Beta Dynamic ([info]betadynamic) wrote in [info]roleplayers,
@ 2008-05-05 17:03:00
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Map Generation
 We started playing D&D for the first time in a long time and I've been inspired to break out my DM's Manual and try my hands at this RPGing. One of the biggest problems I've had with running games is the dreaded map. I can visualize a map of epic scale and detail with all sorts of information and notations for my players. Then I pick up a pencil to make that map a reality...and it looks like a 3 year old scribbled on some notebook paper. Any tips on creating maps or maybe some software to help in that department?

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[info]rasilio
2008-05-05 09:19 pm UTC (link)
Well there is Campaign Cartographer It is a touch pricy for what it is and somewhat complex to use (almost as complicated as Photoshop) but it can produce really kickass maps.

Other than that, get some graph paper and freehand it, then use common mapping symbols to indicate the terrain rather than trying to draw something fancy.

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[info]salith
2008-05-05 09:42 pm UTC (link)
There's also Fractal Terrains by the same people, and they can be exported into Campaign Cartographer if needed :)

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Form and Function
[info]fiat_knox
2008-05-05 09:46 pm UTC (link)
Look for floor plans of great buildings, like Chartres Cathedral or other buildings. Look at how they're designed to perform a function to those dwelling within it.

If your dungeon's an underground temple, design a great central prayer chamber of whatever shape, with the usual sort of features you'd expect of a place of worship: a sacred area, an enclosed sanctum sanctorum etc.

Then build the outlying areas around it; rooms for priests, support staff and so on. Toilets. Bedrooms.

If your map has layers, remember to design their form and functions. Small rooms with sturdy doors are more likely to be storerooms for foodstuffs, robes and cleaning equipment than gold and treasure; you're going to find your most expensive and powerful baubles behind the most strongly-guarded and sturdiest doors; and weapons are likely to be found in armories rather than jauntily perched upon a pile of coins of random denomination.

Oh, and what an orc or a drow would consider "treasure" need not necessarily be what a human considers "treasure". A "treasure" to a kobold could be the species' Queen, squatting in the middle of a filthy room surrounded by attendants and kobold males, permanently pregnant and coming over more reminiscent of the Alien Queen than a simple pile of XP ripe for the taking.

If your dungeon looks like a place someone lives in, or once lived in but had to abandon, you'll make it feel much more believable to the players and enhance their appreciation of what dungeon crawling's all about: the fantasy equivalent of urban exploring, only there are far fewer orcs in an abandoned Firestone tyre factory ...

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Re: Form and Function
[info]hierophant81
2008-05-05 10:28 pm UTC (link)
"only there are far fewer orcs in an abandoned Firestone tyre factory ..."

I dunno... have you BEEN to a tire factory!? Some of those people look... funny. Must be all the burning rubber.

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[info]spooke
2008-05-05 10:30 pm UTC (link)
There's always Dunjinni.

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[info]arthwollipot
2008-05-08 01:05 pm UTC (link)
I couldn't make it work. The stuff I was creating appeared some way above and to the right of where I was clicking.

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[info]roseembolism
2008-05-05 10:56 pm UTC (link)
For large scale terrain maps, I look at real-world maps a lot beforehand for inspiration. I look at different parts of the world, turn them upside down, and gradually I get an intuitive feel for how the continent should look.

On the other hand, for my last map I deliberately used a silly, childish style. with things labeled "hot" "very hot!" "orcs", "even more orcs" "that river east of the mountains", and "what is this spot over here?". It conveyed the spirit of the game very well.

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[info]daysofourknives
2008-05-05 11:18 pm UTC (link)
Or you could do this very same thing, cut your maps all apart, and paste them back together, thus literally using the coastlines and mountain ranges of the real world. Turns out plate tectonics is generally a better map maker than me, but my players have never noticed they're adventuring on the coast of Norway and Vietnam mashed together.

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[info]mediaprophet
2008-05-06 01:06 am UTC (link)
That's pretty awesome. And you could do all the edits in photoshop or even MS Paint!

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[info]daysofourknives
2008-05-06 01:44 am UTC (link)
Yep. I use Perry-Castaneda map collection or the CIA world factbook to grab the coastlines, bring them to Paint, save them in 16 color, then redraw the coastlines and rivers in some obnoxious color that isn't normally in the palette. Finally, I use the eraser tool to get rid of all the other colors, and then turn my obnoxious color back to black or blue. Bam! Instant blank map that I think looks way better than any fractal, since, you know, it's a real coastline.

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[info]mediaprophet
2008-05-06 01:05 am UTC (link)
Medieval cartographers were probably not much better than you with a pen and paper.

You can do the map in pieces, focusing on small parts at a time, with one major, but largely undetailed, map to set them in a cohesive whole.

There are programs to use, but I hate them.

Here's what I do for important maps (not just the map for the next adventure etc.): I like to draw the map freehand with pencil, doing a couple of drafts. Then, for the final draft, I go over what parts I liked with black ink, then scan it, then edit it in prated Photoshop. That way I can clean up eraser marks, pencil lines that sucked, and wobbly inking. I don't write words on the final draft; I add them later in Photoshop.

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from the low, low tech department
[info]anchiale
2008-05-07 08:56 am UTC (link)
There are some pretty cool map-making programs out there, but I prefer the old fashioned techniques.

The easiest way I have found to make good looking maps for gaming is to use two kinds of paper: regular paper and tracing paper. Use pencil on the regular paper, and fiddle with the design until you're happy with it. Then, lay your tracing paper over the top and make a nice copy with pen. If you use waterproof pens (like the archival quality ones available at craft stores with a scrap-booking section), you can also do funky things with your tracing paper copy like dyeing it with tea or burning the edges or something.

As a result, you get a nice copy to give over to your players and a messy copy to keep and make changes to and not tell your players until it's far too late...

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