Your region needs a map? Make it like this (2)

This is a translation of a post originally published in 2013. More posts in English here.

Here we go again with me politely ordering you to imitate a map. Today I want to comment one for the Sto Plains in the Discworld. The artist is SM9T8.

Unlike balloons, it gets bigger if you prick it with your pointer.

The pros ar very similar to the ones we discussed with the Andalusia map.

It combines physical and human geography, of course, but what is interesting is how well the terrain is represented without beimg annoying. And of course, the forests, God, I've fallen for the forests. I would have never thought of laying them on top of the terrain just with less opacity. I suppose I am too used to traditional fantasy maps. By the way, this one also indicates marshes, which is always a good thing.

I always say it: roads and rivers. That's what people use to travel, after all. In this regard this map is also outstanding, as it shows which currents can be navigated or not, and wich land routs are the most important. Why does this stuff matter? Because on main roads and sailable rivers there will be, obviously, more civilized people and it will probably be more safe. Unless you are avoiding the law... Although in this case I think that the red roads are not necessarily bigger, but just the ones where coachs can travel. I guess it will probably have todo with the post service and there will probably be passenger wagons. It's a nice detail knowing that you can get to Landre more or less comfortably by coach, but not to Llamedos.

A peculiar trait of this map is that it shows semaphore lines: a series lf towers were a guy gets on too and signals the next one where there is another guy looking. And then the chain keeps going. It's pretty much a more refined version of using torches to warn nearby fortifications. But as I was saying, having it marked on the map how far could you send a message quickly (although not discretely) comes in handy, especially because it can play against the PCs, making their reputations travel fast.

Just they way I like it, it distinguishes different types of geographical features with a typography that makes them easy to tell appart. But, just the way I don't like it, you have to make a little effort to know if a city is big or not. Maybe ir would work better having icons with different shapes.

Speaking of names and typography, I see that some roads have names and that is really cool. My policy is naming everything to make it easy to know what you are talking about, and you know what? It's probably also the policy of the people that use those roads. That's why I think any road of a certain length should have its own name kust like rivers.

How ever, for me, it's still lacking some things to be perfect: nature places of interes, fortifications or which cities have harbors. But nonetheless it does have a scale, which is always and pro, and even a necessity.

Thanks for readimg. Valmar Cerenor!