Is There a Better Way to Illustrate Water on a Dungeon Map Than This?

Circa 1976

Explorer
Supporter
I do the same thing as aco175, usually sans color. Ripples or current lines depending on how static the liquid is. If I'm feeling fancy or the map is supposed to a diegetic item I might add some little fishes, frogs, whales or sea monsters (depending on what makes sense) like a proper old-timey map.

With lava the border is a made of "broken ground" (like a bunch of scattered charcoal) and the liquid gets marked with some stylized flames. Acid and similar goop gets treated like water but with some scattered skeletal bits and corroded weapons/armor in it.

I might add depth contour lines if I expect them to matter, eg a shallow stream/pool with some deep holes here and there.
Lots of good suggestions in there. What I'll do is duplicate the map off-page and try each method in turn. One or more should do the trick. Thank you for these.
 

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nyvinter

Adventurer
Shade the water works great in order to make it distinguishable. I quite like how watabou's One Page Dungeons does it but limitations happen when drawing on paper vs printing out/using digitally.

1727386456610.png
 

Circa 1976

Explorer
Supporter
Crosshatch sounds pretty authentic, so, +1. If you don't like symbols, just leave it as-is and expect the GM to actually read the room description that mentions "here thar be water."

Failing that, draw a couple fishes in there. Alive or dead.
So I understand "crosshatch" to be drawing fainter lines perpendicular to the map grid lines? If so, that's doable.
 

Circa 1976

Explorer
Supporter
Shade the water works great in order to make it distinguishable. I quite like how watabou's One Page Dungeons does it but limitations happen when drawing on paper vs printing out/using digitally.

View attachment 380881
Shading is an excellent idea. The challenge here is that I'm using Adobe InDesign (PhotoShop be a bafflement to this former tech writer). Thus, I'd probably end up re-drawing the shoreline and/or the grid lines afterwards. Entirely within the realm of 'can do' but requires a little extra time. Still, it's on the consideration list. Thanks for showing this.
 

Circa 1976

Explorer
Supporter
Can you show us what your attempt to use the wave line looked like? It would help to understand both the "look" that you did not like and a description of how you actually used the wave line. At the least this might, or at least hopefully might, reduce suggestions you will dislike.

It might also be worthwhile to show us how you would present the running water scenario (like the second scenario above) in the traditional way that you prepare maps. (The first scenario from the post above looks analogous to the scenario you presented in the OP.)
Sure thing. Whenever I create a map symbol, even if I don't use it I still save it on the pasteboard outside the document.
map_water_example_WIP.png

The right side of the map is kinda blank, since it's a WIP.
 

Circa 1976

Explorer
Supporter
I tend to have two styles with one for a pond edge or standing water shown here, except I hardly color things in.

View attachment 380832

The other style is more for moving water with the lines in the middle more.

View attachment 380833
These are great! Like you, I'm trying to avoid the use of color (at least on this project). But I could achieve the deep water affect with gray, yes? (Don't say it!) The curved wave lines look tempting.

Collateral effect, but you and Wofano have inspired me to put in canals of slime or lava somewhere in this thing I'm whipping up.
 
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Staffan

Legend
Sure thing. Whenever I create a map symbol, even if I don't use it I still save it on the pasteboard outside the document.
View attachment 380883
The right side of the map is kinda blank, since it's a WIP.
I think that looks pretty fine, but it would likely be better with the waves split up a bit more. Water should be a bit chaotic. Like maybe having two peaks per symbol, and have them scattered a bit more randomly. Something like this (sure, that's an overland map, but still):
1727393808225.png
 

HippyCraig

Explorer
What if you a light gradient of medium to light gray that just hugs the coast line. And using the others technician by aco175 the gradient can just cover the squiggly lines and the fade to whit. So for a lake most of it would be white but the edges would have that gradient. Less in and no color should make printing cheaper.
 

aramis erak

Legend
So I understand "crosshatch" to be drawing fainter lines perpendicular to the map grid lines? If so, that's doable.
They don't need to be (and in the case of square gridded maps, probably should not be) perpendicular.

standard crosshatching patterns exist in both archtecture and heraldry.

In heraldry, dark blue is horizontal lines, sky blue (either bleu celeste or skye in blazonry) is usually hatched as offset dashed horizontal lines.
The broken lines of BCel are much easier to spot and don't hide the grid as badly.

Note that the standard tinctures for heraldric colors and their current conventional hatchings
Or (gold/yellow): dotted, rows offset (forms a trigrid of dots)
Argent (silver/white): plain field
Azure (medium to dark blue): horizontal
Gules (red): vertical
Purpure (purple): 45° rises to the right ////
Sable (black): vertical and horizontal
Vert (Green): 45° falls to the right \\\\
Murrey (mullbery/a purplish red) crossed 45° lines
Sanguine (blood red): horizontal crossed by 45° falling to the right
Tenne (orange tan): vertical crossed by 45° falling to the right

Engineering, machining, and architecture have hatching patterns that are not strictly straight lines.
Here's a list of architectual drawing hatchings:
Standard hatching styles for drawings
And a discussion of one standard for use in Autocad:
CAD Hatch |BS 8888 and BS 308 Hatch Patterns (click on the red lozenge to follow it)
A pdf catalog of materials hatchings:

I'm too lazy to dig out my Fox-Davies' TAOH for proper cites, but I've personally verified most of the hatchings against TAOH.
Hatching (heraldry) - Wikipedia (actually pretty decent, missing a couple rare colors - Carnation and gray... both of which are 18th C)
 

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