How to Create Stunning RPG Maps in Procreate: Pro Brush Guide 2025

You don't need years of artistic training to create stunning RPG maps with Procreate RPG map brushes. Digital tools like Procreate have revolutionized fantasy map-making. Now anyone can craft beautiful maps, regardless of their drawing experience.

Specialized brush sets make it possible to create authentic-looking fantasy worlds that improve the gaming experience. These tools offer everything from Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock-inspired brushes to watercolor effects. Your maps can have that coveted aged-paper look with just a few clicks.

Let me show you how to create professional-quality RPG maps that will bring your gaming adventures to life using free Procreate brushes and proven techniques.

Essential Procreate Settings for Map Making
Your Procreate workspace setup forms the foundation of professional RPG maps. Let's take a closer look at the key settings that will tap into your map-making potential.

Canvas size and resolution
Your canvas dimensions affect your RPG map's final quality by a lot. Professional maps ready for print need 300 DPI (dots per inch) to look their best. You can adjust this based on what you need - 150 DPI works great for poster-sized maps, and 100 DPI is perfect for virtual tabletop use.

Think over scaling up your original requirements when picking canvas dimensions. Your final map might only need A4 size, but creating it twice as large keeps the quality intact for bigger prints later. You can always scale down without losing details, but scaling up will make your image look worse.

Digital-only maps for virtual tabletops work well with a 3000 x 3000 pixel canvas. Note that you should test print your maps while creating them. This helps you spot any problems with text readability or detail visibility at the final size.

Best brush settings for maps
Procreate's brush customization options boost map creation. Fantasy cartography brush packs are available free and include border lines, terrain features, and settlement icons. These tools make it quick to add map elements like towers, citadels, villages, temples, and ruins.

Your map elements stay consistent when you group brushes into:

Terrain brushes for landmasses and geography
Detail brushes for smaller features
Texture brushes for adding depth and character
Symbol brushes for settlements and landmarks
Layer organization tips
Good layer management is significant for detailed maps. Procreate gives you 16 distinct layers to control every map element precisely. This approach lets you edit and adjust individual parts easily throughout creation.

Organize your layers from bottom to top:

Ground layer (base terrain)
Below-player elements
Main map features
Above-player elements
Shadows and lighting
Alpha channels in layers that need transparency will improve your workflow. This feature helps when you overlay different terrains or create semi-transparent elements like water bodies or shadows.

You can toggle layer visibility with the eye icon to focus on specific sections. This helps you concentrate on particular map elements without visual distractions. Complex maps might need merged layers to run better - just save an unmerged backup first.

Give each layer a descriptive name based on its contents. This simple step helps a lot as your map gets more complex and makes finding layers easier. Using the same layer organization across different projects creates an efficient workflow that speeds up future map creation.

Getting Started with Basic Map Elements
Simple map elements are the life-blood of creating captivating RPG maps in Procreate. Let's discover how to build these essential features that bring fantasy worlds to life.

Drawing landmasses
Your world's general shape should come first. You might want to show an entire continent or zoom in on a specific region. A natural approach would be to start with several overlapping land masses. This helps you figure out where mountains and hills will show up later.

To create realistic terrain:

Start with light pencil strokes
Shape the simple outlines first
Make edges better step by step
Let plate tectonics guide mountain placement
Landmasses rarely fit perfectly against canvas edges. Your continents and regions should flow naturally across the workspace. This organic style creates more believable geography and leaves room to expand your map later.

Adding water bodies
Water features make fantasy maps come alive, but many map makers miss their complexity. Lakes and ponds come from several natural causes:

Tectonic plates moving to create basins
Landslides blocking rivers
River bends getting cut off
Floods reshaping the land
Glaciers melting away
The difference between lakes and ponds isn't just about size. Lakes are deep enough to block sunlight from reaching bottom, while ponds let light shine through.

