How do you guys go about measuring your landmasses? I'm so fickle when it comes to character travel time that I want to make sure they get to where they're going in a reasonable amount of time--and I also want to put cities roughly a day's walk from eachother--so I often stress over just how 'large' my continents are. The downside of drawing them is that you have to know more about them! Do you guys have any methods of figuring that stuff out? Do you plan the size of your continent and its square mileage, or do you just wing it all to heck?
with a ruler... . Well, since I have an entire planet, including the continent not shown the map. I made it 1.5 x bigger than earth, it is also further away from the sun than earth, basically, it would be a bit between Earth and Mars (Aprox) but still in the goldy-locks zone. So the planet is a bit colder, the summers are beautiful and can get hot, but the winters have a tendency to be a bit harsher.
I already spent quite a bit for my book cover to be illustrated and for affinity (alternate to photoshop) so i'll have to wait a bit for Wonderdraft, however $30 isn't bad.
Increased Gravity... I guess I haven't' gone to Sci-Nerd into it. . actually, people are slightly taller. being at around 6'4" avg male and 6'2" avg female. however, there was a lizardfolk race that stood at about 9' , before their society was destroyed in the reign of Fire (Meteorite storm). Their descendants adapted to the new, less tropical weather. some becoming the avg height, though a few of them retained the 9'. Now that I think of it, I didn't put too much science into it. . They do have 26 hour days, 24 day months, 6 days in a week, 4 weeks in a month, 3 months per season, 5 seasons per year. 360 days in a year. though the 5 seasons has more to do with the planet's lore, involving the Arch Angels that govern the world. just kind of leave science out of it, . as I did apparently. Edit: There are various Human-Species as I call them, as the inhabitants call them. Meaning Humans like us, Kromun, Lizardfolk, Beastfolk, etc.
I've recently been brainstorming a fantasy continent/world dominated by elven realms, so today I whipped up a map for it. I did recycle a location name from one of my earlier world maps. But I felt it was okay, since I only used the older one for roleplay purposes. Spoiler: Map
Definitely not as awesome as some of the other maps posted here. I mostly use this to work out travel times and movement of armies. I have to add some cool names sometime.
Curious how boring this will be for others. I am writing it for my own purposes and is written from the perspective of a scholar living in my world. I have been considering how segments of this could be woven into the narrative too from time to time. On the map I posted on the first page this is describing the tiny region between the mountainous regions I’d detailed and part of the open region just south of that being the extent of the Black Desert. The History Of Gnostrum The Tawndom of Gnostrum spans the breadth and depth of the great Black Desert (aka. to humans as the Night/Nightmare Sands.) The sands and lands across the huge region are black due a cataclysm of eons past where two great forces of nature met in a fiery and violent clash. Inhospitable the lands remained uninhabited for millennia due to the fallout of that enigmatic, ancient event. Eventually flora and fauna encroached on the blasted, ashen landscape and life begin to flourish there once more upon the funerary shroud of blackened earth; the rivers from the northern edges of the region having slowly fed nourishment back into the deathly rock strewn scape; laying down enriching sediments of detritus in which life could rouse the land from its bleak slumber to an urgent fecundity. It will pay us to know something of the lands surrounding this unique region. To the north, as touched upon, a mountainous area marks out a distinct natural boundary. It is here that the black sands of the cataclysm fade being on the fringes of that ancient event. The peaks of this mountain range outline the northernmost extent of Gnostrum and possess lush pine forests and snow capped peaks which taper down into valleys. Beyond these mountains, further north, lie deep, dark forests, mist-strewn and tainted by some unknown effects from the cataclysm. In the regions immediately over the mountains the forests possess blackened bark and red leaves that look stained by human blood of a merriment of wines. These patches are more prevalent further to the northwest where the city of Kalos lies (but that is not the topic of this document.) The important detail historically, in regards to Gnostrum, is that these regions used to flourish with pef-pefgar; some still do. Also, in this region humans found a home and