Mapping: Hand drawn maps tutorials

I have been working on the map for a world for a time now and have been stumbling across lot of nice tutorials on how to draw the different elements and how to make it look the way I want. So I thought I would share some of them with you.

Drawing Isometric Rivers
Designing a Town
Drawing Swamps
Defining Scale Using Mountains
Drawing coastal Waters
Drawing Realistic Coastlines
Converting a Phone Photo to Digital Line Art
How To Draw Forests
Drawing Isometric Cliffs
3 diffent types of cliffs
Isometric Mountains
Drawing an original fantasy map


That's all for now. Keep checking in on this one as I will probably update it now and again.

Now I'm off for a night of solo gaming with Mr. K
Mrs. K

Problems with the Economic System in D&D Ⅱ

Introduction

I previously wrote about issues I found with the Dungeons & Dragons economic system in the post titled “Problems with the Economic System in D&D”, and not surprisingly, I’ve pondered quite a bit on the subject. After writing an article on the Canned Blog, “D&D: Konvertering av prislister Ⅲ”, and coming back here to check what I previously had written on the subject, I was a bit surprised to read what I wrote at the end of the article; I quote:

… to make the economic system work well, two changes have to be done. First of all, there has to be only one system, not two as it is now (one for Joe Commoner and another for the heroes). Secondly, the whole economic system has to be rethought and redesigned from the bottom up. This would cause the sums found by the adventurers to be something completely different, and the rare Gold Crown (the monetary unit in my system which I’ve set to 240 silver pence) would truly get a unique status.

Do I still hold to that idea? I’ll hereby provide a translation on my Canned Blog-post on price lists, and see whether I still agree with my previous thoughts.

---

Edit: I found a few errors; some were minor, some were horrendous. I have corrected these now. My apologies.

Mr. K.

The NPC Archives: File 0001 - Gilder the Post Coachman

Gilder the Post Coachman

Name: Gilder
Age: 45-55 years of age
World: Rocharan'nore
Location: Fellstad
Occupation: Driver of the Post Carriage between Fellstad and Thorva.

Description: His hair was brown but is now beginning to grow thin and go white. His beard and moustache are red in colour. He has strong, rough hands with lots of hair (imagine a lumberjack or something). The hands tell the tale of many years of carriage driving. So does his muscles and general build.
He is a skilful and careful driver and an easy companion. He likes to chat and joke when travelling with companions but does not manage to keep up well in a fight.

History: Gilder was first encountered 14th of Eleint (9th month of the Forgotten realms calendar), the year of the Snarling Dragon (1279). He had offered a seat for the slightly pregnant Mmimas Nasnan from Fellstad to Thorva when she went off to train with her master druid. He was damaged on the trip by the acid from the fangs of the giant serpent "Nwrevi". The serpent met his end by the edge of Mmimas' sword and the bite of her panther companion "Pus", and Gilder survived the ordeal and delivered them safely to Thorva 2 days later.

Just an update:

Hello again.

I am just popping in to tell you that I am still here and I am working on some posts now that I am back home and have access to all my roleplaying items.

The soon-to-be-finished posts that will be posted in the near future are:

The very first character profile; Mmimas Nasnan Liljason.

A couple of NPC descriptions

My world map and an article about making/drawing a good/realistic map.

A short word about home made terrains with links to some good sources.

"The Maiden"

A couple of break down articles of customising and describing your character.
A short run through of movement and movement rules in D&D 3.5
Sizes and weights

I will be working slowly but surely through all my many, many notes and papers to make new posts about the fantastic world Mr K have made for us.

As for more articles... Any requests?

Mrs K.

Keeping count in RPG: The importance of keeping score.

Hello again. This time I will talk about keeping scores. What ever kind of scores you have to keep, grudges, money, items, favours, expenses, etc., it is important to do it as you go.

The best tool for keeping scores are a pencil and a notebook. I like to make a new page for each type of thing to keep score of. This is something I learned after playing with Mmimas Nasnan (my druid) for a few years. I have, right now, about 8 or 9 years worth of notes on her, most of which is not sorted (from the early days), so now and then I come across some loot that we have found and later forgotten. This is especially true with potions and scrolls. So now I have a notebook that have a page for each type of item/loot/score-keeping-worthy-happening and write down the scores as we go.

On really busy nights when I don't feel like flipping through the pages to write down things (or the DM is telling everything we found quickly, or I have forgotten the notebook somewhere) I write everything down on a single piece of paper, making notes for references, values, who got the item etc., behind every item. Then, later when I have a moment to myself, I take out the notebook and transfer the notes to the correct pages.

You can also do this on a computer, using a spreadsheet or something similar. I have actually been working on a document that I can share with Mrs. C, whom plays Cordelia Bukkenback, so she too can have easy access to the records and can add to them as she pleases. For this I am actually using OpenOffice Base to make a database that I can later search, edit and display at my leasure. I will, when i finish it, share it with you here.

Mrs. K

How to Start Dungeon Mastering

Introduction

So, you’’ve got your group of friends gathered, you’’ve got the books, dice and paraphernalia gathered, and you’’’re set to start playing, but someone’’’s got to master the game, and you’’’ve been given the honour of having the group entitling you Dungeon Master. Congratulations! Now what do you do?

Comment: For sake of ease, I will throughout this article use the term “dungeon master”, as I’’m a Dungeons & Dragons-player and have been for years. Read this synonymously with all other titles used, such as game master, storyteller, rolemaster et cetera.

The Planning Step

The more experienced you are, the less planning you’’’ll probably feel the need to do. When running your first adventure, it is always a good idea to start by deciding what your setting is going to be. Do you want your players to play an urban, rural or wilderness adventure? Should it be focused on the roleplaying bit, or should they explore the lands (over and/or below ground); should they be investigators or mercenaries; is the world high or low tech and high or low magic; do the characters know each other, some of each other or none of each other? All these are important questions you need to find the answer to. Let’’’s start by exploring them one by one:

So you wanna roleplay? The beginnings.

Here. Grab a slice of cake and a cup of something to drink and I'll tell you what you should know about your first adventure.

Tea Party the wonderful *AngelNess at DeviantArt.com

So, you have made you character. You have found a group, and you have gotten a hold of the basics. Now you are ready to begin the first adventure. Your GM will most often give you a basic start. Most of the time my characters have found them selves at a packed in, finding one of only a couple of seats left, next to some more or less dubious characters. These more or less dubious characters are often the other PCs and you will end up in some way together, dealing with some quest or other. This is a GM's "go-to" start and you should either come to peace with it or suggest to your GM that he/she give a more detailed start. Just remember to do it politely and respectfully, and preferably before the first session commences. The GM do after all have the power over the life or death of your character (and it is no fun if you piss of the GM... believe me!)

Before you get together with the group you should be certain that you have a few notes scribbled down about your character's personality and look.