D&D 5E Dnd map for my campaign

[Gator dm]

I have recently drawn a map for my dnd campaign (homebrew setting and story) and I would like to have a feedback before placing the names, settlements and other illustrations.
My initial goal was to do something sober and immersive like it's been drawn by a cartographer npc, does the result match my intention?
Suggestions, comments, and critics are welcome.

 

[SkidAce]

If you are going for the cartographer look/style, you nailed it. It looks very nice.

Keep in mind, that for world maps, you want a style you can reproduce zoomed in, because you will eventually want kingdom, and or province maps.

 

[SkidAce]

What are the concentric circle locations, by the way?

 

[Istbor]

Without getting to map nerdy, I will say that I like it.

 

[embee]

I have recently drawn a map for my dnd campaign (homebrew setting and story) and I would like to have a feedback before placing the names, settlements and other illustrations.
My initial goal was to do something sober and immersive like it's been drawn by a cartographer npc, does the result match my intention?
Suggestions, comments, and critics are welcome.

How real do you want the cartography angle? It could be a campaign in and of itself.

If by a cartographer, by land or by sea? You will have two very different maps depending on how that map would have been made.

If the map was made by sea, you will have a ton of detail along the coasts and rivers - anywhere a boat can go. But the land will be inaccurate at best, if not blank. If you want to get very granular, consider what sort of ship the cartographer is on. If a galleon, that ship can't get too far up minor tributaries because its draft isn't shallow enough.

Remember - Lewis and Clark spent three years traversing North America to chart a route across the Louisiana Purchase to the Pacific Ocean. If by land, the coast line will be vague at best. However, you will have very detailed rivers.

Also, perhaps don't make your distances east-to-west that accurate. Longitude depends on knowing the time at a fixed location. The New Year's Eve Ball Drop is rooted in this. Tall structures would drop a ball at noon so that ships could set their chronographs to it. By comparing the ship chronograph to the angle of the sun, a ship could determine how far east or west it was.

So how is your cartographer knowing what time it is? If she doesn't know, then east-west distances should be off.

For a good read on this, I recommend "Longitude" by Dava Sobel. It's a quick read and shows how the development of the chronograph and wristwatch revolutionized exploration, travel, and mercantile.

 

[bedir than]

I enjoy your style. It's one I would explore if I had the funds to get a custom map for my world.

 

[zedturtle]

Lots of good stuff here. But you have at least one river that appears to source in the mountains (good), run into a couple of solitary mountains (bad, water never goes uphill), then run into another mountain range (see previous note) and then empty out into a bay (good). Even if those are supposed to be separate rivers, the area where the one river from the one mountain range meets the other river from the other mountains should form a lake.

Regarding accuracy, if the cartographer has access to fly or an airship then real-world concerns are out the window.

 

[Oofta]

Looks like a pretty cool map, good job!

Now for the criticism:

• Lots of mountains, not enough mountain ranges. Mountains form because of colliding tectonic plates, so if you look at a map there are lines of mountain ranges. It also feels like you're overdoing it a bit ... which I get. Mountains are cool. But think for a moment about what tectonic plates there would be and how they would collide.
• Maybe it's the icons you're using, but it's okay to have hilly lands or badlands, areas where over the millennia the land rose up and water eroded it away (it's how we got the Grand Canyon).
• There's a lot of rivers, almost no lakes. Think about adding in one or two.
• Water runs downhill and tries to get to the ocean as efficiently as possible. In addition, rivers will often flow into bays. For example, you have a river that parallels the coastline for a long, long ways. That's not realistic.
• Rivers join, they don't split.
• The circular islands look cool, but more than one looks really artificial. Well, concentric circular islands like you have are rare and are usually the result of a massive volcano. Cool looking, but too symmetrical. Unless they're artificial and have a reason in which case it's a cool mystery.

 

[Istbor]

Looks like a pretty cool map, good job!

Now for the criticism:

• Lots of mountains, not enough mountain ranges. Mountains form because of colliding tectonic plates, so if you look at a map there are lines of mountain ranges. It also feels like you're overdoing it a bit ... which I get. Mountains are cool. But think for a moment about what tectonic plates there would be and how they would collide.
• Maybe it's the icons you're using, but it's okay to have hilly lands or badlands, areas where over the millennia the land rose up and water eroded it away (it's how we got the Grand Canyon).
• There's a lot of rivers, almost no lakes. Think about adding in one or two.
• Water runs downhill and tries to get to the ocean as efficiently as possible. In addition, rivers will often flow into bays. For example, you have a river that parallels the coastline for a long, long ways. That's not realistic.
• Rivers join, they don't split.
• The circular islands look cool, but more than one looks really artificial. Well, concentric circular islands like you have are rare and are usually the result of a massive volcano. Cool looking, but too symmetrical. Unless they're artificial and have a reason in which case it's a cool mystery.

Lol. Precisely why I only left my comment as I liked it.

I wanted to add though, that I think that those odd island formations are probably specific and maybe part of the campaign. I know the OP hasn't said so, but, they seem to consistent to not be in my mind. Maybe ley line focal points? Or something ancients constructed? That was my first thought when I saw them.

 

[Oofta]

Lol. Precisely why I only left my comment as I liked it.

I wanted to add though, that I think that those odd island formations are probably specific and maybe part of the campaign. I know the OP hasn't said so, but, they seem to consistent to not be in my mind. Maybe ley line focal points? Or something ancients constructed? That was my first thought when I saw them.

Yeah, absolutely. But if I look at that map and see those circular islands I'm going to want to explore them and try to find out why the heck they look like that.

I still think it's a cool map, the islands just make me want to know what's there.