Friday, August 30, 2013

A World Unconquered

Sword & Sorcery comics of the seventies usual got around to supplying a map at some point, and Claw the Unconquered was no exception. Though it ran only 12 issues (from 1975 to 1978), Claw featured a map in issue #5.  Wikipedia seems to think Pytharia is the name of Claw's world--and it may be--but it's also the name of one of the country's in the "Known World," as you can see. Interestingly, Claw shares this world with another sword-wielding DC hero: Starfire, who's part Red Sonja and part Killraven, living in a post-apocalyptic alien-overrun future.


Anyway, I'm pretty sure there's some game inspiration in this.

11 comments:

Jack Guignol said...

I appreciate the relatively small range of the map. There's something to be said for settings that don't go overboard with 50+ nations competing for mindspace.

Trey said...

@Jack - Very good point, Jack--though, admittedly without a scale it's hard to know how much area this map covers. I think the modern desire to map out the whole world means smaller locations (that could really be whole settings themselves) get short shrift.

bliss_infinte said...

Gotta love those S&S comics from the 70's. Liked Claw but never heard of Starfire. Sounds like an interesting concept. I'll have to track that down someday.

Anonymous said...

Had to give a thumbs up on DC 70s Sorcery & Sorcery. Claw was great. Mike Grell's Warlord was so formative on my teenage brain. I am waiting for the day that DC steps up and releases an Arak Son of Thunder Showcase book.

Trey said...

@bliss - It's worth a look.

@sfugue - Thanks for stopping by1 An Arak Showcase would indeed be cool.

Aos said...

I agreee with jack on keeping things smallish. I like to make a fairly wide map and then zoom in on a smaller area and detail the hell out of it. I find that if the campaign moves around too much, one place ends up being much like another in terms of how the adventurers interact with it. Slower more deliberate movement, leads to more thurough exploration. I especially like islands, valleys and other smallish, descrete regions for campaign areas.

Anonymous said...

Now I am really curious how the Sea of Shame got its name . . .

Lee B said...

S&S continents shouldn't have many large cities either. It isn't a "land undreamed of" if there is a full-service villa every 20 miles.

Trey said...

There have to be some though for barbarians to be derisive of.

Phersv said...

So, is this "Scarthoris" on the map in the past or in the future of Skartharis ?

And does Claw wear Vecna's Hand?

Trey said...

@Phserv - We can only hope.