Ed Healy

I decided to check out some new maps today, so I went to RPG Now and grabbed one of the Campaign Maps by Adventure Games Publishing. The Southern Reaches map is part 18 of the Wilderlands of High Adventure series. There are actually two maps, sold separately – one for the Judge and one for the Player.

The Judge map is decent. It is detailed enough that a campaign could be set wholly within the Southern Reaches. The abundance of natural boundaries makes dividing up the region into geo-political units an easy task. However, for $3.00 I wish they’d included the Player map, instead of forcing one to purchase it for an additional $1.00.

There are a fair number of large towns on the map, leading me to believe that it is a densely populated area. Furthermore, the proliferation of citadels tells me that it’s not a very peaceful region. I could be wrong, of course, since I have not read the optional campaign material available for use with the maps. Regardless, for $3.00 there is enough here to be worth the price.

The Player map is… lacking. It would work well for outsiders, visiting the Southern Reaches. However, it’s useless if a character grew up there. Newcomers can wait to get a map until they’ve been in the area long enough to learn about the basic geography – at which time a more detailed map would be appropriate. I’d suggest adding more detail to the current one. I’d also suggest shading the bodies of water (Silver Sea and Sea Lion Bay), so that they are apparent in the grey scale format.