Yesterday, Mike Mearls previewed the map that is in the upcoming D&D Starter Set. For those who bought the Neverwinter Campaign Setting book – surely one of the best campaign supplements ever published – the map should be strangely familiar…
Although the artwork, by Mike Schley, is unchanged, the labels on the map have changed. Here are a summary of the changes:
Labels that have been added:
- Cragmaw Castle
- Agatha’s Lair
- Icespire Peak
- Wave Echo Cave
- Phandalin
- Cragmaw’s Hideout
- Starmetal Hills
- Kryptgarden Forest
A trail has also been added between Leilon, Conyberry and Phandalin.
Labels that have been removed:
- “To Luskan”
- Morgur’s Mound
- Tower of Twilight
- Sharandar
- Neverwinter River
- River Morgur
- Berun’s River
- Edals Creek
- Xinlenal
- Helm’s Hold
- Port Elast
- Dread Ring
- Sword Coast
- “To Waterdeep”
I can see removing labels not directly relevant to the starter set adventure to keep the complexity down. Do the additions conflict with the earlier map? I.e., could a revised version of the old map add these details where f are without getting in the way of the locations already placed there? I’m not familiar enough with the geography to know.
The additions don’t conflict with the earlier map, although putting them directly onto the old map would prove troublesome as some of the labels on the old map take up a bit too much space…
Most of the missing stuff are adventure sites that are not needed for the Starter Set adventure.