I should be studying for my midterms and ofcourse that means I'm not doing that, but instead I'm working on my D&D setting. I could use your advice though.
One of the things I like to do is make maps. I mapped out the continent for my players because some of them are really into cartography and they asked me for a map, but I kept it vague enough so I have tons of blank spots to fill in as we go. The players (lvl 4) are currently in the Southsun Coast and since they just started doing a ton of overland travel I figured I'd make a more detailed map of the region because A: I like making maps and B: I suck at calculating distances without one. I own the "adventures in middle earth" books for 5E and there's a map in there which looks really cool so I completely ripped off the style for my map of the Southsun Coast.
HOWEVER the map has this thing where areas are colour-coded according to how dangerous/difficult to travel they are. I like this and I like how it makes the map look, BUT I'm not sure this is information I should tell my players. Not that they shouldn't know, but because it might take away from the exploration/immersion and make the game feel like... well a game.
I'd love to hear your thoughts!
EDIT: edited a billion times to get the links to work
“Inevitably, invariably, eventually you will discover you are unprepared to make an informed choice. When in doubt, say, Yes. Yes is the eternal passport. Yes is the everlasting coin.” ― Josiah Bancroft, Senlin Ascends
In my opinion no hints as to how difficult the monsters are in an area. Also in my opinion the world is not level bound like a video game. They should see CR10 monsters that they cannot face at tier 1.
I have no problem with a LITTLE info about hazards. The old "Here be Dragons...." and all that. But I wouldn't colour code the whole thing. Just points of significant interest that it would be logical to mark on map of that era. If there was somewhere that was known for it's quicksand or lava flow, you can bet it would be marked on a map.
Something that may be worth thinking about, is how they get hold of the map. Do they get it all at once? Maybe a very general coastal map by someone circumnavigating the continent, then pick up additional ones as they travel with more detail. That would make a lot of sense. Given the cost and expertise required in cartography, it would be unlikely that they would be able to find a large detailed map anywhere except for large centres of learning or military. Just a thought, because it could feed into the gameplay in a fun way, piecing together this giant map of the world.
They definitely don't just get a map like this at the start of my session ooc. They either have to find it, deserve it, or if they are in a city they could buy it. You raise a good point that I might colourcode some places instead of all of it... I'm not sure about working with icons like dragons or lava though, I feel like something like that should maybe stand out from the map instead of blend in...
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“Inevitably, invariably, eventually you will discover you are unprepared to make an informed choice. When in doubt, say, Yes. Yes is the eternal passport. Yes is the everlasting coin.” ― Josiah Bancroft, Senlin Ascends
Yeah, I wouldn't blend them in. Places of significant hazard would be marked accordingly.
If your guys are into cartography, something that could be fun from an RP point of view could be trading maps. Or at least the opportunity to COPY a map. For example, someone from a library or school may be happy for you to spend time in their library copying a map in exchange for a map from a different area that they may not have had access to, or not in the detail that you have. You could play up having to convince them of the accuracy of your map, how recent it is, things like that.
I like the color coding, but that should be your version for NPC reference. If they are traveling in to a difficult area, have your NPCs say something along the lines of "Oh, I wouldn't go there...it's much safer to the south because of ______." (Obviously, this information would be as good as their rolls for it, etc) Soon they'll start to realize that different areas are different threat levels, and would encourage them to talk to NPCs even more. Eventually, after they have traveled and learned about the different areas, you could swap out their version for the color coded one. You could even have different versions: A crude, not accurate one if they roll low on a cartographer's tools check, a decent one if they roll 10-15, an accurate one if they roll 15+. Or something along those lines.
I have always loved getting maps while playing, but the ones I remember most are ones that my party and I filled out ourselves. We knew we had to get the info, either through research, RP/interactions with NPCs, or exploring ourselves.
That's a great point, thanks! I obviously don't add any actual POIs to the map, that needs to be discovered by the players, but do you think I should maybe remove the villages and just keep the cities? or remove the names until they discover those? I'm just always doubting which information to give and which information to let them discover :)
And thanks, threw some hours in photoshop and definitely happy with the outcome :D
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“Inevitably, invariably, eventually you will discover you are unprepared to make an informed choice. When in doubt, say, Yes. Yes is the eternal passport. Yes is the everlasting coin.” ― Josiah Bancroft, Senlin Ascends
In my campaign setting, Volo and one of the PCs have an ongoing rivalry as to who is the best "world traveling cartographer and writer of travelogs". Sargen (the PC) is known for his surveyors skill and very detailed maps. If another Player Character were to use one of his maps they would receive a plethora of information (including what kinds of threats could be reasonably expected in that area.) That said, his maps are limited to what he knows. He, for instance, has copies of older maps of Calimshan and the other Lands of Intrigue that he did not make that are substantially less detailed than those of the Sword Coast and Cormyr/Dalelands.
As to removing smaller towns and villages, I would say that depends on your campaign. For instance, how big a part of your campaign will this map be? Meaning, you could potentially make the map the driving quest in an open world campaign. One or more characters are from a guild that came under attack or had a natural disaster in the recent past. They were known to have the best maps. But, because of what happened they lost their library. All they have are fragments that contain the small bits of info that you give them. (Whatever amount that might be) Your group is tasked with rebuilding the definitive guild atlas. They know it will be tough in some areas, so a whole party is outfitted to travel and protect in the dangerous areas. Along the course of the campaign the head mage of the guild teleports to them and rewards with gold their progress, even giving items that might help in mapping.
If not something like that, then work in whatever you include to sync to the map's origins. The map is from a Scholar, it's one of the better ones available, but only includes large cities and a few small towns. The cities are correct, but town locations might not be completely accurate, etc.
