A long time ago I wrote an Old School Hex Map Tutorial using Inkscape. The campaign I started this with is still on-going after 46 sessions and more than two years of play. We meet on two Sundays per month. Tomorrow is the next session, and I’m looking forward to it.
And I keep working on my map!
Working on my map using Inkscape
It just keeps on growing…
Some of you may recognize this map as a section of the *Lenap* region in the *Wilderlands of High Fantasy*.
And I started on a similar map for a new Labyrinth Lord campaign in the *Sea of Five Winds* region of the *Wilderlands of High Fantasy*. I love the material because it provides a rough foundation upon which I can build my own campaign setting.
#Maps #Inkscape #RPG
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I’m a big fan of Inkscape but I’ve never used it to produce that style of map before.
A very useful how-to-guide. Thanks
– Chris Tregenza 2011-02-12 14:35 UTC
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You’re welcome. I think the benefit of using Inkscape for mapping is that you can keep working on an electronic copy. If you start with a hand-drawn map, scan it, post-process it – that’s cool, but it’s also very much “fixed”. Ideal for a print product, but how will I add new elements for my home campaign? Drawing and scanning elements, and stitching them together, or keeping the original spot-less and working on that… So even though some ink and paper is faster the first time around, I think I’d loose in the long run of a campaign.
I think that you only get this benefit if you’re doing *an incremental map*.
If you produce a piece that is finished, then using Inkscape is possible, but it’s far less cool, and much less efficient.
Maybe I should put this warning somewhere on the how-to page. 😄
– Alex Schroeder 2011-02-12 17:12 UTC
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I have never used Inkscape for map making, thanks for the how-to. I just went to your Flickr, your maps are awesome Alex. I’ve been posting some old maps lately, I love map-making it’s kind of an obsession of mine.
– John Williams 2011-02-12 18:47 UTC
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Thank you for the kind words! Adding to the player map every now and then between sessions is a kind of meditation on the state of the campaign. What have players achieved, explored, uncovered? What random encounters did they have and how will this affect the map? Time to add new locations and lairs!
– Alex Schroeder 2011-02-12 19:58 UTC
