# Old Fashioned Hand Drawn Maps (with Tutorial)



## Dyson Logos (Dec 9, 2012)

I've been gone for a long time, but the resurrection of ENWorld made me realize I hadn't posted here in AGES. 

I love maps. I particularly love hand-drawn maps. It's nearly a fetish for me. 

Seriously.

Anyways, I figured I'd pop in to say "Hooray, ENWorld is back!" and also to show off some of my latest maps.






Epherin’s Keep has seen better days. The stairs to the keep door are badly damaged and cracked from age, winters, and war. The keep itself is in poor repair, and were it not for the dungeons beneath also having access to the bottom of Beggar’s Rift, no one would care about it at all.

The map is divided into three parts.


The top left is the keep proper, with no detail of the grounds, but instead focusing on the building of the keep and the stairs leading up to it. In the centre of the keep is a spiral staircase leading down to the dungeons beneath the structure.



The bottom of the map is the dungeons under the keep, with the spiral staircase leading up to the keep, and a pair of barred and secured double doors leading down into the caverns below.



The upper right portion of the map is the caverns below the keep and dungeons with both stairs leading up to the dungeons, and a passageway to the north, leading to the bottom of Beggar’s Rift – a tear in the earth just north of the keep.


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## Lwaxy (Dec 9, 2012)

Hey! Welcome back. 

I used several of your maps in the past. I'll likely make use of this one, too!


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## Mercutio01 (Dec 9, 2012)

Are your maps all hand-drawn and scanned or digital? I really like the effect and have looked at and used your maps for years now, but I was just curious as to actual methods.


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## Dyson Logos (Dec 9, 2012)

All my maps are hand drawn. 

For the actual methods, I have a full post on my blog that I could bring over here... 

When I post my maps, at least once a month I get a request for a “how to” on my mapping style / techniques. I’ve never actually gone through with one because I don’t generally think they are that remarkable. However, the response to my hand-drawn maps has been so positive over the past two years that I’ll finally cede to your demands. This is the Dyson Logos Cartography Tutorial – or how to be an amateur mapper in one easy step.

First of all, you need to be gassy. I don’t seem to map without enveloping myself in a cloud of noxious fumes originating from parts down south. If the room doesn’t stink and your eyes aren’t running, you aren’t doing it right. I recommend beans – chili in particular because it encourages you to drink beer and it has onions in it too.

Once you have the gas going, it’s time to pull out the tools. I use the following:

1 – Something to draw with
 2 – Something to draw on

Normally #1  is either a black gel pen (I typically use a 0.7 mm nib black pen like the Zebra Sarasa retractable gel pen, and occasionally a 0.5 mm black gel pen which produces slightly finer lines normally). Sometimes I go really old school and pull out a non-mechanical HB Pencil (#2  pencil for the USians). For this demo I’m using my 0.7 mm retractable gel pen.

For this demo, #2  is a booklet of graph paper. But I also often use plain white paper. But I don’t restrict myself to these two mediums – I also use post-it notes, note pads, journal booklets, the inside covers of novels, envelopes from the government, the backs of resumes, and whatever I have lying around really. I’ve sold many used novels back to the Book Market here in Ottawa with my maps on one of the inside covers. When inspiration strikes, no paper is safe.

Alright, on to the actual play-by-play.

When I start a map, the first thing I decide is whether I’ll be doing a side view or cutaway view of the map. If so, I do the side view  first because it establishes how the other portions of the map will work together. For this demo, I’ll be going with a side view, and because I’m lazy I’m not going to get around to doing the rest of the map today – just the side view.

So, I need an entrance to the dungeon, so some ruins come first.






There it is, two stories of tower (40 feet wide) with a ruined third floor, and some mysterious stairs leading down into the dark. I’m demonstrating two of the three formats of stairs I use in side views here. The spiral stairs leading up in the tower, and the traditional stairs leading into the depths. I’ll put some of the third format soon – traditional stairs that are facing towards or away from the side view instead of along the cut.






