Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 20

Thread: Barovia

Hybrid View

Previous Post Previous Post   Next Post Next Post
  1. #1
    Professional Artist Facebook Connected Coyotemax's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    1,945

    Map Barovia

    Inspired by the Ravenloft game setting, what better choice to follow up a real world Transylvania map created in the same style

    Between the practice map and this one, I actually caused hardware damage from all the clicking This one is done with a number of handdrawn mountains, those turned into brushes to save the new mouse. Trees and town markers are brushes I created for the Transylvania practice map. I played around with the brush settings until I found a convincing watercolour stroke for the colour layers, i think it worked out well (the main things being Opacity set to Fade, and wet edges - when opacity sets to fade, it has a rather nifty effect if you look at the brush stroke itself, not only does it fade out, it fades in a bit first). The large font is Teutonic #4, the smaller is Carmilla. Neither of them did numbers the way I wanted, so those are from Calligraphic421.

    This is also the first map that I used Smart objects on as a matter of course (didn't think about it, just did'em) plus layer masking by reflex

    100% photoshop work. I brought in other tools for a few things, though I ended up discarding the results in favour of a more consistent look.

    It's been a long time since I played, so the journey to find an accurate map to work off was was time consuming - there are a lot of re-imaginings out there, some well done, some very cluttered and.. completely wrong as far as I'm concerned. Anyhow, I did research and find as many existing town names as I could (i know there have been books written in this setting that I've not paid attention to) to add in. Anything within the borders is mentioned in either a book or supplement, anything outside the borders is borrowed from Transylvania.

    I know at least one person has been waiting for this to use in an actual game setting, let me know how it goes

    Thanks for the helpful commentary to everyone who commented as this grew from a simple border into a full out map (even if i set things to the side for purposes of this map, it will certainly be taken into account for future projects)
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	barovia2 copy.jpg 
Views:	2533 
Size:	2.89 MB 
ID:	17439  

    My finished maps
    "...sometimes the most efficient way to make something look drawn by hand is to simply draw it by hand..."

  2. #2
    Guild Artisan Facebook Connected AslanC's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    Posts
    583

    Default

    Dude that's really good stuff!

    It is very much in the style of those olde tyme maps

  3. #3
    Community Leader mearrin69's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Portland, OR
    Posts
    2,318

    Post

    Awesome...and you did it quickly too!
    M

  4. #4

    Default

    Probably just the lowered resolution but it's kinda hard to read. Sort of blends together, you know?

    It does look good, though, and I have no doubts that when printed out onto the right paper it will be fantastic.

  5. #5
    Professional Artist Facebook Connected Coyotemax's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    1,945

    Default

    I keep looking at it trying to see how it's hard to read.. Maybe it's a monitor setting thing, because everything looks very clear from here *shrug*

    My finished maps
    "...sometimes the most efficient way to make something look drawn by hand is to simply draw it by hand..."

  6. #6
    Community Leader Gandwarf's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Netherlands
    Posts
    3,012

    Default

    Great work... but I have come to expect that from you
    Check out my City Designer 3 tutorials. See my fantasy (city) maps in this thread.

    Gandwarf has fallen into shadow...

  7. #7
    Professional Artist Facebook Connected Coyotemax's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    1,945

    Default

    mearrin: btw, thanks for the comments, and I expect updates from you on the use of the map

    My finished maps
    "...sometimes the most efficient way to make something look drawn by hand is to simply draw it by hand..."

  8. #8
    Community Leader mearrin69's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Portland, OR
    Posts
    2,318

    Post

    Quote Originally Posted by Coyotemax View Post
    mearrin: btw, thanks for the comments, and I expect updates from you on the use of the map
    Ah, yes. It'll be a while before I have an opening to run it, though:

    Fierce fighting in the recent border skirmishes between Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia has made it difficult for the World Health Organization to address what may be the latest outbreak of a mysterious hemorrhagic fever somewhere in the western mountains of Romania. A delirious man, suffering from the strange disease, recently stumbled into a UN peace-keeping camp muttering about someplace called "Barovia" and the "Devil Strahd". During treatment the delusional fellow, following a brief heart-stoppage, assaulted two UN medics who were treating him and was killed by guards, sustaining an incredible amount of damage before finally relenting in his attack. The UN has decided to dispatch a small force of guards and medics to look for Barovia and assess the situation - unfortunately, the only clues they have to go on are the assumed path of travel taken by the victim and an old map, provided by a helpful local.

    I've been making some notes on toning down the D&D v3.5 adventure for use in D20 Modern. Strahd and company are truly killer in that module - I think they hoped to offset D&D's crazy PC power-curve with equally powerful foes. He'll be a little more down-to-Earth in my modern version (though still hella scary). He also might have gotten his hands on a Vanquish recently...but maybe not. The Vistani will definitely be packing heat, however.
    M
    Last edited by mearrin69; 10-06-2009 at 04:01 PM.

  9. #9
    Community Leader Facebook Connected Steel General's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Ft. Wayne, IN
    Posts
    9,530

    Default

    Very nice C-max, I think you have the style 'nailed down'.
    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.



  10. #10
    Guild Journeyer
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    SC
    Posts
    227

    Default

    I don't really like the style but I love the map because you have executed that style with exceptional consistency and talent. Wonderful work!
    “Maps encourage boldness. They're like cryptic love letters. They make anything seem possible.”
    -Mark Jenkins

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •