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Can anyone recommend a good way to create maps for various settlements?
I'm planning on a metropolis about the size of modern London that's going to be a major hub of trade - but London is some 607 miles square. That's quite a lot to map. I'm not sure what a good ratio is (is 1 mi = 1 in means making a map a bit more than 24 * 25 inches!) and part of my problem is that I'd like to include a lot of streets (though I probably don't have to include all of them, main streets and major side-roads would be a good idea).
I know that this isn't as large a problem the smaller you go (a thorpe would possibly consist of a handful of houses at best), but any advice would be appreciated!
My layman's advice would be to start general and add more details over time. Draw out your coast, if applicable, and then draw the boarders of your city. Start thinking about districts or rough groupings. Housing, industry, commercial, public services, and so on tend to be grouped together. Think about your city's transportation and waste management needs. Is it a harbor? Can huge wagon trains easily traverse it? What about natural features such as rocky formations, forests, or even ruins?
Then there's defense. Does it have walls? Where is the local garrison? Is it a simple police force or a volunteer army which may require more infrastructure to support training, drilling, and so on?
As always, totally draw inspiration from real world cities. Condense as needed. Don't feel like you have to put all the details in it now. Let the city grow a bit organically. Were there any major disasters that forced the city leaders to repurpose or split areas? Also, many cities tend to grow in waves which causes some areas to have distinct needs and architecture.
So, I guess that would be my ultimate advice. Think about its beginnings and how it's grown. With just some rough sketches you should be able to get a good idea of how it might look for your game.
I've actually put some thought into city/town design previously, and was debating creating a guide to post in the forums. As I haven't actually begun yet, I'll summarize my ideas for you.
A. Start your concept by envisioning the surrounding area, and what you want the city to look like. This is the part where you want to determine which way is north, and from what direction incoming roads are appearing (and how many). Draw large natural features, such as cliffs, rivers, and harbors, that may effect the layout of your roads. Everything should be drawn as a line, without to much detail.
B. Connect the various roads together. you may find that you've either created a singular main road, A central intersection that can serve as a town square, or a combination of the two.
C. Put some thought into city districts. Slums, Religious Quarter, Harbor district, South side... there are tons of defining terms. Having zones of commonality can help you place buildings in your city later on. Try using the natural features and the roads as the borders of the zones, or as their focal point. Make sure to label them somehow for reference later.
D. Think about the points of interest in your city, and where your PC's will wander. As you think up stuff, place simple dots on the map, keeping in mind zoning and the various things on the map already. Label them.
E. At this point, I'd consider the map fully useable. You can continue to add as much detail as you want, but all that is flavoring and up to you.
As an example, using this method I made a city that covers a 1000 foot tall cliff, wrapped the cliff around a harbor, and gave the city 4 "levels" of walkways, connected by a central elevator and presumably several ramps chutes and ladders. I gave the cliff 2 waterfalls that split the city further into East, Central, and West side, and when players asked where they were going, I gave them the level and the side, then told them the districts they were passing through. It helped me greatly to make the city feel alive and functional.
Hope this helps, lunch breaks long over so I gotta split. I'll be around.
You might have to make neighborhood maps, too.
1 inch = 1 or 2 miles for the overall city map
1 inch = 500 or 1000 feet for a district
1 inch = 50 or 100 feet for a neighborhood
I would suggest drawing a small area, then add to the small area, then add some more, to simulate the city growing over time. There might be old city walls in the middle of the city now. Canals might take the place of a dried out river.
Also, most cities aren't perfectly planned. Throw in some irregularities for zest. Throw in some 3 or 5 way intersections. Maybe a small lake in the middle, or a river and some islands. Maybe there is an ancient druid circle and contemporary park and green space. Use slightly differently aligned grids in different areas, and have interesting places and spaces where they meet.
If based off London, you might start drawing a central hub and then some suburb hubs surrounding it, then expand each a little at a time until they all meet. Maybe several concentric layers of small settlements, some with castles or churches at their centers.
What is the purpose of a map?
Should it be a nice hand out for the players? That's hard. I'm not saying it's impossible, with some training you can get fairly skilled at making pretty maps. But even for a pro like Jon Roberts, making a beautiful map takes many, many hours of work. If you want something breathtaking, you might find drawing it takes more time than the actual campaign. And that's not worth it.
But there are other points for maps. Some maps are GM-only. There's no fault in that. GMs need maps, players often don't. Such a map can be very simple, drawn with a pencil or in Paint, and still serve its purpose - help you visualise the geography so adventures flow smoothly.
