September Entry: Lynch the Scribe

Not as early an entry as I would have like to have made, but I had a few other projects that had priority (money always wins out, lol), and then I had to cast around for some good ideas (the previous ones I had are already taken, and I really wanted to do something different).

So, the idea behind this entry is to show a map acquired by a group of adventurers when they first land upon the shores of a (formerly) distant land. They purchase it from a reputable looking scribe, who has compiled it from "trusted sources". (exact wording is important, heh). As they explore this new land, they keep track of what happened where, and correct the discrepancies between the map and what's REALLY out there. At some point, I'm sure the frustrations regarding the inaccuracies will show through in the map notes, hence the entry title :)

I meant to post a WIP in progress sooner than this but got so caught up in creating I forgot :) First map is approaching finished already, then the REAL fun begins.

(partially an idea I had floating around in my head for awhile - I used to give out inaccurate maps to my gaming groups, and they'd correct them as they went - and partially inspired by msa. It probably would have stayed floating around if not for the reminder, yay :))

It looks a lot like Sicily, is that intended?

Very nice so far.

Great idea, can't wait to see the second map.

Classic "D&D" map, though of course a lot more sophisticated than anything we ever did back in the day--it evokes nostalgia for simpler times when fun was easier to come by and every wrinkle we threw in was a first.

It got me to thinking about back then and how things have changed. It was thirty years ago when I placed my first game of Dungeons and Dragons, and last week I played my last. We just finished a year-long campaign, and we won't be playing D&D again. We plan to kick the tires on Heroes for a month or three, then slide into Pathfinder. Needless to say, 4E didn't impress.

Anyway, thanks for triggering the memories. I think it's the simple lines and clarity of the map that do it, so that's a quality you might want to preserve as you develop the project. You'll find no shortage of folks around here worshiping at the alter of simplicity, but we all too often come up short when it's time to tithe there. I guess it's a hat tip to the fact that, while we emulate cartographers, the actual purpose of our projects is frequently to impress with our artistic talent or sense of style or clever ideas, rather than to convey information as effectively and efficiently as possible.

I look forward to watching this one develop.

I wanna lynch the scribe for those coastlines :) Good job so far.

Thanks for the nice words so far everyone. yes, there are a few things about the map that are designed to be perturbing (the coastline, yes. typo here and there, "why is a lost city marked on the map?" and one of my favourites- "we don't go here" lol)

The primary map isn't going to change much, I'm adding a border, scale marker, compass etc and paper texture to overlay, but not too grungy (it's new at this point afterall). So what you see is close to what you'll get. Actually, I can save what I have so far and upload, why not.

Immolate: Yes, I've been going down a very similar memory lane, nice to see I'm not the only one that happened to :) Some of the locations (and resulting comments) are from actual gaming adventures and players in my past, so I've been spending a lot of time reminiscing - a hazard that I wasn't actually expecting to be an obstacle, lol.

I am trying to keep it simple, in part because the map is to convey information (just the things that would concern our intrepid adventurers - interesting places to loot, interesting places to sell said loot, and how to get from one to the other most efficiently) and partly because I know I'll need to leave a lot of room for notes and updates :)

That having been said, I'm letting my creativity loose a bit for the embellishments, but still keeping a tight reign on it - the compass rose is as ornate as anything will get. Anything not added yet will be kept simple for.. well, the sake of simplicity :)

Ok, so I went a bit further than I meant to with the cartouche, but I had to keep the feel similar to match the other skulls :)

Done as it needs to be, and will be considering most errors as intentional :P

Known (intentional) issues:
coastline (especially in the northeast)
2 cities labeled Newford
"Lost City" marked as location
Wizard's Tower typo

Any other intentional issues shouldn't be noticed until the next map as they will involve mislabeling, shoreline corrections, scale corrections, etc :)

IF there IS anything anyone sees that's not listed in the known issues, feel free to speak up and I'll incorporate them into the corrected map.

(amazingly, the scribe did not have any river violations!)


Now for the relabeling :)

### LATEST WIP ###

Looking very very good. Now next map the boot that kicks it ;)

I want to see a picture of an Octoclops! :D

So do I, sir :)
There will be references to that in the next map, too :P