D&D 5E (2014) Hoard of the Dragon Queen Maps

[KarinsDad]

I tweeted to Jared: Truly great maps. Shame about the spelling mistakes. WotC needs better editors.

He replied: I agree, I'm just the artist so i do what im told!

So he was told to put in typos?

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

So he was told to put in typos?

Maybe the map they sent him had those errors.

As it is a WotC error, I would suggest you see page XX.

 

[Thaumaturge]

Maybe the map they sent him had those errors.

As it is a WotC error, I would suggest you see page XX.

Or they wanted the changes for brand reasons or something, which doesn't necessarily make it better.

Thaumaturge.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

Or they wanted the changes for brand reasons or something, which doesn't necessarily make it better.

Thaumaturge.

And the thing is, it's not for brand reasons. These are just bad editing.

I'm really surprised too because one of the stated goals of the new Realms is to win back the fans of the pre-4E Realms. You don't win their loyalty by mispelling the name of one of the most important cities in FR.

 

[evilbob]

Here is a direct link to the Sword Coast image for those who want to look at it more closely:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BuZa0piCcAAYS5F.jpg

 

[Xodis]

Any chance that a lot of these are just being renamed and its not announced yet?

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

Any chance that a lot of these are just being renamed and its not announced yet?

There is simply no chance of that.

These are errors. See page XX for more information.

 

[Lawngnome4hire]

You are correct, apparently I didn't read my 3e lore closely enough. In ancient times, the Shadovar escaped the destruction of Netheril by fleeing into Shadow. They returned in the Year of Wild Magic (1372 DR, the 'current' year of 3e) and found their old empire buried under the Anauroch desert. The 4e campaign guide is a little vague on what caused Anauroch to stop being a desert, saying simply that "Rivers now flow from the melting glaciers, rain falls, temperatures are moderate, and in some places vegetation is particularly lush." Reading the description of Anauroch in the 3e Forgotten Realms campaign setting it is still described as a desert and the City of Shade is described as having re-appeared 'early in the Year of Wild Magic' but with no mention of the desert climate starting to change. Apparently these changes are something that happened in the intervening 100 years between 3e and 4e, which is why I (incorrectly) assumed the climate change was part of the merging of Abeir and Toril.

I haven't completed the Sundering Novels yet, I'm partway through book 5, but so far they've all been focused on agents of Netheril attempting to advance Shar's plans to take over / destroy the world, as well as gathering more power by collecting the various divine shards spread out through the various Chosen (apparently every god and their brother have a bunch of Chosen wandering around, so much so that at one point a Netheril wizard was able to establish multiple 'concentration camps' with thousands of potential Chosen at each camp.) Various hints so far lead me to believe that the Shadovar will be defeated / destroyed. Sakkors has crashed to the ground and been destroyed, for example.

In the Return of Archwizards trilogy the books explain that the shades use their shadow magic to create what are essentially heating blankets, that they use to absorb sunlight and melt the glacier north of Anauroch. The gradual melting of the glacier releases enough water to begin altering the climate of the desert. They also help the forces of Evereska push back the phaerimm.

There's a really cool part of the books where the armies of Evereska are fighting against an army lead by phaerimm, who have mind controlled large numbers of beholders, who in turn mind controlled large numbers of humanoids and other forces to fill out their army.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

(snip) There's a really cool part of the books where the armies of Evereska are fighting against an army lead by phaerimm, who have mind controlled large numbers of beholders, who in turn mind controlled large numbers of humanoids and other forces to fill out their army.

Ahhh, yes. One of the major places where that series of turgid dreck truly jumped the shark.

 

[Thaumaturge]

From Jared Blando, the artist:

Fixed the "Silverymoon" typo on the Sword Coast map, come pick up a Hoard of the Dragon Queen map Bundle at my table! #gencon2014 #dnd5e

So there may be a possibility differences like the lack of an extra "r" in Felbar are intentional.

Thaumaturrge.