Hollow World: World Map, non-hex
by Thorfinn TaitMaps
Updated world map of the Hollow World, Unprojected, blank, non-hex by Thorf, March 2009
Comments
There was only one world map for the Hollow World, presented in 1990 in the Hollow World Campaign Set and reprinted in the Rules Cyclopedia the next year. The map was done in a Robinson projection style, but it was hand-drawn so the it is not perfectly accurate or symmetrical.
Using a program called Manifold, it has been possible to unwarp the map, producing an "unprojected" version: the usual 2:1 ratio image with latitude and longitude mapped onto a square grid, which is used in 3D programs as the net for a sphere. It is also possible to reproject it into any of a number of different projections, although the nature of the Hollow World makes some seem more useful than others.
Sources: Hollow World Campaign Set (1990).
Notes on the Hollow World Campaign Set
- Arctic Regions - "just inside the poles, the terrain is arctic - wind-blasted and ice-covered land and sea. It's not lifeless; Several races, including the Beastmen (near the northern polar opening) have adapted to these freezing climes." (Hollow World DM's Sourcebook page 19a) "The poles are icy and frozen." (Hollow World DM's Sourcebook page 19b)
- Climate - "The climate of the Hollow World is roughly similar to that of the outer world." (Hollow World DM's Sourcebook page 19b) "Farther toward the equator from the poles, the land becomes more temperate [than the arctic regions]. Freezing tundra gives way to plains, forests, and seas. Even farther, the land becomes more tropical, with rain forests, deep jungles, and deserts predominating. Eventually, the land rises and becomes very mountainous; close to the equator, the Hollow World is thick with mountains and mountain valleys." (Hollow World DM's Sourcebook page 19a) "Getting into the tropical zones, the climate becomes warmer and (usually) more humid; the terrain tends to include rain forests, jungles, swamps and deserts; these then graduate to high hills and then mountains at the verge of the equator." (Hollow World DM's Sourcebook page 20a)
- East/West Reverse - "East and West are reversed. (This is done so that the map can easily be coordinated with maps of the outer world.) So when North is at the top of the map, East is always to the left, West to the right - a distinct difference from outer-world maps." (Hollow World DM's Sourcebook page 20a)
- Horizon - "Because the Hollow World curves "up," as if the viewer were standing at the bottom of a bowl, rather than "down" (as the outer world does), the Hollow World has no horizon. Someone in the Hollow World staring off into the distance would see land continuing off into the distance as far as the eye could see, until atmospheric haze blurred his vision and he could see no farther; nowhere would he see a crisp, clear horizon such as one has on the outer world." (Hollow World DM's Sourcebook page 19a)
- Mountains - "...close to the equator, the Hollow World is thick with mountains and mountain valleys. Many of these mountain valleys are difficult or impossible to reach through normal travel means; hundreds of them contain isolated tribes and nations which have little or no contact with surrounding peoples." (Hollow World DM's Sourcebook page 19a)
- Polar Openings - "the main entrances into the Hollow World are two vast openings at the poles. These openings are literally thousands of miles across. They're not sharp shafts cut into the poles: Actually they curve around very, very gradually." (Hollow World DM's Sourcebook page 19a) "...both poles are covered in vast fog-banks. These fog-banks are permanent caps on the poles: They never clear up to reveal the true nature of the planet's poles." (ibid)
- The World Spine - "...the equator itself is an impossibly high range of mountains which the Hollow World peoples variously call the Great Wall, the World's Spine, and the Great Barrier. This mammoth mountain chain is characterised by incredible chains of caves and caverns, many of which are occupied by whole nations of Hollow World residents. The World's Spine does cross the oceans at the equator, resulting in huge mountainous islands stretching in a straight line from continent to continent, with small straits of water between." (Hollow World DM's Sourcebook page 19a) "The Immortals have set up an impossibly high mountain range at the equator and have magically adjusted the climate so that the equatorial mountain zone is cooler and more comfortable than the tropical zones to either side." (Hollow World DM's Sourcebook page 20a)
Notes on Poor Wizard's Almanac
To Do List
References
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