My Finished Maps
Works in Progress(or abandoned tests)
My Tutorials:
Explanation of Layer Masks in GIMP
How to create ISO Mountains in GIMP/PS using the Smudge tool
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Unless otherwise stated by me in the post, all work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
Looks good.
QUESTION: The trees seem really big, and as a player I feel I cannot enter their space. Is it possible to denote where the actual trunk of the tree is located?
Daniel the Neon Knight: Campaign Cartographer User
Never use a big word when a diminutive one will suffice!
Any questions on CC3? Post them with CC3 in the Subject Line!
MY 'FAMOUS' CC3 MAPS: Thunderspire; Pyramid of Shadows; King of the Trollhaunt Warrens; Demon Queen's Enclave
I'd make the foliage transparent or an optional extra on the map. As it stands, any player who walks under the tree is going to look like he's flying. That will break the spell a little.
I played around with it a bit and this is what I got.
(For comparison, here is the original "Transparent Foliage" map from my first post
I tried simply making the foliage more translucent, and got this:
I'm not sure how I fell about this one - it seems that the foliage blends in to the ground too much. So, I tried outlining the foliage and got this:
I think outlining the foliage has potential, but I'm not certain I like this execution of the idea. I'm going to have to play around with it some more...
I think both have there advantages. I guess the question really is whether the players need to know the extent of the tree's canopy? I can think of no situation where this is necessary. Therefore the tree canopy is just pretty, not useful. What is useful is knowing where the stream is, or a rock that can be used for cover, or difficult terrain. From that point of view I like the first of the two you posted. I can see that the tree canopy is there, but I can also see what the terrain is doing. I don't see a need for outlining the canopy.
The tree on the left has a 20' wide trunk and the tree on the right has a 10' wide trunk, if these are 5' squares. That seems spectacularly large for any tree I've ever seen. Not sure if this was intentional.
You're right - typically the exact location of the canopy isn't too relevant to an encounter. However, the encounter I'm putting this map together for has a bunch of goblins hiding the in branches of the trees, waiting to ambush the players as they set up camp for the night. So, I anticipate that the players will want to know how far out the branches extend. Of course, this is part of the utility of these computer maps - it's trivially easy for me to adjust it to my needs.
They're intended to be old oak trees, but, at these sizes, they would also work as, say, weeping willows, or even small baobab trees.
Thanks for the comments!
Thanks Joe! Good to be back. Hopefully RL will let me hang around longer this time.
Here's a higher-resolution version of the one with opaque foliage and no grid. I tweaked it a bit to improve the shadows under the trees. At least, I think they're improved - what do you think?
Let me know if you find use for it in your campaign. That'd be pretty cool.