Mike Schley's MASSIVE Forgotten Realms Map From SCAG!

Cartographer Mike Schley has posted the enormous map of Northwest Faerûn from the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. It's poster sized (10,200 x 6,600 pixels, or a 34-page PDF) or you can get the Artists Print version shipped to you in the form of a poster map. "This new absolutely massive map of D&D's Sword Coast and Northwestern Faerûn was commissioned by Wizards of the Coast to accompany their 5th Edition D&D game supplement Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. lead your adventures through his exhaustive map of The Forgotten Realms' most Iconic lands and make sure to let it inspire some truly fantastic storytelling."
The print version ($10-$54, depending on size) is here, and the digital version ($10) is here.

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[Coreyartus]

Hm. I think I'd rather pay the artist than pay WotC. WotC won't pay Mr. Schley what he's worth. I can print things out on my own. If they'd have included a print version of the map with the book, I'd never be able to acquire a nice version of my own--I'd be stuck with what they gave me, as no company would allow a high-res version of the map to be available if they were using a print-version to help sell their resource book.

I much much prefer it this way, as I like to support the artist for his work, and the company for their's. I know how much time and effort artwork takes. And I know how stupidly inadequate a simple fold-out map would have represented Mr. Schley's work just by looking at it. I don't take much stock in those who would have desired one--a simple look at the art itself demonstrates how that would have been completely unsatisfactory. It just comes off as ignorant (and insulting) whining.

 

[darjr]

I'd much prefer digital access to the maps. Then I could print it off again and again in different sizes and it's utility far exceeds a pullout map full of creases. I prefer that I don't have to pay for that.

 

[JeffB]

I have little interest in the book.. I love my OGB, gold box, fra, egttfr, etc..I dont need tbe book,so it is no skin off my back.

But even that little POS 32 page 3e Gaz had a decent enough pull-out map included. If I did want the SCAG, I personally would be feeling a little ripped off having to pay a substantial amount extra for it on top of $40 for the book itself. I can understand people being upset. Vote with your wallets, and let em know how you feel. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[pukunui]

Again, why would I hold myself responsible for expecting something that's been included in virtually every other setting product since when I started playing back in the days of 1e? I shouldn't have to check and make sure that something like that is included. Imo, it's an essential part of a campaign setting sourcebook. As I said before, they could've at least included a scale on the map so I can calculate travel times.

As I mentioned in post #148 above, I think the main mistake you're making here is to regard SCAG as a campaign setting book. It's not. It's a player's guide. And, while I could be wrong, I don't think any of the previous FR player's guides came with pull-out maps.

It is unfair to compare this book to the AD&D box sets, the 3e FRCS, or the 4e FRCG. It's more fair to compare it to the 3e Player's Guide to Faerûn or 4e's Forgotten Realms Player's Guide. (Not sure if there is a comparable AD&D product.)

"Entitled" was a term someone else had applied to my expectations in an earlier post. I don't think it's my God-given right to have a map included, but I did expect one. Most of my posts say "expected", if I said "entitled" it was in error.

Take a look at post #135, in which you state: "No, actually it DOES mean we are entitled to those maps!" Seems like a deliberate choice of the word "entitled" to me.

Maybe it's because you're too young to know the value of what you're really getting, compared to how things once were.

I've been playing D&D since the early 90s. I own the 1e FR grey box, the 2e FR gold box, and the 3e FRCS. I have also just happily placed an order for the 5e SCAG now that the Book Depository finally has it in stock. I do not expect it to be as comprehensive as any of those prior editions' books, nor do I expect it to be in the same vein as those books, since I know that - as I said above - it is more of a player's guide than a DM-oriented campaign setting guide. I was not expecting a pull-out map to come with it.

Just found this. Do yourselves a favor if you haven't bought the map yet, go to Wizards website and get the map for FREE, then take somewhere and have it printed. At least you'll save a few bucks.

That is the 3e era map. It's fairly out of date now.

 

[Parmandur]

Well, it can still work for things like scale, or you can play 5Ein 1373 easily.

 

[pukunui]

Well, it can still work for things like scale, or you can play 5Ein 1373 easily.

True. Although, as Chris Perkins himself put it, there has been some "scale drift" over the years. But I guess if you pick a map and stick with it, that doesn't really matter. And there's no real consistency between any of the Next/5e FR regional maps anyway ...

 

[Parmandur]

Honestly, working with the Tyranny if Dragons maps and those in the SCAG should work well enough.

 

[pukunui]

Honestly, working with the Tyranny if Dragons maps and those in the SCAG should work well enough.

It's worth noting that Jared Blando didn't put a scale on his Sword Coast map (the one in HotDQ) either.

I think it's also worth noting that Schley's new map looks more like the 2e era map than the 3e or 4e era maps, particularly in terms of the roads.

 

[Demetrios1453]

A thought occurred to me earlier. During 4e's run, WotC put out two FR books. One was a campaign guide designed for DMs. The other was a player's guide designed for players. The campaign guide came with a pull-out map. The player's guide did not.

This new Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide strikes me as being more like 4e's Forgotten Realms Player's Guide than it does either the 3e Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting or the 4e Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide.

Yes, the SCAG has setting info in it, but it's presented in a player-friendly way. The SCAG is not *really* a campaign guide. It's a player's guide. The setting info is mainly there to help players get a sense of the world and help them ground their characters in it.

When you think about it that way, it makes sense that there's no pull-out map included.

If WotC ever get around to releasing a full-blown campaign setting book for the Realms that covers all of Faerûn, at the bare minimum, rather than just one quarter of it, then they might very well include a pull-out map with it.

This is something I've been mulling over as well. SCAG has virtually nothing that is out and out "DM material"; it's filled with info that both the player and DM can use. Even the actual city/nation descriptions are general (and presented as hearsay by NPCs who have supposedly been there) with little "hard" info. It does seem to me to be much more of a "Player's Guide" than an out and out "Campaign Setting".

 

[pukunui]

Exactly! It's the 5e equivalent of 3e's Player's Guide to Faerûn and 4e's Forgotten Realms Player's Guide. Both of those books contain player options along with some setting info to give players a taste of the setting.

(EDIT: I'm not 100% sure about the 3e book, but I once owned the 4e FRPG, so I can state for a fact that not only did it not come with a pull-out map but it also did not even show as much of a map as the SCAG does. The 4e FPRG just had some little pieces of the map that came with the FRCG to go along with some of the regional backgrounds and such.)

I mean, come on, Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide ... is that not enough of a clue? Not only is this not a Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting guide, it's not even a Sword Coast Campaign Setting guide. It's a *player's* guide to the Sword Coast.

It even says as much on the product page: "While the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide is a valuable resource for Dungeon Masters, it was crafted with players and their characters foremost in mind. There is a plethora of new character options to intrigue and inspire every member of the adventuring party."