also populated the valleys seeding the Gnostran race with their stock - here there is much speculation as to the extent of influence the humans had upon my race due to the obvious difference observed in some humanlike tribes discovered in fairly recent times; it seems to me, and other scholars, that the cataclysm’s effects somewhat altered the “humans” in this region and led to interbreeding with the alkari. Here is as good a time as any to segue into the ancestry of the Gnostran peoples. We are of mixed stock and almost certainly seeded from a combination of human tribes living on the fringes of the cataclysmic area who become tainted bu the effects. The main uniting force though was certainly the arrival from afar of the alkari peoples (Al-Asha), of whom a splinter colony lies far off to the southeast and of whom Gnostrans have little contact with - they now being a vassal state to the Clef (a race of adept seafaring creatures.) The historical accounts tell us that far, far off to the east the alkari race held great sway over large regions. One group of peoples among the alkari were/are the Al-Asha. The Al-Asha were a nation who were driven by a mandate of exploration and discovery which was further invigorated by the apparent collapse of the greater part of the alkari race’s influence due to internal wars and external clashes with other species (mainly the Zeechir - not a topic this document will cover). During this shift of power the nation of Al-Asha was fractured and fleets set out across the oceans and seas to seek out new lands to colonize on a scale unprecedented, even by their traditional standards. Most seem to have perished for reasons unknown, and the only remnants we know of today are the afore mentioned Al-Asha vassal state and, as you can likely guess, the peoples who came to this black deserted land now known as Gnostrum. It is here that our Al-Asha ancestors carved out a life and proceeded to create permanent settlements; and across time how they interbred with the local populations of humans to create the Gnostran peoples. What is a curious is that no human can breed with any Gnostran we are incompatible, which we must logically conclude from - bolster by other evidences - that humans were plastic and altered enough by the cataclysm that a new subspecies of humans then integrated with the alkari peoples of Al-Asha. We are essentially now a distinct race of peoples, we are now gnostran neither human nor alkari; although there were some speculative reports of people from Al-Asha being able to impregnate gnostrans, but no mention of gnostrans being able to impregnate Al-Asha. From this it is generally accepted that although these three races possess a history of interbreeding for what ever reason the people of Gnostrum are now utterly distinct from humans and alkari. This now allows us to shift to the lands to the east of Gnostrum. Directly to the upper eastern area of Gnostrum the area of catalysm extends somewhat further out before the desert rocks and sands shift in hue from black to tan. Not a great outside the reach of the black sands the parched climate still has a hold and it is here that the bulk of the torg race resides in two distinct nations with their subterranean cities scattered across the landscape like islands in a featureless sea of tan rock and sandstones. Futher to the northwest from there the most northeasterly reaches of the Gnostrum lands ends in the high rain-drenched peaks and valleys which then stretch further and further to the east into the vast mountain ranges and plateaus of an area known as The Mataps. To complete the sketch of the northern extremities of Gnostrum we shall now shift to the other adjacent corner in the northwest. Here the lands end in a huge forested valley that extends to the north, and toward Kalos, whilst directly westward another mountain range climbs to the sky. This most northwesterly region is oft quite overrun by a race of creatures called minskin who are primative and violent for the most part, although some civil behavior does breakout among them from time to time (a very curious species of which I shall engage with later on in this document as they are, or at least have been, a significant force in the shaping of the Gnostrum Tawnhood). Beyond this mountain range and further west lie the kingdoms and nations of humans; not a great deal is known of their history as they are not inclined to record much about their past. What we do know is that to the west a large stretch of territory is dominated by their presence and stretches across a distance rumoured to be several times larger than that of the Gnostrum Tawnhood. The four key nations are The Gurlic Empire to the north (of which the pef-pefgar have provided great intelligence about), Polderand, not