Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Shattered Star Poster Map Folio

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Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Shattered Star Poster Map Folio
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Return to Varisia

Venture into the Pathfinder campaign setting’s most notorious frontier with the Shattered Star Map Folio! Plan new missions or map your adventuring group’s exploits in both treacherous cities and the monster-haunted wilds with these three enormous poster maps designed for use with the Shattered Star Adventure Path, Pathfinder’s dungeon-crawling quest for magical relics from a fallen empire!

Within this map folio, you’ll find three huge 8-panel poster maps. Tantalize your PCs with an enormous player handout designed to look like an ink-and-parchment map of the region, complete with sketches of local threats and legendary creatures! Then introduce them to the incredibly detailed map of Magnimar, Varisia’s merchant paradise, where the aristocratic traditions of devil-worshiping Cheliax are shunned in favor of independence, commerce, and opportunity. From there, it’s a long riverboat ride to the cliffside monument-city of Kaer Maga, the City of Strangers, where the only law comes from rival gangs and guilds, and civilized monsters rub shoulders with fugitives and religious zealots. Whether you need densely packed cityscapes for your urban adventures or a mysterious regional map to inspire you and your players, these beautiful maps of some of the Pathfinder campaign setting’s most detailed locations are the perfect resource for the Shattered Star Adventure Path or any fantasy campaign.

Cartography by Rob Lazzaretti

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-505-1

Note: This product is part of the Pathfinder Lost Omens Subscription.

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Two Great Maps, One Average One

4/5

The Shattered Star Poster Map Folio contains three large 8-panel maps of the cities of Kaer Maga and Magnimar, and of the region of Varisia. The maps are full-colour and quite attractive. They're printed on regular poster paper, so they won't hold up to regular use without some wear and tear (I've had to fix one with tape after just a couple of uses) and, unless the marks are going to be permanent, they can't be drawn on without laminating them. The three maps fold nicely between the thin cardboard covers of the folio, and the whole package can stand on a bookshelf even after the shrinkwrap is off.

The map of Varisia is my favorite. It's done in a pen-and-ink style as if it were a real map used in the fictional campaign setting of Golarion. I love how each settlement receives a custom illustration and how the placement of various monsters and intriguing, unlabelled structures hint at danger and the thrill of exploring the unknown. Some might quibble that showing some of the monsters of particular regions, or mysterious structures, verges on spoiler territory for players--I haven't had any problems and I think the flavour of the drawings outweighs the risk, but I can understand the need for GMs running certain adventures to be careful. The map is of real practical use as well because it denotes roads and trails, labels the distance in miles between settlements, and comes with a distance scale. I had originally planned to just give this one to the players and privately use a more traditional map of the region, but I don't think that will be necessary. GMs should note that, since the map is "zoomed out" to show the entire region of Varisia, detailed local maps will still be important. For example, the area around Sandpoint looks like barren plains on this map, but anyone who has the map of the Sandpoint hinterlands from various products knows there's a *lot* more going on in the area. It should also be noted that this map is exactly the same (although much larger, of course) as the map in the middle of the "Varisia, Birthplace of Legends" Player Companion.

The map of Magnimar is impressive in its detail. 94 different structures are listed in the legend, and if you look closely at the map, you can see that the cartographer spent time to make sure each structure has a shape and size that makes sense. For example, Serpent's Run (the huge hippodrome) is indeed a huge oval with attached facilities, while the Lord Mayor's Menagerie does indeed look like an enclosed zoo. The cartographer has even marked each separate piling of the Irespan and provided an inset map of what the Underbridge district looks like. GMs running Rise of the Runelords should note that some key locations are noted in the legend that might otherwise require PCs to do a little investigation to find, but it's not problematic enough to keep me from wanting to use it. Overall, the map really helps to clarify the layout of the city, and it would definitely be something worth using to track PCs' movement throughout the city.