You can make simple maps for the players, too. They'll appreciate an understanding of their PCs surroundings, even if it's not presented in the most stunning piece of art ever.
The problem with giving players maps is that it sets things in stone. A very common problem when making maps is that you make a sketch, feel happy about it, and then set out making that pretty map. But you will need to change stuff, there's no doubt about it. Both making pretty maps and handing maps out to players makes them harder to change - because you don't want to redo that tedious work and because it will need retconning, respectively.
So think twice before making good-looking maps that you give to players. If you have an important metropolis that's gonna feature heavily in your campaign, don't give your players a map of it the moment the PCs arrive . At least not a pretty one. Wait a few sessions, let your needs for the map grow. If you really want to give them a map, make it a very sketch-like one. At least then you can add stuff later.
The above-mentioned Jon Roberts is a gold mine, his tutorials have really helped me. I can now say I can make fairly good-looking maps. That's a practice town, I haven't used it for anything. Okey, it's not of Jon Roberts quality, but I'm proud of it =)
The campaign I'm currently GMing takes place in a large metropolis. Of course I have maps of it. But not a pretty map yet. Maybe I'll get around to it, but the city is so huge ... I have, however, given my players a simple map (its square to function properly in Obsidian portal). That map just outlines the shape of the city, the water ways, main streets, city walls and districts and marks important locations. It's a subjective map, (most of) those locations are important for the PCs. Should they make them-self acquainted with a new location, I'll add it to the map. For my self, I have another map. This contains more information, some of it yet unknown to the players and PCs. The working file is an svg (vector format) so I can easily add and change markers and text. It also gives away something about my work process - as you can see, the "bottom" of the map is a pencil sketch with a few notes (I think the numbers in the top left has to do with population density and district size, I forget). That pencil sketch, which now is pretty final (since I've shown my players a map), was perhaps the 10th or 15th sketch I made.
EDIT: And, for Thor's sake, don't draw individual houses. It's a a stupid fantasy trope that even Jon Roberts sometimes make badly. In anything but the smallest village, you'll end up with way too few buildings that aren't packed densely enough. Plus, it takes forever and makes the map even harder to change and work with - aggravating already existing problems.
However rewarding it may feel to design an exquisitely crafted city, don't forget: there are a lot of cities out there ready to use out of the box. Here are some of my favorites:
- Saltmarsh, from the DD3.5 Dungeon Master's Guide 2
- The City State of the Invincible Overlord from Judges Guild (the ancestor of all mega-cities)
- Freeport, from Green Ronin Press
- Magnimar, from Paizo's Rise of the Runelords (expanded in its own book)
and many, many others.
If you *do* decide to draw up your own map, remember that the grid approach that you find in most modern US cities will not feel very medieval. Make the streets squiggly & organic!
My layman's advice would be to start general and add more details over time. Draw out your coast, if applicable, and then draw the boarders of your city. Start thinking about districts or rough groupings. Housing, industry, commercial, public services, and so on tend to be grouped together. Think about your city's transportation and waste management needs. Is it a harbor? Can huge wagon trains easily traverse it? What about natural features such as rocky formations, forests, or even ruins?
Then there's defense. Does it have walls? Where is the local garrison? Is it a simple police force or a volunteer army which may require more infrastructure to support training, drilling, and so on?
As always, totally draw inspiration from real world cities. Condense as needed. Don't feel like you have to put all the details in it now. Let the city grow a bit organically. Were there any major disasters that forced the city leaders to repurpose or split areas? Also, many cities tend to grow in waves which causes some areas to have distinct needs and architecture.
So, I guess that would be my ultimate advice. Think about its beginnings and how it's grown. With just some rough sketches you should be able to get a good idea of how it might look for your game.
I've actually put some thought into city/town design previously, and was debating creating a guide to post in the forums. As I haven't actually begun yet, I'll summarize my ideas for you.
A. Start your concept by envisioning the surrounding area, and what you want the city to look like. This is the part where you want to determine which way is north, and from what direction incoming roads are appearing (and how many). Draw large natural features, such as cliffs, rivers, and harbors, that may effect the layout of your roads. Everything should be drawn as a line, without to much detail.
B. Connect the various roads together. you may find that you've either created a singular main road, A central intersection that can serve as a town square, or a combination of the two.
C. Put some thought into city districts. Slums, Religious Quarter, Harbor district, South side... there are tons of defining terms. Having zones of commonality can help you place buildings in your city later on. Try using the natural features and the roads as the borders of the zones, or as their focal point. Make sure to label them somehow for reference later.
