The new Greyhawk maps are great, but I have noticed that they do not jive with the Sterich Map in Dungeon 117. Bova on the big map is much farther south and west. Steryn is not due north of Istivin but NE of it. Even Oytmeet in Geoff is now NW of Gorna, not NE. I am not complaining, just looking for clarity.
I have taken a copy of the Darlene map and overlaid both the other maps (at the same scale) to create a composite map. I have placed things thru spatial relationships and the overlay. I am playing Against the Giants and City of Shadows and needed an accurate map of all sites.
In general I am assuming that the NEW Greyhawk map over-rules the Sterich map. What's your take on this?
BTW - What is Oestral Abyss? Where can I find a reference to it? What does Oestral mean?
Cheers,
Skech
The new Greyhawk maps are great, but I have noticed that they do not jive with the Sterich Map in Dungeon 117. Bova on the big map is much farther south and west. Steryn is not due north of Istivin but NE of it. Even Oytmeet in Geoff is now NW of Gorna, not NE. I am not complaining, just looking for clarity.
I have taken a copy of the Darlene map and overlaid both the other maps (at the same scale) to create a composite map. I have placed things thru spatial relationships and the overlay. I am playing Against the Giants and City of Shadows and needed an accurate map of all sites.
In general I am assuming that the NEW Greyhawk map over-rules the Sterich map. What's your take on this?
BTW - What is Oestral Abyss? Where can I find a reference to it? What does Oestral mean?
Cheers,
Skech
Regarding the placement of locations, does it really matter to the players in the end?
For information on the Oestral Abyss, read the rest of the adventure arc in issues #118 & #119
Just remember, there's no GPS in medieval fantasy. Just as with pre-17th century maps in Europe, surveying techniques are not very accurate. Cartographers estimate distances based on how long it takes to travel--the most devoted ones might manage to measure the latitude of important places accurately, but certainly can't go around to every village and ruined castle to pinpoint its coordinates accurately. So, ultimately, the DM decides which map to believe, if any.
It's up to the DM to make it seem real to the players, even if he can see the inconsistencies in the fantasy setting himself. Somewhere (Oerth Journal, IIRC) I read that the original Greyhawk maps do not even reflect the correct distances between points of latitude for an Earth sized globe, and the GH authorities had talked about changing the scale of existing maps to make the math work, but decided it was more trouble than it was worth.
Anyhow, the four part Greyhawk map is too small scale and has too little detailed information on roads and terrain to do more than make very rough estimates of travel time between places. Some regions have more detailed maps available, and I'd tend to go with those if you're operating in a specific area. I think the Sterich map in #117 is larger scale than anything else I've seen for the area--the G1-3 maps of the region from 1e certainly aren't any more detailed than the four-part map. So, I'd use the map in #117, especially if you're playing the Istivin arc, and not worry too much about it tallying with the 4-part map. If your players have already made a journey from one place to another with travel times based on the 4-part, you can just modify the location of one of the places a bit to retain internal consistency for your campaign.
So the short answer is: just pick one source as the authoritative one for your campaign, and stick with it. If it were me, and I were going to be running most of the campaign in areas detailed in the #117 map, I'd use that one, because it's much more detailed.
Other bits of trivia about maps: before things were accurately mapped, whatever was considered most important religiously was placed at the center of the map (in our history, Jerusalem). Sometimes countries were drawn bigger to create a sense of importance or superiority, or better detailed than surrounding lands. Maps could also be used as propaganda pieces by political parties. :D