I have not used the map of Kaer Maga in actual gameplay. My first impression is that I'm not a fan of the colour scheme or the weird border running along the bottom of the map. It is well-detailed (57 locations in the legend). I've read the "City of Strangers" sourcebook and would imagine that Kaer Maga is a *very* difficult city to represent pictorially, but I'm afraid this map hasn't met the challenge. It's less interesting and more bland than the Magnimar map, and overall the least impressive of the three. Of course, some map is (usually!) better than no map at all.

I've only used the Varisia and Magnimar maps in the context of the Rise of the Runelords adventure path, and I would rate both as highly useful. I haven't run Shattered Star, so I of course can't comment on how well the maps fit the need of that AP. Overall, two excellent maps and a third average one make this a set worth buying if the price is right.


Three Beautiful Maps of Varisia from Cartographer Rob Lazzaretti!

5/5

If you're running your PC's through Varisia, Kaer Maga and Magnimar, then this is the map set for you. Three large foldout maps of the named areas above. Makes navigation a snap. Buy it today, before you climb into the City of Strangers.


'Player View' maps a disappointment

3/5

I just started a campaign set in Magnimar, so the idea of getting three large related maps was a big draw. The detailed map from Shattered Star is great, and combines all the locations on the small interior maps in the legend. The Kaer Magna map is somewhat less useful but still good; some additional details from other sources would have been good.

The major disappointment is the Varisia map, which is a reproduction of the pen-and-ink players map from the Varisia book. It was a terrible idea to include this thing - it might look pretty, but both the players and I want something /useful/, like the very detailed Ustalav overland map like in Rule of Fear or the Carrion Crown folio. Call-outs with area illustrations around the border would be OK. As bad as it was getting this in the map folio, it was a lot worse getting it in the Varisia book. Those were two pages you could have just thrown away for all the utility they had. Save the pretty for a separate decorative poster project or something similar.


Mostly satisfied

4/5

The map of Varisia is really awesome! Nice textures and an appropriate level of detail. Really something the PCs would have access to and I'm sure my players are gonna love it.
texture
The map of Magnimar is still nice, although it seems that not much effort has been put in adjusting the map to the size of the print: While the vector graphics scale nicely I would have expected some additional textures compared to the map available in the Magnimar Campaign Setting or the adventure path itself. The map also gives away at least one location the PCs may know nothing about (the Shrine of Sarenrae from Dawn of the Scarlet Sun).

The map of Kaer Maga was somewhat a disappointment: reading the foreword of James Sutter in The Asylum Stone as well as the City of Strangers Campaign Setting my expectations were quiet high. But the map is really just a big print of Kaer Maga as given in The Asylum Stone. I would have considered the map from City of Strangers to be much more appropriate on one side, on the other side I expect some additional textures on such a print.


The Birthplace of Legends map comes in poster size!

5/5

One of my players bought this for me at Origins (we'll be starting Shattered Star as soon as we wrap up Rise of the Runelords). I'd mentioned on several occasions wishing I had a poster version of the Birthplace of Legends map. If you haven't seen it, that book has an artistic player-friendly map of Varisia that's just amazing.

Well, this totally has that. It also has a great map of Magnimar (individually labeling Irespan pilings is a nice touch) and Kaer Maga (which looks surprisingly usable for as weird as Kaer Maga is).

Although Shattered Star visits all these places, it'd be almost as useful with Rise of the Runelords.

Short Version: If you're running a game that involves two of the three maps (Varisia, Magnimar, Kaer Maga), I'd suggest picking this up.


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Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

Announced! Product image is a mockup, and will change prior to publication.

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

KAER MAGA MAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber
Gorbacz wrote:
KAER MAGA MAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hell yea!

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

If that map shown on the mockup cover is what one of the maps inside look like of Varisia... well I just might have a special moment. :)


What size are these? I'm not overly familiar with map packs but I must admit this one looks rather good.

Contributor

The Map Folios are 8-panel maps, so they're roughly 22x34 inches. There are three poster maps in this Map Folio.

Scarab Sages

January, that is just cruel! Grmbl, grmbl, Rise of the Runelords grmbl...

