Page 14 - Dungeon Master's Guide

KINGDOM SCALE
On a kingdom-scale map, each hex represents 6 miles.
A map at this scale covers a large region, about the size
of Great Britain or half the size of the state of California.
That's plenty of room for adventuring.
The first step of mapping a region at this scale is to
sketch out the coastlines and any major bodies of water
in the area. Is the region landlocked or on a coast? A
coastal region might include islands offshore, and a
landlocked area might include an inland sea or major
lakes. Alternatively, the region could consist of a single
large island, or an isthmus or peninsula with multiple
coastlines.
MAPPING YouR CAMPAIGN Next, sketch in any major mountain ranges. Foothills
When creating the world where your campaign takes form a transition between the mountains and lowlands,
place, you'll want a map. You can take one of two and broad patches of gentle hills might dot the region.
approaches with it: top-down or bottom-up. Some DMs That leaves the rest of your map for relatively fiat
like to start at the top, creating the big picture of the terrain: grasslands, forests, swamps, and the like. Place
world at the start of the campaign by having a map these elements as you see fit.
that shows whole continents, and then zooming in on Map out the courses of any rivers that flow through
the area. Rivers are born in mountains or inland areas
smaller areas. Other DMs prefer to go the opposite
that see a lot of rainfall, winding down to the nearest
direction, starting with a small campaign area that is
mapped at a province or kingdom scale, then zooming major body of water that doesn't require the river to
cross over higher elevation. Tributaries join rivers as
out as adventures take the characters into new territory.
they grow larger and move toward a lake or the sea.
Whichever approach you take, hexes work well for
Finally, place the major towns and cities of the region.
mapping outdoor environments where travel can go
At this scale, you don't need to worry about small towns
in any direction and calculating distance might be
and villages, or about mapping every belt of farmland.
important. A single sheet of hex paper with 5 hexes to
Even so, a settled region this size might easily have
the inch is ideal for most maps. Use a scale for your map
eight to twelve cities or towns to put on the map.
that's best suited to the level of detail you want. Chapter
7 offers more information about creating and mapping
CONTINENT SCALE
wilderness areas.
For mapping a whole continent, use a scale where
PROVINCE SCALE 1 hex represents 60 miles. At this scale, you can't
see more than the shape of coastlines, the biggest
For the most detailed areas of your world, use a
mountain ranges, major rivers, huge lakes, and political
province scale where each hex represents 1 mile. A
boundaries. A map at this scale is best for showing how
full-page map at this scale represents an area that
multiple kingdom-scale maps fit together, rather than
can be covered in one day's travel in any direction
tracking the movement of adventurers day by day.
from the center of the map, assuming clear terrain. As
The same process you use for mapping a region at
such, province scale is a useful scale for mapping a
kingdom scale works for mapping a whole continent.
campaign's starting area (see "Creating a Campaign,"
A continent might have eight to twelve large cities that
later in this chapter) or any location where you expect
to track the adventurers' movement in hours rather deserve a place on the map, most likely major trade
than days. • centers and the capitals of kingdoms.
The ground cover of an area this size will include
COMBINING SCALES
broad stretches of one predominant terrain type, broken --~--------------
up by other isolated terrain types. Whichever scale you start with, it's easy to zoom in or
A settled region mapped at this scale might have one out on your maps. At continent scale, 1 hex represents
town and eight to twelve villages or farming hamlets. the same area as 10 kingdom-scale hexes. Two cities
A wilder region might have only a single keep, or no that are 3 hexes (180 miles) apart on your continent
settlements at all. You can also indicate the extent of map would be 30 hexes apart on your kingdom map,
the cleared farmland that surrounds each city or town. and might define the opposite ends of the region you're
On a province-scale map, this will show as a belt a few detailing. At kingdom scale, 1 hex equals 6 province-
hexes wide surrounding each town or village. Even scale hexes, so it's easy to put the region covered by your
small villages farm most of the arable land within a province-scale map into the center of a kingdom-scale
mile or two. map and create interesting areas around it.
CHAPTER 1 I A WORLD OF YOUR OWN
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