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I noticed that the Inner Sea Maps from the 3.5 and PFRPG have differing scales. Was this done intentionally, or was this a mistake?
I would assume that this is an intentional change, as realization of scale may have call things into question.
I apologize if this has been asked before, but I couldn't find a previous thread.
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Update: I found that the scale on the original Poster Map map from the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting (3.5) was 240 mi. Inside the Inner Sea World Guide (PFRPG) Front Matter, the scale is 400 mi. On the Poster map for the same (ISWG PFRPG) the scale is 420 mi. So which is correct? Two maps within the same product have different scales for what seems to be the same distance.
I take it no one has found an answer for the question of scale?
Creative Director
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The scales in the Inner Sea World Guide should be considered the most accurate, since that's the current "core assumption" for the region. (There were a LOT of errors in the 3.5 version of the same book, including the infamous "REIGON" typo at the top of the poster map...)
Now, the scales on the Inner Sea World Guide poster map and the map on page 6 of the same book are different because the actual length of the scale bar is different on the two maps; you'll note that the poster map scale bar is even in a different spot on the map than it is on the page 6 map.
In order to double check distances... let's take the distance between Sothis and the city of Katapesh as our control.
Page 6 Map: On this map, Sothis and Katapesh are an inch apart. The scale on page 6 of the map (which has a scale of 400 miles) tells us that an inch on that scale equals 350 miles (we luck out here that the ruler lines up pretty well on the inch mark). So on this map, Sothis and Katapesh are about 350 miles apart.
Poster Map: On this map, the scale is a slightly longer one of 420 miles. The bars on the scale, alas, don't match up nicely here. But according to my calculation, an inch on the poster map equates to about 114 miles. On the poster map, Sothis is 3 inches from Katapesh, which tells us that on the poster map, Sothis and Katapesh are about 342 miles apart.
That's a difference of 8 miles, which is certainly a difference, but it's one that I'm comfortable explaining away as a rounding error.
What we SHOULD have done, in hindsight, was to shorten the length of the scale bar on the poster map by a little bit so that it would have said 400 miles, but since it's easier to change a number than it is an art element when time is tight, we instead kept the slightly longer scale and the 420 mile notation.
But for the most part, the two scales do present the same scale—one that's 400 units long, and one that's 420 units long.
If you want to be super accurate in measurements between locations, I would recommend going with measurements taken from the poster map, simply because it's bigger and allows for more fine detail.
Now, when we look at the map of Ustalav on page 192 of the book... Ardis is about 103 miles from Carrion Hill, but according to the scale on page 192, Ardis is 91 miles from Carrion Hill. Again, close enough for me to blame the change on a rounding error. Switching over to Lepistadt/Ravengro, using the map on page 192 it looks like the distance there is about 107 miles. Which matches close enough for me.
Going all the way back to the poster map, it's a little tricky measuring the distance between Lepistadt and Ravengro since neither of these tags appear on the map... but at my guess, using that map's scale, the distance is about 114 miles. Much closer to the 107 miles from the page 192 map and close enough for me to the Adventure Path's rounding of saying the two locations are about 100 miles apart. I'm not sure where a distance of 150 miles could be calculated.
IN SUMMATION
The scales are correct. There are minor differences in distance as you compare between the maps, but not to such an extent that it can't be explained away by rounding errors or simply because as you get closer scale, maps become more accurate.