Hi All

It’s been a while since I posted anything new. You see, I’ve been busy developing my 4th Edition D&D campaign setting. I’ve put a lot of thought into my setting and think I’ve developed an interesting world.

I’ve actually been running adventures in this setting since 4E was released, 12 months ago, but it’s taken this long for the setting to develop, as I learned more about 4E. Originally this setting was very different from the creature it is today. It was very much a Tolkienesque setting, but I realised I wanted a D&D, roleplaying setting. Something not quite as serious, more fantastic in the way of fantasy, completely compatible with the core 4E canon but entirely my own at the same time. At first my thoughts were all over the place, but I soon realised how utterly flexible 4E is for campaign design. All I had to do was somehow separate core canon from my own ideas, yet allow room for core canon to expand, through the release of new rulebooks, supplements, the addition of new races and classes, etc., without that expansion continually forcing me to adjust my setting. To solve this problem I decided to divide my setting’s history into two distinct parts separated by a world-changing cataclysm and a 2,000-year dark age buffer zone, so to speak.

I’ve now detailed my world, how it works, given it a history, developed the major players, threats, and powers that influence the setting, and have arrived at the point where I can’t really continue without visualising and mapping the world, and thought I’d post my progress as a WIP for you guys to read, examine, comment on and critique, and help me make a great map.

This will be a whole world map, so at this scale I only want to depict continental masses, islands, mountains, rivers and major settlements. I’ll zoom in with other maps when this one is finished.

For the style of this map I want to try and emulate the way navigators and explorers make maps in my world, using a combination of traditional ink and parchment, but enhanced by magic. Imagine a map scroll that comes to life when you unravel it. I’m thinking an almost holographic map, but I need to represent this 3D magic-holo-map in 2D so I can print it out for my players without losing the illusion of 3D. I hope you can visualise what I’m trying to describe.

Anyway, with a single exception, I’ll be exclusively using CC3 to create this map. I want to create a new mapping style to show what can be done with this software. The single exception is the drawing template below. I created this in a really old paint program called MGI Photosuite. MGI PS is really just an advanced MS Paint program, but it’s easy to use and has always been a favourite of mine.

I’ll try to explain any techniques I use to get the effects I want along the way to help other CC3 users, and will share details of my setting to help everyone understand why I do certain things or want things to look a specific way. So, without further ado, I’ll begin…

DMG