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Hey guys,

So as part of a wider endeavour to become a GM and host my own games at my own custom-built gaming table, I've started to explore the idea of creating maps and then creating stories, one-shots and scenarios based around the maps. Currently I haven't been bought any software that will help me make maps and free options are unsurprisingly limited. Nevertheless, I found one: Inkarnate and it has served me well in making my first map in spite of its very obvious and sometime infuriating limitations. The attachment is the map I made (where north is towards the top of the map).

Now, before I get into the map itself as well as some campaigns I could start that require some feedback, if you have any suggesting for map making software that won't cost me a kidney and won't require a course at uni to learn how to use (figuratively or literally), then I would very much appreciate it

OK - On to my Campaign Ideas (and I will be referring to the map a lot):

So let's start with the southern part of this continent. You will notice a red Dragon down the bottom in the middle hovering over the mountainous region. My first overarching idea stems from this dragon being responsible for all the ruins as seen on the bottom part of the map (excluding the desert island). This will obviously set up any party with a boss they know they can eventually fight (I would probably make the dragon not a very powerful one so that the party can take it on relatively early and scale it up as the party gets too powerful for the dragon to be the challenge I want it to be). Then there will be lots of other relatively little things that you can do along the way. For example:

-- Escort refugees from the ruined towns west to villages with a dock or east perilously close to the mountains to the regional capital or fort.
-- Clear out denizens in the local forest and hill regions so that the refugees and local residents are not in unnecessary danger.
-- Raid the ruins for a weapon found in the damaged defenses that may help you defeat the dragon or defend other residents of the region.
-- Go north to the desert region to help deal with the Orc menace so that that region can in turn commit their troops to help fight the dragon.

I could have a number of dungeons within the hills and mountains, forgotten fortresses and abandoned villages no longer shown on the map be points of interest in which the party can be told about or stumble across that could be good old fashioned Dungeons Crawls that have no bearing on the story or could unlock things that could aid them in their quest to kill the dragon. I was also planning for the region in the north east have tenuous relations with the broader southern region and turn that into a big arc where you have to get them to help you. I put a dragon icon in the north eastern mountains because I wanted to not only have a dragon desolate some of that region as well, but also potentially have a dragon battle that spans more than one continent (since this map is of just on continent).

For the north western region, I wanted to have a large-scale conflict with the Orcs who have invaded this region and scorched the earth with their destructive ways an war machine (for Warcraft 3 fans - think Grom and his part of the Horde demolishing Ashenvale Forest and kicking Night Elf ass.... but in D&D). As aforementioned, I want the party to be able to come in here and sway the conflict one way or the other.


So we have three big Story Arcs that I want to interlock:
-- The trust issues between the North Eastern Region and the Southern Region;
-- The Orc invasion of the North Western Region;
-- The Dragon laying waste to the Southern Region;
-- [ Potential Fourth ] The Dragon that ravaged the North Eastern Region playing a part in this whole affair;

As aforementioned in regards to the Southern Region and their Dragon, little dungeon crawls and unmarked areas of the map can be added and explored.

One other big thing I want to include in this would - especially since I picked up and started reading Volo's Guide to Monsters - is to have some Giants living in the hill regions and mountain regions that were not occupied by dragons as indicated on the map by lack of dragon or dragon icon. This way I can introduce this epic conflict of Giants vs Dragons in ancient past and have that rivalry continue. I could also have them have a non-positive attitude towards the other races of the region (likely to be mainly humans and elves). I could also have the Dwarven stronghold(s) be located in what is now the mountains controlled by the Dragon in the south but have them be destroyed by said Dragon. So with the addition of Giants and conquered Dwarven strongholds, I can add further story arcs, tensions, and quests. For example, I could have the following story arcs:

-- Help the Dwarves reclaim their strongholds and tie it in with killing the Dragon;
-- Introduce tensions between the fleeing Dwarves and the Southern Region at large, requiring the party's intervention;
-- As above, introduce tensions between Giants and the continent at large that could be solved on a region-by-region or clan-by-clan basis;
-- Bring the Giants into the fight against the Dragon but have things like fractured relations between clans preventing the Giants from having killed the Dragon sooner;

Now I've got some thoughts with regards to one-shots that could start a party down the path of all of these story arcs at large:

-- Escorting a refugee convoy either east or west that is then attacked by either Orcs that want to invade south (if they're heading west) or denizens of the local area (e.g. a swarm of Bullywugs at the lake near the southern mountains)
-- Sent to one of the ruins to retrieve an item or piece of intelligence that may yet be intact only to be sprung upon by hostiles (in a similar manner to going into the Korcari Wilds for the first time in DA:O).
-- Helping the guards to repel a small Orc raid on the village in the North Western Region.

I also want my world to be dynamic and have consequences. For example - If the party choose to help with the Orcs and follow that arc first, then the Dragon in the south might destroy the fort and/or another village in the south, or the Dragon in the North East might return and destroy a town in or the capital city of the North Eastern Region. I want the big choices the players make like which arc to follow, who to help (and how), which relations they improve (or completely destroy), and whatnot to have real consequences on a continental scale.

