D&D 5E (2024) Atlas of Faerun (with some pictures from the internet)

[Henadic Theologian]

It caused a huge stir in FR fandom when they did it. The 3e FRCS is a very good book, but the poster map was one of the few missteps.

These new maps adhere very closely to the original Ed's/1e/2e scale and base geography.

Should have just made the fold out map 1 page bigger, problem solved.

 

[Parmandur]

Should have just made the fold out map 1 page bigger, problem solved.

Well, they had gameplay and movel metaplot (ugh) reasons, too: they wanted Faerûn to be smaller so thst groups could trapise across the map more easily following 3E travel rules, when yhe original intent was to make different areas more isolated by the scale.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Well, they had gameplay and movel metaplot (ugh) reasons, too: they wanted Faerûn to be smaller so thst groups could trapise across the map more easily following 3E travel rules, when yhe original intent was to make different areas more isolated by the scale.

Not just that, but shrinking things down makes the Empires and Kingdoms look less impressive and in some cases left out entirely.

 

[Stormonu]

After what happened with the VTT, I guess I'm skeptical about the level of interactivity this will actually have.

Ages ago there was the Forgotten Realm Atlas that was done in Campaign Cartographer (which I still have...). Those maps are vector-based and can be scaled up/down and hot-linked, it would be nice if they could reuse those somehow for the updated ones on Beyond. It had a LOT of maps - overland, subsets, cities and such.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

I read somewhere that like according to 2nd edition geography, the Dalelands would be twice the size of Germany's Black Forest and like a fifth as populated.

Faerun is much larger than Europe and is significantly less densely populated than it. On one hand, this kind of explains why the entire world seems to have very few nation-states, it's just so naughty word big that it's hard to travel from one center of power to the other. It also leaves room for the hordes of goblins or singular dragons who claim areas the size of US counties as their territories.

 

[Parmandur]

I read somewhere that like according to 2nd edition geography, the Dalelands would be twice the size of Germany's Black Forest and like a fifth as populated.

Faerun is much larger than Europe and is significantly less densely populated than it. On one hand, this kind of explains why the entire world seems to have very few nation-states, it's just so naughty word big that it's hard to travel from one center of power to the other. It also leaves room for the hordes of goblins or singular dragons who claim areas the size of US counties as their territories.

The Greenwoodian Forgotten realms is a Points of Light Setting, with vast tracts of howling wilderness inhabited by Monsters. 3E made everything just be right on top of each other.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

The Greenwoodian Forgotten realms is a Points of Light Setting, with vast tracts of howling wilderness inhabited by Monsters. 3E made everything just be right on top of each other.

I'm afraid the setting is far too detailed to be a points of light, which is part of the problem. We as fans know so much about the world it's impossible not to metagame, but the characters in the world themselves would have almost no ability to know anything from the next thorp over.

 

[pukunui]

I'm afraid the setting is far too detailed to be a points of light, which is part of the problem.

That may be the case now, but it certainly was more of a PoL setting before 2e and 3e filled in all the blanks. 4e's Spellplague and one hundred year time jump was intended to take it back to a more PoL vibe. Of course, with 5e they "undid" a lot of the 4e changes while continuing to advance the timeline, so now the setting has more of a Renaissance/Enlightenment vibe, which makes it harder to give it a PoL vibe.

 

[Demetrios1453]

That may be the case now, but it certainly was more of a PoL setting before 2e and 3e filled in all the blanks. 4e's Spellplague and one hundred year time jump was intended to take it back to a more PoL vibe. Of course, with 5e they "undid" a lot of the 4e changes while continuing to advance the timeline, so now the setting has more of a Renaissance/Enlightenment vibe, which makes it harder to give it a PoL vibe.

Depends on the area. Cormyr will give off the Renaissance vibe, but just go to some nearby areas like Anauroch or even the Dalelands, and it's more PoL.

 

[pukunui]

Depends on the area. Cormyr will give off the Renaissance vibe, but just go to some nearby areas like Anauroch or even the Dalelands, and it's more PoL.

I was thinking more Sword Coast since that's mostly all that's been covered in 5e's timeline advancements so far.

Anauroch is back to being a desert again after Netheril's brief return ... but deserts are always PoL what with their little oases separated by vast stretches of nothingness. We don't know what the 5e Dalelands will look like just yet.