Pitax, River Kingdoms Map

[harrija0]

Hi, all. I am new and this is the first map I have shared. Made this in the beta of Worldographer (Hexographer2) for a game a friend of mine is running. Used Paizo maps as a basis for the map and a little creative license. We made up a city to be the base of our adventurers and this is the map as discovered a couple of levels in. The Kingmaker Adventure Path material helped me put a few of the locations on the map.

I welcome any tips for improving or things to look out for in the future.
Pitax.jpg

[Mouse]

Hello harija

A good first map.

Does your software allow you to blend the map with the background parchment a bit - perhaps make it look like its printed on the parchment a bit better?

[harrija0]

No, it doesn't. I used GIMP to add the background and top and bottom text. So I could play with the opacity perhaps. Good idea. I will have to play with that to try and see about making the hexes less obvious.

Thanks!

[Mouse]

The hexes are ok, IMHO.

In GIMP you can alter the blend mode of a layer to 'overlay' the background parchment, which will visually merge the colour of the map with the texture of the parchment. You may need to use multiple overlaid copies of the map to make it stand out on such a strongly patterned parchment, however

[harrija0]

Wow, you have revolutionized my world. I had not played with those blending options before. Overlay did not work (came out way too white/yellow even with multiple layers). However Darken Only did what I think you had in mind. It looks so much better.
Pitax2.jpg

[Mouse]

Glad to have helped

Why not try all the different modes - just to see what they do

You might find Multiply has quite an interesting effect, or colour... or hue...

[harrija0]

Glad to have helped

You sure did. Thanks a lot. I made one that looks like it could be a hundred year old faded map. That's a very neat effect. I could pass these out to players and let them recreate with a base idea.

[harrija0]

Well, Mouse, I took your suggestion to heart. I did play with all the blending options and these were my favorite. Of course they would have to have different uses. Some of the faded ones would be perfect to give players without being overly revealing. Want them to feel like they are heading into mostly unknown terrain without sending them off into nowhere. The two on the far left could be used for campaign chronicling events and counting distance. The top right one looks like it should be a star map or underground.
PitaxMaps.png

[Mouse]

That looks like fun

Have you thought of also varying the background texture, to see what it would look like on a different piece of parchment?