What I wanted to say: Sounds like a great folio that could see use in more than just one AP, not to mention the hopefully many Varisian PFS adventures.


Preordered... Loved the Skull & Shackles one! The player handout was an instant success. Took the PDF to Kinko's and printed it off in full res on nice parchment. The players had a fun time filling it out and adding notes.


I hope the inclusion of a Kaer Maga map means that city will be featured prominently in the AP :)


Are wrote:

I hope the inclusion of a Kaer Maga map means that city will be featured prominently in the AP :)

You're in luck!

Webstore Gninja Minion

Cover image and product description updated to final.


Are the maps still not the proper size for to put miniatures on them?

This is honestly the biggest weakness of the Map Folio so far, and one of the good thing DnD 4 does.

I have absolutely no doubt that you would sell those packs a LOT more if they contained 1 or 2 double sided miniatures sized map, of the "Key" encounters.

Grand Lodge

Okay, just to help me out: What are the benefits of this map folio to me, as the GM of the Shattered Star AP?

This is the first Paizo AP I have ever run, and have little to no experience even playing in previous APs.

Thanks for helping me understand what this includes.

Webstore Gninja Minion

Per the product description, this map folio includes: a ink-and-parchment style map of Varisia, a map of Magnimar, and a map of Kaer Maga. The best usage for these maps are as large-scale player-friendly handouts for the Shattered Star Adventure Path.


Lauraliane wrote:
Are the maps still not the proper size for to put miniatures on them?

Someone far less lazy than I am should work out how big a map of Kaer Maga (or Magnimar, I'm not picky) would have to be if scaled for miniatures (1" = 5'.)

Contributor

Damon Griffin wrote:
Lauraliane wrote:
Are the maps still not the proper size for to put miniatures on them?
Someone far less lazy than I am should work out how big a map of Kaer Maga (or Magnimar, I'm not picky) would have to be if scaled for miniatures (1" = 5'.)

Danged big.


Lauraliane wrote:

Are the maps still not the proper size for to put miniatures on them?

This is honestly the biggest weakness of the Map Folio so far, and one of the good thing DnD 4 does.

I have absolutely no doubt that you would sell those packs a LOT more if they contained 1 or 2 double sided miniatures sized map, of the "Key" encounters.

I agree the inclusion of miniature maps is one of the areas in which WotC modules are superior to Paizo ones (one of the few, in my opinion).

Having said that, I'm not convinced they'd automatically sell better. I'd like to see them test the waters with one of the map folios - perhaps including one double sided miniature scale map and two or three of the "usual" poster maps.

The more frequent tie-ins with the map-packs and flipmats is a decent alternative, but I'd love to get some of those really specific locations as well and the map folio seems like a perfect place (whilst perhaps also broadening their appeal).

Webstore Gninja Minion

This release has been moved to our February 2013 shipment.


What product of WotC has miniature-scale maps of an entire city? (or country/region = Varisia)

If you need a combat map for an encounter in some random intersection of town, Paizo has urban map packs for that.
These maps seems just as useful for players as real-world atlases and street maps of cities are for real-world people.
It would be nice to have combat maps for unique locales, which may even be of larger scale than the simple map packs cover,
but that would be a secondary concept to the one this product is doing, so I don't see the basis for comparison.


Quandary wrote:

What product of WotC has miniature-scale maps of an entire city? (or country/region = Varisia)

If you need a combat map for an encounter in some random intersection of town, Paizo has urban map packs for that.
These maps seems just as useful for players as real-world atlases and street maps of cities are for real-world people.
It would be nice to have combat maps for unique locales, which may even be of larger scale than the simple map packs cover,
but that would be a secondary concept to the one this product is doing, so I don't see the basis for comparison.

I'm not sure if you're responding to me or not, but I agree that the map packs/flip mats are a decent option - especially given the shift towards including crossovers between the various lines.

