
The creativity of the Zelda fandom continues to blow us away. Today's offering is a rather detailed map, made in Inkarnate, a web-based cartography tool that people use to make worlds for their tabletop RPG campaigns, that's a miniature recreation of the Light World from A Link to the Past.

The artist behind the map, Reddit user InspiraSean86 (very good name, by the way), says that the Dark World map will follow soon — but, in the meantime, let's appreciate the attention to detail contained within this one, which you can check out in full 4K here.

Inkarnate is a tool that provides ready-made assets to the map-maker, whether that's trees, rocks, or buildings, and you can see a lot of that in InspiraSean86's version, from the green outposts in the swamp area to the waterfalls in Zora's Domain. But when it comes to combining assets to create buildings like the Palace and the Sanctuary, InspiraSean86 has managed to make pretty convincing versions of the places we all know and love — even if we're well aware that the Palace does not, in fact, have wood flooring.

If anyone's planning on taking this map to do their own Zelda-themed campaign, you should definitely let us (and InspiraSean86!) know in the comments... and if you wanted to invite us, well, we can bring snacks. Also, make sure to check out the r/ZeldaTabletop subreddit, where you're sure to find like-minded nerds!
[source reddit.com]
Comments 28
My one experience with true D&D ended badly when the DM told me I couldn’t drink my own urine like Bear Grylls. I thought the whole point was that you could do anything you wanted!
@nessisonett It kind of sucks though when a newcomer comes to the table and disrespects the game for everyone else when they think it's funny to completely break the unspoken agreement between the group by offering ridiculous proposals. Yes, you're role-playing and can offer unexpected alternative solutions, no, you can't drink your own urine.
I don't like tabletop games either, strictly because I suck at roleplaying with other people seriously.
@nessisonett that's just a rubbish DM, what harm could it have done?
The map is cool though!
@Ulysses ‘There is no drinking water nearby’ instantly makes me want to Bear Grylls it. Yes, I understand it was a way to lure us into a fight at the nearest lake but a good DM would be better at hiding the obvious routing.
@nessisonett Well... context helps it make more sense. Still though, I wouldn't really want to play with the types of people who jump to take any amount of leeway to its extreme.
I recently bought the starter books and kits and am having enough fun just reading the rules and making characters. I have no idea what the actual play experience is like.
@nessisonett A good DM would have let you try. I would have definitely let you do it, but you'd probably have to pass a constitution save/nature check to avoid any undesirable effects.
@nessisonett You had a bad DM. I would have let you do that, just to see how it would have played out! Er, I mean in-game, heh.
NINJA APPROVED
@Ulysses If it was a good DM, they would allow it but have negative consequences. I understand you don't want a player to ruin a game by acting like a jackass constantly, but you shouldn't also deny players the ability to roleplay how they want. Just punish them "unexpectedly" later for it
I actually used the 16-bit light world map for random encounters in my online D&D games when we moved over to Roll20. I could just drag the map image to the terrain I wanted them to be in.
Once I got the dynamic lighting option with the pro account, I would try to add the borders around the terrain so that their line of sight would cast shadows as they moved through it.
All that aside... this map is clearly a massive labor of love which I imagine took a ton of time to construct in Inkarnate. Mad respect.
@Desrever Ughhh I wish I didn't have as much money invested into Roll20 as I do. Would love to move to Foundry VTT.
@Dingelhopper I’d have accepted the eventual horrible disease to be honest. Or a hardcore addiction to urine.
@Indielink LOL! I hear you loud and clear. On top of the pro account I also bought the Monster Manual so I could just drag and drop baddies on full loaded with stats. For the convenience, its worth every penny, but I have been eyeing FoundryVTT for a while now and I'm not about to buy yet another Monster Manual.
@nessisonett Yeah the GM should've let you drink it and rolled for some kind of penalty. But honestly I also don't blame him for putting a stop to it right there. Certain behaviors just don't fly for some groups and that kind of chaotic stupid nonsense gets old real fast. For the GM and for other players.
@nessisonett It really depends on the group you are playing. I was the GM of a group where a guy was always trying to score some girls. Always. I got tired and made some girls rob him and it was solved.
This is disgustingly pretty
@nessisonett
Yeah it's a tough task to rope in players while letting you do as you please. If I knew you were literally role-playing and trying to survive in the wilderness, I would for sure have you roll for it and keep things moving. If you were instead trying to do a head stand and pee into your own mouth... well I'd probably still have you roll for it.
But silliness can be taken too far and derail the nature of a campaign, so it's tough
@KateGray
Someone should study what compels these recreations for only this series! Like, have you seen this one?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp6LP-G-DGs
@Deady
DnD is amazing, my favorite hobby. Make sure you find a good group to play with though. No DnD is better than bad DnD, and the wrong group can quickly turn bad
@Ulysses You sound rather boring to play DnD with. I guess no creativity is allowed in your group.
Props to the guy for thinking outside the box, and shame on his DM for not allowing it and also not better setting a trap. Yeah have him roll for it to see if he gets a disease or whatnot, but that's something for the player to then have to deal with and learn from the mistake.
This is awesome!
@Indielink Good, Netural, Evil, Stupid. That's an alignment system I can get behind. If the character had a low intelligence I would have allowed it, but people would typically search for water if none was immediately available before resorting to drinking their own urine.
Hey Kate (and Nintendo Life),
Thanks for the wonderfully written article. Also, despite its recognition on Reddit yesterday, not one person mentioned the wooden battlements on Hyrule Castle. Great eye!
To those of you loved this work, thank you.
As for the urine: If I were DM I would have let you drink it with some sort of penalty.
If you want more LoZ maps (eventually), you can also follow me on IG: InspiraSean86
@Desrever it took about 20-25hrs! If this turns out well, I might end up doing the whole series or turn to the dungeons and make them
@InspiraSean86 Thank YOU for making this! If I can ever convince my D&D party to let me DM for a bit, I'll be using this map for sure
@Capt_Bubbles What you call creative and outside the box, I call low-brow and uninteresting. In fact, it's ironic that you even use the phrase "outside the box" because the premise to do whatever you want means that there is no box.
Furthermore, there's a big difference between pulling that kind of prank with a close or longtime group of friends and a newcomer playing for the first time. There are simply different social expectations for an outsider, and first impressions matter. If you want to leave a bad impression and make people think less of you, then sure, lower your very first actions to potty humor and gross concepts.
Besides, setting absolutely no limits or restrictions actually fosters very little real creativity. Only by encountering boundaries are we inspired to push them.
And at the end of the day, doesn't it feel a little exhausting when you have to create contingencies for urine or poo actions? Really? Debasing yourself, and the group, and the activity, is not the equivalent to creativity or interesting outside-the-box thinking.
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