Drew my first digital map in Photoshop for my homebrew Desert Campaign!

[Juhrer]

Worldbuilding is by far one of my favorite things to do as a DM. I can spend hours lost in my imagination, writing up things and forgetting about time. Yesterday, I spent a couple of hours working with Photoshop in the attempt to finish my first digital map. Quite happy with how it turned out! Helped out quite a bit by the series done by mearrin69 on YouTube.

For those interested in what's to be found in the city:

1. The Abandoned Temple is dedicated to Zanna, the goddess of knowledge, invention and civilization. Zanna is a tricky deity, and after the last priest died, she had the entire building sealed up. Legend has it that those who manage to enter the temple will receive her blessing.
2. As Limen is a traveller's hub, the residential area is separated from the noisy ruckus. Locals tend not to mingle with the visitors.
3. The local Han area is where the caravans might rest. A stable, smithy and a "reading house" (aka gambling den/seedy tavern) are at the weary traders' disposal.
4. The Esh Alttayir is one of the few woodland areas in the Sea of Sands. A very peculiar man with spectacles has set up camp in the forest, apparently to count birds?
5. The unlikelihood of finding water in the desert has always mystified the discovery of an actual body of water. A desperate lover looking for the right words, a budding bard looking for the right chords or even a blacksmith in search of a great design all flock to the Oasis of Spontaneity to find inspiration.
6. Isolated from the rest of the town, Badr's shack is a collection of rag & tag stones put together. The place, however, always smells of the most delicious food. If you do not mind the loud shouting and occasional explosions.
7. The Fanduk family has built Limen from the ground up and their loyalty to the imperial family has granted them the role of Caretaker of the caravansary for eternity. The Fanduks organize the guard, levy taxes and protect the peace. Recently, however, the elder Fanduk has rarely been seen outside of the house.

[Mouse]

Hello Juhrer, and welcome to the Guild

That's an attractive map you've got there - and a great start to your collection of new digital maps.

I do hope your players appreciate the effort

[Juhrer]

Hello Juhrer, and welcome to the Guild

That's an attractive map you've got there - and a great start to your collection of new digital maps.

I do hope your players appreciate the effort

Thank you! I do think they will appreciate it, but I have to admit that making such a map is a reward in and of its own. Coming up with a suitable story is a great creative challenge.

[Juhrer]

Next up; an actual city. Done with the terrain mapping! Looks a bit poor compressed though...

[damonjynx]

Hi Mate, welcome to the guild! Your off to a flyer, 2 very good maps. If I may make a suggestion on your first map? It looks as though your building layer has a blend mode of overlay or multiply or something similar so the buildings have the same texture as the background. Perhaps you might want to change that so the buildings are totally separate?

[Josiah VE]

Great looking terrain on that map!
I agree that the first map it looks as if there is a texture laid over the whole thing, while I believe it would look better if the buildings were above it.

[Juhrer]

Great looking terrain on that map!
I agree that the first map it looks as if there is a texture laid over the whole thing, while I believe it would look better if the buildings were above it.

You guys are both right, there is a texture on top. It was more an attempt of making it look "crackled", but it turned out grainy and I kinda went with it. I'm going to steer clear from it in my second map however! Thanks for the feedback.

EDIT: The main issue I'm having right now is how to add convincing looking vegetation to the map - I don't like the way they turned out on my first map. Does anyone have experience with that or is there a good tutorial that you use?