Ramstooth Point Campaign Map

[Czepeku]

RamstoothCzepeku.jpg

You might have seen the battlemaps I post in another thread here at cartographers guild but I wanted to present a larger scale map this time. I've been playing around with styles a lot recently trying to come up with something that suited my tastes more and this is the result. This is one of a set of maps that I'm making for my patrons. Link here: https://patreon.com/czepeku

Thanks for taking a look! Any feedback would be great.

[LizardInk]

This has a really nice feel to it; the color scheme is great and I really like the treatment of the gold elements and the coastal waves. Rep!

[rdanhenry]

I like it, though I do have a few quibbles.

The colors work very well together. The labeling is nicely done, and the partly-transparent shields are a nice, unusual touch. The border is sweet. The style of the mountains and other terrain is nice for showing terrain while leaving the settlements and roads the dominant map features.

That said, I'm not sure all of the map features work as well together as the might do, and just a little less could be more. Note that I don't dislike any of these features individually, I just find them awkward in combination. The lines around the coasts would not be excessive in themselves, but they somewhat clash with the diagonals of the sea pattern. I think it probably would work better with a solid color or non-directional pattern (dots, maybe) for the water or with maybe just one extra line around the coast. Then there is the compass rose. Normally, I'd call that a fine job, but it goes in eight directions, which does not match up with the hex grid, which defines six (or twelve, if you run lines through corners as well as mid-sides) directions. I may be the only one bothered by these combinations, but I thought I should note them. If you do a similar map in the future, try a hex-based compass which works with the grid and see what you think. It isn't traditional Earth navigation, but neither are hex grids.

Finally, are these really "Tingdoms" rather than "Kingdoms"? Or does the font have a "K" that looks just like its "T"? If the second, I would suggest a font change. If neither, you have an actual error to fix.

Oh, I like your choice of place names, too. I want to launch an ill-fated invasion along the Bay of Boars.

[Czepeku]

That said, I'm not sure all of the map features work as well together as the might do, and just a little less could be more. Note that I don't dislike any of these features individually, I just find them awkward in combination. The lines around the coasts would not be excessive in themselves, but they somewhat clash with the diagonals of the sea pattern. I think it probably would work better with a solid color or non-directional pattern (dots, maybe) for the water or with maybe just one extra line around the coast. Then there is the compass rose. Normally, I'd call that a fine job, but it goes in eight directions, which does not match up with the hex grid, which defines six (or twelve, if you run lines through corners as well as mid-sides) directions. I may be the only one bothered by these combinations, but I thought I should note them. If you do a similar map in the future, try a hex-based compass which works with the grid and see what you think. It isn't traditional Earth navigation, but neither are hex grids.

Finally, are these really "Tingdoms" rather than "Kingdoms"? Or does the font have a "K" that looks just like its "T"? If the second, I would suggest a font change. If neither, you have an actual error to fix.

Tingdoms is a legitimate typo and I feel very embarrassed not to have noticed that at all. Thanks for pointing it out!

Thanks for all the sound advice, it's given me a lot of consider. The diagonals for the sea pattern I wasn't sure of myself but I wanted something to help delineate it from the land. Dots is a good alternative I'll try that for the next version.

I can also get behind the grievances of the hex grid/octagonal compass rose mix, it does seem clunky now in retrospect. A hex compass is certainly not something I've tried before but would really suit the fantastical setting. Or go for 12 pointed rose which would match both the traditional 4 pointed compass and the hex grid.

Thanks for the feedback rdanhenry.