For enthusiasts of cartography, role-playing games, and map design, the availability of free samples and promotional offers can provide valuable opportunities to explore new tools and styles without immediate financial commitment. The Cartographer's Annual 2025, a subscription-based resource from ProFantasy, offers a structured programme of monthly releases that include both paid and free content. This article outlines how UK-based consumers can access free samples, understand the subscription model, and utilise available promotional offers, based solely on the provided source material.
The Cartographer's Annual 2025 operates on a subscription model, providing monthly releases of mapping styles, symbols, tools, and guides to subscribers. However, the programme also incorporates elements of free sampling, allowing non-subscribers to access certain materials. Key free offerings include monthly symbol sets released for general download and specific annual issue packs made freely available to all users. The process for accessing these free resources is standardised and requires a user account on the ProFantasy platform.
To download free content, users must first create a registration on the ProFantasy website. Once registered, they can navigate to their personal registration page. Within the account dashboard, there is a dedicated 'Downloads' tab. Clicking the download button for 'Campaign Cartographer 3 Plus' will list the new symbols available for free. This process is consistent for accessing all monthly free content releases. The source material indicates that the free symbols are released monthly and are listed under this download section. For example, the free monthly symbols for December were added to the Hand-drawn Fantasy style, providing options for marking landmarks such as areas of special power or treasure locations.
The free monthly symbols are designed to complement a specific style, often one introduced in a paid annual issue. For instance, the free symbols released in one month were for the Hand-drawn Fantasy style, which was introduced with the Cartographer's Annual 2025. It is noted that while the example maps included with the free content may use the full style from the Annual, the symbols themselves can still be used on other maps even if the full Annual is not installed. This allows users to experiment with new assets within their existing projects.
Beyond monthly free symbols, the Cartographer's Annual 2025 includes a free issue available to anyone with Campaign Cartographer 3 Plus. The January issue, titled 'Ancient Realms Revisited', is explicitly stated to be a free issue. This style pack includes a substantial amount of content: one drawing style, 300 symbols across 7 catalogs, 50 drawing tools, 2 templates, 40 bitmap fills, a 5-page mapping guide, 2 example maps, and 2 new effect settings. This free issue serves as a significant sample of the Annual's content, allowing users to explore the Ancient Realms style in depth.
The Annual also features a 'Bonus issue' that is freely available. This bonus content allows users to create randomised layouts with rooms, corridors, caverns, and flooded areas. The bonus issue can be downloaded by all subscribers from their registration page and is also freely available from the Annual page on the ProFantasy website. This provides an additional no-cost resource for users to enhance their mapping projects.
For those interested in the full suite of content, a subscription to the Cartographer's Annual is required. The 2025 Annual is available for purchase, and its full setup can be downloaded from the user's registration page. This single file download includes all content released up to September 2025, meaning subscribers do not need to download each monthly issue separately if they have the full annual setup. The source material confirms that all content for the year (up to September 2025) is included in this one download.
Promotional offers are available for prospective subscribers. The Cartographer's Annual 2026 is offered at an early-subscriber discount of 15%. This discount is available for a limited time. Current subscribers to the 2025 Annual may receive a re-subscription offer via email for the 2026 Annual at a reduced cost. If a subscriber misses this offer, they are advised to contact ProFantasy to have the link resent.
The content of the paid Annual issues is diverse and changes monthly. Each issue focuses on a specific mapping style or technique. For example, the August 2025 issue featured the 'Hand-drawn Fantasy' style, with a focus on elven structures such as cities, towers, strongholds, and holy sites. The same month also saw the release of the August issue proper, which included a map pack of pirate hideout Fort Morgan with four detailed location maps. The September issue offered a selection of compass roses and scalebars by Gerri Broman (Shessar), accompanied by a guide on making them available in various drawing styles. The October issue presented a 10-level dungeon, Delomoro Keep, mapped by Kevin Goebel. Other months featured styles like 'Fractal Parchment Maps' (February), which provided options to export parchment-style maps directly from Fractal Terrains +3 to Campaign Cartographer 3 Plus, and 'Birdseye Continental' (March), a new overland style offering a top-down perspective. The April issue introduced the 'Bubble Gum Fantasy' style, a colourful and whimsical option.
It is important to note the distinction between free samples and paid subscription content. The free monthly symbols and the free January issue are available without purchase. However, other monthly issues, such as those for August, September, and October, are described as being "available for all subscribers" from their registration page. This indicates that while the free samples provide a taste of the content, the full monthly releases are part of the paid subscription programme. The free monthly symbols are often derived from or complementary to the styles in the paid issues.
For UK consumers, the process is entirely digital. The free samples are downloaded directly from the user's account after registration. There is no mention of postal mail or physical samples in the provided source material; all resources are digital files (e.g., FCW, PNG, JPG formats) for use within the Campaign Cartographer 3 Plus software. The subscription itself is also managed online, with payments and downloads handled through the secure ProFantasy website.
In summary, the Cartographer's Annual 2025 provides a clear pathway for accessing free cartographic resources. The primary method involves registering for an account on the ProFantasy website and using the 'Downloads' tab to access monthly free symbols. Additionally, a complete free style pack (the January issue) and a bonus issue are available to all users of Campaign Cartographer 3 Plus. For those seeking the full monthly content, a subscription is required, with promotional discounts available for early renewal. All information and access are managed through the official ProFantasy online platform.