World Map for D&D Campaign

[darkanglmarine]

So, I'm working on a world map for my fantasy realm in a D&D 3.5 setting, and I've got a basic world map that I really like, but Im struggling with placing a lot of the land features. Specifically mountain ranges are giving me the most difficulty. Having spent my due time in the public school systems, I learned the basics of plate techtonics, but with a fantasy world that has no real basis, I struggle to place realistic mountain ranges accordingly. Any attempt I make just seems to hoaxie to me. Any suggestions?

[Lonewolf27]

Something I've tried in photoshop was making a layer just to outline the borders of each tectonic plate. you can adjust the transparency in photoshop down to something like 20%-30% so its not blocking your work, yet can still see roughly where the mountains should be going. When your map is finished you can disable the layer. Haven't any experience in other programs though.
As its a fantasy world you could really shape the plates however you like, I just looked at our own earths plates for inspiration on the layout. From there you can muck around with the directions they are moving to work out where the ranges go, and even what types of mountains they are. Looking at our own earth Most of the plate borders are in the sea, and the smaller plates seem to be more "active"

Hope that helps