Advice to enhance my world

[Gamerprinter]

Cool map! Love it very much.

By the way, anyone else notice his Screen Name is Dracula backwards? What is the significane of the 339?

Some 1970's Dracula movie used "Alucard" as the count's secret name - I think Christopher Lee was the vampire, Count Alucard...

[alucard339]

In my case, the pic is alucard, dracula bastard son from the castlevania series. And as for the 339, it's my military dogtag number.

I pic this name because my best RPG world for me (the DM) is Ravenloft...
My players are not really on the same opinion about this.

[Gamerprinter]

I pic this name because my best RPG world for me (the DM) is Ravenloft...
My players are not really on the same opinion about this.

I love Ravenloft, buy yeah, my players will never go there again, if they can help it!

[pyrandon]

Okay, so this is a great map. Well done!

I really like the color scheme: very stark and although saturated to the point of burning my eyes, it works! Invokes an interesting mood. I especially like the shores' wave patterns.

I'm not sure I'd go anything other than some sort of simple pattern/texture for the forests, as every other geographical entity on the map is that way (except for the oases).

[alucard339]

Thanks guys,

The only thing I'm trying to add to the map is river and large forest landmark so that the emphasis is put on the town and the principals roads.

A more complex (detail) version of each country will then be done individually later.

For the last week, I'm testing, between meals, Roba way of doing forest. I want to find a good looking color pallet that will denote the forest easily without it being too out of place.

I post my first sketch for the forest, but I don't really like it.
What do u thing, just so I know if I'm too far out of track or not.

See U all soon,
alu.

[pyrandon]

I think the texture of the forests works fine, but the outlines are too harsh--so they seem "blobs" "floating" above the landscape. In other words, the outlines are too distinct for the type of map you are attempting to create, IMO.

[OneSeventeen]

I agree with Pyradon. The forests look taller than your mountains because the shadows are so deep. If I were you, I might just pick a specific shade of green to stand for forests, rather than a reliefed texture like that. I guess you'd have to see how it looked.


117

[Torq]

I like the map Alucard. All the references to Drac and Ravenloft got me thinking about my old Ravenloft campaign. As far as my players go they still recall it often around the game table. We barely have an evening of gaming without someone coming up with a "hey, remember that time in Ravenloft when... It normally ends with everyone agreeing that mists are to be avoided at all costs no matter what the gaming system or the genre. I was thinking about it recently and it led me to three conclusions:

1. My current campaign is probably a bit boring.
2. The Ravenloft campaign setting was fantastic, and I'm not sure everyone appreciated at the time how good it was.
3. Man, I really scared those guys.

As for scaring, my personal favourite was something suggested in the one of the Ravenloft books. I got a female friend to could act to do a whole lot of really scaring whispering (things like "help me", "he's coming for us all" etc), which I recorded on the end of an otherwise blank cassette 45 min per side. Just before the players arrived I started the tape playing, with the volume on full on a small casette player and hid it under some cushions right next to the game table. You can imagine when things were gettig really tense in some haunted locale and things had gone quiet around the table, what the effect of that disembodied voice coming out of nowhere was like. Of course it scared me out of my whits too because I had become engrossed in the game and had forgotten all about it.

If you havn't tried it and your players need some scaring I really recommend it.

Torq

[alucard339]

Thanks for the advice Torq.

I will surly use it soon: right now we are playing in Tir Na Nog (a Conan like country), the paizo pathfinder campaign and in 2 weeks, I should begin the book #2 (skinsaw murderer)…

It will be fun to use ur trick.

As for the map, I'll get rid of shadow around the forest and try to find a better looking texture but only by mid January, because right now I'm working on my board game.

C U a-round,
Alu.

[alucard339]

Here is an updated from my world map project.

I just finish the Tromek Island with it's rivers and forests.
Take a look and give me your feedback. Because I will start the rest of my world with the same style unless ou say that it need improvement.

Thanks,
Alu.