First time Mapmaking

thorodinson

Hey guys, I'm new to this whole tabletop RPG thing and I was wondering if any of you can help me find a place where I can make my own world maps for my campaign.

Pils

Hi Thorodinson,

I don't know where "to find a place" to make world maps, but they are many programs you can use : Photoshop, The Gimp (it's free), Pixelmator (for Mac), or the "Campaign cartographer":http://www.profantasy.com/products/cc3.asp (I never use it, but it look very cool).

You can also browse the Obsidian Portal campaign to find inspiration (like the "Duskreign amazing maps":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/duskreignprophecy/wiki_pages/geography)

I hope my answer will help you.

Savannah

Check out the "Cartographers' Guild":http://www.cartographersguild.com/forum.php. They cover just about anything you could possibly want to know about mapmaking.

arsheesh

Yeah, what Savannah said; the Guild is really where you want to begin. Check out the Tutorials section, read up on the various forms of digital programs available (discussions of which can be found in the Guild forums), and then introduce yourself. Plenty of helpful people will guide you on your way.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

thorodinson

Thanks guys.

thorodinson

Do I need to register with cartographer's guild to make maps?

arsheesh

Well no, but you do need to register to be able to access the tutorials or view file attachments. But don't worry, it's free.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

Savannah

Yeah, you can make maps on your own however you want, but if you want to see the attachments (which are in a lot of the tutorials) or ask for advice, you'd want to register. It's a cool place, though, so it's not a big deal to register.

wolfhound

Ditto. That's a great resource for fantasy map makers. The tutorials and attachments on the Cartographer's Guild helped me put together this map I've been playing around with

"Woodcut style map":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/spiritofthependragon/wikis/maps

That was done with Inkscape (open source vector graphics) and GIMP (open source photo/graphic editing)

vstraydogstrutv

I know you can find a lot of tutorials on YouTube on making maps (which, maybe not so coincidentally, are posted by many members of the Cartographer's Guild). If you're using Photoshop, you may also want to explore how to create brush sets and custom patterns, as these skills can increase your cartographic productivity. In regard to the YouTubez, I found "this series":http://www.youtube.com/user/ZombieNirvana#p/u/18/KO4XZfaSAoA immeasurably helpful as a beginner for my "Heurdenvaar":http://cdn.obsidianportal.com/map_images/586790/heurdenvaar2.jpg map. This was the first map I ever made for public view using Photoshop and a slew of awesome brushes from the Cartographer's Guild and other sources.

In addition to this information, if you hit up my "Shared Creations(Share your links and stories here, please! Help expand this libram of knowledge!)":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shared-creations campaign, I have many links to random map/town generators. Feel free to favorite it so you'll always have it on hand!

thorodinson

thanks for the help guys