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Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Real Sandbox: Maps of Green Hell


Interested in a sandbox setting with wilderness and dungeons to explore? I’ve used the title "green hell" (borrowed from the 1940 film) for a fictional jungle land before, but this time I want to talk about the real deal--or at least one based in reality. Check out this somewhat fanciful map of the South American jungle--the Mato Grosso (“Thick Wood”):
A lot of cool stuff going on there. Some highlights:
  • Unknown Mountains of Gold and Mystery - They had me at "gold."
  • Unexplored Dangerous Territory - Obviously, explored enough to know its dangerous.
  • Atlantean Hy-Brazilian Dead City - If Dead City weren’t adventure fodder enough, Atlantean ought to sweeten the mix, to say nothing of Hy-Brazilian.
  • Strange “Cold” Light in Tower - Again the Hy-Brazilian Atlanteans are invoked for probably the most intriguing place on the map. And why is cold in quotation marks--so-called cold, perhaps? The mind boggles...
This is to say nothing of Indians in Roman style armor, headhunters, assorted glyphs, and the place where Fawcett vanished. It’s a whole jungle of adventure suitable for your fantasy or pulp game.

9 comments:

  1. While this is awesome from a fantasy perspective, this could work really well in a Call of Cthulhu campaign. Great find!

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  2. I great resource for anyone wanting to build out a jungle is the Lost City of Z, which focuses on Percy Fawcett's disappearance.

    It's a really eye-opening book about what it takes to be a 'gentleman explorer'.

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  3. As you said you had me at Gold, nice work my friend.

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  4. @Zombiecowboy - You're right. This would be great in CoC, too. I think it could have utility in Steampunk or even certain sorts of Old West games as well.

    @scottsz - Oh yeah! Good recommendation. There's a really good PBS Secrets of the Dead episode on Fawcett, tool.

    @Felt - That's what they say. Hey, I don't draw make the maps (well, at least not this one), I just pass them on to you. ;)

    @Angry Lurker - Thanks!

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  5. @Trey: I didn't know about the PBS special - thanks for the tip!

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  6. One green hell deserves another welcome to Tau Endri Minor! http://swordsandstitchery.blogspot.com/2011/04/tau-endri-minor-test-your-mettle.html

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  7. "Unexplored Dangerous Territory - Obviously, explored enough to know its dangerous."

    -Good one.

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