Sunday, December 22, 2019

Four Phases of a Map

I was looking for some generic dungeon maps in my stash of hundreds I've already drawn, but couldn't find anything I wanted. Yes, I was being picky, but none of the maps inspired me. So time for a new batch. 

I kept the map to minimal detail. I didn't want room details. I wanted a dungeon map where I just add numbers. Write the description and not be constrained by drawn room details. This way the map is usable for any of my projects. 

Ingredients for my map.
  • sheet of graph paper
  • no.2 pencil
  • hi-polymer white eraser
  • micron pen 5
  • micron pen .005
  • and a Steelers game where they lost, stupid Steelers
I skipped one of the steps. Where I simply outlined the shape of the dungeon. This step involved creating interesting border to define the walls. This was done in pencil.

Phase two I inked all the stones with a Micron 5 pen. Then erased the pencil marks with a hi-polymer eraser. I love those erasers because they do the best job of eliminating the pencil marks without staining the paper.

In the third phase I took a Micron .005 pen and highlighted the grid a bit. I think it adds to the look. A thing I stole from Glynn Seal's maps.

The last phase is adding the shadowing in the stone to help define the layout of the dungeon. I used a pencil. Then used my Micron .005 pen to add bits of rubble detail. It adds a nice touch to the look.

Now my dungeon is ready for words. 

Thanks for reading. 

3 comments:

  1. As an aside, I took a page from your playbook and did an in-car podcast episode. :) https://anchor.fm/the-dungeon-masters-handbook/episodes/Episode-23---Attracting-Old-School-Game-Players--Keeping-Old-School-Elders-e9ogku

    Are you on Discord? There's a great group of Anchorites on there on the Audio Dungeon server. If you'd like an invite, let me know!

    Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Michael. Yeah I've been on the Audio Dungeon Discord channel for a while. I'm just not the biggest contributor to that medium. Always good stuff on there, but I rarely get on social media all that much in my down time. I probably should make time to at least visit there more often.

      Thanks for the offer!

      Delete
  2. Wishing you and good Lady Whisk a Happy New Year

    ReplyDelete