Mapping around the Abbey

Today I worked on an overland map for the 60-mile area surrounding the abbey, largely to see how it connects to the outside world. Now I can definitively say that the abbey sits on a forested hill at the end of what would be generous to called a wooded road. Even trail might be generous. The nearest village is a day's hike away, and the trail ever got used to bring the monastics at the abbey food and supplies.

That nearest village holds a market once every week or two and is connected to market village that holds market in its square every week. That market village is connected via a road to the nearest town, proper, which sits in the middle of the local valley on the bank of the largest river in the area.

To the north of the abbey are more foothills and then mountains, and beyond the mountains isn't mapped at present. I haven't decided if this is the "edge of civilization" or just a physical barrier that might separate kingdoms. The mountains aren't terribly tall or rugged, but they are covered in dense forest, making travel difficult, but not impossible.

Next up, I'm going to make a local map of the land surrounding the abbey. I'll use a quarter-mile hex size, so I can start looking for interesting local features and dungeon entrances.

Note: While I have made an overland map, the abbey is still the most interesting place on that map. I don't plan on placing many, if any, other dungeons on it, at present. If anything, the map is more to show where civilization is and where it is not. It may also give PCs options for other places to buy or sell loot, if they can't find what they want where they are. I'll need an abstraction for this for when players don't want a break from the dungeon.