D&D 5E Starter Set: Phandalin Map

I'm not wowed by the map, nothing really wrong with it, to me its just a typical map of a small village. It does its job of giving me a visual reference of the village's layout to show my players, that's all I really need it to do.

Wangalade said:

it is not what the village actually looks like, it is an artist's rendering, else why are there colorful rooftops, why is it so easy to differentiate the road and non road, why is the grass so green/of a uniform color? if you want something that looks like the village from the perspective of the pcs, do a profile view with a perspective from one of the streets looking into the village. even granting that it lets the players know what it looks like, my point still stands that it is just a pretty picture.

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You're a wee fussy, aincha? I meant: Its to show US (the players of the game) what the village looks like (so we can have an idea. One that might make the DM able to describe stuff to the players, while the players mosey around in it.

You know, for the game?

Right now, I'm primarily happy that WotC hasn't decide to screw the pooch again with FR maps as happened with FR4E. Check the maps in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide and Forgotten Realms Player's Guide: they look like someone took the contents of my son's nappy/diaper and slapped them on a blank background before trying to add a few place names from memory. The net result? Maps that are inaccurate, unusable, and not at all aesthetically pleasing.

Thankfully, WotC seemed to learn a lesson and the subsequent maps for FR were all by Mike Schley (with the honourable exception of a tremendous map of the Moonsea North by Sean Macdonald). Mike's maps have all been outstanding and, by comparison with the original 4E maps, worthy of being printed in gold leaf and displayed in a major museum. I'm glad WotC decided, "We screwed the pooch before; let's not do it again."

And I like this map of Phandalin.

BTW, Phandalin has never been more than a place name before in FR lore as far as I can tell. It has always been previously described as a ruin. That might explain why, for example, the Shrine of Luck - ie, Tymora - is the only "temple" in town: Tymora is the patron of adventurers and I daresay that a band or two of adventures played a role in reclaiming it. As it grows, you will probably find a temple to Chauntea (agriculture, farming) also making an appearance but, clearly, Phandalin is a work in progress and the PCs are, no doubt, part of that progress.

Of course, this also segues nicely into a reason for a PC cleric to be adventuring in Phandalin: if the place is beginning to grow, it's a good time for a new religion to make an appearance and, hopefully, win glory for its deity. And that's why the PC cleric is there.

Hussar said:

You realize street names are cultural and not everyone has them right? And, if you look at antique maps, they almost never have street names.

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I have lived in the Philippines for the past three years after living primary in Singapore for more than a decade before that. Singapore is well-organised to a point that few places are: even your postcode can identify an individual apartment block. And then I came to Mindanao where the purpose of government - at almost any level - is organised crime. Nationwide, about 100 families control all political positions which is why election time is a time when murder-for-hire makes headlines.

Anyway, one of the legacies of government = crime is that things like organising street names, house/building numbers etc... simply have never happened. To get around the city I live in, for example, you're constantly referring to landmarks such as particular restaurants (a favourite) or other buildings. If you want to have furniture delivered, there is actually space on the back of the delivery order for you to draw a map to your house.

It really is like living in a D&D world.

tuxgeo said:

(snip) 2) Why is this village (not even a proper town) so far from the nearby stream? Is the stream un-navigable? Does it flood? (snip)

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I decided to do a bit more reading about this.

Volo's Guide to the North mentions that it has three deep wells. That explains where it gets its water from, even if it doesn't explain why it isn't closer to a stream or river. But I will throw something in based on my own experience living in the Philippines for the past three years.

Where I live most people rely on water from wells - some of which are in backyards - even though streams and rivers are plentiful. And that's largely because the "tragedy of the commons" is more than just a theory here: it's the default way of life. Rivers and streams are horribly polluted with sewage - human and animal - as well as household garbage including a lot of non-biodegradeable plastics. This is one of the many reasons why there are enormous numbers of leptospirosis cases after there are floods, but I digress.

I can imagine something similar in a mining community. Rivers and streams could be carrying toxic waste from mining operations whereas deep wells, in theory at least, shouldn't be tainted.

Maybe Ed did think this through?

Did we really just have an argument about a D&D town map or were you guys just trolling each other?

Remathilis said:

Did we really just have an argument about a D&D town map or were you guys just trolling each other?

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Is there a difference?

"Lionshield Coster" must be a Neverwinter tie-in.

I'm glad they finally figured out that having names on the map is more convenient than numbers referring to another part of the book.

Alderleaf Farm seems really small.

I wish this map had a grid on it.

GX.Sigma said:

"Lionshield Coster" must be a Neverwinter tie-in.

I'm glad they finally figured out that having names on the map is more convenient than numbers referring to another part of the book.

Alderleaf Farm seems really small.

I wish this map had a grid on it.

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Really? Why? From an aesthetic point of view, gridding the map would be ugly as sin. It's not meant as a battle map, so, we don't need it that small scale. I suppose slapping a A to Z and a 1 to whatever number along the X and Y axis might be useful, but, it's an awfully small place to need that much accuracy.

Time to break out the rulers boys.

GX.Sigma said:

"Lionshield Coster" must be a Neverwinter tie-in. (snip)

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I think the whole idea of using Phandalin is a Neverwinter tie-in. They've got to support the MMORPG as part of their brand strategy plus the Neverwinter Campaign Setting was actually a well-regarded FR4E product. It makes sense to focus on this region as a starter area.

On a related note, the regional map shows Icespire Peak which was specifically created for the MMORPG. That's the first piece of MMORPG => TTRPG we have seen... and I suspect it won't be the last.

Hussar said:

Time to break out the rulers boys.

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Rulers? I use my plastic hex overlays from the original Forgotten Realms boxed set!

Cheers!