Completed Ytarria Hex map with terrain added

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by darebear

Ytarria as presented, is but the barest outline of an entire continent. The original map shows only vague details. So, I did what any GM would do: I made it up.

We have 45 years of RPG history to draw on. I shamelessly steal and appropriate what I feel would be interesting, and, if I can, work it into the map. Why reinvent the wheel? There is more material out there than any of us could use in a lifetime.

The original map had no names for many towns, so, I named them. Then I added small villages to areas which I felt needed settlements for adventure purposes. Trails were added where I felt they were warranted, as were non-human lairs, settlements, ruins and famous or infamous dungeons. It would be impossible to show all the settlements in Ytarria. There would be thousands of villages and hamlets scattered across the continent. The villages that I added are only there to aid your imagination or to aid a GM who needs a quick village in an area where their players are adventuring. They are certainly not the only ones there.

The named terrain features, such as "The Howling Hills", have a writeup in my GM notes as to what is special about this area. I make use of Worlds Without Number quite a bit, using the GM tools in it to add tags and details to these areas. Sometimes just giving an area an interesting name can be a springboard for ideas/adventures.

Example: IMC, the "Landtear" in the Great Desert and the ruins around it was the epicenter of the Banestorm. The tear is like a massive canyon, leading down into the depths of Ytarria where the "real" culprits of the Banestorm reside.

Anyway, the map has a couple of versions. One is basically "canonish", as much as it can be. The others are the same, but with additions based on what I do with my Ytarria. Honestly, you could play in northern Caithness and never run out of places to explore. I usually break down about a dozen 24 mile hexes into their 6 mile component sub hexes and then break those down into their 1.2 mile sub hexes. That is more than enough area to keep a party busy with traditional adventures for a long time.

Who are the real culprits of the Banestorm?