-14T09:00:00.003-05:00

This trailer actually premiered on Sunday, but for some reason I haven't been able to post it. It's a short teaser that features a cool voice over from Stannis.

A Beautiful Free Campaign Map AND a Free Custom Map Giveaway!

2011-12-12T11:00:00.005-05:00

I love this map. It is without a doubt on of my favorites of the series. I hope you love it too, because now it's yours to use in your games. Like all of our Free Map Monday Maps, this map is 100% free for your personal use. It is devoid of city/town markers, mountains, forests, or anything else which leaves you free to add anything you want to the map with ease. Please feel free to leave thoughts on this map or the series of free maps in general in the comments section or email us by clicking on the "Email Us" scroll in the far right hand column.

But that's not all this week! I've mentioned that once things calmed down we would have another Free Custom Map Giveaway, well that time is finally here.

You comment on this post stating that you want to enter the contest and describing the subject of the map that you want (world, kingdom, dungeon, town, or etc) in 100 words or less.
You must be a follower of this blog when you Enter via Comment
We must have a way to contact you (Since you are a follower this is pretty simple, just don't disable every means of contacting you!)

It really is that simple! Entry will be open for one week at which time we will select the best entry and furnish one lucky person with a great custom map.

So now you are probably asking yourself, "What if I win? How is this going to work?" Well if you are our winner we will contact you through your Google profile. You then have five days to respond and accept your prize. That's when the fun begins! Communication will take place back and forth so that we get an idea of what the map should look like, what colors to use, name locations, etc. We will furnish the winner with working versions leading up to the final version to make sure we are on the right track and the winner is happy with the progress.
The map will be the property of the winner with the artist(s) retaining the right to display them in their portfolio only. Finally, we will show the finished version (with watermark) on this site so everyone can see how it came out.

Email or comment with questions. Best of luck to everyone!

Free Continent Map (With Bonus Blank Inn Map!)

2011-12-05T11:49:00.001-05:00

Here is a Continent Map for you. Like all of our Free Map Monday Maps, this map is 100% free for your personal use. It is devoid of city/town markers, mountains, forests, or anything else which leaves you free to add anything you want to the map with ease. Please feel free to leave thoughts on this map or the series of free maps in general in the comments section or email us by clicking on the "Email Us" scroll in the far right hand column.

Enjoy!

I was messing around with an online tabletop program and made an inn map to drop tokens onto and test the program out. As a bonus, just in case anyone can get some use out of it, I've included that map below.

Neverland Premieres Tonight

2011-12-04T14:36:00.000-05:00

Syfy's Neverland premieres tonight at 9pm est. It looks pretty great, and with Walking Dead on its midseason break there is no reason not to tune in.

For those of you who don't know about Neverland check out the trailer below.

Arya's New Look

2011-12-02T10:53:00.003-05:00

Maisie Williams who plays Arya in the HBO's adaption of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire is nothing short of awesome. If you don't believe me watch this video where she discusses Arya's new look for season 2 of Game of Thrones.

I couldn't help but chuckle about how she not only reads what fans say online, but goes out of her way to prove them wrong. That's the Arya spirit. Playing Arya is one of the more difficult jobs on the show, in my estimation, but the casting people really struck gold with Maisie Williams.

Now if only they could find a new Sansa...

Old West Map

2011-11-30T11:44:00.002-05:00

I was poking around the other day and came across this post on a site called From the Sorcerer's Skull, which was new to me. It had two cool maps, on of Tombstone and one of Deadwood. The Tombstone map is from a book and very accurately depicts the town at the time, but the Deadwood map was more of thing of art. It is a very beautiful black and white illustration that sparks the imagination.

I was at school with some time to kill so I started messing around with the map, giving it some color and a parchmenty feel. Once I was finished I couldn't help but think that this map would be great for my upcoming Aces & Eights campaign.

However, since the campaign will be taking place in New Mexico primarily I doubt they will ever get up that way. Then I figured with a little work I could "file the serial numbers off" the map and re-tittle and re-label it for my own purposes. I thought I'd share the blank edited version in case anyone else was similarly inclined. Please note that I don't own this map. As I said above, I didn't make it. So I can't give you permission to use it for X, Y, or Z project.

A big thanks to Trey over at From the Sorcerer's Skull for sharing!

