Old Fashioned Hand Drawn Maps (with Tutorial)

[Dyson Logos]

There is a cave not far from town that most of populace knows about – about thirty feet into it is a cold freshwater stream that runs even in the driest of summers. But beyond the stream are more caves, and beyond those caves are the signs that something else has been here before the townfolk. Old doors block older chambers carved into the rock unknown ages ago… beyond Cricket stream.

 

[Nellisir]

Excellent maps.

 

[MortalPlague]

That's VERY sharp, MortalPlague! If you don't have a blog to show it off at, I'd be very happy to post it to mine to mix it in with the other awesome maps I have. I like your unique flair of having the masonry in the floor.

Thanks Dyson. I do not have a blog to showcase it, so if you'd like to post it up, be my guest! If you'd like, you could include a link to my adventure: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?332912-Custom-Playtest-Dungeon-Hall-Of-Bells

I appreciate the feedback.

 

[Ray_K]

I love this thread. Your style of map drawing has inspired me greatly.

 

[Blackwarder]

Any new maps and tips?

Warder

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Just heavenly gorgeous, I love the hand drawn aesthetic. And my imagination runs wild when I get to see these by Dyson

 

[Zefphr]

Very cool designs. Random question: What do you do if buildings in the map have multiple storeys on the top down maps? Do you represent it on another map or just leave the rest up to the imagination?

Apologies if you have already said it somewhere else and I missed it

 

[Dyson Logos]

Zefph - depends on the map. Sometimes I'll draw the multiple levels as separate maps, sometimes I'll overlay them on a single map. Depends on the amount of overlap.

Last week's map - Holtor's Retreat - was an experiment with alternate fills. This one using a block fill inspired by one of Gus' maps over at Dungeon of Signs. I'm not particularly happy with the fill, but it was a fun experiment.

Holtor’s Retreat was drawn in a single draft using a cheap-as-hell 0.7mm nib black gel pen on commercial bark-paper in the Oak King (my new mapping book). It was scanned and contrast-enhanced in the Gimp and is presented here for your enjoyment and use in your games and blogs as long as you give me credit and use it exclusively for non-commercial purposes.

 

[Blackwarder]

So I bought the hardcover book... Damn impulse buying

Warder