Eberrons bizzare maps

[Yaksha_]

Hi all,

Point me to previous threads if you’ve heard this one before (there’s no search in these forums).

I’m a little befuddled by the maps in the Eberron Campaign Setting and Five Nations. Khorvaire is about 5,000 miles wide. That’s about twice the size of Australia or the USA. And yet looking at the maps there is some seriously low detail. Not only that but looking at the (closer) country maps of Khorvaire there are bizarre shapes signifying land elevation that appear like giant hills the size of France!

Valenar is almost the size of India and there are 17 towns, and one river (!?!) I’ve heard people complain about the low population stats (and rightly so) but what about the dodgy geography.

Oh sure, it’s a fantasy map. But seriously, Eberron is an awesome setting; couldn’t they have spent a little more on giving us equally awesome maps?

 

[WhatGravitas]

Oh sure, it’s a fantasy map. But seriously, Eberron is an awesome setting; couldn’t they have spent a little more on giving us equally awesome maps?

IIRC, Hellcow (i.e. Keith Baker) once said, that there was a little misunderstanding: Basically, the map has all distances/scale increased by a factor of 10... but since this was in the first book, WotC had to stick to it.

 

[kikai]

Keith Baker mentioned here that in his opion "the scale on the maps of Eberron is off by a factor of ten. In my mind, the Five Nations should be along the size of nations like France and England, not Russia and China. It throws off travel time for adventures, skews population, and makes it hard to imagine events in the Last War pushing deep beyond the borders. This wasn't somehow inherent in the design of the setting (in fact, quite the opposite); in my opinion it was just a miscommunication with the art department that is sadly now part of the core book. But personally, MY Khorvaire is a much smaller place."

Regards,
kikai

 

[Drowbane]

IIRC, Hellcow (i.e. Keith Baker) once said, that there was a little misunderstanding: Basically, the map has all distances/scale increased by a factor of 10... but since this was in the first book, WotC had to stick to it.

Heaven forbide that WotC admit such a glaring error. bleh. My Khorvaire is (also) a much smaller place... "canon" be damned.

 

[Hussar]

Having just recently started playing in Eberron, it does seem a tad weird that it's so friggin' big.

What would be the huge problem in issuing an errata on the issue? Everyone knows it's wrong, what's the biggie?

Although, one thing I noticed, when you start running the lightning rails, you can move from A to B in a serious hurry. But, off the rails, you're taking weeks to get anywhere.

 

[drothgery]

Although, one thing I noticed, when you start running the lightning rails, you can move from A to B in a serious hurry. But, off the rails, you're taking weeks to get anywhere.

... though by the time you can afford to use the lightning rail regularly, you usually have magical transport available (teleport, wind walk, shadow walk, etc.) that's faster than the lightning rail.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Keith Baker mentioned here that in his opion "the scale on the maps of Eberron is off by a factor of ten. In my mind, the Five Nations should be along the size of nations like France and England, not Russia and China. It throws off travel time for adventures, skews population, and makes it hard to imagine events in the Last War pushing deep beyond the borders. This wasn't somehow inherent in the design of the setting (in fact, quite the opposite); in my opinion it was just a miscommunication with the art department that is sadly now part of the core book.

Hmmm... Does any of the people in the art department go under the pseudonym of Plato, by any chance?

 

[Someone]

In an adventure we're playing here in this boards we have to go from Shran to Karrnath - the time and money figures we got for travelling were ludicrous. We figured that it'd take much less ime to continue adventuring in sharn until one of us could cast Wind walk or even Greater teleport than going by horse, and usng the lightning rail would cost much more money than the ecomended treasure per level we could have. The DM fudged away the cost of the lightning rail.

 

[Hussar]

... though by the time you can afford to use the lightning rail regularly, you usually have magical transport available (teleport, wind walk, shadow walk, etc.) that's faster than the lightning rail.

Ah, not awfully familiar with the setting. I'm just a player. We're Breland Militia members, so I think Breland pays for all that sort of thing.

 

[Stormborn]

Hi all,

Point me to previous threads if you’ve heard this one before (there’s no search in these forums).

Welcome to ENWorld Yaksha. These boards do have search functions, but only to community supporters, those who donate to keep the place running. Generally, however, if you are willing to look past the first two or three pages and can't find what you are looking for post, just as you did, and someone with one will do the search for you. (Which reminds me I should renew my account.)