Rivers need special care because nature gives them specific rules. They start high up in mountains and flow downhill where resistance is lowest. Rivers change as they move:

They begin as tiny brooks and streams
Meet other waterways to grow larger
Slow down and spread in valleys
Create winding patterns as time passes
Form deltas or estuaries where they meet oceans
Creating coastlines
Believable coastlines need careful attention and knowledge of natural shapes. Start with simple outlines, then add rough edges - nature rarely makes smooth coastlines. Make them real by adding:

To boost coastal features:

Make sloping vertical lines along coastline points
Link these points following shore shapes
Draw wavy lines for water movement
Clear areas where cliffs hide background parts
Light blue shades near shores should slowly darken toward deeper waters. This method adds visual interest and shows underwater depth clearly.

Inlets and bays create natural harbors and unique shore features. You might include:

Gulfs (big water bodies with land on three sides)
Bays (smaller than gulfs, wider openings)
Coves (hidden behind rocky headlands)
Fjords (narrow cuts between high cliffs)
Procreate brushes work best for coastlines when you keep stroke direction and pressure steady. Your shorelines will look natural instead of artificial. Small islands often cluster near bigger landmasses, creating irregular chains between continents.

Using Free Procreate Brushes for Terrain
RPG map creators can tap into the full potential of free terrain brushes in Procreate. These tools let you capture stunning landscapes, from majestic peaks to thick forests.

Mountain and hill brushes
The right mountain brush sets give you amazing flexibility to create elevated terrain. The Hyacinth collection shines with its 198 brushes made just for mountain ranges. You'll find 50 mountain spurs for smaller formations under 200px, 80 mountain ranges between 200-600px, and 13 large mountain ranges that work great for epic landscapes.

Here's how to create authentic mountains:

Place mountains along imaginary lines, usually following continental borders
Connect peaks using bleeding line brushes
Add shadows and highlights to create depth
The Zuodong brush set takes its cues from historical woodblock prints with mountain-profile signs that showcase Chinese-calligraphy esthetics. The Ishikawa collection offers a different take by mixing traditional hill-profile techniques with modern iconographic elements.

Forest and vegetation stamps
Tree stamps help you turn empty spaces into rich woodlands. Premium collections give you lots of options - from tropical palms to evergreen conifers. A standout set has 128 unique tree stamps that cover:

Palm tree variations
Pine and fir specimens
Spruce silhouettes
Dead tree formations
Leafless winter trees
You can create realistic forest density by layering multiple tree stamps with different opacity levels. The Forest Whisper pack really shines at creating varied woodland scenes with both single tree silhouettes and complete forest stamps.

Professional cartographers suggest these steps to improve forest texturing:

Start with a base color layer (#3c6719 works well for standard forests)
Add overlay layers with noise filters
Apply cloud effects to create natural variation
Use dry brush techniques for organic edges
The Popple brush collection stands out because it captures wilderness frontiers so well, especially when you have swamp and marshland scenes. This makes it a great choice for mapping different biomes in the same region.

These terrain brushes work with many biome types, letting artists choose specific environments:

Barren wastelands
Swamplands
Desert regions
Mountain ranges
Prairie grasslands
Dense rainforests
Settled territories
The best results come from organizing terrain elements in different layers. Put base terrain on the bottom layer, then add materials like acid pools, cobblestones, or ice formations on separate layers above. This technique works really well to show elevation changes or create grass-lined water features.

Note that terrain brushes work in special ways with other map elements. To cite an instance, see how painting terrain near buildings makes the effect appear around structures without covering their floors. This automatic feature helps create professional-looking maps with less manual work.

Adding Map Details and Symbols
RPG maps come alive with symbols and details that turn them into powerful storytelling tools. Let's take a closer look at how to improve your Procreate maps by adding settlements, pathways, and interesting points of interest.

City and settlement icons
Settlement icons anchor your fantasy maps visually. A detailed collection has variations for cities, towns, villages, and special locations. Your medieval-style maps should match population density to settlement sizes - landmark capital cities usually have at least 60,000 residents.

