Campaign Map (Looking for input)

[Kryndal Levik]

I've developed a campaign map showing the main continent of my campaign world (Laeryn); I'm looking for input about how it may be improved, or general feedback. Any comments would be appreciated!

Laeryn (Warning: Large .jpg file!)

Sorry about the large size- it's the original .jpg version. Let me know if anyone wants me to post a resized version...

Edit: Too darned big- see below...

 

[alsih2o]

mucho cartographic goodness!

 

[Buttercup]

It's beautiful! What software did you use? And I especially want to know about the hills & mountains. I really like that look.

Please do resize it so that we can look at the whole map without scrolling. If you make it around 6 inches wide, and then attach the image to your post, it will make it easy to refer back to if someone has comments.

 

[Kryndal Levik]

I used Photoshop to create the map, actually- I drew all of the mountains, hills, etc. by hand using a graphics tablet. I think I had about 50 layers by the time I was finished...

I resized it to a more web-friendly size... Let me know what you think!

 

[Larry Fitz]

Very nicely done. The names are so evocative that I was getting adventure ideas just looking at the map. Have you fleshed out all the towns? I'm at the very beginning phase of a project that might fit into your world (which means I can't tell you any details unfortunately). Is the Freeport on your map the published Freeport or a homebrew?

 

[Kryndal Levik]

I'm actually (FINALLY!) nearing completion of my "Adventurer's Guide to Laeryn;" it describes each city, town, location, etc. in Laeryn (as well as other vital information, such as gods, etc.). This is actually the reason I did the map- I wanted to update all the old, hand-drawn, and (sometimes) inconsistent maps I'd created over the past fifteen years.

Thanks for the positive feedback on the names- I "reverse engineered" them from the languages spoken in Laeryn (Elthairwyd/elven, ancient Echyan, etc.) both in the current campaign and as part of the world's history. That's one of the things my players have really gotten into (the etymology)- most use "y's" instead of "i's" in their names now (Eryn instead of Erin, etc.)...

I used the name Freeport mainly because I liked the sound of it; the city (previously known as Lechyss) was recently taken over, and is no longer a part of the Kingdom of Laeryn. It's, well, a free port now. Those not submitting to the new ruler, however, still refer to the city as Lechyss.

 

[Sanackranib]

map

excelent map! how long did it take you and what cartographer did you use

 

[Kryndal Levik]

I drew it entirely in Photoshop (by hand)- I scanned in an old hand-drawn map for the general shape of the continent, and just filled it in from there. I'm not sure exactly how long it took, but I know I was done with it within a week from when I started...

 

[Scorpio]

Nice, clean work. Kudos!

 

[Kryndal Levik]

Thanks for the kind words, all- anyone have any suggestions for improvements?