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Thread: Looking for 2 simple maps for D&D game

  1. #1
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    Help Looking for 2 simple maps for D&D game

    I'm terrible at drawing and the map-making tools I've found simply don't agree with me. I was hoping one of you good folk might please be willing to help me out?

    Looking for 2 world maps. 1 being a continent and the other being a hidden Elven in the woods.

    They can be as simple as you like with as little detail as you like. I realize this is a free gig so I'm not expecting much. You could legitimately use simple rectangles for homes (for Elven city) and simple icons for anything else. Backgrounds can be a simple white and color is not needed (shading is fine).

    Thanks so much in advance to any that respond!

    Description of the Elven city is pretty open. The only things that need to be included are as follows:
    • The city is extremely classist so a slum area, a working/middle class area, a slightly upper class/nobility area, and some sort of castle simply for events/council meetings.

    Description of the continent is as follows (copying/pasting this so you have an idea of what I'm going for). Also if you're familiar with D&D we are completing the Lost Mines of Phandelver module and I'm planning on having Neverwinter be one of 2 or 3 kingdoms to the East.

    The continent of Kaeldor contains several regions; the North, East, South, West, and Central parts each contain their own mysteries and rumors that surround them.
    To the East is the region of Neverwinter whose main city is the city of Neverwinter controlled by a Lawful Good King Emeric Serone (pronounced ser-own). The city is ruled by the King and a small council of trusted advisors.
    To the West lays a land of uncharted jungle, rumored to house mysterious magic causing people to lose their minds and never be seen again. Many say that people are sometimes called by the jungle and leave everything at home to amble aimlessly into the never-ending darkness the trees provide.
    To the South is The Dread Steppes a deserted wasteland of sand shrouded in myths and mystery. Not much is known of this desert save for that most die as they wander the sands here in search of gods know what.
    To the North is a land of snow and ice, mostly uninhabited save for the mythical creatures rumored to preside over the few nomadic tribes of roaming Dwarves, Goliaths, and various races brave enough to call the region home. Only the bravest adventurers dare to go here in search of a challenge and the respect of the nomadic discordant tribes who, in times of war, are seen as some of the most powerful allies to have.
    The Central part of the continent blocks off the East from the West and North from the South due to the huge mountains that loom over the land. Rumor has it that powerful magic and creatures (such as dragon clans and exiled magic abusers) inhabit this area. Bards have brought back stories of the area telling of brave mining groups going in search of fabled precious metals and gems only to find their demise at the hands of greedy dragons who wanted the treasures for themselves.
    There is also a set of well-known but less-travelled Tropical Islands to the West of the region of Neverwinter said to be full of barbaric island people called the Shining Isles. Many people have not journeyed outside of the continent and the harbors that connect the West and the islands but the Shining Isles have been rumored to be both dangerous and profitable, full of savages and rare materials. The islands also provide some of Kaeldor’s most precious stones and materials (diamonds and adamantine) worn in jewelry by some of the world’s most prominent figures.

  2. #2
    Guild Expert Facebook Connected Caenwyr's Avatar
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    Okay, let me see if I understand this correctly. Let me know if I make any mistakes!


    • East: Neverwinter (nice, cozy medieval-ish place, not to warm, not too cold. Pleasant, really!)
    • South: Dread Steppes (deserts and dunes - deadly!)
    • West: unnamed jungle (crazy magic - deadly!)
    • North: unnamed frozen land (cold and harsh - deadly!)
    • Centre: unnamed mountains (lots of gold, but also dragons - deadly!)



    A few remarks:

    1. the jungle (west) seems to border on the frozen land (north). That doesn't seem plausible. Either you cram a mountain range in there, or you add a region where both climates gradually flow one into one another. I'd go for the first option. Simple and clean.
    2. There's a helluva lotta deadly places here! No wonder the people in Neverwinter don't travel a lot. I wouldn't leave my house if I were them!
    3. The Shining Isles. Where exactly are they? Or even roughly? Because you wrote they're to the west of Neverwinter - but that's where the central mountain range is supposed to be. Are they off the Neverwinter coast (that is, EAST of Neverwinter)? Or are they on the other side of the continent, off the jungle coast? Again, I'd go for the first option.



    A quick sketch on how I see it:

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Caenwyr Cartography


    Check out my portfolio!

