Today we’re interviewing the team from Inkarnate, the online map making site. Let’s jump right in!
How did Inkarnate come to exist?
Inkarnate was founded in 2012 with the goal of improving the TTRPG experience with a suite of digital tools.
How many people work on/for Inkarnate?
We have a small team of highly dedicated and talented artists, developers, designers, testers, and more that are constantly striving to improve the product.
What’s the most common kind of map you see created with Inkarnate?
It’s difficult to pinpoint a specific kind of map as we see a diverse range of maps being created with Inkarnate. While battlemaps for classic scenarios like dungeons and forest paths are popular, we also see many city and world maps being created. With Inkarnate, users can create a wide variety of map types.
Do a lot of non-TTRPG users create maps?
Yes. Many of our users are writers who create maps for their fantasy novels, and map enthusiasts who create maps for fun. We receive messages indicating that creating maps with Inkarnate is a relaxing hobby that is not limited to TTRPG players.
What’s the most unique use of inkarnate maps you’ve seen?
A lot of people use Inkarnate creatively. Some interesting use cases for Inkarnate maps have been as visuals for printed props such as letters, fantasy calendars, and solar systems.
I’ve seen you repost artwork made with Inkarnate on Instagram. How can artists submit work? How do you choose what to repost?
We love our community, and we enjoy seeing beautiful creations made with our platform. We repost a variety of maps from those featured on our built-in explore page or on our subreddit, but we also actively search all social platforms for creators we can showcase.
Do the staff of Inkarnate play a lot of TTRPGs? What are some favorites?
A lot of the members of the Inkarnate team are big TTRPG fans. Here are some of their favorites:
Cynthia: “I’ve started my ttrpg journey by playing Pathfinder for about 3/4 years as a player. That’s over a decade ago.
I wanted to start my own campaign after that, but had trouble finding others who played Pathfinder, and I wanted to try out a different system that was more aimed at rpg then number crunching.
So I found a group with which I played D&D 5e for 4 years. I got my friends into D&D as well, and have been playing 5e edition for about 8 years now.
During this time I’ve also played and ran games like Monsterhearts, Trail of Cthulhu, played in an online charity stream “pennyforatale” the Blue Rose rpg that used the AGE system, and I’m about to start my first sci-fi game, “Star trek adventures” that uses the 2d20 game system from Modiphius Entertainment.”
Bryan: “I started TTRPGs from a young age playing games like Star Wars the roleplaying game by West End Games, Vampire the Masquerade, werewolf the apocalypse, mage the ascension as both a player and games master.
I left the ttrpg scene to engage with other rpg writers on rpol.net, storycrafter.com and playbyweb in a variety of styles and systems.
Then about 8 years ago I returned to TTRPG scene engaging with many players online with d&d5e, Call of Cthulhu, tales from the Loop and Saturday morning tabletop (that a friend of mine is developing) and recently I got Dune and Blade Runner the roleplaying game. Within the last three years, I’ve returned to Vampire the Masquerade 5e which is by far my favorite setting and I prefer less number crunching systems.”
What’s upcoming for the future of Inkarnate?
We will be launching a marketplace later this year where independent artists can share their art for use on the platform. We also have a killer new sci-fi art style in the works.
Thanks to the team from Inkarnate!
