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View Full Version : DM Help Overworld mapping



J-H
2017-02-25, 10:49 PM
Excel is great for making a D&D 3.5 battle grid. I've tried using it to map the overworld for large-scale travel, geographic features, etc., and it ends up being really, really ugly and hard to read (text size when zoomed out, etc.).

How do you draw your overworld maps?

Milo v3
2017-02-25, 11:53 PM
I use hexographer because it's free and pretty easy to use.

Yora
2017-02-26, 01:57 AM
I draw freehand in Photoshop/GIMP.

Berenger
2017-02-26, 07:29 AM
I use GIMP, too. It's free and you get to work with layers, which is great. I have a layer for the actual land mass and terrain types, a layer for settlements, a layer for a hex grid and a layer for fog of war, so all of them can be switched on and off at will. Here is my latest map, took me about 3-4 hours.


https://abload.de/img/3tgaz0.png

https://abload.de/img/2qsxj1.png

https://abload.de/img/1tkb0p.png

jayem
2017-02-26, 07:59 AM
I use GIMP, too. It's free and you get to work with layers, which is great. I have a layer for the actual land mass and terrain types, a layer for settlements, a layer for a hex grid and a layer for fog of war, so all of them can be switched on and off at will. Here is my latest map, took me about 3-4 hours.


https://abload.de/img/3tgaz0.png

https://abload.de/img/2qsxj1.png

https://abload.de/img/1tkb0p.png

Oh I do like that.

As well as being free it's GNU licence (and has scope for plugins) so in theory it might be possible to modify it so a text layer can be redrawn at the correct scale and similar elements
(In theory, depending on how long you were prepared to commit any change, you could make it a game friendly viewer, though possibly starting from scratch may be easier).

Grod_The_Giant
2017-02-26, 10:26 AM
I'm a fan of finding a real-world map, distorting it somewhat, and using that for my fantasy lands.

Berenger
2017-02-26, 08:38 PM
I'm a fan of finding a real-world map, distorting it somewhat, and using that for my fantasy lands.

That's basically what Warhammer Fantasy did.

https://abload.de/img/warhammer_olde_world_1iui5.jpg


Oh, and A Song of Ice and Fire.

http://brilliantmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Westeros.jpg

Mendicant
2017-02-26, 09:31 PM
I prefer to use a combination of GIMP and pencil or color pencil drawings on large pads, depending on what I'm working on.

I also make heavy use of G Projector (https://www.giss.nasa.gov/tools/gprojector/) to stitch my various regional maps into a unified world map, or to put my world map into different projections.

GIMP is especially great for regional and overworld maps because you can draw right over a real map. Even if you aren't just filing the serial numbers off a real-world place, a layer with a map of Colorado or Ireland or whatever can give you really valuable insight into sizes and distances.

Berenger
2017-02-27, 06:12 AM
GIMP is especially great for regional and overworld maps because you can draw right over a real map. Even if you aren't just filing the serial numbers off a real-world place, a layer with a map of Colorado or Ireland or whatever can five you really valuable insight into sizes and distances.

This sounds really useful to establish a sense of scale and to get a feeling which changes in terrain and climate can realistically occur over a few hundred kilometres. I'll definitely try to do this... okay, I did so right now. Had to do it quick, so it's a bit ugly, but this definitely helps to understand the distances involved (at least if you live in germany) and the implications of a territory this size being inhabited by barely 5.000 humans, each dot represents ~25 people (it's for a bronze age fantasy setting). I'll try the same with another map to check if I got the "eternal ice and snow in the northernmost part" and "somewhat arable land in the south" right or if the scale would need to be even bigger for this to happen.

https://abload.de/img/mapoverlaywkjh2.png

OttoVonBigby
2017-02-27, 06:38 AM
Had to do it quick, so it's a bit ugly, but this definitely helps to understand the distances involved (at least if you live in germany)

I do this in AutoREALM too. AutoREALM (Wiki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AutoREALM); free download (https://sourceforge.net/projects/autorealm/)) also has the considerable advantage, which AFAIK is not available in GIMP, of built-in mapping tools--most essentially a ruler with presets for miles, leagues, days by foot while burdened over rugged terrain, etc. I use that thing ALL the time.

The downside? Someday I may have to upgrade to a PC that won't run AutoREALM. So, no good exit strategy. (Perhaps, when that day comes, I'll just shell out the $ for a non-free alternative that can import an AutoREALM map, if one exists--since I've been building my campaign map in AutoREALM for fourteen years now! Kind of a lot to re-draw in GIMP.)

Mendicant
2017-02-27, 12:10 PM
If you do use GIMP, I can't recommend this brush pack (http://calthyechild.deviantart.com/art/Sketchy-Cartography-Brushes-198264358) highly enough. It is a timesaver that gives you some really beautiful mountains and forests.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3704/19740851723_6ba805db24_k.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/w5r2st)Imperial Interior (https://flic.kr/p/w5r2st) by Pathfinder Campaign 2013 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/101876803@N07/), on Flickr

Knaight
2017-02-27, 12:16 PM
I generally just do freehand drawing, but Hexographer is solid if you want a digital tool.

Stealth Marmot
2017-02-28, 08:28 AM
http://therealladyhawkins.tumblr.com/post/91964126921/lets-make-some-mother****ing-maps

Caution: Harsh language.