And there we go, the third kind of stairs at the bottom of the set leading down. And I’m already adding my cross-hatching. This can be perilous if you aren’t dead set in your mapping – by adding the cross-hatching, I’m already locking into my design, I can’t add new halls leading into areas and have to live with what I’ve drawn. But I find the cross-hatching to be my favourite part of mapping. It is relaxing and slows down the process, giving me time to think in the back of my head about where the map is going.

It would probably be clever of me to sketch in the areas in pencil first and then ink them, allowing me to change my mind as I go (and I probably recommend this for those of you following this at home), but that’s just not how I work – either the first try is good enough to publish on the blog, or it goes in the trash (or gets sold back to the Book Market in the back cover of Moorcock’s “Lord of the Spiders”).

I’m already contemplating a second exit to the dungeon at this point – that’s why I’m reaching to the right and leaving open space that way. A good dungeon has at LEAST two entrances, otherwise it is a death trap for those living within it as adventurers can secure the entrance and hold it, restricting access to food, loot and more adventurers.






All right! A little more cross-hatching added, and the rest of the complex is here. Some natural caves, some stairs carved into them, and even a room chiseled out of the caves over on the right. At this point, technically the layout is done and everything I do from now on is detail. But that’s what I love – details.

I’ve also started going back and thickening lines. You can see how the lines of the ruined fort have already had a second pass added to them. This increases contrast between the earth and the structure, and makes the map a lot easier to read. I don’t always do this, and didn’t do it much in my older maps, and it is a trick that adds a lot to a good map. So thicken those lines – even better is to thicken them after doing the cross-hatching (as it makes the cross-hatching and the lines blend together a bit more, making the contrast even stronger right in that limnal area) – but I don’t always stick to that.






Trees. I love trees. I don’t draw them all that well, but I love them. In this case, they also explain why the cave won’t be the first entrance the characters find, since it is hidden in the trees. I’ve also thickened all the lines of the structures / caves / dungeons now, and added some shading to the water. Then it is time to finish off the in-filling of cross-hatching and my more recent rocks-and-dirt fill to get to our final map:






Finally with that map in hand, I would normally scan it for the first time (instead of having scanned it 4 times previous to finishing it. I drag it into either the Gimp or Photoshop and enhance the Brightness and Contrast (typically +40 Brightness, +60 Contrast) and suddenly it looks like this:






And that’s how I draw these maps that I fill my blog with. Just me, a room full of stinky, stinky farts, and a pen. Occasionally the farts are optional, but my best maps are definitely fueled by stink.

Now don’t tell me that I never give you what you ask for!


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## Zustiur (Dec 9, 2012)

Lovely tutorial thanks.
For my own mapping, I find that instead of gas, what I need is to be lying on the floor like a kid with a colouring book. No idea why, but it helps to get my creative juices flowing.


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## Dyson Logos (Dec 9, 2012)

Zustiur said:


> For my own mapping, I find that instead of gas, what I need is to be lying on the floor like a kid with a colouring book. No idea why, but it helps to get my creative juices flowing.




Then, as I said, you are doing it wrong.


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## Zustiur (Dec 9, 2012)

After reading this thread, I sat down and had a quick go at re-drawing a map I previously wasn't happy with. The results were much better, but more importantly, I learnt something new. 
Limit your cross-hatching! Whenever I cross hatch, I have the compulsive need to fill in all the blanks. I have looked back at your maps, and realized that you essentially use crosshatching to give some weight to the walls, there is still blank space on the map which is not part of the dungeon.
Also, the way you do your cross hatching appears to be 3 lines one way, then 3 lines another way. This is also different to what I've done in the past, and seems like a more effective method.


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## Orius (Dec 9, 2012)

Well, I usually stick with the pencils myself, makes things easier to correct, but when I know I'm done, I ink over my work so it's more permanent.  I like using pencil and paper, largely because I'm more comfortable with it, and because it's just a lot more flexible than trying to use mapping software.  Either you get something that has few useable shapes and ends up being rigid, or you got to draw it all freehand with a mouse, which is much harder for me than using a pencil.

Looks a lot like the stuff WotC publishes.


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## Dyson Logos (Dec 9, 2012)

As a footnote, if you like the above, you can check out another hundred or so maps in a similar style on my blog. I've dedicated a page to listing them all, and just updated it.


