First Map Using CC3+

Hi everyone, I just purchased CC3+ a few weeks ago and created my first overland map for a DnD campaign. As a novice and very green map maker, I am always looking for feedback. Here is my version of Hartsvale where I have many locations on the DM Layer so I can hide them from the player version of this map.

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jmabbottGeorge

Comments

  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 81 images Cartographer
    Hi jacolantern.

    Great first map.

    That river of yours running out in the north do look a little bit wide though. Based on your scalebar, it is about 10 miles wide, which is wider than even the Amazon river at it's widest.
  • ScottAScottA Surveyor
    That's really a fantastic first map. Good job!
  • First map? This is lovely!

    I just have one question. Why your river gets thinner as it flows?
  • Thanks for the replies.

    Hi Monsen, the scale bar was originally 50 miles matching the source map I used as a trace below. I felt that the travel time to the locations might be too quick, essentially 2 days to cross the vale from the castle to the keep. I like longer travel times as a DM as I can fit in more encounters along the journey. But I see your point, the river is exceedingly wide at that scale.

    Mateus090985, I was thinking as the river starts feeding the lake, it would slim down a bit as it branches off running from North to South.
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 81 images Cartographer
    Posted By: Mateus090985I just have one question. Why your river gets thinner as it flows?
    It doesn't. The river flows from south to north, running into the ocean north of the vale.

    The image in this wiki article shows the surrounding area.
  • Posted By: Monsen
    Posted By: Mateus090985I just have one question. Why your river gets thinner as it flows?
    It doesn't. The river flows from south to north, running into the ocean north of the vale.

    The image in thiswiki articleshows the surrounding area.
    Ok! The layout fooled me.
  • Posted By: Monsen
    Posted By: Mateus090985I just have one question. Why your river gets thinner as it flows?
    It doesn't. The river flows from south to north, running into the ocean north of the vale.

    The image in thiswiki articleshows the surrounding area.
    I need to better understand rivers and their overland design, this description is much better then my understanding! Thank you!
  • I need to better understand rivers and their overland design, this description is much better then my understanding! Thank you!
    The perpective of the map givies me the impression that things flow from north. I dont know with you are 100% finished with this beautifull piece of art, BUT you could solve it putting sometihng that indicates altitude in the botton (south) of the map. Maybe effects or simply an hill.

    Congrats for the lovely map =)
  • edited April 2020
    Really well done. I can't comment on the rivers, as geography isn't my strong point...so from my perspective, it's lovely, indeed. Especially your mountain placements. Well done!! Plus i always like a good map of a Faerûn location :)
  • One easy to implement way to explain the width of the river - if it runs from south to north - would be to place a natural or artifical dam at the map border. Barrier lakes can easily take such a form.

    The idea that a river slims down after feeding a lake is flawed, unfortunately. In most cases the river just fills the lake basin and then continues as wide as before. Often times wider as lakes tend to have several inlets. Exceptions can of course happen, usually with shallow lakes in hot climates that evaporate a lot of water.
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    That's a really amazing first map :)

    Well done, jacolantern!
  • I see no reason to change the look of the map (beyond maybe reducing the width of the river a little, though that would mean tweaking the Castle Hartwick island as well). It's a very fine piece of work to my eye.

    I've mapped this area of the Forgotten Realms myself, so from first seeing it, I knew exactly what it was showing. As it's a close-up segment of a much larger area, logically it can, and does, contain things that might seem confusing without access to that broader perspective.

    Possibly a stream or two could be added - the FR segment map shows a stream coming from the SW to meet the main river at the confluence with the river out of the Lake of Fiefs, for example - but that's down to mapper's/GM's choice!

    [And I shan't mention the battle I had to get the Effects in a different mapping style to look right, to make that dratted sunken valley with its edge escarpments!]
  • Thanks for the constructive and friendly comments everyone. I wasn't sure if this was something to be proud of or embarrassed about, lol.

    @Wyvern, I was debating about adding in that extra river as you mentioned, and possibly another one from the southern spires feeding the Lake as well separating the swampy area from the forest. FYI, the swamp is caused from a Black Dragon who has taken residence at that ruined keep for my campaign anyways. I would love to see your version of the map and see if I can get some inspiration and learn a few things. And your absolutely right, the edges were a learning experience and I could still do some more work on them.
  • Posted By: MonsenHi jacolantern.

    Great first map.

    That river of yours running out in the north do look a little bit wide though. Based on your scalebar, it is about 10 miles wide, which is wider than even the Amazon river at it's widest.
    but Rio Negro that flows into the Amazon near Manaus is 12 miles wide... :)
  • edited April 2020
    jacolantern said:...I would love to see your version of the map and see if I can get some inspiration and learn a few things...
    I'm not sure what you might learn from it, and unfortunately, the map isn't complete (I see from the date I last worked on it over two years ago now...) as I was converting the whole from CC3 to CC3+. However, this little segment was more or less done, I think (the Effects still need tweaking), covering just Hartsvale:

    [Image_14222]

    The full map covers most of northwestern Faerun from the Reghed Glacier west as far as Luskan, south to the northern tip of the Mere of Dead Men, and east to the western edge of the High Ice and Frozen Sea. Oh and that misty blue line shows the southern permafrost limit. Map style is Herwin Wielink, incidentally.
  • @Wyvern, that map is gorgeous, I love the style of it! The perspective of the river makes it very intuitive on how the river flows, well done! Definitely something I need to work on and shout out to Citadel Adbar there. Great map, thanks for sharing!
  • 1 year later
  • Morning! Any chance to update de picture of the Hartsvale map? There is nothing of official locations besides Castle Stagwick. Thanks in advance, love the work, but missed most of it.

  • Not sure which map of Hartsvale you're meaning here @JavaPisci , but I think you may be out of luck anyway, as Jacolantern hasn't visited the Forum since May last year, and I haven't worked on my old Forgotten Realms map in years. As I'm heavily committed to mapping for the Community Atlas project, there's little chance I'll be returning to it any time soon. Sorry!

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