In this trailblazing episode, we have our first ever guest and our first ever two-parter! We’re joined by Roz Leahy, game designer and editor, to talk all about maps. Who makes the map, and when? How is the act of mapmaking at the table reflected within the fiction? And when can a “bad” map be better than a “good” one?

Freya invents Bawdy&D. Roz lays her cartography on the table. Violet joins the little leagues. Freya is inclined to descend. Roz delivers a north-winded explanation. Violet goes dotty. And most importantly, everyone enthuses about local history. There’s no pun there, we just think it’s neat.

Check out our various things!

The kickstarter prelaunch page for Journeymon, the monster-training RPG written mostly by Freya’s award-winning fiancée but also partially by her, is waiting for you at https://journeymonrpg.com/ . There’s also a free quickstart adventure. Check it out!

Roz’s portfolio can be found here - https://rozleahy.carrd.co/ . Her Philip K Dick podcast, Chicks with Dick, can be found in your preferred podcasting place.

Timestamps

What’s new - 3:05

Mailbag - 11:46

Intro to topic - 15:05

Design Qs - 22:00

History - 58:50

Wrapup - 1:18:55

TTRPGs (and a lot of specific modules this time!)

Border Riding

Keep on the Borderlands

Journeymon

Going for Broke

Masks

Dungeons & Dragons: Men & Magic booklet

Cosmere RPG

Stars Without Number

Mothership

Mausritter

Mörk Borg

Planescape

Dawn of Worlds

Hyperborea

Hyboria (not to be confused!)

Descent into the Depths of the Earth

West Marches

Dungeon Geomorphs

Traveller

Microscope

The Quiet Year

Dark Forest

I’m Sorry Did You Say Street Magic

Songs for the Dusk

Other media things discussed

The Carry On film series, for some reason

Kill James Bond

Original Podcast Do Not Steal

Escape This Podcast

City of Six Moons

Chicks with Dick

Pathologic

A prospective map of unified Germany from 1848

Shadow & Bone (season 2)

Game of Thrones

Babylon 5

Sword of the Stars

Stellaris

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

Captain Sonar

Escape from the Aliens in Outer Space

Outdoor Survival

Chainmail

Guild Wars 2

Elden Ring

Big Walk

Ratatouille

Fallout 3

Assassin’s Creed

Notes and links

The virtual escape room “Break this Game” praised in Freya’s intro can be found here - https://mattj375.itch.io/vr-game-escape-room

“On Exactitude in Science”, by Jorge Luis Borges, happens to only be one paragraph long, and you can read the text in translation here - https://neilgreenberg.com/ao-quote-borges-on-exactitude-in-science/

The National Library of Scotland’s archive of maps is available here - https://maps.nls.uk/

Mystic Arts’ Video on 3-mile hexes is on youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEIg1DlRkLg

More information about the singular phenomenon that is Hyboria can be found here - https://snv-ttm.blogspot.com/p/tony-baths-hyboria.html

Contact us!

At systemshoppodcast@gmail.com

Additional credits

Our intro music is

"Magic Escape Room" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Episode 8: Mapmaking feat. Roz Leahy (Part 1)