Feedback on Ethnic Group Fantasy map (specifically feedback on the look of the map)

[u/rhundalworld]

This is a map of my fantasy worldbuilding project called Rhündal that shows the starting points for major ethnicities and species in my world 5,000 years ago. There are Forest and Peninsular Humans, Western and Eastern Elves, Dwarves, Shortfolk on the islands of the sea, Halflings in the desert steppe, and Halflings spread across the southern rainforest. Their cultures are deeply intertwined with the spirits of Rhündal that impact their magic, their seasons, their emotions, their guardians and demons. I am creating maps for each 1,000 year time period of my world up to year 0, simulating the migrations, language contact, and mixing of peoples and cultures on a system I made in Google Sheets (seen in the last image). The two letter codes represent different ethnic groups that each have their own language and cultures (which mix with surrounding languages and cultures as tome goes one). The first two images are the map and legend that are going to be one of a couple different ethnic migration maps I put in my world book of Rhündal, and I would love your feedback on how it looks and anything you would suggest adding or taking out.🍃

[u/Laggosaurus]

awesome i aspire to create something alike. how have you reached this stage so far? which tools?
sorry for not answering your question, i am impressed though! I just cant pretend to have the konwledge to give you good feedback.

[u/rhundalworld → u/Laggosaurus]

A lot of graphic design experience and geography education! I use a mix of Procreate on my iPad, Adobe illustrator, and canva!

[u/Kusakarat]

Great concept and nice looking symbols. On a purely visual feedback, I would consider moving away from grey tones to a green-to-braun tone (here are some tones, that wikipedia recommends https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Maps/Conventions ).

Some thing that I notices is that the map "feels" to small for its scale. You have the arctic circle and the equator marked, so this continent almost spans from one pole to the other. Having "only" 3 major mountain ranges, seems a bid low. In general the whole elevetions seem to big. However, I don't know the size of your planet so this might not be an issue.

[u/rhundalworld → u/Kusakarat]

Those are great suggestions, thank you!!

[u/arcangleous]

Honestly, I think it looks pretty good. This is the kind of thing I want to see more of in worldbuilding.

If I have one criticism, it can be hard to see the coloured dots. I had to zoom in differentiate the shapes. Maybe add coloured border lines that enclose the area that each culture occupies and show the mixing areas by enclosing them within multiple border like a venn diagram?

That said, I would love to see an animation showing how the cultures spread and grow over time.

[u/rhundalworld → u/arcangleous]

Those are great suggestions, thank you! I’m planning on making an animation in after effects after I make maps for all 5,000 years!!

[u/_Titti_]

Molto bello, sto tentando anch'io di fare una cosa del genere

[u/rhundalworld → u/_Titti_]

That’s awesome! What is the vibe of your world?

[u/_Titti_ → u/rhundalworld]

È un mondo in cui le quattro specie umanoidi presenti convivono in un continente isolato. I rapporti politici ed economici così come la cultura sono profondamente segnati dalle differenze tra le psicologie delle diverse specie. Attualmente nel continente si sta vivendo un periodo prospero e di pace in cui si è trovato un equilibrio i territori (le varie specie vivono separate come vivono separati italiani, francesi e inglesi). La magia è complessa e impregna il tessuto dell'universo ma è molto difficile da plasmare e veicolare secondo le proprie necessità.

Da tempo (quasi un anno) sto portando avanti tutta la storia del mondo partendo da quando erano società primitive e distanti, calcolando anche l'influenza del clima e del territorio. In contemporanea alla storia sto definendo l'apparato culturale delle varie specie e nazioni. In particolare però al momento mi sto concentrando su una nazione umana in cui sto ambientando un'avventura per d&d. Questa nazione è ispirata al 1700 europeo e il potere si divide tra stato, scuole di magia e chiesa. Le scuole di magia in questo periodo stanno formando un apparato organizzativo complesso, rafforzando il proprio potere sul territorio (vedendosi perfino appaltare funzioni dello stato) e sta mettendo in discussione il potere e i dogmi della Chiesa la quale usava la magia e i miracoli per sostenere l'esistenza degli dei e affermare il proprio potere, ora le scuole di magia stanno cercando di spiegare i fenomeni scientificamente (senza però che tornino tutti i conti).

Cosa ne pensi? Se hai problemi di comprensione chiedimi pure che probabilmente è la traduzione.

[u/EveningImportant9111]

Hi. May I ask you about origin of each race? Please

[u/rhundalworld → u/EveningImportant9111]

Yeah, what exactly do you want to know?

[u/EveningImportant9111 → u/rhundalworld]

Origin apperance  coloration of skin haur eyes scales height body type of each race and difference between their types 

[u/_Titti_]

Quale / quali programmi stai usando?

[u/rhundalworld → u/_Titti_]

Procreate on iPad, Adobe Illustrator, and Canva!