Oh yeah, drawing maps IS fun. I had a large folder of them until just recently.(Destroyed by water damage.) I used to get in trouble scrawling 'em in particularly boring class periods.(I. E. the entirety of public school.) And I started this this BEFORE I started playing RPGs around 8 years old. I'm glad my family didn't kill me! I mean, it was all Oz's and Shannara's, and Middle-earth's, and the Hyborian Age's and the Imaginary World of Velaran's(not me, someone else with that name..., right) for being so cool; not mine at all! I had no choice! :-D
Beautiful! It's NOT making the City Kit? Too bad. I'm sure we'll get a good idea of Vornheim from the other material presented, though. I really wanna print this out now. Grabbing as a pic, for sure.
Am I right in thinking this is a wilderness -- rather than urban -- map? If so, I like the way you've shirked the traditional -- ie, copying The Hobbit -- style for these things.
Lacking artistic ability, I find making maps fun but frustrating-- it is one of those tasks that just grates on my nerves since rivers & coastlines never look organic when I draw them.
Sometimes when creating my towns, I like to grow them.
I start with what caused the people to settle there, maybe good fishing, fresh water, a nearby woods for timber or a good defensive position. Then put down a few huts and decide how they begin to prosper, new people move in and as they do so the place gets a bit more organised, shops open, whatever small shrine to local deities exists becomes a church and some form of government is formed.
Maybe a small disaster befalls the town, law enforcement is introduced and so on, the place continues to expand and evolve until it reaches the size I desire. The result is a location with its own history, multiple eras of architecture and helps shape the npc's that will live there.
Perhaps the fishermans family grew to prominance but a a house fire killed his wife and children and now he's struggling to get by, or maybe he and the innkeeper are having a feud because the tavern was built too close to the fisherman's house and the smell is putting off customers, I find it really helps in creating ideas to flesh the place out.
Funnily enough I used to do this when I had a large bit of spare time.
I think today I'll try and draw a map with this much visual appeal. How exactly did you draw this? It looks like it might be digital but did you sketch it out all beforehand?
Sweet. Thanks for changing my perception on mapping. For whatever reason I think I've been approaching it all wrong and it makes me want to pull my teeth out. I should switch from my world building hat to an illustration hat and see if it flows better.
I drew it by firmly grasping a black pen in my right hand, placing the wet end of it on a piece of paper and moving the tip of the pen around on the paper until i got bored.
January 3, 2011 at 11:24 AM
Anonymous said...
So, holding the pen still and moving the paper around isn't the best way to do it?
That map is a hell of a thing. I love how it evokes a sense of wonder and curiosity rather than the usual cold analysis inspired by many game maps.
January 3, 2011 at 5:41 PM
[Image](click to enlarge)(click twice to enlarge twice) Theoretically, I suppose I could stick this in the Kit, but that wasn't the plan and I'm not sure there's room, anyway, it was fun to draw and might be useful to have lying around during the campaign.
"Drawing Maps Is Fun"
15 Comments -
Oh yeah, drawing maps IS fun. I had a large folder of them until just recently.(Destroyed by water damage.) I used to get in trouble scrawling 'em in particularly boring class periods.(I. E. the entirety of public school.) And I started this this BEFORE I started playing RPGs around 8 years old. I'm glad my family didn't kill me! I mean, it was all Oz's and Shannara's, and Middle-earth's, and the Hyborian Age's and the Imaginary World of Velaran's(not me, someone else with that name..., right) for being so cool; not mine at all! I had no choice! :-D
Beautiful! It's NOT making the City Kit? Too bad. I'm sure we'll get a good idea of Vornheim from the other material presented, though. I really wanna print this out now. Grabbing as a pic, for sure.
January 3, 2011 at 1:38 AM
Looks to me Vornheim might be the Interzone of RPG settings. I bet old William Lee would approve.
January 3, 2011 at 2:05 AM
Am I right in thinking this is a wilderness -- rather than urban -- map? If so, I like the way you've shirked the traditional -- ie, copying The Hobbit -- style for these things.
January 3, 2011 at 2:12 AM
It's a continental map
January 3, 2011 at 2:16 AM
Yes, once again I struggle to find the correct terminology. Anyway, I like it.
January 3, 2011 at 2:53 AM
Lacking artistic ability, I find making maps fun but frustrating-- it is one of those tasks that just grates on my nerves since rivers & coastlines never look organic when I draw them.
January 3, 2011 at 4:04 AM
Sometimes when creating my towns, I like to grow them.
I start with what caused the people to settle there, maybe good fishing, fresh water, a nearby woods for timber or a good defensive position. Then put down a few huts and decide how they begin to prosper, new people move in and as they do so the place gets a bit more organised, shops open, whatever small shrine to local deities exists becomes a church and some form of government is formed.
Maybe a small disaster befalls the town, law enforcement is introduced and so on, the place continues to expand and evolve until it reaches the size I desire. The result is a location with its own history, multiple eras of architecture and helps shape the npc's that will live there.
Perhaps the fishermans family grew to prominance but a a house fire killed his wife and children and now he's struggling to get by, or maybe he and the innkeeper are having a feud because the tavern was built too close to the fisherman's house and the smell is putting off customers, I find it really helps in creating ideas to flesh the place out.
Funnily enough I used to do this when I had a large bit of spare time.
January 3, 2011 at 7:10 AM
I think today I'll try and draw a map with this much visual appeal. How exactly did you draw this? It looks like it might be digital but did you sketch it out all beforehand?
Very Cool.
January 3, 2011 at 8:46 AM
Sweet. Thanks for changing my perception on mapping. For whatever reason I think I've been approaching it all wrong and it makes me want to pull my teeth out. I should switch from my world building hat to an illustration hat and see if it flows better.
January 3, 2011 at 8:49 AM
Nice! This makes me want to go play right now. This makes me want to go draw better maps right now.
January 3, 2011 at 9:43 AM
@Seth S
I drew it by firmly grasping a black pen in my right hand, placing the wet end of it on a piece of paper and moving the tip of the pen around on the paper until i got bored.
January 3, 2011 at 11:24 AM
So, holding the pen still and moving the paper around isn't the best way to do it?
January 3, 2011 at 11:51 AM
i must say i am jealous of your ability to illustrate your D&D so well
January 3, 2011 at 1:23 PM
You know you've drawn something cool when your first reaction is "What the fuck is that thing?"
Seriously though, cool map.
Also, do you have any thoughts on what a "Tedahero" might be? It was the verification word.
January 3, 2011 at 2:03 PM
That map is a hell of a thing. I love how it evokes a sense of wonder and curiosity rather than the usual cold analysis inspired by many game maps.
January 3, 2011 at 5:41 PM