Hello
Hi I'm Scorpius,
I like maps. I always have. Especially old maps. I'm currently in Boston MA and between the colleges, libraries and museums we have some great maps. Come visit and bring us you're money!
Currently I'm developing maps for both my DnD games, as well as to help support the Runelords series.
Yes, I have gone from 3rd edition to 4th edition. No I do not intend to go back. No I do not intend to get rid of my 3rd edition books or let them go to waste. Everything that you like can be updated creatively! Currently, I'm making maps with pencil and paper primarily for DnD but I want to start using Gimp more, and hopefully polish things up so I can release them publicly for other people to use.
The Runelords, is a wonderful series of fantasy novels by David Farland. I run the wiki, at runelordswiki.com. While Dave loves geography and has made some really interesting places, his publisher apparently hates geography. The maps that come with his books are often poor, conflict with each other and sometimes the text itself. I have done some light map making for use in the wiki, as well as the roleplaying communities centered around the work. (if you like roleplaying in large fantasy worlds check out www.runelordsrp.com) However, I know the quality can be better and plan to up the with time considerably. The main map we have been using is. . .
So I'm here to learn primarily. But maybe eventually you'll get some good stuff out of me.
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Edited Web Address
Last edited by Scorpius; 08-05-2009 at 03:22 PM.
That's a great first map... very clear and easy on the eye. A great resource for a campaign. There is a lot to learn here and I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay!
Expect some feedback on the rivers. I don't want to be associated in with the "river police" crowd so I'll let them fill you in on the river rules
In any case, great work, and we can't wait to see more!
Welcome to the guild Scorpius!
If you decide to convert that map to a new style be sure to create a work in progress thread on this forum. It does indeed look like the rivers need some work, unless you have good reasons for the rivers being the way they are. Rivers don't tend to split for example.
Check out my City Designer 3 tutorials. See my fantasy (city) maps in this thread.
Gandwarf has fallen into shadow...
The above map was an attempt to combine the three maps given in the books, which were done by at least two different people, into one large consistent map.
I take no credit for the rivers.
As I finish gathering the geographical information actually listed in the books I would like to redo the map. However I think I'll probably do smaller regions first.
For example, the nation of Deyazz. . .
As you can see in the world map (the one based on the maps given in the books) there are no rivers in Deyazz. However as the RP at www.runelordsrp.com developed its becoming more necessary to have a visual representation of Deyazz. In doing that research I learned that the north of Deyazz had hills, that the sun shown more brightly than any other nation (the skin of the people there being quite dark) and that it was considered a nation of rivers!
Now all the rivers within the nation are totally my fault. I apparently forked quite a few. I'd love some more general advise like that, or maybe be pointed to a general geography happenings thread.
Well, some general advice:
- Rivers tend to start in the mountains and they end up in the oceans.
- Rivers generally don't split as water takes the path of least resistance. There is a notable exception: the river delta.
- Rivers always flow downhill.
- Lakes tend to have an outlet (river) to the ocean as well. A lake can have multiple inlets (rivers) feeding it.
Problems in the map above:
- Some rivers suddenly end on land
- Some rivers split
We have a tutorial about rivers on this forum:
http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=3822
Check out my City Designer 3 tutorials. See my fantasy (city) maps in this thread.
Gandwarf has fallen into shadow...
Nice starts, I can see a lot of potential in there.. (slaps fingers.. no! too many projects ongoing already!)
Welcome, and enjoy your stay, you'll definitely want to check out the tutorial section, if memory serves there's a paragraph or so on river creation in each of the regional tutorials , plus a full thread by redrobe here. (very informative, it's kept me from having any river violations, or at least if there are, no one's ever caught them before I did, heh)
The main thing is to keep practicing and having fun with the creation, and I highly recommend the tutorial section - it certainly helped me. And in terms of the tutorials, while the techniques are generally specific to maps, I've learned more about graphic creation and manipulation in general from this site in 3 weeks than most of my previous ten years combined.
So yes, enjoy your stay, and make the most of it, and I look forward to seeing works in progress
(figured, Gandwarf would beat me to the river thread, heh)
Last edited by Coyotemax; 08-05-2009 at 02:01 PM. Reason: not fast enough on the submit, heh)
My finished maps
"...sometimes the most efficient way to make something look drawn by hand is to simply draw it by hand..."
Welcome Aboard!
My Finished Maps | My Challenge Maps | Still poking around occasionally...
Unless otherwise stated by me in the post, all work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
Welcome to the guild! But as Gandwarf said, the rivers do need a bit of fixing. I hope you have them on their own layer! Check out the tutorial section for prettier mountain styles too!
Welcome to the Guild.
ANd Black Chauncery....one of my Favoritist Fonts
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
Welcome. I never knew there was a thread about rivers. I have been trying to figure out what the River Police was for a while.
Good luck with your maps.
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