New Realms = Old School

[S'mon]

Sorry for not replying earlier to this. T. Foster brought up the same issue on a twin thread I started re: my FR map on TheRPGSite, so I'm going to replicate his point and my response here. Hope it helps, but if you got better advice please share it. Thanks.

Thanks, I estimated it at 40 miles/hex. Could work if the PCs have horses, or it just takes 2 days to get anywhere.

 

[Derulbaskul]

(snip some good stuff)

I always liked the Campaign Hexagon System from Judges Guild for the way it broke down the larger campaign hex into smaller hexes. It was the perfect way to build a sandbox (and I loved the little descriptions given in their Wilderlands products: one or two sentences that you could build into an interesting encounter or more).

 

[Turtlejay]

The tail end or our "Heroes of Fallcrest" campaign had one of the DM's creating a hexmap of the Nentir Vale. He settled on avoiding a hard number for the size of the hexed, and it was just 'a day's travel'. I like this approach. It is easy for the party to gather around the map and guess which way will be faster (assuming travel goes smoothly. . .which we all know it won't). It makes random encounters simpler. Sizes larger than a day's travel would work, if you wanted to say. . .have a story arc take place in a hex. With the hex being a known size, it would not take *too* much work to make a template map that 'zooms in' and provides more detail for your 40 mile wide hex. Also, assuming your heroes can make the kind of speed that folks on the Oregon Trail made, one hex is about two day's travel.

The upside of having the hexes be a specific size is it is easier to alter travel times due to difficult terrain (swamps, mountains). Not necissarily my cup of tea, but some folks dig it.

Jay

 

[Beginning of the End]

The problem I see, is that this was the purpose of having both FR and Greyhawk. Contrary to many people's opinions, they were actually accomodating two different demographics... those who wanted deep lore and detail had Forgotten Realms, those who wanted a framework with plenty of room to detail it themslves had Greyhawk... soin a way FR did change to accomodate those who didn't enjoy it in the first place (and IMO, probably should have played in Greyhawk instead of wanting FR to become Greyhawk.). This is all IMHO of course.

It's part-and-parcel with the One True Wayism of the 4th Edition design team. They picked one "sweet spot" that matched either their preferences or their marketing plan and that's the only way of playing that 4th Edition is designed to support.

D&D has gone from catering to a wide audience of many different tastes to catering to a very specific and narrow audience. Given it's status as the gateway product for the industry, this is unfortunate. I suspect it will contribute substantially to the continued decline of the RPG market, just as TSR's decision to stop producing an introductory version of the game that wasn't a pay-to-preview product in the early '90s has contributed to the decline of the RPG market.

 

[Scribble]

It's part-and-parcel with the One True Wayism of the 4th Edition design team. They picked one "sweet spot" that matched either their preferences or their marketing plan and that's the only way of playing that 4th Edition is designed to support.

D&D has gone from catering to a wide audience of many different tastes to catering to a very specific and narrow audience. Given it's status as the gateway product for the industry, this is unfortunate. I suspect it will contribute substantially to the continued decline of the RPG market, just as TSR's decision to stop producing an introductory version of the game that wasn't a pay-to-preview product in the early '90s has contributed to the decline of the RPG market.

Well, I disagree with your statement, but I'm actually posting because I find it humorous (and fitting I guess) that doom and gloom is predicted by someone going by the name: "Beginning of The End..."

 

[JRRNeiklot]

hope they didn't pay somebody to make that map.

Wow, that was not nice. I think it's a damn fine map, I like the style much better than the shiny, glossy maps in most products.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

I think the map looks great, too.

 

[Scribble]

Wow, that was not nice. I think it's a damn fine map, I like the style much better than the shiny, glossy maps in most products.

Yes I agree with this. That map is awesome.

 

[rogueattorney]

I think the map looks great, too.

Me too. I'm just not sure how it reconciles the old school with the new.

For what it's worth, I liberally steal maps from all over the place. I keep the old 3e-era WotC map-a-week archive bookmarked and go to google maps all the time for real-world city layouts and cool terrain features.

A cool map's a cool map.

 

[Scribble]

Me too. I'm just not sure how it reconciles the old school with the new.

For what it's worth, I liberally steal maps from all over the place. I keep the old 3e-era WotC map-a-week archive bookmarked and go to google maps all the time for real-world city layouts and cool terrain features.

A cool map's a cool map.

I don't think it's the map itself he's saying melds the two, it's the idea that like oldschool FR the book is filled with little adventure ideas and rumors in various locations in the FR all sandbox like.