I'm trying to reconcile the three maps I have of the eastern edge of the Stolen Lands. Namely, I"m looking at the map of Brevoy (from #31 and the Player's guide), the map of the Nomen Heights (from #33) and the map of Iobaria (also from #33). My guess is that they were written by three different artists that didn't fully collaberate. Okay, so what do we do with it now?
In the VV-GM thread, James gave the official answer to this, but I found it unsatisfactory for a couple reasons. So if you're looking for a cannonical answer, head over there. Here I'm deviating from that path and trying to come up with something a little more interesting. (And since I have players *from* Iobaria, I feel it's worth doing the area some justice.)
THE PUZZLE PEICES:
- The Icerim Mountains (Brevoy-map) extends from the Lake of M&V and tapers off somewhere near Restov, eventually disappearing.
- The Icerim Mountains (Iobaria-map) extends from the Lake of M&V and continues all the way past Restov, south to the Castrovin Sea, though it gets renamed "Hills of Nomen" about halfway down.
- The Tors de Levants (Nomen-map) starts south of Restov and continues to thicken and build as it moves off the southern end of the map, presumedly to somewhere east of Mivon.
THE PROPOSAL:
Basically, make the Tors (Nomen-map) the same thing as the Hills of Nomen (Iobaria-map). Describe the hilly country between the southernmost tip of the Icerim Mountains (as depicted on the Brevoy-map) and the northernmost tip of the Tors (Nomen-map) as being "very hilly" and this land is essentially the pass between the River Kingdoms and Iobaria. Given the dramatic waterfalls in the region, this idea seems well supported.
This would put Varnhold *in* Iobaria.
SITES TO BE ADDED TO THE HEX MAP:
This would immeadiately bring two locations from the Iobaria gazeteer into the hex map of AP #33. (Which I see as a good thing, as I found the hex-ploration of #33 to be a little on the light side.)
Maw of Karth: This would go into the pass in the Tors that overlooks Varhold. It would be poetically ominous for the revelations to come.
Dirrinir:
Valley of Fire: This is from the Brevoy-map. I'm torn as what to do with this and where exactly to put it. It sounds like a cool place to go. I guess it doesn't have to be on the hexmap for the PCs to go there if they get a quest exhorting them to. But that seems to go against the "feel" of Kingmaker. Again, I'm torn.
THINGS TO DO INSIDE IOBARIA:
So now the PCs can start grabbing up Iobarian territory. What does that mean? Well, probably not much, other than the door is open for the campaign to swing eastward.
Lenusya: No matter what direction the PCs go, they'll likely have to deal with Lenusya; the bandits here will eventually discover they have things to loot west of them, so they'll probably start being a problem for the PCs. However, given the description of the town, this sounds like the perfect thing for players try to out the annexation rules.
South: Wilderness exploration. Would have to come up with stuff. Probably the least interesting direction to expand.
East: Cool adventure sites, eventually leading into non-hostile human civilization and the heart of the country.
North: Cool adventure sites, THEN they'll start to draw the ire of Prince Korya. He could end up behaving very similarly to the events of #34 & #35, and if the PCs aren't careful, could find themselves in a two-front war. Probably the most "fun" direction to go. :-)
PLAGUE:
So, to address the elephant in the room: how do we deal with the plague?
Part of me says "GM discretion." But the part of me that wants a baseline will propose this mechanic:
Every event phase, there is 1% chance of plague surfacing for every city you have in Iobaria. (This therefore includes Varnhold.) If the d100 indicates that a plague "surfaces" than roll a d20 Stability check. If this passes, then the town is able to deal with the situation appropriate to its alignment. If this fails, then there is an outbreak, and the town gets the "plague" condition.
If a town has the plague status, the PCs have a choice: let it ride, or quarentine.
Let it Ride: All buildings/bonuses the town would normally provide are halved. Furthermore, every Event phase, roll a Stability check. If this fails, then a random nearby town gains the "plague" condition. I want to say that the plague CAN spread outside Iobaria: this can make the various powers-that-be upset that you're allowing this to happen.
Quarentine: Gain 1d4 unrest, and all the buidings/bonuses the town would normally provide are eliminated. However, no chance of spreading.
Either way the PCs choose "let it ride" or "quarentine" the town makes a Stability check. If it passes, then it gets better (this roll is made AFTER the check to infect other towns, so the plague could essentially "move" from one town to another). If it fails, then mark that the town has had a failure. If a town ever accumulates as many or more failure as it has districts, the town is eliminated and the hex is unclaimed. (It may be reclaimed later, but the reason you'd have to spend BP to reclaim it is shoveling out the bodies and disinfecting everything.)