far beyond the western mountains, a collection of city-states with no particular ruling body, Xentia (previously The Xentan City States) a region of warmer climes otherwise much like Polderand in political structure, and beyond Xentia the evasive and enigmatic lands of Ansemic (a region that has certainly had some effects upon it similar to that of Gnostrum - being a region of madness and death for most humans who venture into or out of those lands). This brings me to mention the main reason why Gnostrum is never invaded by human tribes; or rather, extremely rarely. This is because humans cannot last for long in the tainting effects of the cataclysmic region - they suffer from madness and eventual death more often than not. Some humans can survive for a few years in Gnostrum, but none remain completely sane and able beyond a few months due to the onset of the Gloaming season. Yet many human corpses can be found strewn around the desert as greed is a primal driving force for humans it seems. They thirst for gold, gems and knowledge; ironically it seems they truly seek the later yet confuse the former two as the later - a curiously deluded set of creatures, as I guess all species of people’s are to one extent or another. Now we have covered the lands off beyond northern half of Gnostrum let us cast our gaze to the southern limits and the regions beyond. This area is vast, harsh and mostly deserted desert. Beyond the territory of Gnostrum in this area roam many, many different warring bands and nomadic tribes. Two races scurry around these lands, the gan clans, mostly residing directly to the southerly regions made up of arid scrublands, and human clans, mostly residing to the southwesterly regions made up of grasslands and sporadic low hills. Off to the eastern portion of the southern borders lies the Sapphire Sea with sweeping dunes that wrap around its shores. A isthmus separates The Sapphire Sea from the Gulf, on the northern shore of which the Clef nations reside; and towards the midpoint of the Gulf where the vassal state of “Al-Asha” now sits within the vast deltas of the southern shore. Now this is outlined it is of import to mention the state of the region of Gnostrum after the arrival and settling of the Gnostrans. The birth of the Gnostrum Tawnhood grew from many different factious clans. Four made up the greater part of Gnostrum and shaped the Gnostrum Tawnhood into what it is today. Originally in the north and northwestern reaches, among the mountains and valleys the Cwdella clans held sway having to fight off a constant stream of minskin warbands, to the far northeastern other clans, the Gwettic and Lewtn mingled with torg and pefpefgar in the wet and rain, to the far south a peoples, the Ur and the Gul, much akin in attitude to the current human tribes beyond their boarders, grew into a tough and warlike culture - life was, and is, desperately harsh in the baking hear of the desert and especially so with the roaming bands of savage gan (a race of creatures of brutal size and strength with hound-like features and rippling muscular bodies oft over 7 heads high). Finally, the beating heart of the Gnostrum Tawnhood today was the area where the Nos tribes settled among the remnants of ancients ruins (the barely visible crumbling remains of previous torg and pefpefgar constructs) and along the Pwedwed river stemming from the northern mountains. Now to look at the principle regions of Gnostrum today. Firstly, in the early history of our civilization the pefpefgar dominated the northeastern regions, and still to this day they are a prominent race in the political structuring of that region as well as having some influence upon the Gnostrum Tawnhood. In effect the Gnostrum Tawnhood is not structured around Gnostrans only. Other races live as equals among Gnostrans helping build the civilization and develop it further. The region to the northeast is known as Gorn Vaul and is where the vast majority of Gnostrum’s pefpefgar reside (having a physiological need for forested regions and craving kinship among their own kind far beyond anything a Gnostran would feel - a pefpefgar isolated from fellow pefpefgar is a danger to themselves and all around them. It should be noted here that prior to the founding of Gnostrum proper there was a civil war among pefpefgar and a conflict between some factions of pefpefgar and the torg. A great distrust between these races is still felt today and the populations of these species has dramatically declined due to this friction as well as the adverse effects of the cataclysm (note: that is a subject matter which the reader can refer to among my other works including “The Betrayal: A History of the Pefpefgar Civil War,” and “The Torg.” There are also works by other scholars that