D. Think about the points of interest in your city, and where your PC's will wander. As you think up stuff, place simple dots on the map, keeping in mind zoning and the various things on the map already. Label them.
E. At this point, I'd consider the map fully useable. You can continue to add as much detail as you want, but all that is flavoring and up to you.
Thanks a lot, both of you! This is very helpful! I did have an idea for how I want the city to look, but I wasn't exactly sure how to represent it when it comes down to streets and such. My main issue is that a city is a big place and I want to do it justice.
You might have to make neighborhood maps, too.
1 inch = 1 or 2 miles for the overall city map
1 inch = 500 or 1000 feet for a district
1 inch = 50 or 100 feet for a neighborhoodI would suggest drawing a small area, then add to the small area, then add some more, to simulate the city growing over time. There might be old city walls in the middle of the city now. Canals might take the place of a dried out river.
Also, most cities aren't perfectly planned. Throw in some irregularities for zest. Throw in some 3 or 5 way intersections. Maybe a small lake in the middle, or a river and some islands. Maybe there is an ancient druid circle and contemporary park and green space. Use slightly differently aligned grids in different areas, and have interesting places and spaces where they meet.
If based off London, you might start drawing a central hub and then some suburb hubs surrounding it, then expand each a little at a time until they all meet. Maybe several concentric layers of small settlements, some with castles or churches at their centers.
Thanks! That's actually was what I was trying to figure out. A large city is going to be a couple miles in all directions and it was hard for me to figure out the best way to deal with the sections since I both wanted a good overview and something more detailed. I had already planned to make it more circular than squarish with streets that meander here and there.
What is the purpose of a map?
Should it be a nice hand out for the players? That's hard. I'm not saying it's impossible, with some training you can get fairly skilled at making pretty maps. But even for a pro like Jon Roberts, making a beautiful map takes many, many hours of work. If you want something breathtaking, you might find drawing it takes more time than the actual campaign. And that's not worth it.
But there are other points for maps. Some maps are GM-only. There's no fault in that. GMs need maps, players often don't. Such a map can be very simple, drawn with a pencil or in Paint, and still serve its purpose - help you visualise the geography so adventures flow smoothly.
You can make simple maps for the players, too. They'll appreciate an understanding of their PCs surroundings, even if it's not presented in the most stunning piece of art ever.
The problem with giving players maps is that it sets things in stone. A very common problem when making maps is that you make a sketch, feel happy about it, and then set out making that pretty map. But you will need to change stuff, there's no doubt about it. Both making pretty maps and handing maps out to players makes them harder to change - because you don't want to redo that tedious work and because it will need retconning, respectively.
So think twice before making good-looking maps that you give to players. If you have an important metropolis that's gonna feature heavily in your campaign, don't give your players a map of it the moment the PCs arrive . At least not a pretty one. Wait a few sessions, let your needs for the map grow. If you really want to give them a map, make it a very sketch-like one. At least then you can add stuff later.
Thanks a lot! That's really helpful! I wasn't planning on making the most gorgeous map on Earth, just a layout for a city that I could use and that my players could use. I think it's a little easier if everyone has something in front of them to visualize. It's also helpful in case any of them decides they grew up in the city - someone that's lived in a city for years ought to know her or his way around!
However rewarding it may feel to design an exquisitely crafted city, don't forget: there are a lot of cities out there ready to use out of the box. Here are some of my favorites:
- Saltmarsh, from the DD3.5 Dungeon Master's Guide 2
- The City State of the Invincible Overlord from Judges Guild (the ancestor of all mega-cities)
- Freeport, from Green Ronin Press
- Magnimar, from Paizo's Rise of the Runelords (expanded in its own book)and many, many others.
If you *do* decide to draw up your own map, remember that the grid approach that you find in most modern US cities will not feel very medieval. Make the streets squiggly & organic!
Thanks a lot for these! I'll be sure to check them out and see if any of them fit what I have in mind! The city I was thinking of is going to be pretty old and so organic, but I was thinking it has a sister city that looks more modern due to being newer and actually planned out.
Thanks again everyone so far! This is all really helpful!
I live in Buffalo, and it has the Olmstead Park and Parkway System, which is a radial layout of the major streets, for the most part. This makes our city street maps a bit more interesting than grid-based street maps.
Maybe work on a radial layout? Where the spoke widen out, you can intersperse additional radial or semi-radial areas, which can be quite interesting where they intersect.
Also, throwing in an irregular natural feature, like a river, lake, cliff, waterfront, or hills, can break up the monotony as well.