Lords of the Earth, Campaign 51: Maps
Last edited: September 16, 2026

Intro
The populations are scattered about learning to deal with advancement in its own ways and with magic to assist them. Once populations increased putting stress on the more centralized regions, there was more nomadic movement of people between areas and resources. Some hive minded creatures have formed degrees of communication with humans. For now this has caused some trade possibilities and other resources to become available or to be traded. This is where the start of the campaign comes on. Some of these ideas related to population have come from Lords 38 which did a fine job of exploring the Bronze Age.

Technical side note
There is a base Black and White map and a full Color map. Those maps are made up of 6 normal 8 ½ x 11 pieces of paper in landscape mode. 3 on top, 3 on the bottom.
Technically this campaign uses Campaign Cartographer 3+ (CC3+) for the creation of the base map. I do plan on using exports from both CC3+ and the xStats GM Software for Lords of the Earth to allow some automation to take place. As of the summer of 2026 I've been able to make progress with this, but it is not yet fully functional. In addition, the QGIS tools used to export a functional searchable page take some work and from what I have seen do not allow for customization in their easy to use form. Once we get into programming, anything can be accomplished but the value of that time spent cannot be justified frankly.
Fractal terrain generated planet

4.0 The Map
The natives call this planet Alrai. At the beginning of the campaign only the most central larger land mass will be used for the players. Consider populations of smaller bands were moving about or wiped out entirely by flood, land slide, volcanic activity and so on. Other places people thrived and put down more sustainable roots. This is reflected in the population of regions. I've also included notes in the region information on the stat sheets too. Two examples: - / - would be “uninhabited”, while ½ – 4 would note “half populated” with a Resistance Value of 4. The normal rules discuss - / -, 0 population regions as well as depopulated regions so this is not as out of the box as it may first appear.

4.0.1 Half-Populated Regions (L38)
The Resistance Value (RV) is treated in two ways:
- for combat-related purposes such as size of native army and size of garrison, use ½ the RV rounded up.
- for diplomacy or actions related the beliefs and attitude of the people, the full RV is used.

Once Pacified, or raised by diplomacy to F status it could be:
- colonized for 12.5 gp and 7 nfp as per 5.4.14.5 (or very close depending on rule version) Colonizing Populated Regions, using ½ for the Gpv when calculating cost.
- settled by a migrating nation per 10.8.3.1 Settling in Populated Areas by the use of ½ a Tribal Point.

In either case the region would now be (or remain) friendly status and have the player control and map symbols. The player nation's society would become Caste if the half-populated region's previous status had been Pacified.

4.1 Regional Symbols
Terrain symbols are not the same. They are just letters, shown under or very near the name of the region. GPvalue, RV, a slash and a letter signifying they type of region. C2 (not in the game at the start), (C)ultivated, (I)sland, (J)ungle, (JS)ungle swampy, (Jc)ungle with half cultivation, (S)teppe, (Sc)teppe with half cultivation, (W)ilderness, (Wc)ilderness with half cultivation, (M)ountainous, (Ms)ountain steppe like, and (D)esert.

Elemental symbols

Trade Center symbols are all circular with an image or something in the middle. In the color version of the map this is red. There are also trade centers in some Sea Zones, that will be further detailed in Section 4.6 below

A detailed Legend will also be on the map.

4.1.1.1 Settlements (L38 inspired)
A city rectangle with a S inside is a Settlement with enough inhabitants to be halfway towards becoming a city. Settlements can be found anywhere upon the map.
Settlements which have a port anchor symbol and is:
- at least NT status, it is considered a port for movement and tracing CCR. (a bit tenuous, but possible)
- at least T status, it may serve as one end of a trade route. Since it is basically a 0 GP city no MSP may be assigned there. It may not be used as a “conduit” city until it is 1 GPv

4.1.2 Fortresses
The same symbol will be used to display a Fortress of a given area and a city with a fortress.

4.3.2 Trade Routes (often The Silk Route)
A 2 pixel width dark brown line will be used for trade routes that duplicate the effect of “The Silk Route”. At the start of the campaign is a route between suppliers of food stuffs and the Ants of G'TKK. This route runs for the most part along a lower elevation in a north – south direction. This is not the only route possible, it is the one which is active at the start.

4.3.3 Giant Bugs, Bees replaces The Arctic Fur Trade
Regions adjacent to such areas have an (F) listed in their description. Any controlled region will also have the F designation on the stat sheet indicating the equivalent benefit as if it were next to the Fur Trade Zone.

4.4 Border Terrain
The same types listed in table 4.3 exist. Small Mountains – type 1, Large Mountains – type 2, Navigatable Rivers, and Megolithic Constructs including Great Wall sections.

