Mystara Outer World 3500 BC, 72 miles per hex
by Francesco DefferrariMystara Outer World, 3500 BC, 72 miles per hex By Sturm (Work in progress)
This is my interpretation of Mystara at the time of Blackmoor. I arbitrary named it 3500 BC but I suppose geographically this map could work from 4000 to 3000 BC, i.e. all the "Blackmoor era"
As the others, it's 200x360 hexes with each hex as 1 cm and 72 miles, but the last ten hexes north and south should be inside the Hollow World curvature or, in a correct projection, should not exist at all, while hex 70 to 90 North and South should eventually merge into one single point..
These however are impossible things as the Hollow World was canonically closed before the GroF and anyway the holes are in different places after it, and western Brun cannot become a single point as its shape should remain the same...
Solution? There is no solution, should I ever adapt this map to a sphere I will do it roughly, but for the purpose of gaming I'll use it as it is. Whatever projection and distances you wish to use however this map could be, I think, a good transposition of the Hollow world boxed set precataclismic map, as I did it by moving the modern continents, even if some clearly changed shape a bit, mostly Skothar, I suppose for seismic activity post GroF..
Looking at the lands positions in the Hollow world boxed set precataclysmic map I simply decided that the GroF DID NOT moved the axial tilt of Mystara, it "simply" slowly rotated the Brun-Davanian continental plate 45° to the south west, while the Skothar plate had several other major seismic shocks but moved "only" to the north.
The Hollow World curvature therefore existed before the GroF too, and the Sylvan Realm was inside it, hidden by the Immortals.
That's could be an incorrect solution for several reason, but it's the best I could devise. I just want to have a working map of Mystara in 3500BC, realism will have to cope with it.
I did use roughly the latitudes of the Hollow World boxed set map, but I supposed that the planet was warmer in this age, with temperate forest up to the arctic and antartic circles. That's because otherwise the Savage Coast and the Lhomarr area would be too cold, and Evergrun too.
About the North Pole position there are some who wish to go with the "Ethengar as the north pole" canon infos that were on the Gaz, so for them this map is useless. I don't like this idea for several reasons: because the HW set was printed after the Gaz, so I think it updated them, because even if Blackmoor would be roughly 50°N either way, Brun would be almost all in the arctic circle, therefore destroying Oltecs canon info and fan works that I have used like James Mishler's Age of Blackmoor, but mostly because I've used the HW map as canon for more than 23 years now and I'll not recant it for all the gold in the world:)
My north pole is however in a different position than modern times, roughly some hundreds miles to the east, same for the south pole.
That's just roughly modeled on the HW boxed set planetary map.
The Blackmoor region is quite tiny at this scale. I used as canon the DA map at 12 miles per hex (not 24 as in DA1 as that was an error later corrected in the modules), but notice that the D20 setting map, even if supposed to have a 12.5 mph scale, is smaller. In fact in the DA map the distance Blackmoor-Maus is 17 hexes i.e. 204 miles, while in the D20 map is only 11, i.e. 137.5 miles. Therefore if the DA maps are correct at 12mph, the D20 map scale should be 18,5 mph.
I prefer this solution as otherwise the area would be too small, IMO.
Mystara Outer World, 3500 BC, 72 miles per hex with Climatic zones By Sturm (Work in progress)
Here is the map with Hollow World dark zones and climatic zones.
I guess Western Brun and Vulcania should be inside the Hollow World curvature as they do not appear in the HW precataclysmic planetary map.
I imagined northern Skothar as a bit colder than northern Brun, the Yalu bay in particular should be relatively warm for its latitude, otherwise not much life would be present there... Again there would be much more to comment but it will take time.