Hello. I'm new to pathfinder but not to GM'ing and am about to start out on Rise of the Runelords anniversary edition.
My GM'ing style is to provide a high level of detail during wilderness travel: detailing each day in multiple steps. Things such as: minor encounters along the way, meetings with travellers, small villages, ruins, notable terrain features and so on. All to add flavour, and give a sense of the world as well as the distance travelled and time taken.
I'm trying to find out if there are any topographic maps of Varisia available before I start adding detail myself. I'd like to avoid creating inconsistencies with Paizo's content, as well as be able to use already created campaign (and to be created) content at a later date.
For example, there's almost no detail of what lays between Sandpoint and Galduria, or up past Wolf's ear to the Storval Stairs. Has anyone at Paizo created a more detailed map of minor settlements, major ruins, key terrain features, etc or similar?
Thanks.
Check out the native Varisian travel routes in the Players Companion Varisia: Birthplace of Legends. It gives some indication of terrain types and typical monsters to be on the lookout for.
It doesn't have any additional thorpes or hamlets listed, though. For that, you'll need to use your GM super-powers to create what you want your players to experience.
For example, I created the hamlet of Garret's Landing halfway between Sandpoint and Magnimar. It's a one day ride to either from there.
Also: Check out the Rise of the Runelords forum. There is a TON of content that you can use over there.
Thanks, good info.
Yes I have the Varisia: Birthplace of legends mini-book. The player-friendly map with miles marked, plus the 'Varisia by road' distances at the back are helpful. There's still those large tracts of unmarked land to fill of course.
I also picked up the GameMastery Guide which has plenty of nice mechanics for detailing out travelling, albeit not Varisia-specific.
Garret's Landing looks very nice, I think i'll borrow it! That's a good level of detail too. The opportunity to place plenty of Thassilonian ruins with backstory clues is there too.
My intention is to drop the xp rate to medium then use wilderness and travel encounters to make up the difference. Plus I can always bump up the story rewards if the players get too far behind.
Anyway, thank you. I'll go dig through the Rise of the Runelords forum.
Neither I nor my players are big into sandbox play, so I'm generally pretty confident on where the PCs are going to go, and only need to detail those places. I'm the kind of GM that likes to do a lot of prep. I find that my personal neuroses cause me to drastically over-prepare for sandbox-style play, such that two thirds of the stuff I design doesn't end up being used! (Fortunately, I'm also good at recycling.)
I'm also running my ROTRL campaign on the medium XP track, so that I can add extra encounters. I've supplemeted with a few PFS scenarios, a third-party module, and a few of my own design.
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Sounds like a good campaign! For me I just like to know where the character might end up if they stray from the path at any moment. A map plus some encounters that can fit anywhere do the job usually. Not really a sandbox per se, but more a direction with plenty of scenery along the way.
I started on a map today for the first two chapters.
Looking good already. Can I suggest that, once finished, you might post a copy in the user creation section with the names of the settlements blanked out, so that it can be adapted for use in existing campaigns.
Good suggestion, I'll make sure to do that. I have a bunch of notes on each settlement and point of interest to go with it also.
Completed the map. Location notes next.