Hi. I’m Tiffany Munro, fantasy world maker, world building consultant, and cartographer.

Can’t draw? Here’s an extensive list of free fantasy map generators and name generators! (I will also make up names on request) You could use these to create a free map or base for something you’d like me to customize. I update this semi-regularly with new map generators, new examples from these free map creation apps. Also I add review notes on how to use these programs. If you know of a fantasy map generator or program not on this page, email it to me and I will add it!

Eventually this will become the best list of free fantasy cartography resources for my clients to make sketches and anyone searching to make a totally free map for their tabletop game campaign. Semi-regularly updated, as new resources cross my table. Last updated: Dec 2022

Fantasy Map Generators Mega List!

 

Navigation / Table of Contents:

• Jump to Fantasy Country, Kingdom and Continent generators (features Agzaar, Redblob 3D tool, Mewo2 procedural tool, beaglemage’s Python Script, Watabou’s Perilous Realms generator)
• Jump to free RPG fantasy City Generators (Watabou Fantasy City Maker, Watabou City Painter, Watabou’s Village generator, link to Watabou’s main page, Oskar Stalberg, Inkwell’s NES style fantasy town and villages, RPG City ASCII, Metro Map Maker, This City Does Not Exist, Anvaka’s City Roads OSM street generator, Ankit Choudhari’s City Generator, Probable Train’s city map generator, Phiresky’s City Street Generator, Jake Lem’s City Generator, as well as several download-only links: Mikouaji, Line Kernel, Delca, Subversion, City Gen, and Parametric City generators.)
• Jump to science fiction Planet / World / continent Generators (Planetmaker 3D tool, Experlicious, Donjon, Davidson Tectonics, Map to Globe, Grand Designer on Steam)
• Jump to Dungeon Crawl / D&D and traditional roleplaying game dungeon generators (Donjon Dungeon crawl maker, Dave’s Mapper, Gozzy’s Wilderness, Caves, and random dungeon makers, Dungeon Scrawl, Watabou Dungeon Generator, Dungeon Fog)
• Jump to Hex Grid generators (Map Forge (low resolution free trial, full resolution in paid version), Fantasy map builder, Roll for Fantasy, Redblob, HexTML, Hexographer (free out-of-date / OG version) / Worldographer (free trial of paid program), GM Friend)
• Jump to Other Assorted Mapping ToolsMapchart (Academic statistic maps), Autorealm (free downloadable cartography vector program), Old Maps Online (what it says on the tin), QGIS (advanced global cartography), World Map Creator (generates different map projections of the real world), 3D Mansion Generator, Floodmap (Waterworld doomsday Google API tool), Snazzymaps (style Google street map for graphic designers, web developers) For Keep’s Sake (generates a Hogwarts style 3D castle), Emilie Kroeger’s Metacastle (generates a pixel art castle layout) Plus: free Graphic Design style software list added! Krita, Gimp, Paint.net, Inkscape, Photopea, and Blender!
  
• Jump to Random Name Generators (Codex Nomina, Lizard Man Diaries Travail Saga Worldbuilding Generators, Chaotic Shiny, Seventh Sanctum, Fantasy Name Generators, Awkwords, Perchance)
• Jump to Paid Programs for fantasy cartography and world building (not a sponsor of any of these programs though I have assets available for purchase for Other World Mapper, DungeonDraft and Wonderdraft, as well as assets as part of Other World Mapper’s paid program)Other World Mapper (free demo of paid program with full functionality but no saving), Worldspinner (free heraldry and name generator, limited function trial), Dungeon Fog (free trial with limited functionality, connected to tons of other features, I don’t use it), Inkarnate (limited functionality/subscription for full software), WonderDraft and Dungeon Draft (not free, no demo, cheap, costs around $60 for both programs), ProFantasy (several programs, not free), World Creator (3D terrain builder for video games), Terragen (3D terrain builder), Quadspinner’s Gaea (3D terrain builder), World Engine, Dungeon Alchemist

Free fantasy Country and Continent Map generators

Azgaar’s Fantasy Map Generator – creates colored world map bases. Someone could use this to create a zoomed out world map or country base. As for how to use Agazaar’s fantasy map generator, I have not determined if it is possible to freehand draw any shapes, but the menu button on the left contains a wide variety of customization options for the generated shape. Clicking on a text label or generated icon will allow you to move it freely and change its options. It also generates random information about the point of interest. This map creator is actively updated and considered one of the best free fantasy country makers, and there’s a subreddit that exists for help on how to use it.