A key change to movement in Lords 51. Elevation. Most if not all of the lower elevation is taken by vast forests which grow into wilderness as the elevation changes. This is designated by an entire polygon much like a massive contour line. Slightly off color grey in the Black / White map and multi hew brown in the colored map. When effects are turned on it is obvious in a type of 3d effect to the color map border. This is not so much a cliff of 1000 feet or something, but the indication that a change is taking place geographically that is also causing the land cover to adjust to new environmental conditions.
Rivers on the map which enter these elevated lands sometimes offer passage by watercraft, other times the change does not allow boats of any type. This is indicated with that wording. “boats” with a slash going through the middle. Either way, it is considered a water source for the purposes of public works and city size noted on those related tables of 5-5 Max Public Works Bonus and 5-8 Max City Size by Terrain.

4.5 Terrain
The Jungle designated as JS is Jungle Swamp. This indicates not only thick heavy undergrowth, but low always wet terrain. Think of portions of the Amazon near the river. This type of terrain is treated like Jungle for all economic purposes. The JS regions are also permanent without possibility of full cultivation. Depending on xStats (the GM software) it will either say terrain type J then list “swamp” in the notes or actually have JS as the type.
Jungle of any kind grows quite rapidly, any cleaning not maintained will return to Jungle within a few years time. If a region is depopulated, whatever the reason it will begin to revert.

Half-cultivated terrain (inspired by L38): regions that can be cultivated include Jungle, Steppe, and Wilderness indicated on the map with a “c” next to the terrain letter. Mountain regions can be extensively explored and the best places found for small herds, grow a limited amount of food, and so forth. In general, these regions represent considerable “forest agriculture” where farming, herding, & gathering are taking place, but not a complete regional transformation.
A megolithic construction of a half-cultivation project will also produce these regions. It is a base ½ level costing 25 gp & 13 nfp with the usual modifications by culture type. A benefit list includes higher ITV, more regional income, agro benefits for troops and cities, and expanded public works options to name a few.

4.5.1 Intensely Cultivated (C2 Regions)
There are no C2 regions or the ability to convert a region has not yet been completed.

4.6 Sea Symbols
An addition to the campaign, certain Sea Zones have increased potential capacity. Some of them even hold Aether Pearls which have limited capacity to expand the storage capacity of magic in a nation. Further details will be explained in the economic portion of the rules.

4.6.5 Lighthouses
Some normally (H)ostile Sea Zones have a number by them. Lake Umilwen for example has H (3)
This indicates if three regions bordering the Lake have Lighthouses in them, it will no longer be Hostile to anyone traveling there due to dangerous shores and such. Lighthouses will be listed in the Table 13-4 Unit Construction which also shows on the bottom of your Stat Sheet. It is the same cost as 2 Field Forts and acts as such. Each region can hold one Lighthouse, so it takes either a larger nation to construct all of them or a combined effort from neighboring nations.

4.7 Ferry Arrows
Trade across a ferry site is LTH (Land Trade across Hostile terrain) until 10 ferry points are built, at which point it improves to LTD (Land Trade across Difficult terrain) Ferry Point locations can potentially exist across rivers or narrow bits of the open sea.

Rivers
The exploration of any given river now has a set Resistance Value (RV) to get the Explored status on a stat sheet. Once explored often Light ships can travel them, potentially others. If there is a river system or multiple parts to a single river zone, then travel across those sections is indicated on the map. It might be the case that while moving through regions you cross a portion of a river, then another portion later in a single turn.

Rivers listed alphabetically:
Drak'tu River – one zone from the Beag Loch
Khurnak River – one zone from the Beag Loch serving as the border between Rivohn and Lidena
Thur'q River System – considered one zone, can travel the Thur'q Tributary. Movement penalty by portion
Ghrak River – one zone
Khra'd River – one zone from Lake Seirashi
Brag'Tu River Zone – all one zone with branches and lakes individually indicated by direction and name.
Durana River – the mouth of a multi river system, leads to Bravus River which heads north
Bravus River – connecting to the Durana River, a tributary the Granum River runs into it
Serune River – one zone with an East branch, allows Light or Medium vessels towards the mouth
Claurs River – a small river zone connected to the Nerikai Notch sea zone
Vulnor River – a single zone forked river with a North branch connected to the Sorakai Gulf sea zone
Slavos River – a small river zone in the far northeastern portion of the map
Runara River - a small river zone in the far northeastern portion of the map
Kaldus River – a small river on a larger island landmass to the East
Ferris Waterway – a river & set of small lakes joined as a single zone on larger island landmass to the East
Faylen River – a small river zone connected to the Suilora Coast sea zone
Ostria River – a small river zone between Hook Lake and the Suilora Coast sea zone
Ta'Lion Gorge River – a small inland river zone connected to Lake Namilin
Nerune River – a single river zone, deep at first until it climbs higher connected to some inner sea zones