Nothing makes a D&D group more excited than Props!

Having a table full of dice, maps, notebooks and miniatures is a great way to meet up with friends and build your fantasy world.

As amazing as it is to describe scenarios to players, it always helps to have some actual props to make sure everyone is on the same page. Whether it's for planning an encounter or giving players an idea of the world they have to explore a map is a very useful tool. I wanted a big canvas map to use as a backdrop when explaining what's happening in the world and to encourage players to get involved.

The idea is to recreate the feeling of a well traveled map that has been discussed in many taverns, crossed mountains and rivers, guiding people on their adventures and home again after.

This Instructable, is going to go over my process of drawing my D&D world map while having basically No Drawing Talent. While I used this for a fantasy map the base drawing method works for anything.

As I can't draw to save my life I went with a method of copying down an existing map by hand from a large print out to some old canvas. As it's hand drawn things will be a little distorted here and there but it gives it a real old school vibe which is perfect for D&D and it's a fantasy world so nobody will notice if I add or lose a mountain or two.

I'm not finished with the map yet, I will update this as soon as its 100%, but I thought I would share the method I used and hopefully inspire some others to have a go.

Step 1: What You Need

The list of things need to draw a map is rather short (most of the things you can probably find in your home, office or school):

A Print Out of the Map you want to draw,
- The more detailed the better, as when you print it out big you want it to be clear and easy to read, I used the map from Faerun - Loremaps, there are loads of these maps available to use for table top games.
A Piece of Canvas the same size as your map,
- I wanted the map to feel old and worn so I used some old thick cotton canvas that my neighbor was throwing out. It's frayed on the edges and has some stains which makes it feel authentic, it is probably about 30 years old.
- I reckon an old cotton sheet or pillow case would work just as well.
A wide variety of Pens, pencils, fine-liners (Sharpies) and permanent markers
- It's loads of fun to go to a stationery store and stock up, also as its untreated canvas it drinks up the ink so they run out relatively quickly.
A ruler (one short and one long depending on the size of your map)
A set square or two
Loads of free time, I tend to do one little section at a time while listening to podcasts before bed.

While you don't really need one I found having a cutting map underneath everything, makes it easier to rotate the map so you don't have to write sideways or upside down.

Step 2: Draw a Grid

One of the Best methods to draw a copy of something is to put it into a Grid, this turns the massive map into a bunch of little, easy to draw sections. It helps to keep things in proportion and makes it really easy to do one little section at a time.

Fair warning this is not the most interesting or satisfying step but it makes it super easy to draw something when its made into a bunch of tiny drawings. Also maps tend to have a grid anyway, so let's use that to our advantage. If you don't want to see the grid as much you can always just do it lightly using a pencil and nobody will notice when the rest is in ink.

Measure out the size of your map
Decide the size of your squares (I used 25mm/1inch)
Mark the edges of your map (make sure to measure twice as if your grid is crooked it will be noticed)
Draw the grid on your printed map, my ruler and set square weren't long enough to do it in one go so I did it as two halves.

When drawing on the canvas be careful not to stretch it when you first draw a box for your grid otherwise the map may come out looking a bit funny, as the saying goes; "Measure twice, cut once". This follows a similar idea so make sure the canvas is lying nice and flat before you draw your grid.

Step 3: Start Drawing - Then Keep Drawing

Once you have your grids copied down on your printed map and the canvas, your are ready to start drawing!

Make sure everything lines up before you start otherwise everything might end up shifted over.

When using the grid to draw something like a river or the shoreline, I tend to mark off with a dot where the line enters a square, somewhere in the middle and where it leaves the square this gives me 3 points that need to be connected with a freehand squiggly line. Remember basically no forests, rivers, desert or mountains will be straight; they curve, twist and have jagged edges.

Pick your starting point, I started in the bottom left corner. My process for drawing is roughly as follows:

Begin with the broad outline of a section of land (I tend to do a 3 or 4 rows at a time, working from left to right)
Add the rivers and lakes (everything that needs blue for that section, also I decided not to label the rivers).
Add the outlines for the forests, mountains, deserts, Etc. basically add one colour at a time.
Label things, (I like to add the labels before I shade as its easier to read)
Shade in the blocks of colour, I tend to use a sketch effect rather than just colouring everything in.

Step 4: Some Tips and Tricks

These are some of the things I have learnt as I have been drawing:

It takes a long time so get comfy and listen to a podcast or music while you draw.

Keep at it and keep doing small sections at a time, its hard to see the progress while you draw but the space does slowly full up.

Decide what details you want and what to leave out, it's quite hard to write small on canvas so you can't capture all details. I decided not to label the lakes and rivers as there just isn't space.

Make sure you start in the right block, I tend to draw a land mark down then use it as a reference point as I add other things around it. This is especially helpful as you get to the middle of the map.

Test your pens out on some scrap before you start drawing. Some pens seem to bleed lots of ink so you need to draw fast while others are drier and need slower drawing.

Decide on a style and stick to it, you want your map to be consistent so don't change shades of a colour or hatching style as you go.

It's easier to draw lightly and go over it a second time to get it darker than to draw slowly. If you draw to slowly the ink tends to run in the canvas and you will get blotches of ink.

It's easier to read labels if you don't have anything overlap them, especially as the inks tend to run into one another.

You can put two different colours one on top of the other; for my forests I used and outline of orange with green on top this gave it a dark colour where they perfectly overlap and a rough effect of green along the edge. I like it as forests would move over time and have ill-defined borders.

Don't stress if you move something over a block or make something a little funny looking, its hand drawn not a photocopy.

As my map is just decorative I am not to worried about the colour running if you wash it (its meant to look old and worn) but you can get dye fixatives to help protect the ink from any potential water damage.

I hope you have fun drawing your map. Please do leave comments and advice as drawing on raw canvas is new and different to paper.