Red Blob Games Map Generator allows you to place land, mountains, water, and ocean on a painted style map, free to download for any use. An exceptionally powerful mapping tool which uses 3D to do both overhead and isometric views. I created this map in mere minutes and was impressed by the potential. I might use this!

Mewo2 Map Editor. This isn’t a single box editor like many of the others, but you scroll through to add bits and build the map through several stages. The procedural process of building the map might work well for some. I found it easy and enjoyable to move through.  However, names are limited to automatically generated place names.

Beaglemage Fantasy Map Generator – If you’d rather GIT a map than get one, this tool can be downloaded from GitHub, and then you will need to know actual wizard magic, but you can make results like this one. I must disclose: the creator of the program sent me this result, I didn’t actually make it myself. It is Open Source. I took a look at it in Text Wrangler and it looks easy enough to expand the names it generates, and due to how the images are added in, it seems simple enough to change what textures and image assets are pulled. However, what looks much more complicated would be changing say, how the coastlines are generated. For someone with Python knowledge this could be the godsend fantasy map generator of your dreams, though. Ripe and ready to be picked apart and coded into your own personal fantasy map making tool. I admit I really do want to put some of my own textures and trees in and see what happens. One thing I don’t know is how to take the script and actually run it, but if you happen to be a programmer, you know exactly what must be done. Have fun. 

Watabou’s Perilous Shores Realm Generator. The great city map generator now has a cousin, the Realm generator! Instant realm map! Have fun!

 

Look at maps by myself, Tiffany Munro, cartographer.

 

Fantasy City and Village map generators for Pathfinder and Dungeons and Dragons

Watabou Links:

Watabou’s Medieval Fantasy City Generator – This is my personal favorite, very useful, it generates a blank city base. You won’t get something finished from this, but it’s under active development. It is now possible to edit text, though you cannot position it (it is randomized by seed and a warp tool). I find it a great idea generator. New features are being added regularly and this is an excellent way to get a sense of what shape you might like your city to be. Not only is there the original Medieval City generator, there’s also now Watabou’s City Painter!

Watabou’s Medieval Fantasy Village Generator – From the maker of the Medieval City Generator, a new tool! The Village Generator! Works on the same principle, without quite as many features, and generates smaller areas.

Watabou has made several new elements and generators, and you can find a dedicated site that links to more of their tools here at Watabou’s site. There’s now a Realm generator, a Dungeon generator, and a District generator as well as the demonstrated village and city generators that you can find at the main link.

Other In-Browser City Generators

Oskar Stalberg’s City Generator. This city generator is extremely limited in functionality but very fun to tool around with to create an urban space with streets, trees and buildings if that’s your need. It is very easy to use, just click and it will add in a random new city block. No updates have been made since I added it to the list, so it remains more of a fun novelty than an exceptionally useful mapping tool.

Inkwell Idea’s Random City Generator creates random cities that resemble an overhead pixel world map from a vintage RPG game, or you can position pieces yourself. It’s flexible for what it is, which is an old computer CGI pixel art style village or city map. While notable for its random generation instant map creation, it allows for enough customization that someone might be able to find it useful for a game.

Easily the least artistic addition to this list is RPG City Generator, a vintage text-based map generator which will form an acsii map which corresponds to a code to understand what region of the city is being represented. It falls somewhere in between a fantasy city art map generator and a plain text city feature generator, as you do receive a visual, but it’s only functional as data, not art. The site includes a character generator as well, and is distinctively oriented towards the needs of the tabletop gamer and not creating a map for say, a novel.

Also in the very limited functionality map makers, we have Metro Map Maker which is an in-browser map maker to create a subway or bus route in the style of New York, London, and other big city metro mapping styles. This could absolutely be used for a real world bus route map, and by using it, you agree your map will be placed in the public domain.

This City Does Not Exist is an AI generative tool which creates a satellite style image of a city. This could be useful for a modern campaign. There are no features to adjust what you will receive and the output looks a bit “stamped” but still potentially fun.

