Re: Maps

From: Nick Brooke <Nick_Brooke_at_csi.com>
Date: Thu, 11 Feb 1999 18:47:34 -0000



Gary writes:

> In "Tarsh War" (pg 29) it says:
>
> "The Bush Range is one of the so-called Gref Surveys produced
> by the Ordo Explorator or Scout/Survey Division of the Irrippi
> Ontor cultists attached to the Red Army. The compass rose is
> oriented to the Crater. Accurate maps are very rare in Glorantha,
> and jealously guarded from unauthorized eyes."
>
> Of course the distinction between Maps You Use As GM and Maps Handed
> Out to Players has been made for a long time. Of course I'd like Harn-
> type detailed maps to aid in scenario design, but I'd also like
> examples of the sorts of directional aids that the character on the
> ground has.

I'd have thought the "Tarsh War" example helped with this. If you were the commanding officer of a Lunar army of 3,000+ men, the best maps available to you would be of the quality of the Gref Survey map in the centre pages of "Tarsh War". Maps this good are, as the text says, jealously guarded. They are *not* widely available. The Lunar Empire does not (officially) have anything better, even for regions which are as nearly under its thumb as Dragon Pass.

(In Chris Gidlow's sequel to "Tarsh War," the freeform game "Revolt in the Redlands," the players' map of the Redlands is... let's say, rather Blackadderesque. And again, that's the best map the Lunars have on hand.)

I recommend looking for copies of ancient maps -- I have a rather nice Italian facsimile of a Renaissance edition of Ptolemy's Cartographia, and of course the wonderful "Notitia Dignitatum" (detailing Roman governmental and military positions in the provinces). When you think these were the best that's come down to us from Roman times, it rather lowers your expectations.

Cheers, Nick


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