Ardellia

[rwaluchow]

Hey all,

I've come up with the regional map I'll be using for my 4e homebrew setting. There are some things I'm not entirely happy with, but I'm overall pleased with it.

What do you guys think?

cheers,

Rwaluchow

[Redrobes]

Oh yes very nice. I hope there are some villages offering ferry services across those inlets ! That must be a few 10's of miles stretch there - well at least a few miles at any rate.

Particularly like the mountains !

[pyrandon]

I agree with Redrobes: the mountains are very nice. I like this map! Well done.

I wonder if there need be some visible reason the badlands stop and the woodlands begin at that border? That may be a nice nod to reality, although not really necessary, for we can assume the soil gets rockier, more arid, etc. (Just grasping at straws to give you some ideas...)

Good work!

[thebax2k]

Wow rwaluchow, I like your mapping style--it keeps getting better and better.

I did have a few minor quibbles. The font you are using is evocative, but you may want to fade some of the features on the map a bit. The Blightmire Marsh and Marishen labels are a bit hard to read since they do not contrast well with the features they are over.

Also, you may want to figure some way to brighten or emphasize the road. When it enters the Acacian Woodlands, it literally disappears! (Of course, if the road is overgrown, then this map "flaw" might actually be a feature ).

This is more personal preference than anything else, but you may want to make the hills more "c" like and semicircular when they are near mountains like the Shadow Peaks or the Thorgrims. Right now, you have an abrupt transition from very high peaks to slightly curvy lines--I'd change that and put more "c" like lines inbetween to moderate the transition--but thats just me.

Great map overall though, keep at it rwaluchow.

[NeonKnight]

That is indeed a very nice map. I have nothing to offer that has not already been said.

This map style is very reminiscent of Sarah Wroot's style for Dying Earth.

[Bohunk]

Very nice map indeed. Although when I blink I get the sense that the two rivers north of Ardellon are one river that flows behind a mountain. There are no other rivers that could take my assumtion away that in your map the rivers do not flow behind the mountains. Speaking of the mountains, I agree they are nicely done.

[alucard339]

It looks cool,

It the kind of made that seem to have been made 15 min prior to the game because the players want to know where they are. But I'm sure that it took longer than that.

Do some of the changes the other guys told you about and it should become a great map.

A city map done in this style too should be great to see. Maybe one the ferry town you should add.


Continue your great work,
Alu.

[rwaluchow]

Thanks for all the input guys!

The rivers aren't really supposed to be as wide as they look (realism was a casualty of the drawing style). However, I also realized my scale was a little messed up, so I corrected it.

I was going to draw some more patchy wooded grasslands before Acacia gives way to the badlands but decided against it. The rich fertile soil of Acacia quickly transitions to the rocky and barren clay of the badlands. I liked the idea of the fortress town of Stonehold standing vigil on the border; rich forests on one side and sprawling badlands on the other. It might not be uber-realistic, but I like it.

I've tried correcting some of the issues with font legibility. I softened the marsh symbol and increased the glow around Marishen. I also decided to have the road overlap the forest.

I agree that the transition between the mountains and hills is a bit too sharp. Its too late to change at this stage of the map, but its something I'll be sure to keep in mind for future maps.

I already have one of the towns mapped out. Its in a thread called 'Greenwall Redux'

I plan on mapping many of the other areas of this map, and given the wealth of useful advice and techniques I've been learning at this site, they will surely improve.

I also intend to eventually map outwards from this one at the same scale. (eventually combining them into a much larger scale map).

cheers,

Rwaluchow

[Tareth]

Nice map rwaluchow. I like the style and agree that the mountains look great.

The only other comment/opinion I have is that the forest color seems a little saturated or dark compared to the rest of the map. You might try fading the color just a little. That could also help with the legibility of the labels over the forest.

Overall nice map.

Tareth

[Kagehito]

The way its colored reminds me of the old maps from the 2nd ed Ravenloft boxed set.

It gives of a kind of "gloom and Doom" feel. If its supposed to be either a War-torn nation or anything to that effect, then bravo, because not only does it look awesome, but is able to covey the felling of the region at the same time.

And its very sharp and easy on the eyes.

All around its very nice work!