The Lonesome Cartographer

A game by Wren the Forrester | wrentheforrester.itch.io

A hack of Alone Among the Stars by Takuma Okada | noroadhome.itch.io
Heavily inspired by Alone on a Map by Kaden Ramstack | k-ramstack.itch.io

You are a cartographer…

It does not matter who you are outside of that.
Just know that you are now responsible for accurately
recording and representing your surroundings.
You are to make a map of this place.
Tools:
• One d6
• A tarot deck, shuf ed
• Information on tarot card
meanings (optional)
• Writing utensils
(or computer)
• A blank piece of paper (or drawing program)
• Something to take notes on
Instructions:
Roll the d6 so that is falls on your blank piece of paper. Mark
where it lands. The paper is your map and this is your
Starting Location.
(If using a digital drawing program, feel free to instead pick a
point at random.)
Draw a card, consult the charts below, and plot out your
Landmark on your Starting Location.
The suit will give an idea of what the Landmark is.
The rank will give an idea of where the Landmark is.
Draw the Landmark on your Starting Location. It doesn’t
need to look good, as long as it gets the idea across.
In your journal make an entry with a short description of
your Landmark and your feelings as you set off on your map-
making journey.
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Roll the d6, this determines the next Landmark’s
relationship to your rst Landmark. Pick somewhere on
your map that you feel ts this relationship.
• On a 1 this Landmark is far away from any Landmarks
• On a 2 - 3 this Landmark isn’t close to many Landmarks
• On a 4 - 5 this Landmark is connected to another
Landmark (a river, road, or other obvious connection)
• On a 6 this Landmark is adjacent to another Landmark
Roll the d6 again, this determines what the trip to this
landmark was like.
• On a 1 it is arduous to get to.
• On a 2 - 3 it is a slow, but relaxing trip.
• On a 4 - 5 it goes exactly as planned.
• On a 6 it is found unexpectedly.
Continue this cycle from there, lling out your map.
If ever in your journey you come up with an idea more
interesting or fun than what the cards and dice tell you…
go with your idea instead.

The Major Arcana:

Cards of the Major Arcana, when drawn, always represent
settlements or sentient occupation. They may be welcoming
or aggressive, expansive or small, stationary or transient,
but these Landmarks always hold at least one person.
Consulting the meaning of the card that was drawn while
creating your settlement is recommended, but not
necessary.
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Optional Rules:
• Instead of rolling the d6 to determine your Landmark’s
relationship to other Landmarks, you could use it to pick a
spot on the map in the same way you did for your Starting
Location. This allows for more randomization.
• You can use the meanings of the cards to inspire your
Minor Arcana Landmarks as well! Some of these may
contradict other results and that’s okay. Go with
whichever you prefer more.

Ending the game:

The game ends when you feel your map has been completed
or do not wish to continue drawing it.
At this point, you may clean up your map however you want.
Connecting rivers and roads, giving names to your
settlements, and adding anything else you feel is needed.
If you believe your map is accurate, keep it.
If you discover you have made mistakes, destroy it.
 Swords
Swords are natural phenomena: Huge crystal formations,
islands in the middle of lakes, rocks eroded in strange
shapes, raging rivers, veins of precious metals, etc.

Wands
Wands are animals, plants, and other living things: Packs
of wolves, schools of sh, great forests, elds of oating
owers, herds of unicorns, etc.

Pentacles
Pentacles are ruins: Decrepit railways, vine-covered
temples, fallen castles, beached whaling ships, abandoned
dwellings for people bigger than you, etc.

Cups
Cups are magical and mysterious things: Muttering
obelisks, tombs of still-living gods, intangible towers, things
that are Not Right, courtyards of golden statues, etc.
STAVES
S
CUPS
COINS
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 1: underground
2: an ocean or lake
3: an island or peninsula
4: a beach or coastline
5: a river
6: wetland or lagoons
7: plains or atland

8: a desert
9: a tundra or glacier
10: a forest or jungle
P: a valley or ravine
Kt: hills or cliffs
Q: a mountain or volcano
K: oating in the air
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Credits:
Fonts used:
• American Typewriter
• Dicier (https://speakthesky.itch.io/
typeface-dicier), by Speak the Sky,
licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/)
All images used are licensed under Creative
Commons and can be found at
commons.wikimedia.org.

Acknowledgments:
This game is a hack of Alone Among the Stars by
Takuma Okada and is heavily inspired by another hack,
Alone on a Map by Kaden Ramstack.
I was playing a game of Alone on a Map and thought “Hey, I
could use Tarot cards for this!” and the rest of it just
spiralled from there.
A lot of the ideas presented in this are just slightly tweaked
versions of things that appear in those.
So please, check those games out!
Thank you for reading and (hopefully) playing a game of
this!
-Wren-