One of the first things I discovered is that drawing maps and artwork is really hard :) At least for me.
So I have pages of descriptive text and no maps or artwork that I can stand looking at. Arrgh.. I either need to develop some basic skills or find a collaborator.
I'm not experienced enough to complete this on my own I think. Advice is always welcome - I'm not super serious about this because I know I'm in well over my head.
Here is a summary of where I'm going with it:
So the basic idea is that our intrepid adventurers crossed Misery's Pass on Ruathyn Island. (Off the Sword Coast, Northwest of the Moonshaes, a cold, remote, and barbaric place) They are in a steep and narrow valley that slopes down to a fjord and a small pirate harbor. Their arrival point is at a large inn near the pass that is operated by a family of mixed Half-Orcs and Tieflings who have cross bred over the decades and consider themselves to be a new race. They moved to this remote place to make a place where people like them could live without prejudice. The players can learn about the setting in the inn and go on from there. The pirate town down the valley is a mix of the local Northmen and more of these crossbreeds. There is racial tension. One of the goals of the setting is trying to guide events in the town to avoid a war. Also the harbor is down a cliff from the town, people and goods travel up long dilapidated staircases or on cranes. This is one of the reasons it is a marginal port.
The town is build on top of a mostly abandoned Dwarven city that has an indoor route between the quays and the surface that would solve some big problems , but the lower levels of the city are full of monsters, partially flooded, and currently unusable. Another task for our heroes, but can they do it without putting the crane and dock workers out of work and enraging the Loader's Guild? Also the remaining dwarves regard the entire area as their property - another faction to work with.
What I have conceived so far is this chaotic and violent town, a large partially underground building occupied by the crossbreeds that serves as a gateway to the underground city, the underground city with it's remaining dwarf inhabitants and six separate smaller dungeon areas. And a few more bits around the edges for texture and flavor. I envision it being played as alternating short to mid-length dungeon crawls and RP / diplomacy / war involving the various factions. (So far I've defined 7 factions, some of the allied, some of them opposed, some of them both)
If you are good at writing, but not drawing or map making, lean on Theatre of the Mind style more? Your brief description of your setting seems pretty vivid to me!
What do you want to maps for? Combat grid/hex? Or so the players know where they are? You could always get one of them to sketch/draw maps as they go.
Also, there are loads of free or low cost maps available through a bit of Googling or a visit to Patreon. Just look for bits that fit your theme. You can always tweak your descriptions of a dungeon or location to fit the map, especially if the maps are more just a reference for you, they don't need to be "perfect".
On the other hand, if you do want to create some maps, I highly recommend Wonderdraft and Dungeondraft. I can't draw at all, but make all my own maps with these programs which are pretty cost effective imo.
Penelope, It is like them. it is just even further out and more isolated and uncivilized. It is the ancestral home of the of the Illusians. On the maps I've seen it is 200 miles NorthEast of the Moonshae Islands. I picked it because it has fjords and I wrote my port as being at the head of a fjord.
Uh, I'm not sure? I'd need to look it up. I looked it up. The Great Glacier is farther East. Ruathyn is in the NorthWest. Just as well to let sleeping gods lie.
I see what I did. I typed NorthEast in an earlier comment when I meant NorthWest. I wonder if this is why my characters are always late. Ruathyn is to the Sword Coast as Iceland is to Belgium.
That makes sense! In that case I know Evermeet, Lantan and Nimbral are all out there in the same general direction as Ruathyn. All three are shielded by powerful magic, but that’s np for bold adventurers...
If you are good at writing, but not drawing or map making, lean on Theatre of the Mind style more? Your brief description of your setting seems pretty vivid to me!
What do you want to maps for? Combat grid/hex? Or so the players know where they are? You could always get one of them to sketch/draw maps as they go.
Also, there are loads of free or low cost maps available through a bit of Googling or a visit to Patreon. Just look for bits that fit your theme. You can always tweak your descriptions of a dungeon or location to fit the map, especially if the maps are more just a reference for you, they don't need to be "perfect".
On the other hand, if you do want to create some maps, I highly recommend Wonderdraft and Dungeondraft. I can't draw at all, but make all my own maps with these programs which are pretty cost effective imo.
Theatre of the mind really only works if the DM knows exactly where everything is, and can communicate to the players...
Riva: I'm not excited about making maps and artwork, but they are useful to necessary tools to communicate my vision of this place. They also help a DM and players to play in the same version of this place to avoid confusion. So some crude maps might be enough. Of course better is better...
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One of the first things I discovered is that drawing maps and artwork is really hard :) At least for me.
