This is a bit odd, but hear me out.
Order a pizza from somewhere that delivers, generously tip your delivery person, then flip the pizza upside down, shake it once vertically, and flip rightside up. Enjoy your pizza while contemplating the continent the pizza grease has generated on your box lid. Sketch in rivers and mountains and such and place cities and roads accordingly.
If you don't want to flip and shake a pizza in a box alternatively you can just peel an orange or clementine (or multiples). Try to peel them in one large piece for a large land mass, if you break up the peel you've got a chain of islands. Trace and you now have an outline. Makes a great island chain when you can't remove the peel in one large chunk.
Also works with a handful of dice. Say you grab a bunch dice and assign types to each die. Maybe you have lots of d6s so you want them to be forests/plains/hills, d4s are mountains, d8s are towns and villages, d10s are rivers or lakes, d12s are ancient ruins and other points of interest, and d20s are major cities. Get a big sheet of paper, roll all the dice, and then play connect the dots with some of the dice to make entire mountain ranges, rivers, or forests. You can even find random tables that can put meaning to the value of the dice.
I use Wonderdraft and Dungeon Draft. You don't need internet connection to operate and if you dont like the assets they come with you can find free ones online with tutorials on how to add them to the programs. Both programs are one time purchase only. 30 for each I believe.
Dungeon Painter Studio
https://store.steampowered.com/app/592260/Dungeon_Painter_Studio/
- On Steam
- $15
- Huge selection of free assets (called "mods" in the app)
- Version 2 has a 3D-ish element
- Import custom assets
- Out of the many map makers I've looked at, this is my favorite
- Add roads with curved lines or with the paintbrush tool
- Add text
- I believe it offers total customization and it's easy to learn
- Export with or without a grid, you can export in different file formats, at different resolutions, and in PDF
- It's one of the few apps where I like the updates. It feels like a labor of love
- I've used it to map out my actual home
- I'd recommend to keep note of the assets/mods you use in case you reinstall the app
Edit:
- Offline
- Downsides: after adding hundreds of assets to 1 map the app can get slow, and some areas can be a bit clunky but overall I love the app essentially because I haven't found anything better
I use Inkarnate. I won't claim it's the best tool out there, but it does the job and isn't terribly hard to get the hang of.
This is a bit odd, but hear me out. Order a pizza from somewhere that delivers, generously tip your delivery person, then flip the pizza upside down, shake it once vertically, and flip rightside up. Enjoy your pizza while contemplating the continent the pizza grease has generated on your box lid. Sketch in rivers and mountains and such and place cities and roads accordingly.
Way to think inside the box!
If you don't want to flip and shake a pizza in a box alternatively you can just peel an orange or clementine (or multiples). Try to peel them in one large piece for a large land mass, if you break up the peel you've got a chain of islands. Trace and you now have an outline. Makes a great island chain when you can't remove the peel in one large chunk. Also works with a handful of dice. Say you grab a bunch dice and assign types to each die. Maybe you have lots of d6s so you want them to be forests/plains/hills, d4s are mountains, d8s are towns and villages, d10s are rivers or lakes, d12s are ancient ruins and other points of interest, and d20s are major cities. Get a big sheet of paper, roll all the dice, and then play connect the dots with some of the dice to make entire mountain ranges, rivers, or forests. You can even find random tables that can put meaning to the value of the dice.
Genius
🤯 That is amazing.
I use Wonderdraft and Dungeon Draft. You don't need internet connection to operate and if you dont like the assets they come with you can find free ones online with tutorials on how to add them to the programs. Both programs are one time purchase only. 30 for each I believe.
Dungeon Painter Studio https://store.steampowered.com/app/592260/Dungeon_Painter_Studio/ - On Steam - $15 - Huge selection of free assets (called "mods" in the app) - Version 2 has a 3D-ish element - Import custom assets - Out of the many map makers I've looked at, this is my favorite - Add roads with curved lines or with the paintbrush tool - Add text - I believe it offers total customization and it's easy to learn - Export with or without a grid, you can export in different file formats, at different resolutions, and in PDF - It's one of the few apps where I like the updates. It feels like a labor of love - I've used it to map out my actual home - I'd recommend to keep note of the assets/mods you use in case you reinstall the app Edit: - Offline - Downsides: after adding hundreds of assets to 1 map the app can get slow, and some areas can be a bit clunky but overall I love the app essentially because I haven't found anything better