Fantasy Town Generator seems to function similarly to Watabou’s generators, except you need to make an account and can only save 10 maps on the free plan.

Anvaka’s City Roads generates from Open Street Map data any real world location. This may have limited use for RPGs but pick an obscure place, flip it around and you may have the perfect set piece for your RPG campaign!

Probable Train’s City map generator has an in browser version and is also downloadable.

Ankit Choudhari’s City Generator is a simple tool that with the click of a button will generate an isometric city block. Unfortunately you cannot view it from above, making it an imperfect choice for RPG gamers, but it’s fast and easy.

Phiresky’s Procedural Cities generates some nice looking random streets. It has a hosted demo and can be downloaded to install on your own machine and tinker. This is the demo link directly if you’re not interested in the code.

Jake Lem’s preocedural city generator makes a New York style city in 3D that you can pan around. It’s a bit slow in browser but you can also install it on your computer if you prefer. Use it in your browser with Jake Lem’s demo link.

City Generators you have to download and install

Mikou Aji’s City Generator allows you to generate a simple round or square city.

Line Kernel’s Generative City is technically a game for free running but may prove inspirational.

Delca’s Town Generator has very nice looking results for a fantasy town.

Subversion City Generator was meant to be a game until it was put on hold.

City Gen is a simple earlier take on a procedural city generator. It could be interesting to someone looking to build their own generator.

Parametric City Generator is another one more interesting to someone looking into the coding behind building a generator as the article goes into a lot of detail.

Free fantasy dungeon crawls, d&d old school style battle maps and maze generators

Donjon Random Dungeon Generator – generates very simple dungeons based on set parameters. Useful only for Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, and similar such groups, I suppose, as it actually generates a random set of encounters to go along with running the dungeon as a game using open source RPG materials! Here’s an example I received with this dungeon.

Wandering Monsters	1 1 x 1st Level Warrior Duergar (dwarf), scavenging for food and treasure 2 1 x Derro, wielding bizarre eldritch powers 3 1 x Troglodyte Zombie, scavenging for food and treasure 4 1 x Medium Monstrous Spider (vermin), hunting for food 5 1 x Troglodyte, gathered around an evil shrine 6 1 x Shrieker (fungus), wielding bizarre eldritch powers
Room #1	East Entry Stuck Stone Door (break DC 28; hard 8, 60 hp) (slides to one side, +1 to break DC) →   Leads to room #2 South Entry #1 Unlocked Stone Door (hard 8, 60 hp) South Entry #2 Stuck Iron Door (break DC 28; hard 10, 60 hp)   Empty

 

Dave’s Mapper is for Dungeon Masters running fantasy dungeon crawl style games,

or science fiction roleplaying game adventures such as Star Wars, Cyberpunk, etc as it has tilesets for space ships too. It is only tiles that you can place and flip around, and accepts donations of new tiles to continue expanding their tool. The results are limited but look great!

Gozzy’s Wilderness mapper generates a random wilderness battle map based on a few assorted seeds. Gozzy’s Cave Maps will generate a random cave grid battle map. Finally, last but not least, Gozzy’s Dungeon Maps will make you a random dungeon based on an assortment of seeds. You can save the image as well as the URL based on the seeds. Great for Dungeons and Dragons, Warhammer, that kinda game.

Dungeon Scrawl is the latest and greatest in your early edition Dungeon inspiration creation. It makes one style of dungeon, and you have to draw it yourself, but provides free to use SVG downloads of that dungeon. The style is the classic crosshatched gridform dungeon such as you might have played with in the 80s and 90s. I’m really excited for the potential of Dungeon Scrawl as a tool for myself, so please enjoy it.

Watabou’s Dungeon Map Generator. Watabou now has an instant dungeon generator that gives you a few encounters and a layout in the style of DonJon’s One Page Dungeon.

Dungeon Fog is used to make your own battlemaps and overland maps. They let you make three free maps.

 

Random Planet generators and science fiction related mapping tools

Planetmaker is a 3D in browser tool which lets you create a custom planet with moons, rings, and adjust it to create a space scene. Easy to use and stunning results mean PlanetMaker is a no-brainer tool for inspirational scene crafting.

