D&D 5E Starter Set: Phandalin Map

[RichGreen]

Rulers? I use my plastic hex overlays from the original Forgotten Realms boxed set!

Cheers!

Me too! Doesn't everyone?

 

[GX.Sigma]

Really? Why? From an aesthetic point of view, gridding the map would be ugly as sin. It's not meant as a battle map, so, we don't need it that small scale. I suppose slapping a A to Z and a 1 to whatever number along the X and Y axis might be useful, but, it's an awfully small place to need that much accuracy.

Time to break out the rulers boys.

If the map's purpose is to define the relative position of things, a grid makes it much easier to use.

If the relative position of things doesn't matter, then why include a map at all? Heck, they could do it with one sentence: "This town has a blacksmith, a temple, and all the other things you'd expect to see in a town this size."

 

[MarkB]

If the map's purpose is to define the relative position of things, a grid makes it much easier to use.

In what sense? If it were a regional map and you needed to work out travel times and the like, I could see it, but this is a tiny village that you could stroll around in five minutes.

If you have the map on the table, and can point to it and say "you're in the Miner's Exchange here, and the blacksmith is over there on the other side of the town square", what does a grid add to that?

 

[Mistwell]

If the map's purpose is to define the relative position of things, a grid makes it much easier to use.

Why?

 

[Rykion]

My main concern is that they failed to label what kind of giant is sleeping in that house. The entire map is beyond useless without that info.

 

[Hutchimus Prime]

http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscar...t-nit_picking-chats-conversations-kmhn57l.jpg

 

[Morrus]

If the relative position of things doesn't matter, then why include a map at all? Heck, they could do it with one sentence: "This town has a blacksmith, a temple, and all the other things you'd expect to see in a town this size."

I know! And art! We don't need that, either! We should start a campaign to prevent people having unnecessary things! You in? I think we should start with ice cream, and move on from there.

 

[GX.Sigma]

In what sense? If it were a regional map and you needed to work out travel times and the like, I could see it, but this is a tiny village that you could stroll around in five minutes.

If you don't need to work out travel times, that means the exact geography is irrelevant. If the exact geography is irrelevant, why do you want a map like this? If all you want is an illustration to give the players a general sense of what the town looks like, I think something like this works much better:

My point is, the Phandalin map is drawn in a precise top-down style (you can clearly tell the artist used a grid while drawing it). The benefit of using a style like that is to make it easy to judge exact distances. The lack of a grid works against that purpose. It just feels like they weren't thinking about why they were doing things--they just decided to make a town map because they felt like an adventure should have a town map.

 

[ClauDeDoin]

I know! And art! We don't need that, either! We should start a campaign to prevent people having unnecessary things! You in? I think we should start with ice cream, and move on from there.

Two thumbs up (and XP) for Morrus's Biting Blade of Sarcasm +3.

 

[MarkB]

If you don't need to work out travel times, that means the exact geography is irrelevant.

Not at all. The layout of the area is important for a lot more than just travel time. It tells you that when you go from point A to point B, you'll pass points C and D along the way, without ever going near point E. It tells you that when a ruckus kicks off at the inn, it'll be clearly audible from the general goods store, but not from the manor house. If the place comes under attack, it'll show you the routes that both attackers and defenders will need to take in order to reach key locations, and the best places to set up barricades or ambushes.

None of that involves precise travel times, and all of it is easier to see on a well-drawn geographical map.