How do you map your homebrew?

[Patman21967]

Hey Virgil,
Someone sent me an awesome map. If you wanna take a look at it, email me at Patman21967@comcast.net

I am going to use it for a campaign I am plotting.....DragonHunters

 

[PapersAndPaychecks]

Drawing the map isn't complicated.

Picking names is a matter of selecting a theme. For example, personally, I decided that the North Polar regions were inhabited by the Jotuns, a civilised race of ice giants (many of whom have powers as an illusionist or cleric) who herd mammoths on the tundra.

Now, these critters had a pretty obvious derivation from Norse myth, so naming them was trivial. The realm became Jotunsheim, the main city Jotunsgard, then the regions nearby took names derived from the same myth cycle or from the Norse sagas: Aesirholm, Vannbjorg, the Fimbul Peaks (highest mountains of my campaign world), Njalgard, Vendelfjord, etc.

Then I moved south, and picked bits from different mythology to suit the area I had described. So the area just south of the Arctic Circle was occupied by the twin realms of Kalevala and Pohjola from Finnish myth, then south of that a huge Pictish forest (the names of the tribes and peoples there were inspired by Robert E. Howard and mostly sound as if they came from Asterix the Gaul), then south of that the land of Prydein (lifted from the Mabinogion myth cycle) and so on until you reach the desert lands only a short distance north of the equator.
If you don't lift your peoples and cultures from Earthly references, then the task becomes much harder. You need to decide what the language for each culture "sounds like" - which doesn't mean you need to become JRR Tolkein, just make the names sound distinctive. David Eddings did this by giving city names a prefix by nation, hence Vo Wacune, Vo Mimbre etc. in Arendia and Tol Borune, Tol this, Tol that and Tol the other in Tolnedra.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Bought that one off of Amazon. But it didn't come with the map blanks.

Many similar sheets are in the Campaign Planner series by Ronin Arts, I can recommend them wholeheartedly. If you prefer to work on the computer then I would suggest getting the individual PDFs rather than the deluxe - they have fillable forms, allowing you to do the text on screen. (In my case that means that I am actually able to read it six months later... my handwriting is not the clearest in the world...) If you prefer to print things out and fill out the text by hand then the deluxe may be a better choice. The price is the same either way. This has become my most often used PDFs for my game.

Alternately there is a PDF of the World Builder's Guide on RPGNow that you can use to print out most of the forms. (The Polar Display Map sheet is missing.)

The Auld Grump

 

[lgburton]

I started with hand-drawn maps, got tired of copying them when they wore out, and coverted them to paintbrush. I wrote a VB program to help manage them, measure distances, zoom in, create composite images from different files, etc. That's what I've been using since (a database of bitmaps and a VB program).

I'd really like to find something professional. I looked at Campaign Cartographer a few years ago. What I really want is something that is less about graphics and more about distances, features and stuff. My wish list would be:

1. set up a coordinate system
2. works with XML or other file format to import campaign information (location of towns etc.) and place them on map
3. create DM and player versions of map from single file
4. create different "resolution" of map - a local map that shows the villages and details, a larger-scale maps with features that have been tagged for that resolution.
5. layer in existing bitmap image to copy from

I'm wondering if anyone with experience in CC, Fractal Mapper, etc. can offer some info with respect to my list above. I'm pretty sure Fractal Mapper does #5.

cc2 does 1, 3, and 5 without much issue. with some workarounds, number 4 is also doable.

 

[Glyfair]

Fortunately, I discovered that the Forgotten Realms Atlas has a bevy on nicely mapped cities; I found that with a few alterations and rubbing off the serial numbers, you had dozens of dandy, well detailed settlements at your disposal.

IMO, the biggest advantage CC2 has over any other program is the Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas. Almost 1000 maps already available. Besides the overview maps, you have islands, dungeons, inns, houses, temples, etc.

When I need an inn quickly, I can just open CC2. I can make a few tweaks to customize it, and viola, instant inn.

Of course, it's not easy to find anymore. However, the time you spend learning CC2 over some of the other variations is easily saved by the quick and easy to use maps available.

 

[Hand of Evil]

here is an older thread on the subject: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=86561