So I have a few questions:

-- What do you think of what I have so far?
-- What would you add, remove or change about the map or the story arcs I've laid out for myself?
-- What starting 'One Shots' would be good apart from the ones I've laid out?
-- What do you think of the 'Continental Consequences' idea?
-- Do you have any other thoughts on this?

Cheers guys. Honestly - Thank you very much in advance because every little bit helps me getting started that much easier.

This kind of thing is usually referred to as a hex crawl, because the maps used to be drawn or printed on hex grids. These days, people tend to call it a sandbox. The neat thing about using hexes is that you can key them to a list of short descriptions. Whenever your players venture into a certain hex on the map, you just reference the numbered item on the list to see, very generally speaking, what is going on in that area.

I wouldn't worry overmuch about "pre-loading" your world. One of the fun things about DMing is exploring the world along with the players. The most important skill any DM can practice is not preparing before the session but rather spinning out vivid details during play. Once you have established a few adventure hooks, let the players roam where they want and take cues from what they find interesting. The dynamism you are looking for will flow naturally from there.

One of the biggest traps a DM can fall into is burning out on world building. Save your interest and creative energy for the actual game session. You will have a better experience playing along with your friends than investing a ton of work into stuff they may not find interesting enough to explore.

Seems like a decent idea, it saves trying to railroad your players into a metaplot, which often has a negative impact in my experience.

I always try to direct fantasy map enthusiasts to
https://www.cartographersguild.com/content.php?s=f3b7203ea983aa637c32aa9e66a521c7
after someone on here linked it years ago. Awesome resources for anyone making maps.

The map looks nice enough, but a functional map is better than a pretty map. You can superpose a hex grid (numbered hexes) over the one you have, and follow what Manchu said. I'd add a couple of major rivers to your map. You can refine your map later as the campaign progresses. Fill in the details for the area where the PCs start, and leave the rest undefined, or vaguely defined, until you need to define it.

The idea of "Story Arcs", rather than say "Current Events", is a bit off-putting.( I may be misreading your use of the term.) It smacks of that garbage the Hickmans produced, in which the PCs are just roles in a theatrical production. Let the PCs write the story as they play, through their play. Since a DM cannot predict what the PCs may always do, it is for the best to determine any consequences of their actions after they have acted.

For a campaign like you are suggesting, Create a campaign newletter-- something in the style of a tabloid newspaper-- that may run 2-3 pages per issue. Something that informs the players of the state of the world, as they would know it, and of a few interesting current events --some of which are immediate adventure hooks-- like "Orcs burn another local village." or "Ghouls sighted in ancient graveyard." and other items which may hint of future adventures, "Dragon strafes caravan on nearby road". Include a few items of generalized regional or world interest. A paragraph per item generally suffices. It would, of course, be published on an irregular basis. It is also a handy way to introduce interesting NPCs, various rumors and legends(not all of which are true) and pieces of the world's history. I used to do this when I DM'ed OD&D/AD&D 1E. I'll use it when I DM for 5E, after the current campaign in which I am playing finishes.

 Red Harvest wrote:
Let the PCs write the story as they play, through their play.

This is super important. I'll only add, remember that the DM is also a player and allow yourself to explore the world along with the other players. Whenever I DM, one of the most enjoyable aspects is how surprising the twists and turns of an adventure can be when you are running it on the fly as opposed to flipping around in a module trying to follow someone else's script.

The map looks nice enough, but a functional map is better than a pretty map. You can superpose a hex grid (numbered hexes) over the one you have, and follow what Manchu said. I'd add a couple of major rivers to your map. You can refine your map later as the campaign progresses. Fill in the details for the area where the PCs start, and leave the rest undefined, or vaguely defined, until you need to define it.

Agreed on the rivers. None of the mountains seem to have any sort of run-off, and that looks weird, as does the sheer number of mountain ranges in what looks like a fairly small space.

Aside from the central one, they don't fill in narrative space (forming and east west barrier except at the north end or by sea), nor do they match up with any sort of tectonic layout. They're just mountains that happen to be there to have dragons in them.

The big thing that jumps out at me though is the desert. And the desert island. The entire continent looks like mostly forest, or nearly so, except for the desert part in the middle completely surrounded by forests or water. That... doesn't really work.
If that mountain range is super high and the winds come directly from the east, I guess cloud systems could dump their rain as they ascend the mountains on the east side exclusively, but the northern border of the desert is forests (and a lake) and there isn't really a reason for such an extreme climate change to exist, let alone support two settlements at the desert edge and 5 more inside of it.


-------
Campaign things. You mentions Volo's Guide and armies vs. the dragon(s). From the former I take this is for 5e. That... doesn't really work.

Or rather, the problem is it works too well, thanks to the bounded accuracy and the math decisions they made for the system. 100+ (or even 30+) guys with bows vs a dragon is just a statistical exercise in which the dragon dies eventually and the PCs are entirely superfluous.

5e Dragon vs village (assuming the dragon is of the higher age brackets) is one thing. Dragon vs. fort or city is a mathematical certainty: the dragon loses, badly.

The most important tools of a DM are the NPCs. Breathe life into them and your PCs will enjoy the session. IMO this far more important than a fully fleshed out world at the start of a campaign.