Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
The ingredients to a city.
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="gamerprinter" data-source="post: 5960823" data-attributes="member: 50895"><p>I build my cities from scratch, including the map, but then I'm a professional fantasy cartographer (cities are still a pain to map, even for a pro). I designed the map for Kasai, the imperial capital of Minkai, of Paizo's Dragon Empire. The map exists in Jade Regent <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=6" target="_blank">#6</a> The Empty Throne.</p><p> </p><p>First I decide what kind of government (whose in charge) and how do they maintain power. Then I decide which churches exist and of them who are the power mongers. Then I decide what is the majority population of the city, and who are the lesser populations. Then I decide on the geography - where is the city located.</p><p> </p><p>Once all that is decided I then work on factions, and the complex relationships between such factions. To me factions and major NPCs are the major factors that drive an urban campaign, much more so than geography, population and architecture.</p><p> </p><p>Once all that is factored in, I create a gazetteer to drop hints of what is going on in various parts of the city, and which factions are involved.</p><p> </p><p>For mapping, if you can handle CAD (I can't) there's always ProFantasy, and it's accessory, City Designer. Any of the various random city generators is great for giving you a direction, but in of itself, are generally poor to accurately represent most city designs. I sometimes use one as an idea generator, but never as the final mapping tool. MapTools, described above is really a free Virtual Terrain Map, but does have built in mapping tools for quick and dirty maps. Since I'm a graphic designer by day, I rely on Photoshop, GIMP, and Xara Designer Pro for my mapping tools, but then this wouldn't apply to you (the non-artist), but I wouldn't use anything else.</p><p> </p><p>You might visit the <strong><a href="http://www.cartographersguild.com" target="_blank">Cartographers' Guild</a></strong> for tips on designing your own maps, the best mapping tools, tutorials for using such mapping tools, as well as a huge selection of created maps ready to use in your own campaign. I'm a member - it's the best site out there for game mapping.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="gamerprinter, post: 5960823, member: 50895"] I build my cities from scratch, including the map, but then I'm a professional fantasy cartographer (cities are still a pain to map, even for a pro). I designed the map for Kasai, the imperial capital of Minkai, of Paizo's Dragon Empire. The map exists in Jade Regent [URL=http://www.enworld.org/forum/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=6]#6[/URL] The Empty Throne. First I decide what kind of government (whose in charge) and how do they maintain power. Then I decide which churches exist and of them who are the power mongers. Then I decide what is the majority population of the city, and who are the lesser populations. Then I decide on the geography - where is the city located. Once all that is decided I then work on factions, and the complex relationships between such factions. To me factions and major NPCs are the major factors that drive an urban campaign, much more so than geography, population and architecture. Once all that is factored in, I create a gazetteer to drop hints of what is going on in various parts of the city, and which factions are involved. For mapping, if you can handle CAD (I can't) there's always ProFantasy, and it's accessory, City Designer. Any of the various random city generators is great for giving you a direction, but in of itself, are generally poor to accurately represent most city designs. I sometimes use one as an idea generator, but never as the final mapping tool. MapTools, described above is really a free Virtual Terrain Map, but does have built in mapping tools for quick and dirty maps. Since I'm a graphic designer by day, I rely on Photoshop, GIMP, and Xara Designer Pro for my mapping tools, but then this wouldn't apply to you (the non-artist), but I wouldn't use anything else. You might visit the [B][URL="http://www.cartographersguild.com"]Cartographers' Guild[/URL][/B] for tips on designing your own maps, the best mapping tools, tutorials for using such mapping tools, as well as a huge selection of created maps ready to use in your own campaign. I'm a member - it's the best site out there for game mapping. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
The ingredients to a city.
Top