Filling a need for a missing map

[wmtenery]

Note: map removed.



>>>I have always liked making maps. I started as a very young kid just mapping my neighborhood and the open fields and hills around Dublin California. My dad gave me an old outdated map of the city when I was about 11 or 12 and I loved it. Maps were a guide, with them you knew what was where and where to go. Anyway I have been role playing for a long time and hadn't thought about how I liked maps even before that until today.

I bought the D&D 4th edition starter set to teach my mother, if you can believe it, how to play 4th ed. I am reading through it and there it says crude map of Harken given to players. I looked around in the material but there was no map crude or otherwise of the little village of Harkenwold. I started and did a really crude pencil one and decided I might as well make a good one, at least for me to keep track of where things were.

I grabbed the existing map of Fallcrest, a community nearby from other 4th edition materials and tore it apart into brushes in GIMP 2.0. I started painting. 4 and a half hours later I looked up and remembered how much fun it was to make maps. I dropped the map off at the 4th ed. forums for other people to use and then went on a google hunt for other nutty people like myself. Luckily I found this place.

Anyway here is what I came up with.

Here is the map Key based loosely on the Starter set info.

Harken Map key
1) Baron Stockmer's Keep
2) Aunt Nonnie's Place
3) Cliffside Brewery
4) Harkenwold Trading Station
5) Ruined House
6) Temple of Faith
7) Harkenwold Caverns
8) Militia Guard House
9) Granary
10) Stables

[Ascension]

Love the color scheme. Do you have a larger version? You can post up to 4000 x 4000 here (but make sure that the file size is under 4.7 megabytes). I'm sure we'd all like to see the details of this fine lookin map. Welcome to The Guild.

[wmtenery]

Note: Map removed.


I posted Harken at PutPhoto because I didn't have my own website to host it. The thumb link clicks to the hosted image at PutPhoto. Under that medium scale image is a link to "Click Here for High Res Version" which takes you to the best resolution I could access.

Is there a way to just upload the higher resolution one here rather than just link to a URL?

Also I started with a map called Falcrest provided by WotC for another adventure in roughly the same area. I wanted their exiting map and this map to look like they were cut from the same cloth so it wouldn't confuse players who saw both. Falcrest is more of a city while Harken is just a farming village.

Here is a direct link to the higher res. one.

[overlordchuck]

Very nice. I definitely see the Fallcrest-mappiness in there. Very nice job.

[Ascension]

In a post, you will see a bunch of icons across the top of the typing window and smiley faces on the side...one of those icons looks like a black paper clip...this is for attachments. Clicking that will bring up the "manage attachments" window...browse to the file that you want and hit the upload button.

[ravells]

I really like your approach wmterney: find a map you like, deconstruct it and then make your own in the same style. I think that this is one of the best ways to learn how to map. The tree texture is lovely as is are the desaturated colours and the building distribution. My only very small crit is that although the field textures are great, they are a bit overwhelming (possibly because they are at put 90 degree angles and probably because the lines are very dark...lower the opacity a bit?

Great work and duly repped.

Ravs

[Steel General]

Very nice, have some more rep *bonk*

I think the only thing that looks a bit 'off' to me is the fields. It looks a lot like a woven basket pattern, it's almost "to perfect". No big deal though just an observation.

[torstan]

Well you certainly held on to the Schleyness of the map! Very good and welcome to the guild. The one thing I'd consider would be changing the compass - it's something of a signature of Mike's and it might be best to use a different one on your own map.

[wmtenery]

I agree on the fields. They are definitely not how I'd do them using my own "style". This was meant to be a sister map to Mike's Falcrest, which uses that style for fields and the compass.

But I take it as a challenge that the next thing I need to do is develop my own palette for the town building and use that to create a style all my own. I appreciate you guys nudging me in that direction and I have already started on that and will continue that discussion elsewhere.

Here is a link to the original map of Falcrest big sister city to Harken that I used as inspiration and for palettes.

Link to map removed (It is still posted over at the Wizards site.)

[Gandwarf]

Wow, very cool map. I am impressed. I repped you for it.
I really like the original style and you have copied it well. Do I understand correctly that you have created this map in 4.5 hours?!