What I'd like to see is the inclusion of an AP-specific battlemat for a climactic scene in an AP (like the fight against Ghartok in LoF, for example). A setting with limited generic usefulness but for which a battlemap would (hopefully) add to the occasion.

One problem I have with this line is that occasionally there seem to be "filler maps" (including two functionally identical maps in the Skulls and Shackles folio, for example). It's one of the most often complained about products in Paizo's offerings, so perhaps experimenting/tweaking is warranted.


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

These maps are actually better than the ones for Skull & Shackles in that place names are on them. The ink–and–parchment style one is as beautiful as the Shackles one and also has place names. This is a definite improvement. Good job!


Having samples of the maps would have been very helpful - I'd love to have another map of Magnimar for my RotRL campaign, but if it's a similar map as the one that was included in the interactive map PDF from the anniversary edition then there isn't really much point.

Liberty's Edge

Would these be useful for Pathfinder Society Season 4 (Year of the Risen Rune) scenarios?


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Kudaku wrote:
Having samples of the maps would have been very helpful - I'd love to have another map of Magnimar for my RotRL campaign, but if it's a similar map as the one that was included in the interactive map PDF from the anniversary edition then there isn't really much point.

I have both, and the Map Folio map of Magnimar is far more detailed with 94 locations in the city marked, as well as major street names.


Feros wrote:
I have both, and the Map Folio map of Magnimar is far more detailed with 94 locations in the city marked, as well as major street names.

Brilliant! What kind of things are labelled? Is the map something you could show the players without having labels like "nefarious hideout" or "secret Thieves Guild" causing chuckles?


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Kudaku wrote:
Brilliant! What kind of things are labelled? Is the map something you could show the players without having labels like "nefarious hideout" or "secret Thieves Guild" causing chuckles?

Nope, it's player friendly all the way. Just famous landmarks or places that locals could tell you about.


You just got Paizo another sale Feros, thank you :)

Grand Lodge

DigitalMage wrote:
Would these be useful for Pathfinder Society Season 4 (Year of the Risen Rune) scenarios?

Yes they would. I am going to be using them for my events with season 4 :)

...as well as Shattered Star.


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

These maps should almost be called "Varisian Campaign Map Folio," as they really aren't campaign specific.


Is the Kaer Maga map just a large version of the Kaer Maga map in City of Strangers?


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Arnwyn wrote:
Is the Kaer Maga map just a large version of the Kaer Maga map in City of Strangers?

It has all the same locations, but it is a different map. Each district is colour coded and the places marked are given a number. That number is indexed to the side so the map is a lot clearer than the one from City of Strangers.


Cool. Thanks. Might have to pick this one up (as I love poster city maps, and an improved/clearer map of Kaer Maga is definitely useful)...

Senior Editor/Fiction Editor

3 people marked this as a favorite.
Damon Griffin wrote:
Lauraliane wrote:
Are the maps still not the proper size for to put miniatures on them?
Someone far less lazy than I am should work out how big a map of Kaer Maga (or Magnimar, I'm not picky) would have to be if scaled for miniatures (1" = 5'.)

Just for reference, if you presume that a city is a mile across (some are smaller, but others are a lot bigger), that's 5280 feet. Divide that by 5-foot squares, and you need 1056 one-inch squares. Divide that by 12 (inches to feet), and you're looking at a battlemap that's 88 FEET to a side.

So, yeah... I guess someone somewhere might be able to print a minis-scale city map for us, but you'd need to play your game in some sort of sports arena to actually unroll it. (And if anyone ever does this, please send us pictures!)

Grand Lodge

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Kudos. This is the first poster map folio I've gotten (and I have the all as a long-time subscriber) where I've found all the maps useful. I especially appreciate the player-friendly map of Varisia.

I still think the slipcover (or whatever you call it) should have pockets to help keep the maps in place.

-Skeld

Liberty's Edge

The few times I actually get to play as a PC, I play in a Mercenary Game set in Magnimar. The Magnimar map will probably be pinned to the wall. I was surprised by how few maps there were but glad they were big. Thumbs up.

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