Dungeon Master Gaz’s Karameikos, 8 miles per hex
This is a map born of serendipity. When I first came across Dungeon Master Gaz’s Karameikos map in early 2021, I sent him a message asking about it over at the ProFantasy Forums. Unfortunately I never discovered his prompt reply until almost four years later, in late 2024. When we finally got in touch then, he was unable to find his source files. But this turned out to be a blessing disguise for Mystara cartophiles. In his own words:
To make it up, I decided to create a brand new map of Karameikos specifically for you. I made this new map with Wonderdraft, using GIMP to craft a whole suite of bespoke hand-drawn Wonderdraft map assets and also to apply some post-production effects to the finished map. The final result is 9000 x 9000 at 21.5 Mb and has a particularly high resolution despite being in .jpg format (the .png came in at 110 Mb, but rendered the same resolution). I’ve based this new map on the original map of Karameikos presented in the “Blue Box” Expert Set and the GAZ1 Gazetteer, but I’ve used a bit of artistic licence to add a few other named locations and some unnamed adventure sites to make the map more interesting to explore in a hex-crawl style campaign. I also had to take a liberty with the heraldry as I couldn’t find any reference to the colours involved.
I’m sure you will all agree that Dungeon Master Gaz’s second map is even more beautiful than his first. It’s full of little touches that make it a joy to look at and use.
Fan-made Map by Dungeon Master Gaz (December 2024)
This is an original map created by one of Mystara’s excellent fan cartographers. For more information on the cartographer, including a gallery of all their maps, see also Appendix M: Mappers of Mystara.
Sources
- Expert Rulebook (1983) (PDF at DriveThruRPG)
- GAZ1 The Grand Duchy of Karameikos (1987) (PDF at DriveThruRPG)
Fan Sources
- Atlas of Mystara (2005-present)
- Dungeon Master Gaz’s Karameikos (2017)
References
- All of Dungeon Master Gaz’s maps at the Atlas of Mystara
- Classic Recreations thread at the ProFantasy Forums (July 2017)
Chronological Analysis
This is a fan-made map. It was published in December 2024. The updated Atlas version of this map is not yet available. See also Appendix C for annual chronological snapshots of the area. For the full context of this map in Mystara’s publication history, see the upcoming Let’s Map Mystara 2024. (Please note that it may be some time before the project reaches this point.)
The following lists are from the Let’s Map Mystara project. Additions are new features, introduced in this map; Revisions are changes to previously-introduced features; Hex Art & Fonts track design elements; and finally Textual Additions are potential features found in the related text. In most cases, the Atlas adopts these textual additions into updated and chronological maps.
Under Construction! Please check back again soon for updates.