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## Quickleaf (Dec 9, 2012)

Dyson Logos said:


> As a footnote, if you like the above, you can check out another hundred or so maps in a similar style on my blog. I've dedicated a page to listing them all, and just updated it.



So when you bring your sketched image into Gimp/Photoshop, you prefer to alter brightness/contrast rather than duplicating layers and using the "multiply" effect? As an amateur mapper, I'm curious.

EDIT: Safari (using iPad) wouldn't let me access your web page for some reason...


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## Orius (Dec 10, 2012)

That's because there's a typo in the link, he's got the http:// part in there twice for some reason.


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## GlassEye (Dec 10, 2012)

Your maps are things of beauty.


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## Dyson Logos (Dec 10, 2012)

Alright, fixed the link to the maps page: http://rpgcharacters.wordpress.com/maps


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## darjr (Dec 10, 2012)

Very cool. How long have you been doing this? And I noticed that you've done commissions. Any products that have your maps in them?


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## The Cartographist (Dec 11, 2012)

Dyson - I haven't been to ENWorld in, literally, YEARS.  And I get back here, and run into your beautiful maps.  Love 'em!

If you haven't, you REALLY need to post the tutorial to the blog.

And finally, are you a member of the Cartographer's Guild?  I can't remember, but anyway, you SHOULD be.


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## Dyson Logos (Dec 11, 2012)

darjr said:


> Very cool. How long have you been doing this? And I noticed that you've done commissions. Any products that have your maps in them?




Just one to date. Alleys of Zobeck from Open Design.

The problem is that most people who want to commission me based on my dungeon designs end up asking me to draw buildings, towns and regional maps, things I am not good at.



The Cartographist said:


> Dyson - I haven't been to ENWorld in, literally, YEARS.  And I get back here, and run into your beautiful maps.  Love 'em!
> 
> If you haven't, you REALLY need to post the tutorial to the blog.
> 
> And finally, are you a member of the Cartographer's Guild?  I can't remember, but anyway, you SHOULD be.




Yep, it's on the blog. I should push it to the front page again soon because I enjoy reading it. I like to admire my presentation style on occasion.

And yeah, I'm a member of the Guild, but I don't post there often because I just don't have time between my blog and occasionally talking about my blog here and on big purple.


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## Quickleaf (Dec 11, 2012)

[MENTION=83678]Dyson Logos[/MENTION] A silly question: Is your poche (the hatched shading) hand-drawn or do you use a digital paintbrush template?


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## Mercutio01 (Dec 11, 2012)

Dyson Logos said:


> Just one to date. Alleys of Zobeck from Open Design.
> 
> The problem is that most people who want to commission me based on my dungeon designs end up asking me to draw buildings, towns and regional maps, things I am not good at.



Weren't your designs on the DungeonMorph dice? I thought that was where I first ran across your maps over a year ago.

Also, thanks for the awesome tutorial.


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## Dyson Logos (Dec 12, 2012)

Quickleaf said:


> @_*Dyson Logos*_ A silly question: Is your poche (the hatched shading) hand-drawn or do you use a digital paintbrush template?




Go back a page to the first page of this thread, my second post is a tutorial on how I do this... by hand. Also indicated by the thread name of "Hand Drawn Maps".



Mercutio01 said:


> Weren't your designs on the DungeonMorph dice? I thought that was where I first ran across your maps over a year ago.
> 
> Also, thanks for the awesome tutorial.




Yes, actually. A bunch of my designs are also on the DungeonMorph dice, but the style isn't mine anymore once they got to dice. That said, the FORMAT of the DungeonMorphs is 100% mine - when I started drawing geomorphs for my own use I checked out all the existing standard geomorph designs and decided I didn't like them much - so I went out and created a new standard for my own drawings. The format is 2.5" x 2.5" on standard 4 quad graph paper with 2 entrances on each side on the third and seventh squares. I then posted over a hundred geomorphs using this base structure, and many other bloggers caught on to the style. Now there are probably close to a thousand geomorphs out there using this format - most of which can be found on the awesome Daves Mapper ( http://www.davesmapper.com )


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## Quickleaf (Dec 12, 2012)

Dyson Logos said:


> Go back a page to the first page of this thread, my second post is a tutorial on how I do this... by hand. Also indicated by the thread name of "Hand Drawn Maps".



