I screen captured some google maps with the labels turned off and stitched them together. Then I tweaked the color, contrast, and depth. Put the whole thing in Photoshop and started rebuilding it. It’s not done, but I’m not really sure what else will get added, removed, or changed. I just know that I’ll make changes or additions. It’s kinda what I do. I scaled the map down to 4k resolution, but it’s still a big file (3.5Mb). You’re looking at an even further reduced file. The scaled version here is 1440 by 2560 pixels and its hard to read. If you click on the map you’ll open the full-size image. This is the Player Map, I have a DM Map that has all the various adventure locations marked on it. Adventure Campaign Map Cities are marked with castle icons. Towns look a little like the capital building. Villages are a handful of little houses. Hamlets and thorps are the black circles. It’s mostly ridiculous that I’ve put villages on the map, normally I don’t show anything smaller than a tow...

I’m going to reveal the secret formula that turns the real world into the Realms of Adventure. So here’s where it starts. Take the 2020 census population number of any given place and divide by ten. Bam! You know the size of that same place on Marsilon. Pretty easy conversion. For the most part that reflects pretty well the world I’m trying to portray. But you’ll note that both Weaverville and Eureka don’t reflect that formula. central region of the big map Weaverville would be a Hamlet of 331 people, which is not large enough to support the businesses that I want to put there. That number is probably good for the map of Phandalin as presented, but we’re not using that map. The map being used shows Weaverville back when it’s population was 1,000 people. I’m going to turn some of those buildings into ruins to reflect the rebuilding going on in the region. That will drop the size of the town, I think we’ll set it at, say, a population of 931 people. That’s large enough to support an inn ...

You can't play D&D without a map... well... you can, but why would you? Maps are great. Anyway, my plan to use the real world as the basis for my fantasy world was supposed to make things easier. It did not. See, there is a LOT of data available on the real world, enough to swamp all my plans to keep things simple, because the real world is not simple. Anyway, what do I want from the real world? I want Crater Lake. I want someplace rugged and untamed... that translates to mountains. I also want ocean. I've decided on a stretch of northern California and Oregon. So with the aid of google maps, a bunch of screen captures, and some photoshop magic you get something like this. This is my new campaign map.  

I don’t want to run the Ghosts of Saltmarsh parts of my Adventure in a giant city like Waterdeep or Greyhawk, but I think the town as presented in the book is a little on the small side. Also, the source material seems at odds with itself over how big the town is. Is it a place with a population of 2,000 or a place with a population of 5,000? That map seems too small for either number. So I’ve gone back to the Sanborn Maps I mentioned in my Weaverville post and I found a few I like. Eureka, 1886

Sunday, I had a list of outside chores to do, but it rained on and off all day. So, instead, I did laundry and worked on my Adventure project. I spent a lot of time on it, but I’m not sure how much I actually got done. It was that kind of day. But there was a big announcement coming from the other side of the state… No details have been forthcoming, but the announcement was made this past weekend that one of the most anticipated game conventions in the Midwest will be back this year. DougCon ’22 will be held October 21-23, 2022. I’m looking forward to it. It was a lot of fun last year. DougCon is traditionally focused on board games, but I may put together a short D&D scenario if there is any interest. I’m thinking a small 5-room dungeon with pregenerated characters and a clear goal. Could be doable in a short block of time. It’s something to think about.