Making your own TOR-map [PIC HEAVY]

Adventure in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Learn more at our website: http://www.cubicle7.co.uk/our-games/the-one-ring/
zekrish
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Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2014 10:54 am

Making your own TOR-map [PIC HEAVY]

Post by zekrish » Wed Dec 17, 2014 12:31 am

After uploading a picture of my homemade TOR map I got a couple of requests for a small tutorial. Making your own map is easy, fun and a good way to get some extra XP : ) Hopefully this guide will make more people want to make custom maps for this wonderful RPG.

Materials needed: Paper (get the thick kind used for watercolors), Pens (Black, Red, Blue, Brown) and watercolors (ocre and a darker shading color)

Step 1: ‘’age’’ the paper
Even though most high quality paper usually has a yellow tint I felt that a true TOR map should be a more weathered. So make a strong cup of tea and apply it to your paper with a brush. When the tea dries it will give the paper a nice ‘’oldish’’ look.
http://i.imgur.com/Svz6WPa.jpg

Step 2: Trace the official map.
Simply print out the TOR map (included in the PDF-version of the rules) on several sheets of paper (there usually is a ‘’poster function’’ on most printers). Tape it to the back of your prepared paper and place it against a strong light source (a window will do fine.) You should end up with something like this:
At this point it’s not necessary to be very accurate. Simply mark the edge of the forests, simple circles to show places and just sketch out the rivers. As long as the map is fairly accurate it’s okay.
Image

Step 3: Fill in the rivers
Using a thin black pen start to outline the rivers. Then fill the rivers in with a blue pen. A lighter shade of blue is usually better since most old maps had little to no coloring.
Image

Step 4: Fill in places, roads and names
When filling in the different POI use a red pen and different symbols:
http://i.imgur.com/Ap4OkjH.jpg

Roads are simply red dotted ‘’lines’’. On my map the only two real roads is The Elven path and The old forest road.
Writing the names if the places can be daunting for some people but practice makes perfect. Take your time and have a practice paper next to you. Use a ruler to make sure you get everything straight! Don’t forget to sign your map!
Image

Step 5: Fill in the trees
The trees are (like on Tolkien’s original maps) basically just small round circles. Where the forest ends and meet other geographical features (rivers, roads, mountains) make a small vertical line symbolizing the trunk of the trees. You should also slightly vary the size and shape of the circles to symbolize different kinds of trees.
Image

Step 6: Fill in the mountains
This is the trickiest part. Use a brown pen to outline the mountains and then give them an ocre basecoat. Add a litte bit of a darker brown to the ocre and shade the mountains. If you’re unsure of where the shade goes use the original map as a reference ( I choose to shade my mountains on the opposite side due to the sun raising in the east.)
Remember to make Gram and Gundabad a bit bigger and meaner than the rest of the mountains 
http://i.imgur.com/NSuD28u.jpg?1

The result:
Image
Image
Image

Hope this helps! If you want help or clarification PM me or just post in this thread!

Glorelendil
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Re: Making your own TOR-map [PIC HEAVY]

Post by Glorelendil » Wed Dec 17, 2014 1:31 am

You make it sound/look easy! I guarantee me efforts wouldn't come out as beautifully.
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Heilemann
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Re: Making your own TOR-map [PIC HEAVY]

Post by Heilemann » Wed Dec 17, 2014 1:37 am

Love it!

zekrish
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Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2014 10:54 am

Re: Making your own TOR-map [PIC HEAVY]

Post by zekrish » Wed Dec 17, 2014 2:05 am

Heilemann wrote:Love it!
Thank you my western neighbour :)

Majestic
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Location: Seattle, Washington

Re: Making your own TOR-map [PIC HEAVY]

Post by Majestic » Wed Dec 17, 2014 5:57 am

Very nicely done. Very kind of you to share all these hints with the community, too. Thanks, zecrish! :)
Tale of Years for a second, lower-level group (in the same campaign).

Rich H
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Location: Sheffield, UK

Re: Making your own TOR-map [PIC HEAVY]

Post by Rich H » Wed Dec 17, 2014 1:18 pm

zekrish wrote:Hopefully this guide will make more people want to make custom maps for this wonderful RPG.
I really like reading things like this so thanks for posting. Your process is very similar to the way I go about making maps as well so it was nice to see that too.
TOR resources thread: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=62
TOR miniatures thread: viewtopic.php?t=885

Fellowship of the Free Tale of Years: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=8318

Terisonen
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Re: Making your own TOR-map [PIC HEAVY]

Post by Terisonen » Wed Dec 17, 2014 1:57 pm

And for the lazy one or poor DM scarce on time, could you post your creation for we can use it? :oops: It could be a nice thing to hand to players.
Nothing of Worth.

Hirobumi
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Location: Munich, Germany

Re: Making your own TOR-map [PIC HEAVY]

Post by Hirobumi » Wed Dec 17, 2014 2:23 pm

Thank you, I love it!

Looping
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Re: Making your own TOR-map [PIC HEAVY]

Post by Looping » Wed Dec 17, 2014 2:34 pm

Yes, thank you for posting; this is great work--well in line with the high-quality materials that other folks on this forum have produced.

It is great to have the basic process of map making. This way we can blow up the original map and draw our own versions for smaller locales. I personally like to give players multiple, small maps with minor inaccuracies sometimes or different scales.

Speaking of maps, I strongly encourage people to look up/acquire Karen Wynn Fonstad's Atlas of Middle-Earth. It is a fantastic resource for loremasters.

Feanor
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Re: Making your own TOR-map [PIC HEAVY]

Post by Feanor » Wed Dec 17, 2014 8:54 pm

Im in the same group and i play a Beorning in the Darkening of Mirkwood campaign we are playing. Our GM decided to give his character the Distinctive Feature Mapmaking for the creation of it. Just saying its a good idea to use in any campaign when the players start to create, improvise and inspire the rest oft he group as well as the GM. The map is awesome to have and continually improve as we explore Wilderness.

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