deal specifically with the relationship between the torg and the pefpefgar of which “Friend & Foe: The Torg and The Pefpefgar” is highly recommend). The important point to be taken into account here is the strong influence of the pefpefgar within the current climate, and historical backbone, of Gorn Vaul and that the pefpefgar of Gnostrum are loyal to the Gnostrum Tawnhood. Secondly, to the west of Gorn Vaul, lies the Tawndom of Talic. The Cwdella people are the ancestors of this region and occupy the mountains and valleys protecting from the minskin threats in the northwest. It is from the Talic region that many rivers flow and where the great river Pwedwed begins its journey to The Sapphire Sea carrying with it alluvial silt that enriches its banks and allowed the Gnostrans to settle more easily in the desert. Thirdly, to the far south the tribes of Ur and Gul united to create the semi-nomadic state Urgul which began to dominate regions far to its north across the harsh desert creating the Tawndom of Nostic bringing desert tribes into its fold and protecting them from the gan incursions - one particular instance of which swayed the tribes of the desert to unite with Urgul after suffering heavy losses. Finally, the seat of the current Tawnlord of all Gnostrum - the Tawnhood that cuts through most of these regions along the Pwedwed River - the Tawndom Nostra. Here lies Ardel Court, the seat of the Tawnlord of all Gnostrum,the Great fortress built by Dewl el Moui, and the extensive libraries of the Ordanae. Each of these Tawndoms has long running settlements and each city has its own Tawn and each region its own principle ruler (High Tawn); in Talic the main seat is Aprila with the satellite settlements being Rownon, Gaelon, Panowa and Dwylo, in Gorn Vaul the main seat is Dargul with the cities Celic Goch, Mordra, and Tem Goch to the north, in Nostic the main seat is Traed with Urgul, Memer and Enpallan stretched across the middle of the desert, and finally in Nostra the main seat being Gnostrum, the name sake of the nation, with the vassal cities Nornolost, Zalador and Gorgofell. The aim of this work is not to dwell on the current structure so I will now move back in time to the history and mythos surrounding the founding of the Tawnhood and the protagonists involved as best I can - speculation on my part will be duly noted.
Dunno if this counts, but I also did a Paint version of one of my main settings. It's a military compound called Rosehold.
I definitely think it counts. Similar to what you've done, I often make city, village, or neighborhood maps/layouts to better understand the space where my characters are and where my action takes place. My only criticism of your compound map is that it looks like some of it is in bird's'-eye view (top down), while the rest of it is in profile. Personally speaking, I would prefer all bird's-eye view for a map at this scale.
Yeah, well, it's hard to do with limited artistic abilities and using Paint, lol. This was mainly just for me to get a visual of how the compound was laid out.
If it serves a purpose well enough for you that is all that matters. There are a number of ways to ‘map’ your world; hence what I posted above. You could even imagine the kind of music or food these people’s eat, different traditions and beliefs etc.,. All these things help present a picture in your minds eye.
My world is based on Earth in the United States, but it's like seventy years in the future after a second civil war and completely reformed. So a map is needed in order to understand all the new names and all that. If you want more history to understand, you can just ask. https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&mid=1CrybeIgpK53VWs4FZqpP_K31XyBCLbqz&ll=36.50137225605237%2C-101.81242283725322&z=4
Map made in gimp. https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/488495450400227329/592031876093444104/Map_Final.jpg
I was inspired by an RPG Maker: MV based map that someone else posted here a while back, so I made my own! This is Frontier's Rest, on the rust-red planet of Telchor.
This thread reminds me I need to buy some Plasticine and mold a model of the little fake part of eastern Ohio I'm featuring in the psychological horror novel I'll get around to finishing someday. The contours and elevations are important, and I could probably come up with something reasonably 3-D in Sketch-Up. But it seems like way too much work. Hands on would be easier.
Bless you, you still remember? I guess it would, wouldn't it? I've been entertaining thoughts of taking that book down tbh... I've finished the one that's actually close to my heart - the one that's gone on for 12 years. Fancy a beta read!? I'm already querying but got no takers yet and wondering if I'm missing something...