So I have pages of descriptive text and no maps or artwork that I can stand looking at. Arrgh.. I either need to develop some basic skills or find a collaborator.
I'm not experienced enough to complete this on my own I think. Advice is always welcome - I'm not super serious about this because I know I'm in well over my head.
Here is a summary of where I'm going with it:
So the basic idea is that our intrepid adventurers crossed Misery's Pass on Ruathyn Island. (Off the Sword Coast, Northwest of the Moonshaes, a cold, remote, and barbaric place) They are in a steep and narrow valley that slopes down to a fjord and a small pirate harbor. Their arrival point is at a large inn near the pass that is operated by a family of mixed Half-Orcs and Tieflings who have cross bred over the decades and consider themselves to be a new race. They moved to this remote place to make a place where people like them could live without prejudice. The players can learn about the setting in the inn and go on from there. The pirate town down the valley is a mix of the local Northmen and more of these crossbreeds. There is racial tension. One of the goals of the setting is trying to guide events in the town to avoid a war. Also the harbor is down a cliff from the town, people and goods travel up long dilapidated staircases or on cranes. This is one of the reasons it is a marginal port.
The town is build on top of a mostly abandoned Dwarven city that has an indoor route between the quays and the surface that would solve some big problems , but the lower levels of the city are full of monsters, partially flooded, and currently unusable. Another task for our heroes, but can they do it without putting the crane and dock workers out of work and enraging the Loader's Guild? Also the remaining dwarves regard the entire area as their property - another faction to work with.
What I have conceived so far is this chaotic and violent town, a large partially underground building occupied by the crossbreeds that serves as a gateway to the underground city, the underground city with it's remaining dwarf inhabitants and six separate smaller dungeon areas. And a few more bits around the edges for texture and flavor. I envision it being played as alternating short to mid-length dungeon crawls and RP / diplomacy / war involving the various factions. (So far I've defined 7 factions, some of the allied, some of them opposed, some of them both)
Neat... but I need to work a lot more on my own homebrew setting before I can think of helping :)
Proud poster on the Create a World thread
:) So many settings, so little time...
If you are good at writing, but not drawing or map making, lean on Theatre of the Mind style more? Your brief description of your setting seems pretty vivid to me!
What do you want to maps for? Combat grid/hex? Or so the players know where they are? You could always get one of them to sketch/draw maps as they go.
Also, there are loads of free or low cost maps available through a bit of Googling or a visit to Patreon. Just look for bits that fit your theme. You can always tweak your descriptions of a dungeon or location to fit the map, especially if the maps are more just a reference for you, they don't need to be "perfect".
On the other hand, if you do want to create some maps, I highly recommend Wonderdraft and Dungeondraft. I can't draw at all, but make all my own maps with these programs which are pretty cost effective imo.
Sounds kinda like Luskan or Nelanther.
Penelope, It is like them. it is just even further out and more isolated and uncivilized. It is the ancestral home of the of the Illusians. On the maps I've seen it is 200 miles NorthEast of the Moonshae Islands. I picked it because it has fjords and I wrote my port as being at the head of a fjord.
A link to my setting if anyone wants to look at what I've written.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bhtYP5oJhUOPCig_r2knpMjnZ2iAhYKbRTmCFrbWQks/edit?usp=sharing
Fascinating! Is that near the tomb of the demigod Ulutiu from the Great Glacier?
Uh, I'm not sure? I'd need to look it up. I looked it up. The Great Glacier is farther East. Ruathyn is in the NorthWest. Just as well to let sleeping gods lie.
Okay, but I think it is somewhere up there. North of Neverwinter.
I see what I did. I typed NorthEast in an earlier comment when I meant NorthWest. I wonder if this is why my characters are always late. Ruathyn is to the Sword Coast as Iceland is to Belgium.
That makes sense! In that case I know Evermeet, Lantan and Nimbral are all out there in the same general direction as Ruathyn. All three are shielded by powerful magic, but that’s np for bold adventurers...
Just something to think about.
Cool! Good luck with it!
Surely there's some free mapmaking software out there. Or free maps that others have drawn that you can customize.
Question: are you really excited to make maps and art, or is that something you think you are "supposed" to do as a DM?
Also, confession: I use ugly diagrams...or toy blocks to build 3D battlefields. Everyone still has a blast.
Theatre of the mind really only works if the DM knows exactly where everything is, and can communicate to the players...
Riva: I'm not excited about making maps and artwork, but they are useful to necessary tools to communicate my vision of this place. They also help a DM and players to play in the same version of this place to avoid confusion. So some crude maps might be enough. Of course better is better...