Help required for my first map making project!

[Philtros]

Thank you for your quick answer Hai-Etlik! I was actually expecting these comments, but don't really know what to make of it really

Envelope deformation is not a good way to do curved labels. As it distorts the letters. You need to use a "text along path" tool. You should also generally increase the spacing of letters at least a bit for curved labels. Often it's a good idea to use spacing to stretch the label out to indicate the extent of the feature.

Fancy, ornate fonts make for bad labels. Keep it simple and legible.

So I should only use like, Times New Roman, or similar fonts, without texture and without «Outer Glow»?

Rivers don't generally behave the way yours do. The basic rule of rivers is that for any point, there is one route that's most downhill. So rivers merge together. There are exceptions in special situations, but most are quite small compared to the overall river system (anabranches and river deltas) and those that aren't are very unusual, geologically short lived, and require special situations. Artificial rivers (canals, magic, etc) may break these rules, but they require a reason and ongoing maintenance so you should be aware of when you are doing this.

I think I understand what you are trying to say. I made a very long story for the region first, and tried to put everything that is in the story into an image. This is the result. The whole campaign setting can be found here (in french).

To make a very quick english summary, this region has been slowly flooded twice. It is a very large magical swamp. The Maelstrom at the center is the desperate solution of an alliance of powerful mages to "suck up" the water of the land by constantly magically draining the water in the center (which is then directed back into the Gulf of Dewborn, named after the archdruid they made a pact with to create that delicate balance).

However you are quite right, I don't really know how rivers should behave, I will try to rearrange them by looking at some other maps found here perhaps... My goal is to make the Maelstrom (in the middle of the map) the centerpiece of which everything "water" (rivers mostly) begins or ends. Also, I need a lot of "chaotic rivers" since there is a confederacy of river pirates (who also helped in the creation of the maelstrom, in their own way).

You seem to be trying to maintain a constant visual density across the map. This should be avoided. It makes for cluttered, hard to read, and unbelievable maps. The arrangement of interesting things in space is not usually uniform. Some areas have more stuff than others. You need to let the map have a background in order for the foreground to stand out. So moderate your use of textures and patterns, particularly if they aren't representing anything, avoid compressing all your colours into the mid tones, and accept that some areas need to be crowded while others need to be sparse in order for a map to look real.

I think I understand what you're trying to say. However I have so many things to put inside that map. I suppose I could (or should) create more "little maps" instead of a giant one, to represent the first chapter of my campaign? This way, I would be able to put "less constant visual density".

And when you say I should moderate my use of textures and patterns, are you talking about the water and the land? Should I just put them "clear blue" and "clear tan" without any textures?

I might be having a hard time still trying to translate my ideas into an image. Guess I still have a long haul to go.