Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Strange Aeons Poster Map Folio

1. The map of Thrushmoor is very useful, it has all the most important locations marked (although I'm not sure if I prefer the names on the map or numbers to reference). The only problem is ... that it's the low-res map of Thrushmoor from Rule of Fear, enlarged. The buildings suffer from pixelitis as a result, and the whole map feels a bit iffy. Still, serviceable and valid, if every map in the folio was like it that would be a solid 4/5 but ...

2. Neruzhavin. OK, it's a pretty map but ... there's next to nothing you need it for. Neruzhavin is a big ruin with 3 landmarks, there's really no point in mapping it out.

3. All right Paizo, it's time to let it go. Pictorial country maps which feature no names BUT do feature doodles of monsters and buildings are useless. I'm sorry, they are cute and obviously somebody in Seattle fell in love with them, but you gotta take this idea out and apply chainsaw to its brain. Yes, plain Jane old school topography is boring, but useful. The Inner Sea Map Folio style should be applied to every individual map folio. The Ustalav map from Carrion Crown map folio is exactly what you should be doing and I wouldn't bat an eyelash if it got reprinted here.

And the double sucker punch of these being inevitable parts of Campaign Setting subscription for some reason, meaning you need to go through the hassle of temporarily cancelling your subscription if you want to skip one...

I bought this map folio last night and today I am taking it back to the store. It is sadly disappointing. It is not very useful at all. Practically nothing is labeled except for the second map which just has Ustalav and that is it. I had to go to the Inner Sea World book to find out where the adventure is supposed to be at. I am loving the Adventure Path so far, just finished the 1st book and got the map since it has the map of Thrushmoor, but that is barely usable.

Overall, I am disappointed with the extras for this series. Is bad enough I have to wait until May to get the pawns.

For an explanation of how I use the five star review method, see my entry on So What's the Riddle Like Anyway? HERE.

The Strange Aeons Adventure Path is a Pathfinder campaign of Lovecraftian Horror. Some may wonder what that actually means. To me it indicates it should have the atmosphere of the pulp cosmic horror of the twenties and thirties, with the protagonists (PCs) sometimes feeling like they are out of their depths and in danger of all manner of horrific endings. Any game aid designed for use with this campaign should help build that atmosphere while easing the job of the GM to maintain the pacing and running of the Adventure Path. So let’s take a look at this Map Folio and see how it pans out from that perspective.

Most Map Folios come with three poster sized maps and this one is no different. The first map is of the town of Thrushmoor in Ustalav, a place that has a very significant role in the campaign. This map is well drawn and very serviceable, but I think I would have preferred numbered locations with a side key. This would have allowed a larger number of locations to be marked on the map and not just the ones significant to the adventure. By increasing the number of marked locations without cluttering up the map, it would have hidden the significant locations in a forest of unimportant places. When building atmosphere is an important consideration to a campaign, having only places that could have significance to the campaign marked removes some of the mystery necessary in a Lovecraftian style adventure.

The second map is of the alien city of Neruzavin and is beautifully drawn…and all but useless. It has only three locations marked on it, looks more like a terrain map than a city map, and doesn’t help create the alien vibe a strange eldritch location should evoke. This sort of thing might have been better served by an isometric map, showing the city as a three dimensional place rather than just a top down view. I really can’t see how this map is better than just showing the players the map from the volume itself; they would get just as much information for helping their vision of the city.

The third map is a gloriously painted rendition of Ustalav, with the many legendary threats of various locations painted by the communities in a striking and lovely style. But this map has no labels save one, the big shield with the banner reading “Ustalav.” Why? Without labels, this becomes nothing but wall art. If I wanted wall art, I would buy it; these maps are supposed to be game aids. How is this useful in a campaign? It has the atmosphere of Ustalav which is generic horror; Strange Aeons is a particular sub-genre of horror, and this map doesn’t contribute to it. Indeed, mystery is a large part of Lovecraftian horror and having accurate depictions of threats throughout the country actually undermines some of that mystery. It can’t be used as a generic fantasy map, as it has “Ustalav” printed large on the page. Ultimately it is very pretty but almost useless as a game aid. The map of Ustalav from the Carrion Crown Map Folio is far more useful as a Ustalav campaign map—in fact that product would be all but indispensable for a homemade campaign set in that haunted country.

Final Thoughts: Colour me disappointed. This really isn’t a very good game aid for such a complex and deep campaign as Strange Aeons. Only one map is of any real use and it could be said to reveal a touch too much in a campaign in which mystery is such a key component. The most beautiful map is actually wall art, not in my opinion a game aid. I’m very sorry to say that this is the first purchase I have made of a Paizo product that left me flat. Two out of Five Stars.

3 maps:

1) A nice map of Thrushmoor. Useful, good scale, pretty. My only complaint here is that it includes labels marking the adventure locales, so if I use it with players, they're going to know where everything is, no searching required. I would have preferred either no labels, or more generic labels so their are some decoys.

2) Art map of Ustalav. One of those pretty ones with the lush pictures of monsters and points of interest. I can't really use this with players because it gives away too much. More like something I'd hang on my wall (if I had a game room).

3) A big map of... nothing. Okay, it's a map of Neruzavin, which seems to be a big pile of rocks. It's a blow up of the map on p.14 of What Grows Within, and there really isn't anything to it - a pile of rocks, a lake, and 3 labeled encounter areas. But how am I supposed to use this? Lay it on the table and as players where they want to explore? "Here, here, and there." How is that made better by having it really big? Not enough to interact with players around, and what there is spoilers away any need for a map.

All in all, I've been increasingly disappointed with the Map Folios lately. They're pretty, but just not that useful to me. Town maps are great. Those really enhance the gaming experience. But they can't show exactly where all the encounters are. Regional and national maps are good, but I don't really like the art maps. Give em something on faux parchment that I can use with players in-game, without spoilers, player-safe. Or just a higher detail close-up of part of the Golarion map. I'd love some new hexploration maps. I'd love one nice, 1" grid battlemap per Folio. Something that show an encounter location with exciting twists, unique to the AP. That would have some real utility, some real value for me. A big picture of a pile of rocks... not so much. :(