KenzerCo Cyber Monday Sale

2011-11-28T13:27:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to stop in and let everyone know about the Kenzer & Company Cyber Monday Sale. Until midnight tonight almost everything for sale on the KenzerCo website is going to be listed as half off. So if you've been looking at the gorgeous Hacklopedia of Beasts, currently rated as the third best RPG book of all time over at RPG Geek, until the end of the day you can pick it up for only $30. Interested in trying out Hackmaster Basic? Pick up the book for only $10. And if you've always wanted to try the best Western RPG ever made, you can get the Aces & Eights PDF for only $12.50.

A Free Campaign Map

2011-11-28T11:46:00.002-05:00

Here is a Free Campaign Map for you. This one took some time, but I'm really happy with the end result. Like all of our Free Map Monday Maps, this map is 100% free for your personal use. It is devoid of city/town markers, mountains, forests, or anything else which leaves you free to add anything you want to the map with ease. Please feel free to leave thoughts on this map or the series of free maps in general in the comments section or email us by clicking on the "Email Us" scroll in the far right hand column.

Enjoy!

Pathfinder MMO on the Way

2011-11-23T11:36:00.034-05:00

Paizo has officially licensed the Pathfinder MMO Rights to Goblinworks. Details about the game are still somewhat scarce but here is some info from the Goblinworks website...

Pathfinder Online takes place in the world of the award-winning Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, an industry-leading tabletop roleplaying game based on more than a decade of system development. The Pathfinder world includes elements inspired by classic and modern fantasy, from lost cities shrouded in misty jungles to decaying pyramids in deserts of burning sands to a fantastic island metropolis where folk from countless kingdoms live side by side with all manner of exotic creatures. If a player wants to tell a fantasy story, the world of Pathfinder has a place for it. (For more information on the world of Pathfinder and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, please visit paizo.com/pathfinder.)

Pathfinder Online is a hybrid sandbox/theme park-style MMO roleplaying game where characters explore, develop, and dominate the River Kingdoms, a treacherous no-man's-land of squabbling kingdoms on the edge of wilderness. Players explore, adventure, develop, and dominate their domains by playing fighters, rogues, wizards, or any of Pathfinder's many character types, or they can use the game's archetype system go beyond the standard options to create nearly any sort of character imaginable.
Pathfinder Online's robust trading system puts players in control of the world's economy with player-created items, consumables, fortifications, and settlements. Character-controlled settlements can grow into full-fledged kingdoms that compete for resources as they seek to become the dominant force in the land, raising vast armies to hold their territory against the depredations of monstrous creatures, NPC factions, and other player characters.

Social organizations scale from small parties of a few adventurers to player nations inhabited by thousands. As settlements develop, the surrounding wilderness develops more complex and challenging features, including randomly generated encounters and resources as well as exciting scripted adventures.

The design process for Pathfinder Online has only just begun, and there is plenty of opportunity for gamers to get in on the ground floor of this exciting new project. Paizo and Goblinworks are committed to soliciting player feedback about the Pathfinder Online project, and will track the game's development here at goblinworks.com. Add your email address in the box on this page to receive regular updates on the Pathfinder Online project!

Early indications seem to be that we are looking at another World of Warcraft clone that can't hope to compete against the juggernaut that inspired it, but we'll see. I wish Paizo and Goblinworks luck. Even if I don't like MMOs and don't think this game will be very good, I would like to see them succeed.

Hell it's not like it could be much worse than the piece of shit that was the Dungeons and Dragons MMO...

Game of Thrones: Season 2 Sneak Peak

2011-11-22T11:33:00.001-05:00

A great early look at season 2 with a chance to get a glimpse of some of the new characters including Margary Tyrell and Melisandre.

This Week's Free Map

2011-11-21T11:43:00.014-05:00

Here is this week's free map. Like all of our Free Map Monday Maps, this map is 100% free for your personal use. This map is devoid of city/town markers, mountains, forests, or anything else which leaves you free to add anything you want to the map with ease. Please feel free to leave thoughts on this map or the series of free maps in general in the comments section or email us by clicking on the "Email Us" scroll in the far right hand column.

Enjoy!

Free Map Monday

2011-11-14T09:03:00.001-05:00

Enjoy!