Settlements work best when they relate to nearby features:

Trading hubs work well near water routes
Military strongholds fit at strategic points
Religious centers need good pilgrim access
Your settlement hierarchy guides icon selection. Capital cities just need prominent symbols, while smaller villages work better with subtle markers. Most icon packs come with multiple options - black line art, white line art, and colorized versions. These choices help you match different map backgrounds smoothly.

Roads and paths
Roads connect settlements like veins linking cities and villages. The quickest way to create paths is to use special brushes made for:

Political borders
Cobblestone paths
Rickety bridges
Trade routes
The Liner Pen Round brush works great for simple road networks. Start by blocking major landmarks - rivers, houses, castles - on separate layers. Next, draw primary routes between settlements while thinking about terrain that might change path direction.

Your paths should vary in width based on importance:

Main trade routes: broader strokes
Secondary roads: medium width
Local paths: thin lines
Landmarks and points of interest
Landmarks make your fantasy world feel real. Today's map asset collections feature over 23,400 elements of all types, from elven forests to orcish camps. These points of interest often include:

Military installations guard valuable resources and act as regional power centers. Religious sites, from grand temples to cloisters, boost local economies through pilgrim visits.

Ancient ruins need special attention - settlements often grow within their boundaries or monster factions claim them as bases. Adding aquatic landmarks supports gameplay with water-based races and spells.

Professional maps need landmarks on separate layers. This makes later changes easier and keeps boundaries clean between elements. After placing major features, add depth with:

Background parchment textures
Gravel stippling effects
Greenery around settlements
Field patterns
The Sketchy Landscape Map Symbols collection gives you 74 high-resolution PNG elements. These transparent-background images blend perfectly with your existing map elements, whatever your style - dark, mysterious realms or classic high-fantasy settings.

Note that icons should stay in scale with each other. A castle symbol shouldn't look bigger than a city marker unless that fits your world's story. Your text labels should also stay readable at the map's display size.

Map Texturing Techniques
The right texturing techniques can raise your RPG maps from simple sketches into rich, story-filled artifacts. You can turn digital creations into authentic-looking relics that feel like they came straight from a fantasy world's archives. Let's dive into using Procreate RPG map brushes and other tools that add depth and character to your cartographic masterpieces.

Paper textures
Great fantasy maps start with the perfect base texture. A good paper texture takes viewers straight into a world of parchment scrolls and weathered explorer's journals. Procreate gives you many options to create these foundational layers.

The first step is to think over what paper your map would exist on in your fantasy setting. Your map could be a royal decree on fine vellum or a rough field sketch on homespun paper. This choice will guide which texture you pick.

History buffs will love vintage paper textures from real-life cartography of the 1600s and 1700s. These textures come from scanned historical documents and make your digital creations look just like ancient relics.

Here's how to apply paper textures in Procreate:

Create a new layer at the bottom of your layer stack.
Import your chosen texture into this layer.
Experiment with blending modes - "Multiply" often works well for paper textures.
Adjust the opacity until it looks right without hiding map details.
A light touch works best. Your texture should make your map better, not overpower it. The sweet spot for texture opacity usually falls between 30-50%. This gives enough character while keeping important map elements clear.

Procreate's built-in brushes let you create your own textures. The "Noise" brush can make paper look handmade when used gently. Play around with brush opacities and sizes to get different looks.

Map makers who want more depth can layer multiple textures. Mix a subtle grain texture with worn edges to create a map that looks like it's been folded many times.

Aging effects
After setting up your base texture, it's time to add signs of time and adventure. Aging effects give your map a story, showing years of use and wear.

You can find aging effects kits with over 180 unique assets. These range from tiny stains to dramatic tears and burns. Used well, these elements turn your map into its own storytelling tool.

Here's what you need to know about aging effects:

Ink stains and splatters: Custom brushes or imported assets create natural-looking ink marks. Change opacity and size to make them look real.

Water damage: Make rings and blotches that look like water spots. Layer them lightly to keep things realistic.

Tears and folds: Add rips or creases where the map would naturally wear. Focus on spots where people would handle it most.

Burn marks: Maps that survived danger might have singed edges or small holes. Layer masks help control how intense these look.

