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[WL?] Making the maps fit - Printable Version

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[WL?] Making the maps fit - finarvyn - 12-28-2021

I'm not sure if my subject line accurately reflects my question. I seem to recall some threads on maps (how the WL map and Arneson's map fit together, for example) but my search-fu is cursed today and I'm not finding at all what I am looking for.

Basically, here's the thing: I love the hand-colored version of Dave's Blackmoor map, which can be found on the internet and (I think) in Havard's download section. Basically, it's the player's map from the First Fantasy Campaign and I assume it was colored by Dave himself as it used to be hosted on his webpage back in the day. That's been my go-to map for my Blackmoor campaign for as long as I can remember.

It's here: https://blackmoor.mystara.net/img/BLACKMOOR1MAP2a.gif

However, it's not as complete as other maps. I have one called "DA4" by DaveL which is a pretty modern one and has a lot more place names on it. Because it's more complete than the Dave map, I often use it as my DM map and let the players look at the Dave one.

It's here: https://blackmoor.mystara.net/img/DA4_Map_full_size.png

Except that today I realized (for the first time, unless I forgot) that Dave's map is 10 miles to the hex but the DA4 map is 12 miles to the hex. Confusedhock: Not a huge deal, and I can explain it away by saying that the player's map isn't perfect, but it occurs to me that some destinations may be a different number of hexes from one another. I have yet to spend time trying to check this, but it disturbs me that the maps aren't the same scale.

And then I remember that there are also replica maps from DA1 and DA3 and I've never really taken the time to compare them to the DA4 one. Are they pretty much the same, or are there differences which makes one "better" than the others. Has anyone taken the various parts of each and put them together to make a complete map?

Has anyone tried to fix this, or is there a "better" hex-map of Blackmoor that I should be hunting for? I'm not interested in a Greyhawk-Blackmoor map, but something similar to the Wilderlands one from the FFC.


RE: [WL?] Making the maps fit - Xylarthen - 05-01-2022

(12-28-2021, 09:15 PM)finarvyn Wrote: I'm not sure if my subject line accurately reflects my question. I seem to recall some threads on maps (how the WL map and Arneson's map fit together, for example) but my search-fu is cursed today and I'm not finding at all what I am looking for.

Basically, here's the thing: I love the hand-colored version of Dave's Blackmoor map, which can be found on the internet and (I think) in Havard's download section. Basically, it's the player's map from the First Fantasy Campaign and I assume it was colored by Dave himself as it used to be hosted on his webpage back in the day. That's been my go-to map for my Blackmoor campaign for as long as I can remember.

It's here: https://blackmoor.mystara.net/img/BLACKMOOR1MAP2a.gif

However, it's not as complete as other maps. I have one called "DA4" by DaveL which is a pretty modern one and has a lot more place names on it. Because it's more complete than the Dave map, I often use it as my DM map and let the players look at the Dave one.

It's here: https://blackmoor.mystara.net/img/DA4_Map_full_size.png

Except that today I realized (for the first time, unless I forgot) that Dave's map is 10 miles to the hex but the DA4 map is 12 miles to the hexConfusedhock:  Not a huge deal, and I can explain it away by saying that the player's map isn't perfect, but it occurs to me that some destinations may be a different number of hexes from one another. I have yet to spend time trying to check this, but it disturbs me that the maps aren't the same scale.

And then I remember that there are also replica maps from DA1 and DA3 and I've never really taken the time to compare them to the DA4 one. Are they pretty much the same, or are there differences which makes one "better" than the others. Has anyone taken the various parts of each and put them together to make a complete map?

Has anyone tried to fix this, or is there a "better" hex-map of Blackmoor that I should be hunting for? I'm not interested in a Greyhawk-Blackmoor map, but something similar to the Wilderlands one from the FFC.

You should check out Daniel Boggs’ post regarding the various Blackmoor maps here: https://boggswood.blogspot.com/2021/05/how-big-is-blackmoor.html

It talks about the varying scales of the maps and may help you decide which is best for you.

I personally like the FFC Referee’s map, which is like the coloured Player’s map you already have but including more details. I have been in the process of making my own hand-drawn version of that map and adding all the towns, villages, and points of interest which appear in the later Blackmoor products and aren’t already on it. I have also extended the southern portion by adding to my hand-drawn map a properly-scaled DA3 map of the Valley of the Ancients and the Peshwah lands.

- Xylarthen