Mike Schley's MASSIVE Forgotten Realms Map From SCAG!

Cartographer Mike Schley has posted the enormous map of Northwest Faerûn from the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. It's poster sized (10,200 x 6,600 pixels, or a 34-page PDF) or you can get the Artists Print version shipped to you in the form of a poster map. "This new absolutely massive map of D&D's Sword Coast and Northwestern Faerûn was commissioned by Wizards of the Coast to accompany their 5th Edition D&D game supplement Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. lead your adventures through his exhaustive map of The Forgotten Realms' most Iconic lands and make sure to let it inspire some truly fantastic storytelling."
The print version ($10-$54, depending on size) is here, and the digital version ($10) is here.

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[DEFCON 1]

Exactly. Don't buy a product on day 1 from a place you can't return things to, if there are possible reasons why you wouldn't want to buy it. We all need to be smart shoppers. If you have anyone to blame for a poor purchase, a person needs to blame themselves.

 

[akr71]

My cartography professor in college taught us that a map has the following:
1 a title
2 a legend
3 a north arrow
4 a scale

Without all 4 it is not a map, just a pretty picture. Therefore the SCAG map is not a map, just a pretty picture. I agree, the one in the book should have a scale of some sort. I still love the digital copy I bought from Mike. Scale bar and North arrow are present. One could argue that the file name is the title and that this style of cartography does not require a legend since the land features representations that should be familiar to all.

 

[SkidAce]

I don't. I didn't expect for a moment any fold out maps from this product. You don't speak for me, and you don't speak for all consumers. You speak for yourself.

I "expected" a fold out map. I however do not think I was entitled to one. Anecdotally, my six gaming friends were also surprised there wasn't a pull out map.
So I think it is fair to say that a lot of people were surprised by this, which is natural after having had them provided before.

Doesn't mean WotC "had" or was "required" to include one. And doesn't have any bearing on how people react when they find out there wasn't one. But expectations were there, in an understandable way.

I think we are having an entitled versus expected mismatch in this thread.

 

[SkidAce]

A thought occurred to me earlier. During 4e's run, WotC put out two FR books. One was a campaign guide designed for DMs. The other was a player's guide designed for players. The campaign guide came with a pull-out map. The player's guide did not.

This new Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide strikes me as being more like 4e's Forgotten Realms Player's Guide than it does either the 3e Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting or the 4e Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide.

Yes, the SCAG has setting info in it, but it's presented in a player-friendly way. The SCAG is not *really* a campaign guide. It's a player's guide. The setting info is mainly there to help players get a sense of the world and help them ground their characters in it.

When you think about it that way, it makes sense that there's no pull-out map included.

If WotC ever get around to releasing a full-blown campaign setting book for the Realms that covers all of Faerûn, at the bare minimum, rather than just one quarter of it, then they might very well include a pull-out map with it.

Thats an insightful point you made here....

 

[hawkeyefan]

Those features would certainly be required of a map that was intended for use in navigation. However, since the details of the map are all made up, no reason you can't just make up your own scale too.

 

[Silthen]

Would you buy a car without tires? No. You do expect it though. The same as you expect it to have a steering wheel. I expect the ONLY option for a 5e Realms setting to have a workable map included. If you don't agree, more power to you. I already said that I based my purchase on good faith based on previous purchases from past editions, that doesn't make me any less smart, I just placed my faith in a company that has done right by me in the past (as far as maps go) and expected more of the same. Thanks for the (largely unconstructive) input, however. Have fun paying extra for something that should've been included already! Glad everyone has extra cash laying around for $136 maps! Even at staples, a poster-sized map is gonna run you $30 extra bucks! Gee, $40 (SCAG) + $10 (digital map) + $30 (Staples) = $80 for a $40 book. Nice. I love my hobby, and buy books when I can afford to, but this is a little ridiculous. Flame on, folks, tell me how wrong I am s'more.

 

[carlbobo]

The $10 digital should be free to those that bought the book due to the horrible layout of this map in said book.

 

[hawkeyefan]

Would you buy a car without tires? No. You do expect it though. The same as you expect it to have a steering wheel. I expect the ONLY option for a 5e Realms setting to have a workable map included. If you don't agree, more power to you. I already said that I based my purchase on good faith based on previous purchases from past editions, that doesn't make me any less smart, I just placed my faith in a company that has done right by me in the past (as far as maps go) and expected more of the same. Thanks for the (largely unconstructive) input, however. Have fun paying extra for something that should've been included already! Glad everyone has extra cash laying around for $136 maps! Even at staples, a poster-sized map is gonna run you $30 extra bucks! Gee, $40 (SCAG) + $10 (digital map) + $30 (Staples) = $80 for a $40 book. Nice. I love my hobby, and buy books when I can afford to, but this is a little ridiculous. Flame on, folks, tell me how wrong I am s'more.

I don't think you're wrong or less smart for feeling the way you do. Your basic point is a valid criticism.

But I think you're removing any of the responsibility for your purchase from yourself. It was your expectation that there would be a fold out map, it was your decision to purchase the book day 1, you didn't ask anyone if a map was included...these are a lot of things within your ability to control.

 

[Silthen]

The $10 digital should be free to those that bought the book due to the horrible layout of this map in said book.

I think this is fair. At least this way you could take it to Staples and have it blown up to poster size if you wanted, or you could just keep it handy for calculating travel times (since the digital version appears to have a scale on it).

 

[Silthen]

I don't think you're wrong or less smart for feeling the way you do. Your basic point is a valid criticism.

But I think you're removing any of the responsibility for your purchase from yourself. It was your expectation that there would be a fold out map, it was your decision to purchase the book day 1, you didn't ask anyone if a map was included...these are a lot of things within your ability to control.

Again, why would I hold myself responsible for expecting something that's been included in virtually every other setting product since when I started playing back in the days of 1e? I shouldn't have to check and make sure that something like that is included. Imo, it's an essential part of a campaign setting sourcebook. As I said before, they could've at least included a scale on the map so I can calculate travel times.

For the sake of argument, say I didn't have access to the internet. I go and buy the book, discover that there's no pull-out map and that the map included has no scale. How am I supposed to calculate how long it's going to take the PC's to travel from Baldur's Gate to Waterdeep?