General wear: Add smudges and faded spots to show regular use. Small details make your map feel authentic.

Your map's story should guide how you age it. A tactical map from battle will look rougher than one kept safe in a royal library. Let this history shape your aging choices.

Here's a quick coffee-staining trick that works well:

Print your map on suitable paper (if working traditionally).
Mix instant coffee with water.
Use a brush to apply the coffee or dip the paper's edges.
Dry the stains quickly with a hairdryer to prevent warping.
This method gives maps an instant medieval or fantasy feel.

Digital artists using Procreate should build aging effects in layers. Start with broad, subtle effects at the bottom and add specific details on top. This creates natural-looking wear patterns.

Text on your map needs special attention. Make labels fade or distress carefully so they stay readable. Your map should look old but still work as a game prop.

Color plays a big role in aging too. Adjust your map's overall color to show time passing. A hint of yellow or sepia suggests decades of age, while cooler tones might show storage in damp places.

These texturing and aging techniques help you utilize Procreate RPG map brushes as storytelling tools. Every mark tells a tale of epic adventures across your fantasy lands. With practice and care, your maps will guide players through imaginary worlds and connect them to the histories you create.

Text and Labels in Your Map
Typography gives life to fantasy cartography and turns simple drawings into professional maps. Let's see how you can become skilled at using text elements in your Procreate RPG map designs.

Font selection
The right fonts will give a readable and visually appealing look to your maps. You should stick to two fonts at most, and three is the absolute limit. You might want one font for natural features like mountains and rivers, and another for structures like settlements and landmarks.

Your fonts need:

Full punctuation sets
Commercial embedding licenses
Multiple weights and styles
Clear readability at small sizes
Fonts like Trattatello, Plantagenet Cherokee, and IM FELL DW Pica give that authentic medieval look to fantasy maps. But stay away from Papyrus or Comic Sans - they'll make your work look less professional.

Text placement tips
Label placement needs careful thought based on what you're marking. Labels near coastlines should sit entirely in water and not cut across the shoreline. The same goes for inland features - their labels should stay on land.

Text size relates to how important something is - bigger cities need larger labels. Make sure your smallest font size is at least six points so people can read it. You can make labels stand out against backgrounds with halos or outlines.

Rivers and water bodies need special attention with text direction. River labels should flow like the water does - from source to mouth. Ocean labels look better with spaced-out uppercase letters.

Creating custom labels
Good labeling takes more than just dropping text on a map. Banners help separate labels from busy areas and make them easier to read. This really helps in crowded spots where normal labels might blend in.

Your visual hierarchy should look like this:

Larger fonts for capital cities
Medium sizes for major settlements
Smaller text for minor locations
The same font family can give you more ways to make things different. Try these:

Bold weights for important locations
Italic styles for natural features
Letter spacing for large areas
Rotation that follows terrain features
Note that curved labels work best along the straightest parts of features. This makes your map easy to read while keeping it professional. Trust what your eyes tell you - if you can't read a label easily, keep adjusting until it looks right.

Conclusion
Professional RPG map creation in Procreate demands expertise in multiple elements - from simple terrain features to intricate aging effects. The process might seem complex, but artists at any skill level can create maps by breaking it down into manageable steps.

Your success starts with proper preparation. A correct canvas setup, organized layers, and the right brush selection are the foundations of stunning maps. Natural geography principles make your fantasy worlds feel authentic and believable.

Rich details give life to your creations. Each element tells your world's story - from bustling cities and winding trade routes to ancient ruins. Digital artwork becomes weathered artifacts through texturing techniques and aging effects to get you started in thinking about endless possibilities.

Typography needs special attention. Well-placed labels guide viewers through your world and maintain visual harmony. Professional maps strike a perfect balance between readability and visual appeal that will give a boost to gameplay and storytelling.

Map creation gets better with practice. Your journey should begin with small projects as you test different techniques and build your skills. Every new map teaches valuable lessons that help develop your unique cartographic style and bring countless fantasy worlds to life.