Loving Strange Aeons, but really disappointing maps


Strange Aeons


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As a huge fan of Lovecraft and everything Cthulhu Mythos, I and my group have highly anticipated Strange Aeons. So much so that I decided to stump up for an adventure path subscription. As DM, I have not been disappointed so far with the adventures.

With one exception.

I was somewhat underwhelmed by the cartographic style of the asylum map of In Search of Sanity, but having just received my copy of The Thrushmoor Terror, I have to say that I'm massively disappointed with the cartography.

The maps are functional - at best - and utterly at odds with the rest of the artwork and graphic design, which is sublime and oozes theme and character. The maps are utterly devoid of character and lack ambiance to inspire the DM. The maps on page 11 look as though they've been thrown together in PowerPoint! And this from the industry star of cartography, Robert Lazzaretti himself!

Very disappointing.

I hope the quality of the cartography will improve dramatically in the next issue.

:(


I think the maps are terrific thus far. The first map was a titan from the first book. The second book is alot easier to draw. Wise man once always said, the story and encounters are where the money is at. The artwork done by Kremena Chipilova is fabulous. I love the Argus wall and the artwork she did on the major NPC's in book 1. Don't know who the artist was from book two but they did a good job.

Book 1 Spoiler:
Ghouls which are one of the undead famous in the world of the lovecraftian mythos are abound.

Book 2 Spoiler:
The encounters are primarily an urban encounter with just fragments of the map, organized encounters that are very much like random encounters or plot encounters. The fort is well done (I love the guards as they are very defensive and easy to handle. You can even add some scant of realism within it as each room is packed with the lovely undeads, and it is relatively small. We aren't in a massive city, we are in Thrushmoor, home of the pickled fish. Not everything is going to be like the first prison.


I think for book #2 the locations are pretty mundane overall so a detailed visual aid isn't that important to me as a dm. If you've run one fort/mansion/fishing village you've run them all.


Amen!


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I completely agree that the art is fantastic. Which is why the maps are so disappointing. The maps are functional, sure, and in the case of the asylum map superbly so. The issue I have is with the style and the ambience (vs. the functionality or utility or challenge, which are pretty much spot on or excellent).

Cartography in RPGs is as much artwork as it is a functional representation of the encounter space. These fall short in that regard

The locations may be mundane but the adventure is far from it. The maps should be trying/helping to evoke a sense of cosmic horror and mounting dread - rain-smeared streets, ramshackle houses, dark waters of the lake, winding streets in a creepy little fishing town where sinister forces are growing. Our protagonists, recently returned from an asylum and recovering from amnesia should find the town strangely familiar but subtly wrong - is it the place or is it them?

The witches grotto should be creepy, root tangled, mushroom festooned and crawling with vermin.

The fort map is fine but meh! It should be a blocky, brooding structure glowering on the skyline. Inside, dark shadows crawl with menace and bloodstains tell of the violence that befell its occupants

These maps are altogether far too bright, clean and clinical for my tastes.

I get the encounters is where the money's at, but why not have both? For visual learners the artwork (which is great) and the cartography are really important..

Sounds like I may be in the minority here but I feel it's a missed opportunity and hoped providing some feedback to the developers might give them a useful different perspective.

YMMV


Shadowfane wrote:

I completely agree that the art is fantastic. Which is why the maps are so disappointing. The maps are functional, sure, and in the case of the asylum map superbly so. The issue I have is with the style and the ambience (vs. the functionality or utility or challenge, which are pretty much spot on or excellent).

Cartography in RPGs is as much artwork as it is a functional representation of the encounter space. These fall short in that regard

The locations may be mundane but the adventure is far from it. The maps should be trying/helping to evoke a sense of cosmic horror and mounting dread - rain-smeared streets, ramshackle houses, dark waters of the lake, winding streets in a creepy little fishing town where sinister forces are growing. Our protagonists, recently returned from an asylum and recovering from amnesia should find the town strangely familiar but subtly wrong - is it the place or is it them?

The witches grotto should be creepy, root tangled, mushroom festooned and crawling with vermin.

The fort map is fine but meh! It should be a blocky, brooding structure glowering on the skyline. Inside, dark shadows crawl with menace and bloodstains tell of the violence that befell its occupants

These maps are altogether far too bright, clean and clinical for my tastes.

I get the encounters is where the money's at, but why not have both? For visual learners the artwork (which is great) and the cartography are really important..

Sounds like I may be in the minority here but I feel it's a missed opportunity and hoped providing some feedback to the developers might give them a useful different perspective.

YMMV

I can see where your coming from. Although, from your post it sounds like you may benefit more from more art in the AP volume. I love the pictures because they capture exactly those details you're talking about.

Liberty's Edge

Maps and Artwork is what Draws me to an Adventure...Otherwise I won't bother to read it.


This one is worth reading anyway!


I can say that I picked up Warhammer and Warhammer 40K back in the 80's because I loved the art (and had some $$ to burn) even if I did not use they system that much.
MDC

Liberty's Edge

just about finished with a 1"=5' 72dpi battle map of the asylum

Silver Crusade

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Book 1 maps created in CC3/CC3+


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@Darrenan: Nice. Can you do the same for Book 2 and 3?

Wish the cartographer had bothered to put some effort in ...


I'm not sure I understand what you're complaining about. I like the cartography so far.

The maps are all clean and clear, and will be very easy to use to run the encounters.

The Exchange

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Haladir wrote:
The maps are all clean and clear, and will be very easy to use to run the encounters.

While I agree with you on that, I think I can also see where the OP is coming from. A part of using the official maps for me is to let the players visualize their PCs surrounding, so I love if a map oozes athmosphere with little details. Now compare for example darrenan's interpretation of the furnace rooms with the original map. The ground has actual texture, Light and shadow effects add a bit of (virtual) 3D and make the room come alive. And the scenery in A2 seems just that bit more realistice by using different colors. And as it doesn't sacrifice too much of clarity for it, I actually prefer it to the original.

Now I'm no mapmaker at all, and I wouldn't know about the reasons why the maps are the way they are. But when I went to page 11 of Thrushmoor Terror with the intent to defend Lazaretti's art against the OP, I found that he actually is kind of right, those maps err too much on the side of clarity and are a bit too bland for my taste (especially as I know how awesome Lazaretti maps can be).

Now they are still way better than everything I can do by myself, so I'm generally fine with them.

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