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Caenwyr View Post
    the jungle (west) seems to border on the frozen land (north). That doesn't seem plausible. Either you cram a mountain range in there, or you add a region where both climates gradually flow one into one another. I'd go for the first option. Simple and clean.
    Except that it doesn't work. At least not in a Universe that is not behaving totally chaotically but in such a Universe there wouldn't probably be life either
    As températures are dictated by latitude and altitude, a mountain range doesn't help.
    What would help would be to raise the whole northern side by some 5 km what decreases températures by some 30-40° (if the place has an atmosphere that is).
    After all that's approximately what happens on Earth when one goes from the indian jungle to the Tibetan plateau but here it would be more dramatic.
    The negative side is that cold and high means dry.
    So the northern side would look more like a very cold moonlike desert with rocks without much snow and ice.
    On the other hand the hot wet air rising from the jungle along the slope of the plateau would release all water and there would be giant précipitations and many rivers running from north to South.

    Beside this remark I find that your map fits nicely the description indeed.

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    My mistake. I actually meant that Neverwinter and 2 other kingdoms are to the WEST and the jungle to the EAST. An importand detail I forgot to mention is I wanted to make the center of the map the bed of some volcanic activity possibly with a number of smaller ones and then a larger than life one dead in the middle (planning an epic encounter with a clan of dragons here for the game). From there is where the rest of the geography would have originated from. The mountains and volcanoes would ALMOST separate the 4 different areas but doesn't have to completely.

    I'm not very well versed in climate and geology so I'm shooting in the dark here but the details listed above are what I'm trying to accomplish for the game.

    Does this help at all?

    Also, I don't have an issue with any part of the map being higher/lower than the other or with rolling hills; I just have no idea how those would actually work.

    My only note for the North is to think... "North of the Wall" in Game of Thrones. That's essentially what I was trying to mimic.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mizzko View Post
    My mistake. I actually meant that Neverwinter and 2 other kingdoms are to the WEST and the jungle to the EAST. An importand detail I forgot to mention is I wanted to make the center of the map the bed of some volcanic activity possibly with a number of smaller ones and then a larger than life one dead in the middle (planning an epic encounter with a clan of dragons here for the game). From there is where the rest of the geography would have originated from. The mountains and volcanoes would ALMOST separate the 4 different areas but doesn't have to completely.

    I'm not very well versed in climate and geology so I'm shooting in the dark here but the details listed above are what I'm trying to accomplish for the game.

    Does this help at all?

    Also, I don't have an issue with any part of the map being higher/lower than the other or with rolling hills; I just have no idea how those would actually work.

    My only note for the North is to think... "North of the Wall" in Game of Thrones. That's essentially what I was trying to mimic.
    North of the wall, is very cold although apparently not as cold as the land of Always Winter. I honestly don't think there are much difference.
    Places always under the freezing temperature of water, there are 3 of them: Greenland, Antarctica and mountain summits. (yep, even the Tibetan plateau is warmer, but not so much). The last one is the most logical since a polar environment would be several thousand km away.
    The bad news, if it is one, is that nobody could or would want to live there obviously.

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    So.. any takers?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mizzko View Post
    My mistake. I actually meant that Neverwinter and 2 other kingdoms are to the WEST and the jungle to the EAST. An importand detail I forgot to mention is I wanted to make the center of the map the bed of some volcanic activity possibly with a number of smaller ones and then a larger than life one dead in the middle (planning an epic encounter with a clan of dragons here for the game). From there is where the rest of the geography would have originated from. The mountains and volcanoes would ALMOST separate the 4 different areas but doesn't have to completely.

    I'm not very well versed in climate and geology so I'm shooting in the dark here but the details listed above are what I'm trying to accomplish for the game.

    Does this help at all?

    Also, I don't have an issue with any part of the map being higher/lower than the other or with rolling hills; I just have no idea how those would actually work.

    My only note for the North is to think... "North of the Wall" in Game of Thrones. That's essentially what I was trying to mimic.
    You don't sound certain on what you want in the least. What I would suggest is you ask someone to make you a map to use with a few key things you want in it. (Wall of GOT, Volcano, Jungle, Etc...)

    You will get better results and likely fuel your D&D creativity through the randomness of what you get in the end.

    Also wanted to mention the few names you took are VERY popular fantasy places nearly identical to what your describing, inc ase they are not meant to be 'copies' of those places.

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