That's really impressive - With many of the maps on your page the cross-hatching is so precise it almost looks digitally reproduced as if by a gimp/photoshop brush! Anyhow, keep up the good work


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## nijineko (Dec 12, 2012)

very nice. 

myself, i vary in how i draw them. when i am going by hand, i will use two pencils and a super fine point ink pen. i usually use a 2h or 4h pencil as one, and a 2b as the other. lots of lighting, mixed with sunlight if at all possible. i wind up with a three tone map when i am done. sometimes i will scan it into a computer and add special effects like water, lava, or magical auras. 

even when i do a map completely by computer, i use a pen tool and a software like painter to take advantage of pressure sensitivity, color, blending, texture, and other options. i really prefer the 'by hand' style, even on a computer.

now i'm off to spend hours downloading every single one of your maps. any chance of a all-in-one download?


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## Manbearcat (Dec 12, 2012)

Some people paint life-like portraits.  Some people hit baseballs 450 feet.  Some people jump on grenades to save the lives of their brothers-in-arms.  

You make maps for dorks to use during make-believe.  Stupendously, Awesomely, Fantastic maps for dorks to use during make-believe.


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## Dyson Logos (Dec 14, 2012)

nijineko said:


> very nice.
> 
> now i'm off to spend hours downloading every single one of your maps. any chance of a all-in-one download?




Not a download no... but the first of my map books is available here. It comes in two versions - one softcover for $20, and the "I want to pay for Dyson's internet" special hardcover limited edition for $40 which also includes an exclusive adventure not in the other book and which will never appear on the website (which is limited to 100 copies).


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## nijineko (Dec 14, 2012)

Dyson Logos said:


> Not a download no... but the first of my map books is available here. It comes in two versions - one softcover for $20, and the "I want to pay for Dyson's internet" special hardcover limited edition for $40 which also includes an exclusive adventure not in the other book and which will never appear on the website (which is limited to 100 copies).




oooooh. tempting. ^^


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## Dyson Logos (Dec 14, 2012)

So, tomorrow I've got to post another map to the blog (the whole Friday Map thing), but I thought today would be a good day to go back and pull up one of my old favourites:







The roots of the world is the name of the dungeon and it was one of the quests in a short quest arc I ran in a Labyrinth Lord / AEC campaign I ran in 2010. 

Something about this map makes me very happy - the large central room, lots of stuff under water... It's fun. 

*You can read how I used it here.*

Also, this is one of the many maps available in print in *Dyson's Delves*.


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## MortalPlague (Dec 14, 2012)

Your maps are a thing of beauty.

I really enjoy drawing a map myself, and I'm always keeping an eye out for new techniques.  For an upcoming session in my 5th Edition game, my players are going to delve into the haunted Hall of Bells.  I had a decent map done up, but I decided to re-do it, and I used some of your techniques.  I'm only about a third of the way done, but so far, I am quite pleased with how it's turning out.

Thanks for the tutorial!


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## Dyson Logos (Dec 15, 2012)

Nice piece! 

Hand drawn maps actually make me kinda giddy when I see them online. They bring back all the awesome of when I first started playing D&D so many years ago.


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## Dyson Logos (Dec 15, 2012)

Friday Map time!





Rumsolt was a local baron during the great war, and was said to maintain a small fortified underground complex nearby that was built by a clan of dwarves allied to his cause against the elves.

The retreat saw little use during his reign, and baron Rumsolt was slain during a pitched battle of mystical forces that razed his keep and most of the nearby town. The dwarven clan sealed up the retreat soon thereafter, until it was found and plundered not a dozen years ago.

Rumour has it that the group responsible for plundering the retreat destroyed the great stone doors that hid it, thus allowing other less wholesome creatures to move in and take up residence there.

The map of Rumsolt’s Retreat was drawn with a 0.5mm black gel pen on a scrap piece of paper I was using as a bookmark in The Cold Commands, an awesome fantasy novel by Richard K Morgan.



