I am currently trying my hand on drawing up some maps. Not on battle grids or anything, just maps of areas to give a better sense of scale as well as the layout of different places so nothing too complicated. Tips on creating a good one? Also, how often do you use maps?
Maps are always useful, because it gives a clear view over the world. It makes it way easier to show players where they are and to show what is where and what is not. So I use them a lot, they are also a good background on Roll20 when I dont have anyhting to show.
A simple but beautiful one is Inkarnate (https://inkarnate.com/).
It gets a bit of time to get used to, but otherwise you can make some stunning maps in 6-10 hours.
Luckily it is also free.
This my world map (without sea names), but still I like it.
I also advice not drawing border lines with Inakrnate, because if borders change, it will take a lot of work to change it. Instead I advice using Gimp or Paint for borders and roads.
You can also try Gimp, which is a bit more difficult in my experience, because you have to be very precise and hand draw a lot. There are also some paid map makers, but I dont have any experience with them, because I dont use them…
I hope that I was pf help, have a nice day!
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Most people have a phone with camera now that is more then enough to get a “scan” of a hand drawn image that can be used for a bace layer in something like gimp expand upon.
Also using whatever you can find on the internet to use or alter, even Google maps can be used for this
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