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Hey all
I should be studying for my midterms and ofcourse that means I'm not doing that, but instead I'm working on my D&D setting. I could use your advice though.
One of the things I like to do is make maps. I mapped out the continent for my players because some of them are really into cartography and they asked me for a map, but I kept it vague enough so I have tons of blank spots to fill in as we go. The players (lvl 4) are currently in the Southsun Coast and since they just started doing a ton of overland travel I figured I'd make a more detailed map of the region because A: I like making maps and B: I suck at calculating distances without one.
I own the "adventures in middle earth" books for 5E and there's a map in there which looks really cool so I completely ripped off the style for my map of the Southsun Coast.
HOWEVER the map has this thing where areas are colour-coded according to how dangerous/difficult to travel they are. I like this and I like how it makes the map look, BUT I'm not sure this is information I should tell my players. Not that they shouldn't know, but because it might take away from the exploration/immersion and make the game feel like... well a game.
I'd love to hear your thoughts!
EDIT: edited a billion times to get the links to work
“Inevitably, invariably, eventually you will discover you are unprepared to make an informed choice. When in doubt, say, Yes. Yes is the eternal passport. Yes is the everlasting coin.”
― Josiah Bancroft, Senlin Ascends
In my opinion no hints as to how difficult the monsters are in an area. Also in my opinion the world is not level bound like a video game. They should see CR10 monsters that they cannot face at tier 1.
I have no problem with a LITTLE info about hazards. The old "Here be Dragons...." and all that. But I wouldn't colour code the whole thing. Just points of significant interest that it would be logical to mark on map of that era. If there was somewhere that was known for it's quicksand or lava flow, you can bet it would be marked on a map.
Something that may be worth thinking about, is how they get hold of the map. Do they get it all at once? Maybe a very general coastal map by someone circumnavigating the continent, then pick up additional ones as they travel with more detail. That would make a lot of sense. Given the cost and expertise required in cartography, it would be unlikely that they would be able to find a large detailed map anywhere except for large centres of learning or military. Just a thought, because it could feed into the gameplay in a fun way, piecing together this giant map of the world.
They definitely don't just get a map like this at the start of my session ooc. They either have to find it, deserve it, or if they are in a city they could buy it.
You raise a good point that I might colourcode some places instead of all of it... I'm not sure about working with icons like dragons or lava though, I feel like something like that should maybe stand out from the map instead of blend in...
“Inevitably, invariably, eventually you will discover you are unprepared to make an informed choice. When in doubt, say, Yes. Yes is the eternal passport. Yes is the everlasting coin.”
― Josiah Bancroft, Senlin Ascends
Yeah, I wouldn't blend them in. Places of significant hazard would be marked accordingly.
If your guys are into cartography, something that could be fun from an RP point of view could be trading maps. Or at least the opportunity to COPY a map. For example, someone from a library or school may be happy for you to spend time in their library copying a map in exchange for a map from a different area that they may not have had access to, or not in the detail that you have. You could play up having to convince them of the accuracy of your map, how recent it is, things like that.
I like the color coding, but that should be your version for NPC reference. If they are traveling in to a difficult area, have your NPCs say something along the lines of "Oh, I wouldn't go there...it's much safer to the south because of ______." (Obviously, this information would be as good as their rolls for it, etc) Soon they'll start to realize that different areas are different threat levels, and would encourage them to talk to NPCs even more. Eventually, after they have traveled and learned about the different areas, you could swap out their version for the color coded one. You could even have different versions: A crude, not accurate one if they roll low on a cartographer's tools check, a decent one if they roll 10-15, an accurate one if they roll 15+. Or something along those lines.
I have always loved getting maps while playing, but the ones I remember most are ones that my party and I filled out ourselves. We knew we had to get the info, either through research, RP/interactions with NPCs, or exploring ourselves.
Great job on the map, btw.
That's a great point, thanks! I obviously don't add any actual POIs to the map, that needs to be discovered by the players, but do you think I should maybe remove the villages and just keep the cities? or remove the names until they discover those? I'm just always doubting which information to give and which information to let them discover :)
And thanks, threw some hours in photoshop and definitely happy with the outcome :D
“Inevitably, invariably, eventually you will discover you are unprepared to make an informed choice. When in doubt, say, Yes. Yes is the eternal passport. Yes is the everlasting coin.”
― Josiah Bancroft, Senlin Ascends
I would look at it this way:
In my campaign setting, Volo and one of the PCs have an ongoing rivalry as to who is the best "world traveling cartographer and writer of travelogs". Sargen (the PC) is known for his surveyors skill and very detailed maps. If another Player Character were to use one of his maps they would receive a plethora of information (including what kinds of threats could be reasonably expected in that area.) That said, his maps are limited to what he knows. He, for instance, has copies of older maps of Calimshan and the other Lands of Intrigue that he did not make that are substantially less detailed than those of the Sword Coast and Cormyr/Dalelands.
As to removing smaller towns and villages, I would say that depends on your campaign. For instance, how big a part of your campaign will this map be? Meaning, you could potentially make the map the driving quest in an open world campaign. One or more characters are from a guild that came under attack or had a natural disaster in the recent past. They were known to have the best maps. But, because of what happened they lost their library. All they have are fragments that contain the small bits of info that you give them. (Whatever amount that might be) Your group is tasked with rebuilding the definitive guild atlas. They know it will be tough in some areas, so a whole party is outfitted to travel and protect in the dangerous areas. Along the course of the campaign the head mage of the guild teleports to them and rewards with gold their progress, even giving items that might help in mapping.
If not something like that, then work in whatever you include to sync to the map's origins. The map is from a Scholar, it's one of the better ones available, but only includes large cities and a few small towns. The cities are correct, but town locations might not be completely accurate, etc.