Every term the Cartography Manual uses without stopping to explain. Each
one is defined here once, in the same words the editor shows on screen.
Map structure
| Term | Meaning |
|---|
| Territory | One node on the map. Players fight over these. |
| Connection | A link between two territories. It sets who can attack whom, and in which direction. |
| Spawn group | A set of territories players can start the game in. |
| Can Start Populated | A territory setting that allows starting units there. |
| Label | Draggable text on the canvas that names a zone for players. |
Economy
| Term | Meaning |
|---|
| Bonus | A zone of territories that pays a reward to whoever holds enough of it. |
| Bonus type | A label you give bonuses (“homeland”, “pathway”) so rules can count them by kind. |
| Payout shape | When a zone pays: All Nodes (hold everything), Threshold (hold at least N), or Scaled (pays per territory from the first one). |
| Card ticks | A reward paid as progress toward the holder’s next card, instead of troops. |
| Negative bonus | A zone with a reward below zero. Holding all of it costs the owner troops or ticks. |
Objectives
| Term | Meaning |
|---|
| Bonus Group | An objective built on bonuses. While its requirement is met, it pays the holder each turn. |
| Requirement | A Bonus Group’s rule: which bonuses must be held, built from “Specific bonuses”, “Count by type”, “Count from set”, “All of”, “Any of”, and “Not”. |
| Condition | One piece of a requirement. “All of” and “Any of” combine conditions. |
| Payout | What a Bonus Group pays and how it ramps over hold turns: Immediate, Linear, or Step. |
| Hold turns | How many turns in a row a player must keep the requirement true. |
| Pressure | The public warning when a player is close to completing an objective. |
| Public | A group setting. Public groups show the holder’s live progress to everyone. |
| Constellation | A named win condition that points at one or more Bonus Groups. |
| Victory Category | A group of Constellations. Tier-2 maps count completed categories toward the win. |
| Counts-as-held ratio | The owned fraction at which a Scaled zone counts as held for objectives. It never changes payout. |
Publishing
| Term | Meaning |
|---|
| Draft | Your unpublished working copy. Players never see it. |
| Validation | The checks your map must pass before publishing. Fatal problems block the publish. |
| Publish | Making a version of your map available to players. |
| Footprint | The canvas highlight showing which territories an objective touches. |