PShop mappin' inspired by stringbean...

[Chronosome]

Hey, all.

One thing I've had trouble with in my games (I would've called it my "biggest DM flaw") is mapping. I'm not that great with distances in description or in cartography.

But taking a look in this thread, started by Terraism, I've been struck with a passion for "reverse engineering" how stringbean had done his excellent Cravensmarch piece...

I think mine has come out well, so far:

What do you guys think? Any advice or criticism? It's still a work in progress, and any advice from stringbean or other PShop cartographers would be welcomed...

 

[stringbean]

I think you're off to a great start, Chrono!

You may want to consider a more contrasting text style as opposed to outline text (Bonewood and Black Mere, frex), but I really like the textures and subtle drop shadows you've used.

What version of PS do you use? (7.0 is a wonderful toy...)

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Matty
matt.everhart@mocotton.com
stringbean

 

[Chronosome]

Thanks, SB.

I'm using 6.0...so I'm getting the most out of styles.
As for the outline style text, it looks better in its full size form
I shrank it and lowered the JPG quality for easy web loadin'.
I'll keep that in mind, though...hmmm...

 

[Eosin the Red]

Sweet...

I do not use PS but .... the forests look good but could you apply more of a woodland texture to them? (Chris West does this really well).

I would agree about the test blending into the background.

It bears repeating, good maps.

 

[Scorpio]

Nice work. Be careful about making it look too 3-D, you want land masses, not pollen spores...but very nice!

 

[Kip the Bold]

Very nice! You have only been running the campaign for what, 3 years or so without a map? It's about time!

 

[Chronosome]

Very nice! You have only been running the campaign for what, 3 years or so without a map? It's about time!

Hahaha...some of my favorite books don't have maps, man...and at least I don't draw every barkeep and fisherman in my world!

Eosin: Could you give me a link to Chris West's stuff? I'd like to compare.

Scorpio: Good point.

 

[Eosin the Red]

Here is the link:

Creative Nexus

He does a lot of work to Dungeon and Dragon mags and has a distinctive compass that indicates "west" instead of north. I have not looked through the site to see if it has any local wilderness maps lately (I do not think it does).

Try the Dungeon Map page here: WEST MAPS

 

[Chronosome]

Thanks, Eosin. I'll check those out.