Homebrew campaign map idea

[curiosity]

It seems to me that an easy way to make a map for your homebrew campaign area would just be to get hold of a topographical map of an area of the real world. Then you couldn't help but have a realistic map, with rivers and mountain ranges where they should be, and the work of determining climate, distances etc. is done for you. I'm fairly sure that you could simply rotate the map 90 or 180 degrees and your players would never recognise it once you had dressed it up.

Has anyone thought of this before, or tried it? I'm trying to think what would be a good land mass to try this out on - maybe Spain?

 

[StalkingBlue]

I did that a number of years ago - basically turned Australia on its head, shrank it and made some minor changes to its outline so it wouldn't be too obvious even if looking at it the wrong (right) way up. My players and I all loved that map, they never caught on to the fact that it was a continent from Earth we were playing on.

I've been spoiled for fantasy-type maps ever since; my recent attempt to modify the published map from the Midnight setting I'm now running hasn't made me entirely happy even though I spent tons of time trying to turn it into something that would look a little more like something that could possibly exist.

 

[sellars]

Great idea!

especially if you'd stretch and skew the picture a bit, I think nobody would notice. Especially if you would take a land-bound coutry. For instance a eastern-european country used as an island.

 

[Goblyns Hoard]

It is almost certain not to be recognized - a friend of mine has a map of the world on one wall and a mirror on the opposite one (coincidentally) Looking at a mirror image of north america is really messed up it just looks so off. Pick just a part of a map and zoom in on that and no one would ever be able to tell. But if you are using a small real world area to represent a continent then you'll have to consider the changes it will make on weather systems which could have an impact.

 

[rushlight]

If you rotate the map, there is a problem if you intend for your new map to be scientifically acurate with regards to weather patterns.

Basically, the flow of air will be drastically different, which will totally change the climate. Mountains will no longer block the air flow, resulting in a radically different climate on the leeward side, and so forth.

It might be best to chose a small region from a fairly unknown part of the world (to your players). African coasts would work well, as would parts of the far east. Without political borders, only large continents are easily recognizable.

Then you could use your map unaltered. Choosing a map from a remote area, with as small a human population as possible should yield an excellent map for a D&D campaign.

Of course, I just drew a map that I liked - science be damned.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Another secret is taking a real world map and raising or lowering the water to give a new coast line.

 

[reanjr]

It seems to me that an easy way to make a map for your homebrew campaign area would just be to get hold of a topographical map of an area of the real world. Then you couldn't help but have a realistic map, with rivers and mountain ranges where they should be, and the work of determining climate, distances etc. is done for you. I'm fairly sure that you could simply rotate the map 90 or 180 degrees and your players would never recognise it once you had dressed it up.

Has anyone thought of this before, or tried it? I'm trying to think what would be a good land mass to try this out on - maybe Spain?

I recommend flipping it by a number of degrees not divisible by 90, like 213 or something. Then stretch it too. Due to the stretching, you may have to do some touch up work. Also, if you are doing something continent sized, there's still a few things that can go wrong, for instance fjords being found in the tropics.

 

[Eltern]

This is exactly what I'm trying to do If you finally find a solution could you put up before and after photos?

Someone around here took one of the Hawaiian islands and changed the scale to a continents. Bam, instant continent, than nobody will recognize (Unless you are in Hawaii and your players know the countryside)

Eltern

 

[RFisher]

Dave Arneson used a map of Denmark for Blackmoor.

I've done this a few times. I remember creating a map that juxtaposed part of Antartica with part of northern Eurasia.

 

[curiosity]

Cool

Now I am convinced this is a good idea, and yes, it would be easier just to use an area unrotated, wouldn´t it. The only problem now is finding a good source of maps - preferably topographical and without much writing...