[CBI] GS1 - Greg Svenson's Williamsfort Gazetteer -Free PDF!

[Rafael]

That's the map Sir Clarence did, right?

[Yaztromo]

Correct!

[Greg]

Since the next Gazetteer is about to be released, I've been reading through the first three, and I have a quick question about Williamsfort. I'd also like to request a re-post of Yaztromo's map from the previous reply in this thread. Here's my question:

What is New Hope? The Williamsfort gazetteer says Shyla Mason (née Zvenzen) is the Lady of New Hope along with her husband, Tray. The title would seem to imply that New Hope is a newer town or location.

I can't find another reference to "New Hope" in GS1 or the other two existing Gazetteers, and it's not referenced in the campaign setting books for D&D 3.5 or 4E. Maybe Greg Svenson could shed some light on this.

Also, Yaztromo's reply above seems to indicate that New Hope may have been on a map somewhere, but the map image link is no longer active. Maybe Yaztromo could re-post it.

By the way, I just finished the Williamsfort Gazetteer, and it's great. It's got plenty of background, NPCs and potential hooks for an entire campaign based in the area. I like the potential rivalry and tension between the old house of Carrion and the newer rulers and nobles from the Zvenzen family. I also like the potential divide in the population between imperial loyalists and supporters of the Great Svenny, with the rest of the population merely wanting stability.

I also like the interesting twist of dwarves raiding some of the farms and flocks outside the town. It inspires some interesting questions for DMs. What's causing this? Are some of the dwarves going rogue from the rest of their kin in the Stormkiller Mountains? Have the annual savage orc raids mentioned in the Blackmoor 3.5 campaign setting driven some of the dwarves from their homes? Are they raiding in desperation? Are they raiding because they're short on resources and need to prepare for the next springtime attack? Or is this somehow the Egg's doing?

There is a lot of excellent material and background in this resource.

[gsvenson]

If you check my Newgate regional map, New Hope is a small village in the area East of Newgate on the road to Bramwald (almost to Sweetwater). Svenny started the settlement and placed his neice in charge of it, as he did with several other small settlements in the area.

[Greg]

Thanks for clearing that up! I hadn't examined the Newgate map yet. I have one other quick question as well.

The sourcebook mentions that you can see Lake Hope off to the northwest when you're approaching Williamsfort, and you can see the Redwood Forest from one area within the town. The map from Dave Arneson's Blackmoor places those locations a good 35 or more miles away, so is the visibility due to the higher elevation of the Williamsfort area? I know the town is located on the northwestern slope of the Stormkiller Mountains, in the foothills, and it sounds like the road into town follows a ridge. I would assume this explains the ability to see that far, but I wanted to get clarification from the source.

[gsvenson]

I had imagined that the elevation of Williamsfort was perhaps a bit higher. I had it on a plateau well up the side of the mountain with the road to Blackmoor initially being allot of switchbacks going down, while the road from Newgate was a more gradual assent. If you feel that is too much of a stretch, that is okay, just leave those detail out.