One of the TTRPG developers I work for asked me to do a tutorial thread on how I make maps for my adventures.

I think it's important because—as you'll see—I'm NOT a talented visual artist. But you don't need to be to design fun, clear maps—and get paid!

So here's how I work: Materials-wise, I use Photoshop and a Wacom tablet from 2005. This is a must for me, because as I said, I can't draw well—the ability to ctrl-Z and undo a bad line, and especially to shift-click to draw a straight line between two points, makes things WAY easier and more fun!

Hey. HEY. Take your vacation days. Paid vacation is not a privilege—it's part of your compensation package. Letting them expire is like handing a paycheck back to the company and saying, "Oh, no, please, I couldn't possibly..." Sounds dumb, right? "But if I use my vacation, I won't get all my work done!" Load-balancing is your manager's problem. Don't spend your money to cover for someone else's incompetence (or predatory staffing practices).

Something I've learned about being a self-employed writer is that it's really useful for me to think of myself as two separate people—a manager and employee. Let me explain: The short version is that I shouldn't ask anything of myself that I wouldn't ask of an employee. As a self-employed artist, it's really easy to be a workaholic. But when I had a day job, I tried to stand my ground and not give my whole life to the job. Why should that change now?

Holy cow—if you like fantasy maps, spend some time looking at New Orleans. WHAT IS EVEN GOING ON WITH THIS CITY?! If this came in from a freelancer, there are half a dozen things that would raise my eyebrows. Like, look at this river. All these different places it could enter the lake or the sea, but no, it goes ALL THE WAY to the very tip of the land to enter the water. Artificial? Maybe, but who would bother? Totally unrealistic.