Don Jon’s Fractal World Generator lets you generate random jagged landforms to use as a base. Could be useful to print out or draw on top to design coastlines and interesting random climates. Currently has very limited functionality. It’s a fun tool to brainstorm the view of an entire planet, however. The most powerful tool of note in DonJon’s fractal world generator is the high res export.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Experilous Planet Generator lets you generate random globes to certain parameter specifications. Their settings give you access to plate tectonics, wind direction and more. Gget a sense of a whole world’s shape. Potentially useful, but I would say it’s more of a novelty to inspire you than a functional map building tool.

 

 

 

 

Davidson Tectonic Generator allows you to randomly generate plate tectonics and observe their movement over time. There are multiple projection views. Again, this is more of an inspirational tool than a “do it all” kit. This could be useful to plan tectonics before drawing a more completed map using this as a base. It also gives you a sense of how a world would look from space.

But what if I already have a map, and I just want to put it on a planet?!

There’s a perfect tool for you! Map to Globe lets you upload any map image and it projects it onto a 3D sphere! Have fun imagining your planet but space!

 

And if I’d like to make science fiction assets for maps?

Grand Designer on Steam isn’t free but it is a powerful engine for generating space scenes.

 

Hex and Grid Battle Map style freebies

These fantasy map generators are perfect for your TTRPG needs.

Map Forge is a download only program where you can create low-res top down and hex maps for free. Or you can buy the full version, available for the low price of $34 at the moment. I have not tested it, but it is being actively developed and seeks to be something superior to those that come before. It currently has 24 expansion packs, is seeking to add isometric capabilities, and is under active development (unlike some of the other options). This means its price will go up in the future. It has actually gone up since I added it to this list, so if it’s interesting to you, you should probably jump on it.

Fantasy Map Builder is another take on a tile-set, instead of being square modules the pieces are a variety of shapes and styles. I personally find it painfully slow to set up a map with this freebie, but it does have a very large set of free Dungeon Master tile art options to construct a map and someone patient could definitely create something great free for use with this tool.

Roll for Fantasy Creator allows you to make basic stamp maps out of some pre-existing pieces. While some people have used it to great success, I found it too tedious to construct anything to demo here.

RedBlogGames map generator – Creates a grid filled with random locations with sliders to control biomes. Great inspirational way to build a single continent. It’s so easy. I don’t think the final result is super polished though. It’s a most user friendly map generator and creating this result was effortless.

HexTML is a hex map editor with very basic art, but stands out because of its collaborative functions, being the only map editor I know of that permits you to edit a map with another person. I would have loved that a decade ago, when I was collaborating primarily with someone who lived 16 hours away.

Hexographer is an archaic, out of date map-maker that has since been replaced with a similar hex-based map maker, Worldographer which can be demoed for free. Not personally my cup of tea, but good for making fast maps for games that are set on a hex grid specifically.

On a very similar token, GM Friend provides an in browser super basic hex map editor. More of a toy than anything.

 

 

 

Other Free Cartography Tools

A very different mapping program is Map Chart which allows you to create basic colored maps of the real world, used for statistics and academic purposes. Someone has used it to create Westeros, however, so I have elected to include it in this resource.

Autorealm is an old downloadable map maker which had interesting functionality but when I tried it years ago, did not impress me enough to move away from illustration-based programs. Still, it gets mentioned here and there, and it is free. It’s vector based.

Old Maps Online is an excellent research tool for finding historical maps, although some of the academic and museum sites it links to have painfully awkward controls. Maps found through Old Maps Online are often free for public domain (given they are very old maps) but you should check the site it directs you to in case there is a copyright before using them. Great for inspiration and scholarly mapping needs.

QGIS is the only free Graphical Informations System I know of, and some people have used it for fantasy mapping, though it’s generally used for real world and programming cartographic applications instead. I’ve used it as part of my process to create a full continental map of the real world and a watercolor map of Utah.

If learning QGis seems a bit intimidating there’s also World Map Creator to help you do it free in browser.

Watabou Procedural Mansion Generator will create for you a random 3D mansion exterior facade which you can look at from all angles. You cannot, however, see the floor plan or go inside, and the controls are minimal. In order to regenerate your mansion you have to refresh the page. It would be useful to create references of random fantasy buildings, however.

