Map request for homebrew d&d campaign

[Uhtred]

Hi all

First time poster here, please be gentle!

Would someone be interested in a paid commission for a d&d map for a homebrew campaign that I will be running in a couple of months for some friends? I’ve seen so many wonderful maps on this site that I really hope someone would like to take this up.

I’ve checked the stickied post about how to request maps and so I hope I’ve done all the right things below, but please accept my apologies if my email is too long/missing something/it otherwise gets something wrong!

Description

The campaign will be set in a land called Raelond – a wild, dangerous land with a northern European climate and topography. Raelond is basically a human kingdom (the people are called Raelings) and has a strong Anglo-Saxon feel, so I’ve used an online Old English dictionary to come up with a lot of place name. There are some dwarves in the mountains (and I use Basque for inspiration for dwarf names). Here are the basic details that I’ve been working on for the purposes of the plot (but if they are too restrictive, that’s ok, I can rejig the plot if need be):

1) Raelond is in the north-west of a continent and has a western coastline that runs roughly north-south;

2) to the north it is effectively hemmed in by frozen terrain – there’s too much snow and ice for anyone to live there;

3) to the west lies the ocean (which the Raelings call Tyrwær);

4) to the east and south is a range/ranges of mountains that effectively provide the eastern and southern borders to Raelond;

5) just over the southern mountains are the human kingdoms of Algond and Arnulfond and just over the eastern mountains is an elven kingdom called Tuonela (but these don’t need to be fully mapped – it’s just in case you need these details if there’s a bit of blank space at the edge of the map);

6) there is a sea port called Holmburg on the western coast (the coast is called the Glæsrima);

7) Holmburg is at the mouth of a river called the Ifling, which is the major river in Raelond and which snakes eastwards into the mountains – Holmburg sits mostly on the north side of the estuary (I have a map if needed);

in the ocean, perhaps a couple of days’ sailing from Holmburg, is an ancient city, magically constructed out of volcanic glass, called Nicorgrist – it’s not currently inhabited (except by monsters!);

9) further upstream along the Ifling from Holmburg is the only major city in Raelond, called Gyldenstan (so named because its building materials are quarried from a yellow/golden rock);

10) apart from Gyldenstan and Holmburg, there should be maybe another three notable settlements of town/city size: let’s call them Ydda, Crawemere and Andel;

11) right at the source (or one of the sources) of the Ifling, in the mountains in the east, is a mountain called Carcern;

12) in the mountains is the dwarf kingdom of Naia, and its capital, Zuriňe, is there too;

13) somewhere there needs to be some rocky terrain called the Ettinshaws, which is where giants live;

14) in the Ettinshaws there needs to be a huge broken down stairway that led, a long time ago, up into the clouds, but which is now ruined and so perhaps only half a mile high;

15) somewhere in the west there needs to be an abandoned dwarf fortress called Gailur;

16) somewhere there needs to be a mysterious, marshy sort of place, shrouded in fog, called Frēodmōr;

17) there should probably be a few forests dotted around;

1 in one of the forests, there should be marked up a giant mutated tree called Sicklebeam (it’s “thing” is that its seed pods give birth to monsters and so forth, so it’s not a nice tree!); and

19) the grassy lands in the far east that lead into the eastern mountains are called the Ǣrist Uplands.

That’s it in terms of specific requests for locations, but if there are any more features that you think would be interesting or geographically appropriate (or just fill up space nicely) then please go ahead. I can supply some sample names for relevant features (or if you prefer feel free to just have a look at an online Old English dictionary – I’ve been using http://www.bosworthtoller.com).

Politically there’s no one king or anything like that, but the land is divided up among about 12 ealdorman (who are the major nobility and have sizable holdings) and maybe 8 independent thanes (lesser nobles who hold smaller holdings, but these ones are independent from any ealdorman) and also the towns are independent. Looking at some of the maps on the site, I’ve seen some wonderful ones where they have shields/heraldry for a bit of extra flavour – I’d love that if it were possible for the ealdormen, independent thanes and towns, as long as the shields/whatever looked Anglo-Saxon (or Viking or even Celtic) rather than more modern than that.

Style

It’s a fantasy map for a d&d campaign, so I guess it shouldn’t look too modern in layout. Also, I was planning on using it “in game”, in that the players have the opportunity of buying the map off a wandering cartographer (happy to name him/her after the real designer!), and if they do, then I produce the map in real life! So it should look like something that this cartographer would produce, more or less. Having said that, above all what I’d love is for the map to have that “wow” factor when it’s produced, and you guys are the experts, so I’m happy to give you a lot of freedom to use your own ideas.

Quality and size

I’d like to be able to get this printed out and laminated, and then put it on the table when running the campaign, so the bigger the better really. A3 would be ok, A2 or A1 would be awesome.

Timing

I’m hoping to get the campaign running in a couple of months. However, the map doesn’t necessarily have to be available immediately, so a timeframe of up to five or six months would be ok. If I’m being unrealistic, just let me know and I’ll adjust my expectations!

Copyright

I just want the ability to print it out and use it for our d&d campaign. That’s it. Beyond that I really don’t mind.

Contact

The best way to reach me is at uhtredofthereach(at)gmail.com, but I will of course check back here every so often.

I would really love to have a wonderful map like the ones I see on here. As you can tell, I’ve put a lot of thought into the campaign and it would just be amazing to have a great map to use for it. As I say, I will pay for it, and I’d rather pay more for a great map than less for a so-so one.

Thanks so much for your time reading this and I hope to hear from someone soon! If you are interested, it would be great if I could see some samples of what you’ve done previously to get a feel for what the map might be like.

Uhtred

[Uhtred]

Hi again

Thanks so much to those of you who have sent me emails (and so quickly too!). I'll mull things over and come back to you separately, via email, so for now I guess this post can be archived.

Cheers

Uhtred