Don't Make D&D Maps Like Tolkien!

Why should you avoid Tolkien's techniques when crafting a world for your #ttrpg games?

#worldbuilding #shorts

[benmurphy]

My recommendation, look outside of Europe for inspiration to get a more unique feel. Argentina, the Philippines, even the USA, are all super varied and give a cool way to view temperature changes, mountain range endings, and where cities should be placed.

For example, the placements of Las Vegas and Jerusalem isn’t because of optimisation of the landscape (like how London was built because the Thames was a useful trade route) but because of governmental policy impact and religious significance.

[bardblunt]

Like the focus on players. Also, more than 4 terrain types... looks at ocean campaign history, crys

[GonzoTehGreat]

I think the reason people draw maps artistically is to make them look historically believable. Modern maps are more technically useful, but this is a consequence of being able to view the planet from above.

For example, contour lines and other mapping features are a relatively recent invention, so it makes more sense for say dwarves to create them, but not humans. Dwarves developed the technology to accurately map terrain elevations, because they live in hilly or mountainous regions, where it's a necessity. This also means they're particularly proficient at certain professions, such as surveying and mapping land, for which their expertise is especially valued and sought after.

This would also make Dwarven maps more mysterious, complicated and difficult to use by other races, differentiating them whilst enriching your world-building. You can take this further by having dwarves make better compasses, so they're also better at navigating using maps.

Meanwhile, elves could have a better natural sense of direction than either humans or dwarves, allowing them to navigate without the need for maps, compasses or bearings, which is why they don't make or use them...

[bridgerparker]

I like the traditional map to help myself conceptualize the area moreso than a tool for the players. I let the players see it and explain to them locations of things they would know, but when it comes to "how tall" and "where to cross" that will come up at the table not on the map

[phylippezimmermannpaquin]

Im not too fond if living in quebec but my favorite thing about here is nature. Theres many different kinds of biomes here and i love it

[jania.]

As a player, can I just wholeheartedly agree 👏

[MasoTrumoi]

If you are making a setting for a tabletop game, make it for that. Don't make it for a book series or envision it as a tv show or a movie. Make it fun to explore and rife with possibilities your players can ruin.

[jamestaylor]

No, do it exactly like Tolkien. That wasn't his first map. That is the final map after his campaign had finished.

Tolkiens map evolved and filled in as he created, exactly as you are suggesting gamers do.

[israelelliott]

I feel that the dm should have a more functional map so they know the details of the worlds geography and locations that they should never show the players outside of maybe scrying, while the players should have access (at least to start) to a more classic example of an in universe, slightly inaccurate artistic map with lots of weird names and interesting illustrations that gives them an idea on where to go. that way the best and most frequently traveled mountain pass will be visible on the map but to find other more seldom travelled routes they have to explore themselves, gather information or even hire a guide.

[sammykathb]

Speaking as a resident of the American upper south, you can have swamps, rivers, farmland, forest, and ancient mountains (aka the Ozarks) all within a few miles. They interact with each other, too. Wetlands or rivers near farmland means people build levees and canals, for example.

[jaredmick]

I try to build on my maps through layers that I can turn on/off. Tectonics, leylines, height, wind, climates, resources, cultures, kingdoms, regions, trade/shipping routes/teleportation networks, and even lairs and territory controlled by a legendary being (dragon’s hunting grounds). Just not all layers are available to the players, but a height map influences where a mountain pass will be viewable on the player-facing map.

[RelicSeeker]

Here’s a fun idea: If you’re running a game with various gangs and such, there could be a designated building, with living quarters, where a pair of delegates from each gang sit around and receive sending spells with information that they then determine a value for and sell to the other gangs, only revealing the subject matter it pertains to before deals are struck, and then taking members that are purchasing the info into a soundproof room, tell them the message, after which they can use the smaller soundproof cubbies to send the purchased info back to HQ. One from each gang has the day shift, while the other has the night shift, and they could either have the job as a deployment style thing, where maybe they go for 3 or 6 months before others come to replace them, or they could have the position for an extended period of time, before handing the reigns off to someone else to watch it for a few years

[UnswimmingFishYT]

It really comes down mostly to what kind of world something is set in. If it's meant to have more realism, Middle-Earth is actually very well-structured and a lot of size scaling lines up well with how things happen in Tolkien's writing and how long travel takes. Mordor's unusual mountain structure is like that because Melkor seemingly liked moving mountains around as a defensive tool to make space for forts.
If aiming purely for gamified entertainment value, one needs only look at Skyrim and Morrowind to see that some major variation in terrain and biome can go a long way toward player satisfaction.
For D&D specifically, the more gamified and fantastical map options generally seem preferable but when aiming for a geographically small-scale campaign you might have only a few relevant regions, or even just one depending on DM preference. I'd say that while the geography matters to a certain extent, the player-affected story of a setting is more important.

[kingramon]

10/10 advice keep it simple, descriptive, and diverse. with one or two "special locations" like a main town to start at and explore/return to and "end location" to survive in and in a sense defeat as a kind of local boss in of itself. such as convincing a local populous to rebel instead of betray eachother out of fear, or to choose a side on a local conflict between the people, or perhaps curing some curse or a hidden cabal inside the city. keep it challenging and engaging.

(advice from someone with little information on the subject)

[skem]

This is why i generally do ocean campaigns, cause the sailing can happen between sections and players end up at really different islands

[jeremiahsaxton]

So I need to start making topographical maps, got it (a joke)

[Calebgoblin]

Thanks but I'm definitely gonna make maps like Tolkien
Possibly forever

[dominuspopuli]

Angular mountain ranges exist on Earth too... check out Australia's Mordor Pound...

[ForgedArcher]

These videos are my favorite things on YouTube

[AchanhiArusa]

For a lark, I took the nonhuman areas of Lord of the Rings and put them on REH's Hyborian Age. The shire in Northern Aquilonia, Mirkwood NW of Turan, Modor SW of Turan, and so on.