Floodmap uses the Google API and coastal depth projections to show you what it would look like at varying degrees of global water level rising. I used Floodmap to determine how much of Vancouver would be under water at 250 metres, for a not exactly post-apocalyptic novel I’m working on, but more like… well, things do suck and some people have died, but doom has come at a much slower pace than we predicted today, so it’s very much like a Black Mirror cyberpunk piece.

Snazzy Maps is an excellent tool for graphic designers and web developers wanting a google map on their business site or card, but wanting that Google map to not look like the classic grey-yellow-blue style that we all know and love and fear bringing about the end of civilization as we know it, thanks OBAMA. Very useful for non-fantasy map purposes, potentially useful for a real life modern game setting.

For Keep’s Sake will generate you a fantasy 3D castle with some modest amounts of editability. Fun for flare in a game, like the mansion generator.

Emilie Kroeger’s Metacastle is used to generate a random pixel art style castle layout, the sort you might expect from a random generated Roguelike game. It has potential use for battlemaps.

Graphic Design Software (Raster, Vector and 3D programs)

If you’re looking for total control, the classic way to make a map is by using a Graphic Design program and drawing with a mouse or tablet, taking pictures or scanning in traditional art, and combining png and jpg assets. Here are a few free options for that.

Krita is a fully featured program that works on many operating systems, excellent Photoshop substitute. Easily the top choice in this domain.

Gimp is the Linux classic photoshop style program used by many to make maps. It can be installed on other operating systems but is the main choice for Linux users.

Paint.net is a Windows software. It has acceptable features for map-making.

Photopea is an in-browser Photoshop style program that is freely accessible to all and paid with ads. An excellent choice if you don’t plan to make a bunch of maps and just need to put some text on a generated map!

Inkscape is your best Illustrator substitute, used for making vector art. An excellent program for anyone just starting out into graphic design, very fully featured.

Blender is your open source free 3D software. Several of its plugins are useful for cartography, including the ability to pull in real world height terrain. However, learning Blender is far harder than any of these simpler programs and will surely be an undertaking too challenging for many people who just wanted to make a map. I’ve made a few cool maps with Blender but let’s not beat around the bush: IT’S HARD. This is a map I made in Blender and Raigemage on Reddit added lightning animation!

 

Paid Fantasy Map Making and cartography Programs

These programs allow you to expedite fantasy mapmaking. Some are powered by fantasy map generators and others require a little more supervision to get good results.

The paid program I favor is Other World Mapper which can be demoed for free with all features, but requires a payment to unlock the save option. I elected to do this, and since I’ve purchased the program, I have integrated its functionality into many of my maps. While I don’t think it is a complete package yet for an artistic map, since it does not have sketching tools, it’s really easy to get the hang of and turn out a map fast. I have a timelapse video of me drawing a map for my own setting in Other World Mapper to see what can be done.

Worldspinner allows you to try their tool for one month for free, watermarked downloads only. However, they include a free heraldry tool. I’m including it on this list even though it’s not a “free” map generator, per se, but a trial. It also has a free name generator. These free tools may be of some use.

Inkarnate map creator – Tons of people use this program to make their “sketches” for me. I haven’t used it, but it appears to be a collection of full color fantasy icons that can be assembled on assorted colored texture backgrounds. Inkarnate maps have a very recognizable look, but they can definitely be used to create a finished feeling project by a patient person. They have a limited free edition and paid options with more extensive tooling on a “per month” subscription free basis. As I have not signed up for Inkarnate, I have not created a demo. It costs $25 a year or $5 a month and is very popular.

Dungeon Fog lets you make three free maps and then you have to pay. This makes it more of a “free trial” than a “free mapping program”, alas, still potentially useful. Like Inkarnate, I have not joined to test it. Also, like Inkarnate, it is a subscription based model.

WonderDraft and Dungeon Draft are both very popular choices of programs. For a mere $50 USD you can own both programs, equipped with everything you need to make a fantasy map. If that’s not good enough, you can buy my assets for these programs from CartographyAssets! There’s a ton of assets for Wonderdraft and Dungeondraft to be found on Cartography Assets, mine included!

