Pathfinder 1E Pathfinder Setting: Map up!

[Angel Tarragon]

Where do i sign up for the poster?

Seconded.

 

[Nlogue]

Yes, but it becomes twice as deep.

It becomes title estuary!

 

[James Jacobs]

Stuff about rivers...

I figured I'd reply to the river concerns here, since I'm kind of a stickler for rivers in fantasy maps as well. The fact that two rivers drain from the Nyr Dyv in Greyhawk has annoyed me for ages, for example, and whenever I see a river flow apart and it's not a delta, I see red. So the routes of the rivers on the map of Varisia are very much intended to be as realistic as possible. But at the same time... the map has to look neat. Those two things don't always play nice together.

So taking Mark's concerns about rivers (and with the note that while I'm not a geologist, I do have several friends who are and they tore into my maps something fierice back in college):

1: Keep in mind that there aren't actual elevation lines on the map. Mostly becasue they traditionally aren't included on RPG maps, which is something that I find a little annoying but the artistic side of me doesn't miss them cluttering up the pretty parts of the map. SO! Rest assured that the route that the Kazaron river takes as it windes across the boundary between the Storval Plateau and the Cinderlands does indeed follow the path of least resistance, flowing down valleys and gradual inclines to eventually drain into the Storval Deep. There's a lot of rifts and valleys in that upper plateau, which you can think of as being like the Montanna badlands for much of its northern half. It's not flat at all, but it generally slopes downward toward the west and a bit to the south. As for rivers not widening where they meet, that's an artifact of the map's scale. In order for the rivers to be visible but not totally overwhelm, we decided to keep the width as pictured pretty constant, which (at the scale of the map) means that all the rivers shown are about 2.5 miles wide. That's certianly not the case along the whole length of these rivers; they're quite a bit narrower for most of their length, but for artistic purposes, they're shown at a constant width. If/when we zoom in on areas and work with a smaller scale, it'll be a different story, of course.

2: Urglin's marker is a square, not a circle, indicating that it's not really a city anymore but a ruin that's full of squatters (mostly barbarians, probably a lot of orcs). All of the healthy, opperational modern cities are on the coast or along rivers.

3: Worries about the Mushfens were mentioned elsewhere, I believe... the Yondabakari River is the primary source for the entire swamp being there, really; a lot of the water draining from the lakes ends up at Magnimar, but a lot of it also drains south creating a giant sloppy marsh.

ANYway... more details on the setting are planned for Pathfinder; we'll be exploring the heck out of Varisia in the adventures and in numerous backdrop-style support articles that provide even more information about the area. In any event... being the snobby map guy I am, I just felt compelled to explain a bit about the map.

OH! And yes... there is indeed a reason for all of the mountains, and for the giant long cliff. It's tied into the history of the region, and will be revealed during the course of the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path (and likely during the course of the Adventure Path to come after that one), so I don't want to reveal anything too early here. But yeah... there were a certain number of magical events and geological things that happened to Varisia in the past...

 

[Olaf the Stout]

OH! And yes... there is indeed a reason for all of the mountains, and for the giant long cliff. It's tied into the history of the region, and will be revealed during the course of the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path (and likely during the course of the Adventure Path to come after that one), so I don't want to reveal anything too early here. But yeah... there were a certain number of magical events and geological things that happened to Varisia in the past...

I'm glad to hear it James. I like my maps to have some semblance of logic behind why this or that is the way it is.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Davelozzi]

Chile isn't the only one. We have a Las Cruces in New Mexico as well. We also have a "Truth or Consequences", which has always made me wonder what they were thinking.

Truth or Consequences used to be called Hot Springs but it renamed it self after the radio game show of the same name. They've voted a couple times since on whether or not to change the name back but so far have decided to stick with it. Additional details can be found here.

 

[RFisher]

Who doesn't struggle to make every name unique and cool sounding?

I've made good progress towards letting go of trying to make cool sounding names. I think giving up on unique will be my next goal.

We also have a "Truth or Consequences", which has always made me wonder what they were thinking.

I was just travelling through NM last week & noticed that town on the map. Such a name could hardly surprise me anymore, but I could hardly believe it when I was told they indeed had named it after the radio show.

Nightfall, in the future if there is a very wide photo you want to share use this code:

{limg} link {/limg}

And of course substitute [ for { and } for ]

You mean like [limg]this[/limg]? (^_^)

 

[Rokes]

I live near Big Beaver Road in Michigan, which also happens to be exit 69.

 

[Voadam]

4) The Rocky Mountains

Never thought about that one before. Yeah I guess most mountains are.

 

[Nightfall]

*four*
Wow, Three pages already. Nice.

Anyway I'm glad James stopped by. Maybe now we'll get more tidbits about Pathfinder and the entire world.

At least I hope so!

Come on James! Spill already! I've already ordered the first three! You can trust me!

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Truth or Consequences used to be called Hot Springs but it renamed it self after the radio game show of the same name. They've voted a couple times since on whether or not to change the name back but so far have decided to stick with it. Additional details can be found here.

See, I knew nobody reads my posts. See post 53.