NEW Commissioned MAP for D&D role-playing game : the Southern Territories

[Kishkindha]

The map of this imaginary territorial unit was commissioned by Dungeon Master Tom for a D&D role-playing game.

Initially, I thought I would draw this commission in a stereotypical D&D style but my client insisted that I should apply my usual style which uses / imitates conventional codes of modern cartography (and more specifically codes of the IGN’s topographical maps of France) and I must admit that it was a very judicious choice taking in account DM Tom’s expectations : to have an efficient modeling that could help him and the gamers to better understand the morphology and organization of the territories in question.

Apart the details of the orography, I hardly invented anything : the outlines of the rivers, lakes, roads, the positions of the localities and their names, everything already existed on very precise sketches drawn by DM Tom himself on an erasable white board and of which I only proposed a final totally hand drawn paper version. The discussions we've had, in order to understand some specific forms of certain determined areas were fascinating and rewarding for both us, this is basically the first time in my career of cartographer that I have the opportunity to develop a creative synergy of this quality, and I am proud of the result and my client satisfied.

And last, this project forced me, among other things, to work on a larger geographical scale, which I had completely stopped doing since my adolescence, and that was a breath of fresh air for me!

And now, I am dreaming of entire inland seas…
Thank you Tom !