ProFantasy has dozens of mapping programs for assorted purposes. They’re best known for Campaign Cartographer and Fractal Terrains, City Builder and Dungeon Builder, but they have other even more niche programs. I got their Humble Bundle, including CC3+, City Builder, and Dungeon Builder, and while it seems powerful for certain kinds of mapping, if you don’t like the general look it’s a huge chore to install your own assets, and the learning curve makes Illustrator look easy. I can’t deny the power of its mapping specific force, but the programs are an intimidating challenge to use. Not free, but they’re not that expensive… at the moment it’s half price for the base program, for $22 you can give this program a whirl. Even at full price, $44 is not unreasonable compared to the price of commissioning a map, so maybe it’ll be right for you! You can automate many tasks once you figure out the interface.

World Engine has a limited free version and a paid full version. It integrates well with virtual tabletop use.

Dungeon Alchemist became well known when their Kickstarter succeeded. It uses AI to help you make 3D dungeons with their kits. It’s very limited at this point in the amount of styles it can output.

 

 

3D World Terrain Builders

This list includes all of the 3D terrain fantasy map generators I know of.

World Creator is a program I’ve put to use in several of my maps. It’s not inexpensive, it’ll ring in at the $200-$300 mark every year to keep up maintenance updates.

Terragen 4 is a classic 3D generator that you can get for free! It’s surprisingly powerful. Early versions of Terragen were some of the first that I ever played with myself! Of course if you want the full version you’ll be paying between $12 a month up to $599 for a one time payment.

Gaea by Quadspinner comes in four flavors: free all the way up to Enterprise for $299. With a free version it’s no wonder it’s the popular choice for people looking to add a bit of 3D to their map-making, and the price points make it accessible.

 

Name generators

Codex Nomina is the latest addition to the Name Generators. It includes thousands of fantasy names themed for various RPG settings. Need an Orc name? Need a Blood Elf name?

Lizard Man Diaries Travail Saga Generators is a blog post that contains all of the generators for worldbuilding made by Lizard Man Diaries for the Travail Saga setting! They are simple generators where, at the bottom of the blog post for the appropriate category, you can push a button to generate one of the options from the list (or roll a dice if you like to go old school). I went to the NPC generator and generated this NPC:

NPC: Hunter
Appearance: Wearing a piece of large gemmed jewelry
Personality: Is grief stricken from the recent passing of a loved one
Current goal: Avenge a comrade/family member recently killed
Relationship with important NPC: One is the provider of transport for the other

These simple generators are great for DMs who need to flesh out their world or create a character fast.

Chaotic Shiny random world building generators – I go here REGULARLY. Tons of amazing world building specific generators, character generators, etc.

Seventh Sanctum random world building generators – Many generators, primarily name generators, but there’s plot generators, etc.

Fantasy Name Generators. I admit I use this a ton as a DM, it has so many name generators, and its Star Wars alien name generators have particularly come in useful for me.

Awkwords is useful if you want to make consistent conlang names without having to make the whole conlang.

Perchance Conlang Word Generator will generate you one word from a submitted conlang! The main site will allow you to make and create your own random list generators for your constructed language.

 

 

With all these perfectly good options, why should I hire you to create my fantasy map?

Because you like my art style.
Because you don’t want to do the heavy lifting creative jiggery
Fifty billion little trees.
Because you don’t have time to make a map as nice as you’d like.
Hand drawn custom mountain ranges.
Because you don’t want your map to look like one of these generator results.
Original compass art.
Because you have custom imagery not available in the icon sets.
All the fonts, all of the effects.
Because you want a unique world.
You have a specific vision.
Because you want a vector or large print piece.
Because you want art.

I don’t discourage anyone from trying to create their own map first. I even have a tutorial of my OG map making style with my original map icons available for download if you want to have a go at it in Photoshop. I freehand almost all of my work now, however, I used the set included with that download for many of my early maps.
Seriously, if you want to make your own map, go for it. That’s why I’m saving all of the free RPG fantasy map generators and makers I find on this page. I’ve been updating it regularly to add new things I find so check back, I guess, I’ll try branch it out into being a better resource as time goes on. 🙂
But, if you don’t want to, send me an email.

Look at maps by myself, Tiffany Munro, cartographer.

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