Beginning Resources
Driechel
Traveler
What are some good resources to look at for how to design maps? How to make them varied for combat, how to conceptualize them, how to go about designing a city for you to build up later. I realize those are very diverse topics, but what books/resources did you all find useful when you were getting started in your cartographic journeys?
Comments
Focus towards table-top campaign creation more-so than a map creation process here, but I find the "How to be a Great GM" channel on YouTube has a pretty good series for helping set up a new GM with planning certain things without necessarily over-planning them. (first episode on campaign creation is here: https://youtu.be/VaPDove54mw )
He is sponsored by world anvil and dungeon fog and used wonderdraft for his overland map, but I listen for the process more than learning how to use those software specifically, and also knowing that gets me through the 'ad spaces'.
The reason I specify for an ongoing tabletop game as opposed to a final map is because there is value in flexibility for an ongoing campaign.
WASD20 has a channel more specific to fantasy map making itself which I watched a bit of as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q-eDLiqtdg
The best advice I can give is to tell you to imagine what kind of map you would like to be shown if you were sitting waiting to play a game. That way, you have a standard to aim for, which leaves you with the task of finding the right style and getting the map done.
There is a page of postage stamp links to all the Cartographer's Annual issues here. While there's a lot more to the full range of styles available, this is the bulk of them. Each annual is sold as a batch of 12-13 issues. You buy the annual, and if it is already complete you get one installer for the whole set of issues. If you buy the current year's annual you can download each new issue at the rate of one a month.
https://forum.profantasy.com/discussion/10366/cartographers-annual-all-the-issues-linked-in-one-place
Thanks for this. I think a lot of this has to come down to what my style is. I've only barely dabbled in art before, and would very much not consider myself an "Artist", but I like being able to flex a new set of muscles.