Tweaking things.

[xigbar]

I'm going to be playing in an Eberron based campaign soon, and all of the "anything in D&D is here" concepts are there, but we're designing a different world map. Since I'm playing a Tiefling, I'm doing the first dungeon, so as to wait off the level adjustment. I've got the dungeon designed, but I'm designing the immediate map area. I'm looking for a D&D world map builder. Also, I could use some advice on the general theory behind doing something like this. Specifically, the first dungeon is in a large town, near a coast, but a couple days trip from the base a mountain. I'm thinking wamr planis, except there is some desert nearby. Any thoughts and ideas are appreciated.

 

[the Jester]

One caution about setting it in a large town- why hasn't it been cleaned out already, especially if first level pcs can do it? Perhaps it is hidden, hard to enter or taboo; otherwise, you might want to set it outside of the town.

Regarding your terrain: Deserts are usually the result of a barrier (such as a mountain range) preventing moisture from the ocean from reaching a zone of land (clouds cool as they flow up and over the mountains; as they cool, they dump moisture out as rain on the coastal side of the mountains). So if it's too close to the coast, it should either be quite a hot terrain, magically induced, or the prevailing winds should flow away from the coast and out to sea rather than the other way around.

Typically, foothills should lie between mountains and plains, but not always.

Crudely, you might do something like this:

======_______~~^^^^~~%%%%%%%
===___________~~^^^^~~%%%%%%%
===_________~^^^^~~~~~%%%%%%%
===*________~X^^^^^~~%%%%%%%%
===_________~~^^^^~~~%%%%%%%%
===__________~~~^^^^^%%%%%%%%
=====________~~~^^^~~%%%%%%%%
=====________~~~^^^^^~%%%%%%%
====__________~~^^^^^^^~%%%%%%
===__________~~~^^^^^~~%%%%%%%

Key:

= Water
_ Plains
* Town
X Dungeon
~ Hill
^ Mountains
% Desert

Aargh ASCII sucks for maps.

 

[xigbar]

No, that's an excellent start. Actually, I should clarify that the closest I could come with the actual Eberron maps was Valenar, using Norinath as the town. As for the dungeon, a sealed off section of the town's library was discovered behind a large bookshelf, and my characters went venturing in, and hasn't come out. The PCs have to find her, going through the undiscovered chambers. If you need any other specifics, please ask.

 

[the Jester]

Here are a couple of considerations for the town that will help you add flavor to it.

Why did it arise where it arose? What are the main natural resources available and how do the effect the layout of the town and its contents?

Here are two contrasting views on your town:

1. It's a fishing town where a river runs into the sea. Thus, the town looks very roughly like a T, with the cross bar being the coast and the leg being the river; the crossbar is exaggerated since most everyone works the sea in one way or another. There are docks for fishing boats; the town has shawshankers, netmakers, cordwrights, boatwrights and similar professions. There are a few outlying farms, but most people just grow a small plot of vegetables. Maybe there is a cult devoted to sharks or sea lions (the D&D type) or dolphins.

2. No, actually, it's not the fish that drew people here- it was the gems that wash down out of that nearby mountain chain via the river. The town is thus more focused on the river than on the sea. There are significant Wild West elements, with claims to parts of the river and the claim jumping one would expect. Also, because the main industry is very lucrative, there are bandits and the like, which means the town supports weaponsmiths, mercenaries, etc. Obviously, jewelers, too. The demographics (assuming the standard racial tropes apply) are probably weighted a bit towards dwarves (wealth!) and gnomes (traditionally seen as fine jewelers). Probably there are rival communities not far away (again, all those gems attract a lot of attention).

 

[the Jester]

Also, if you haven't, you could think about the dungeon's connection to the community.

When was it built? By whom? Why? Who knew at the time? What clues might there be to it around town? Does an old-timer still know about it (perhaps an elven old timer)?

If it was built as a hideout or something, does the threat that provoked its building still exist? If not, does an heir?

Is there something in the dungeon that someone has a legal claim on? For example, maybe the magic plate armor is emblazoned with a symbol that clearly marks it as the property of the ancestor of the town's captain of the guard, and he wants it back.

Etc.

 

[xigbar]

To answer each question separately....

The town is neutral good, a peaceful coast town that benefits from the nearby resources. The library was founded by an elf, who the PCs find has sealed off this area, formerly the "dangerous books" section so as to guard it and, more importantly, not be bothered while reading. The mountain nearby are where my PC escaped from a few months ago.

The main problem I have is how to logically design the terrain of surrounding region, and your suggestions are a great start.

 

[Greenfield]

Climate wise, it looks like you're describing Southern California. Coastal plains, mountains nearby, and desert.

Port of Long Beach to the foothills of Monrovia is 35-40 miles, which is one to two days of travel in D&D terms. Beyond those mountains is a few hundred miles of the high desert on the way to Las Vegas.

Limited natural water and a fairly bland coastline means that you'll have cities where there are rivers and/or natural harbors, and those will be few and far between.

Major construction could be used to bring in water, as the Romans did with their aquaduct network, but of something damaged that network it could cause major problems for the city. That's one of the reasons Rome fell so quickly when a barbarian horde managed to actually reach the city walls, They just knocked down a few aquaduct channels and cut off the city's water supply. Rome capitulated in a matter of days, where a typical walled city of the era could hold out for months.

Large scale problems with the water supply could cause a city's population to shrink, leaving large sections abandoned. They'd be reduced to a population the immediate water supply could support.

Yes, yes, I know about Create Water and Decanters' of Endless Water. Rome didn't have those, and if the item isn't available it will quickly become apparent that dependence on the spell isn't a long term solution.

 

[xigbar]

The item could be readily available, seeing as the town has a library with about 7 or 8 low to mid level wizards. Plus Artificers, since it's based primarily on Eberron.