Skothar, 72 miles per hex

A continent of the Known World’s northern hemisphere.

from Poor Wizard’s Almanac, by Aaron Allston

Map (April 2018)

Note: this is a huge map. The file here is at just 150 DPI; to download the 300 DPI full resolution version, click here. (Or better yet, right click and “download linked file”.)

Sources

• Master Rules Set (1985) (PDF at DriveThruRPG)
  • “The Known World“, Master DM’s Book inside cover
• Dawn of the Emperors (1989) (PDF at DriveThruRPG)
  • “Empires of Alphatia and Thyatis“, 72 mile per hex poster map
• Hollow World Campaign Set (1990) (PDF at DriveThruRPG)
  • Outer World Planetary Map poster
  • Outer World Arctic Cap poster
• Wrath of the Immortals (1992) (PDF at DriveThruRPG)
  • Alphatia 1004 AC, 72 miles per hex
  • Known World, 48 miles per hex
• Poor Wizard’s Almanac (1992)
  • “Alphatian Region“, 71 miles per hex poster map
• Poor Wizard’s Almanac II (1993) (PDF at DriveThruRPG)
  • “Sea of Dread Region“, 72 miles per hex poster map
• Poor Wizard’s Almanac III (1994)
  • “New Alphatian Region“, 72 miles per hex poster map

Secondary Sources

• Continents in Collision (Time Life, 1983)
  • Map of the Earth 135 million years ago (the “Jurassic Earth” map), page 162
• Climate Map of the Outer World, by Thorfinn Tait (2018)
• Skothar, 72 miles per hex by Christian Constantin (1999)
• Skothar, 72 miles per hex by Thibault Sarlat (1999-2001)
• Western Skothar, 24 miles per hex by Thibault Sarlat (2001?)
• Mystara Outer World 1000 AC, 72 miles per hex by Francesco Defferrari (2015)
• Skothar Regions (draft) by Håvard (2014)

Comments

As the quotation at the head of this article very concisely illustrates, Skothar is the great unknown of Mystara’s Outer World. Knowledge of this northeastern continent in published works is little and less — and what there is mostly concerns fleeting historical references to cultures now existing elsewhere.

As a result of the lack of official info, much of the terrain in this map is adapted from secondary sources, while some features are entirely new conceptions appearing here for the first time.

I tried to reference the fan-made maps as much as I could, but this was made difficult by the rather drastic difference in Skothar’s shape; most fan cartographers up until now have based Skothar on the Hollow World Set map rather than the Master Set world map. As a result, I haven’t incorporated nearly as much detail as I would have liked, and instead went for similar overall patterns and inspiration rather than copying specific detail.

This is a first draft, and at 72 miles per hex it’s also rather small scale. Which is to say, almost everything is still open for change.

I’m in the process of redoing areas that appear on 24 mile per hex maps to more closely match those maps. For example, Nuar in the Pearl Islands is completely different from how it appeared on previous 72 mile per hex maps; it’s far more accurate. However, the focus for this map was Skothar, so not all of these are complete. (Most notably, Alphatia needs a lot of work.)

Notes

• Coastlines — The shape of the continent is derived from the Master Set, with coastlines from 72 mile per hex maps in Dawn of the Emperors and the Poor Wizard’s Almanacs substituted in for detail.
• Depths — The continental shelves are adapted from the Jurassic Earth map, as no official maps ever gave ocean depths for any of these regions.
• Mountains — The mountains come primarily from the base Master Set world map. I then referenced the Jurassic Earth map to get information on the ridges, which are marked in dark brown.
• Rivers — Many of the rivers on this map are new creations, appearing here for the first time. Since most of the area was only ever featured at a world map scale, there are few official sources to work from. I have therefore added major rivers where they seemed necessary for drainage.
• Terrain — The Hollow World Set map shows all the terrain in very broad strokes. I adapted this to get the forests, hills, tundra/snow fields, and plains. I referred to my climate map for guidance while doing this.
• Esterhold — Dawn of the Emperors DM’s Sourcebook, page 65ab: “Esterhold, a broad western-pointing peninsula on the great eastern continent, is a rolling land filled with sparse forest, scrub bush, and tough grasses. It’s bare and unproductive land, requiring a lot of work to produce adequate crops.”
• Bellissaria — Dawn of the Emperors DM’s Sourcebook, page 64b: “About 90% of Bellissaria is flatland: plains and patchy forests. Central Bellissaria, which is not well-watered, is pretty arid, but doesn’t quite constitute desert — it’s just scrub country. The rest of the island is well-irrigated.”
• Bellissaria — Dawn of the Emperors DM’s Sourcebook, page 64b: “The whole southern coast of Bellissaria is dominated by the Surkarian Mountain range, whose foothills descend to within a few miles of the sea along most of the coast. The easternmost point of the south coast, the peninsula where the city/fortress of Spearpoint lies, is free of mountains.”
• Bellissaria — Dawn of the Emperors DM’s Sourcebook, page 64b: “By mutual covenant — a desire to keep things peaceful and quiet — few communities in Bellissaria are allowed to grow to populations over 500. When they do, the rulers force some of the population to settle new villages in the same dominion.”

References

1. Skothar at the Vaults of Pandius
2. Skothar, 72 miles per hex discussion thread at The Piazza
3. Thoughts about Bellissarian maps by Michele Carpita at the Vaults of Pandius
4. Skothar and Davania in official products discussion thread at The Piazza

Thanks to:

Richard Balsley, Michele Carpita, Christian Constantin, Francesco Defferrari, Robin Dijkema, Lance Duncan, Andrew Durston, Matthew Fleet, Håvard, Simone Neri, Thibault Sarlat, Dr. Christopher Scotese, and John Tudek.