Interesting: The opening paragraphs of the Bestiary section supports this theory (and contradicts James's answer.) Sorry I didn't notice it earlier, all I have is the PDF and the bestiary was low on the list of "files to open" :-) Then again, I don't know how much to trust a monster manual to tell us about geography, but hey, it's nice to know my answer is supported by cannon.
Contradicts James' answer on what?
This is interesting, but I'm going to have to say that I'm going to have the Dunsward stretch a little bit east to the Hills of Nomen, and have the Tors of Levenies simply meet them off to the southeast. So I won't have anything in Iobaria, but your idea is interesting.
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I'm trying to reconcile the three maps I have of the eastern edge of the Stolen Lands. Namely, I"m looking at the map of Brevoy (from #31 and the Player's guide), the map of the Nomen Heights (from #33) and the map of Iobaria (also from #33). My guess is that they were written by three different artists that didn't fully collaberate. Okay, so what do we do with it now?
In the VV-GM thread, James gave the official answer to this, but I found it unsatisfactory for a couple reasons. So if you're looking for a cannonical answer, head over there. Here I'm deviating from that path and trying to come up with something a little more interesting. (And since I have players *from* Iobaria, I feel it's worth doing the area some justice.)
THE PUZZLE PEICES:
- The Icerim Mountains (Brevoy-map) extends from the Lake of M&V and tapers off somewhere near Restov, eventually disappearing.
- The Icerim Mountains (Iobaria-map) extends from the Lake of M&V and continues all the way past Restov, south to the Castrovin Sea, though it gets renamed "Hills of Nomen" about halfway down.
- The Tors de Levants (Nomen-map) starts south of Restov and continues to thicken and build as it moves off the southern end of the map, presumedly to somewhere east of Mivon.
THE PROPOSAL:
Basically, make the Tors (Nomen-map) the same thing as the Hills of Nomen (Iobaria-map). Describe the hilly country between the southernmost tip of the Icerim Mountains (as depicted on the Brevoy-map) and the northernmost tip of the Tors (Nomen-map) as being "very hilly" and this land is essentially the pass between the River Kingdoms and Iobaria. Given the dramatic waterfalls in the region, this idea seems well supported.
This would put Varnhold *in* Iobaria.
SITES TO BE ADDED TO THE HEX MAP:
This would immediately bring two locations from the Iobaria gazeteer into the hex map of AP #33. (Which I see as a good thing, as I found the hex-ploration of #33 to be a little on the light side.)
Maw of Karth: This would go into the...
thnx Eric I've been struggling with what to do with those maps. I love your idea I may still keep Varnhold in the Stolen Lands. The thought of Iobaria having a stronger presence in the AP would be cool. Actually having pcs be centaurs -- would they need those 'combat riding' feats? I mean really they are part horse right?
Thnx,
PJ
I don't think so, as long as the centaur didn't try to be his own mount...
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I started putting the maps together because of this thread.
I added the Brevoy and Iobaria maps to that collage here.
Thus, I conclude that Varnhold is not in Iobaria but is mostly still in the stolen lands and is just barely in the formerly centaur-controlled no-man's land SW of the Hills of Nomen. This is supported by the adventure text. I would say that the only real error is that the Iobaria map has Restov a little east from the consensus position of the other maps.
I'll gladly pull these maps down if any Paizo folk ask me to but I kept the resolutions low and the colours false and just have them together for community comparison.
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I started putting the maps together because of this thread.
I added the Brevoy and Iobaria maps to that collage here.
Thus, I conclude that Varnhold is not in Iobaria but is mostly still in the stolen lands and is just barely in the formerly centaur-controlled no-man's land SW of the Hills of Nomen. This is supported by the adventure text. I would say that the only real error is that the Iobaria map has Restov a little east from the consensus position of the other maps.
I'll gladly pull these maps down if any Paizo folk ask me to but I kept the resolutions low and the colours false and just have them together for community comparison.
I can't see your thread or atleast the picture.
thnx,
PJ
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I can't see your thread or atleast the picture.
thnx,
PJ
I hot linked the words "this thread" and "link".
Thread:
http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/pathfinder/adventurePa th/kingmaker/mapOfTheCampaignArea
Picture:
http://i751.photobucket.com/albums/xx155/greykloak/KM_Context_map2.jpg