The simplest ideas are often the most brilliant. I'll be using this one!
Thanks for posting this great tip.
As I'm more a very interested spectator more than a master of maps as many here are, I keep an eye out for ways those of us with weaker imaginations and artistic skills can still create usable maps.
This tip comes from the latest issue Roleplaying Tips weekly (http://www.roleplayingtips.com), issue #364:
Originally Posted by Roleplaying Tips Weekly
Last edited by Robbie; 07-21-2007 at 11:42 AM.
Innkeeper at the Darkwood Inn. The Foul Punster of the Cartographers' Guild!
Better role playing than dragon slaying!
The simplest ideas are often the most brilliant. I'll be using this one!
Thanks for posting this great tip.
Excellent, a fellow subscriber! I saw that tip and thought the same thing as well. I would probably take it a step or two further and mirror as well as rotate it, but it would depend on the knowledge of my players and what I was copying. Johnn always has great stuff in newsletter.
Here is the Ordinance Survey site where you can get a free outline map of the UK at a (reasonably) high resolution in a number of file formats. I'm going to use part of it (together with other quick and easy methods others have come up with) to see if I can produce a reasonably convincing map in under an hour. Naryt's tip is certainly a good starting point though (although I suppose one could use FT as well, but I think the results using a real map are more convincing :Edit: unless your name happens to be HandsomeRob).
ravs.
Last edited by ravells; 07-10-2007 at 12:42 PM.
Another couple of variants of this technique are to invert the water/land and play with scale. For example the first map of upstate Michigan (100 km across the whole map) can represent the edge of an entire continent (1000 km across). Landscapes are fractal and self similar enough that this works well.
I'm J.H. Swain!
Glad to see you guys can use the tip
Just another RATMAN ASSASSIN.
If orangutans could type...
Welcome aboard jswa!! Great to have you. I'm betting that we would all like to see more of your maps that you have created, and thanks for the tip!
Excellent tip Jswa! Thanks a lot for sharing it!
Ravs
Innkeeper at the Darkwood Inn. The Foul Punster of the Cartographers' Guild!
Better role playing than dragon slaying!