So, I guess I should introduce myself.

[Poison]

Hey all!
After hiding in the shadowy corners of this great forum I've finally decided to start posting! I'm pretty much a novice at cartography, though I do have quite some experience with Photoshop. My love for maps stems mostly from video games, fantasy books and a fondness of displaying a lot of information in a compact, clear way.
I'm a little intimidated by the skill of some people here, but I guess that just means there is a lot to learn for me!

This is a map I made for my RPG group some months back, my very first complete map. Unfortunately the GM didn't allow me to make it any more detailed - it was supposed to be a cheap paper map we bought from someone. In the world the forests are probably a bit less blotchy, and there might be some roads between the Western and middle cities. (And a thanks to Schwarzkreuz for the brushes!) Another project of mine should be ready to post today.
Map-RPG_small.jpg

Oh, and my hands smell of brownies right now. Thought you should know. Any questions?

[arsheesh]

Welcome to the Guild Poison. Not a bad little map you've got there. The forest pattern repeats a bit, but otherwise it looks good, and perfect for a D&D handout.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

[Poison]

Thanks! And yeah, the forest's repetitiveness is a bit bothersome, especially when looking at the thumbnail. Do you have any tips to reduce this, other than doing the entire forest by hand?

[domnic]

That... that is beautiful. You wise person, waiting till you were really good before posting!

Off-topic a bit... but I find the beauty of your maps strangely complements your username. Poison = "venom", which is ultimately cognate with the name of the goddess "Venus" - who is clearly residing in your map there! xD

One little tip that occurs to me, just to return the favour. At a first glance I wasn't sure which lines were rivers and which were roads. I mean it's obvious when you look at it, but still... I would have made the roads a bit more distinct than lines. By the way historically, on Northern European maps, I have read that roads weren't usually included until the seventeenth century - which is why I leave them out, which makes my life easier.

[Poison]

Haha, thanks for the compliments, Dominic! Not sure if I deserve them, but thanks nonetheless.

Your comments about not being able to distinguish the roads and rivers clearly is a good one. Some use of colour could help, I guess. I feel the rivers are too wide (they're wider than most cities!) but unfortunately I'm tied to GM sketches there.

[Gidde]

Welcome to the Guild!

[Lyandra]

That's a Great first map! Well done, Poison!

EDIT: As to the forest. Ramah's TreeThing is certainly worth trying out, its actually awesome and very helpful in making quick and beautiful looking forests.

[Ettrick]

Greetings, Poison. When you commented on my 3d map I didn't look at your post count to see that you are also new here. Well met!

And like the others, I am quite impressed with your work.