If you like maps like these, check out *Dyson’s Delves*, a 150+ page book of maps and adventures in a similar vein.


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## MortalPlague (Dec 20, 2012)

That's a nice one too, Dyson.  I really like how you come up with a background to accompany each; it makes them a ready-to-go delve, just add monsters and go.

I finished up the earlier map.  I was really happy with how it turned out.  Thickening the wall lines just a little made a world of difference.  I also posted up the adventure to go with it, so people can use the map at their own table.


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## Dyson Logos (Dec 22, 2012)

That's VERY sharp, MortalPlague! If you don't have a blog to show it off at, I'd be very happy to post it to mine to mix it in with the other awesome maps I have. I like your unique flair of having the masonry in the floor.

Speaking of maps, it's Friday and to heck with the end of the world (although we ARE going through a pretty impressive Snowmageddon up here), here's another map!






A series of twisting caverns descend into the hills near Kevan’s Ford. Known as Kevan’s Depths, these caverns have been home to rebellious partisan fighters, wandering morlocks, a tribe of goblins, and even used as a secret storehouse for Kevan’s Ford during times of war.

However, in recent years the population of Kevan’s Ford has fallen down to a few dozen people who mostly work in and around Kevan’s Roadhouse and the caverns have been abandoned and mostly forgotten, being nearly an hour’s walk into the brush south of the ford.

But obviously the caverns didn’t forget Kevan’s Ford. When the party approaches Kevan’s Ford, the roadhouse is abandoned, the people slain. And the trail of death leads back to the caverns…

Is the party brave (or foolhardy) enough to find out what is behind the rampage?


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## Dyson Logos (Dec 29, 2012)

There is a cave not far from town that most of populace knows about – about thirty feet into it is a cold freshwater stream that runs even in the driest of summers. But beyond the stream are more caves, and beyond those caves are the signs that something else has been here before the townfolk. Old doors block older chambers carved into the rock unknown ages ago… beyond Cricket stream.


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## Nellisir (Dec 30, 2012)

Excellent maps.


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## MortalPlague (Dec 31, 2012)

Dyson Logos said:


> That's VERY sharp, MortalPlague! If you don't have a blog to show it off at, I'd be very happy to post it to mine to mix it in with the other awesome maps I have. I like your unique flair of having the masonry in the floor.




Thanks Dyson.  I do not have a blog to showcase it, so if you'd like to post it up, be my guest!  If you'd like, you could include a link to my adventure: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?332912-Custom-Playtest-Dungeon-Hall-Of-Bells

I appreciate the feedback.


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## Ray_K (Dec 31, 2012)

I love this thread. Your style of map drawing has inspired me greatly.


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## Blackwarder (Jan 17, 2013)

Any new maps and tips?

Warder


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## AdmundfortGeographer (Jan 18, 2013)

Just heavenly gorgeous, I love the hand drawn aesthetic. And my imagination runs wild when I get to see these by Dyson


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## Zefphr (Jan 18, 2013)

Very cool designs. Random question: What do you do if buildings in the map have multiple storeys on the top down maps? Do you represent it on another map or just leave the rest up to the imagination?

Apologies if you have already said it somewhere else and I missed it


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## Dyson Logos (Feb 7, 2013)

Zefph - depends on the map. Sometimes I'll draw the multiple levels as separate maps, sometimes I'll overlay them on a single map. Depends on the amount of overlap. 

Last week's map - *Holtor's Retreat* - was an experiment with alternate fills. This one using a block fill inspired by one of Gus' maps over at Dungeon of Signs. I'm not particularly happy with the fill, but it was a fun experiment.





Holtor’s Retreat was drawn in a single draft using a cheap-as-hell 0.7mm nib black gel pen on commercial bark-paper in the Oak King (my new mapping book). It was scanned and contrast-enhanced in the Gimp and is presented here for your enjoyment and use in your games and blogs as long as you give me credit and use it exclusively for non-commercial purposes.


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## Blackwarder (Feb 7, 2013)

So I bought the hardcover book... Damn impulse buying 

Warder


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