25 October 2025

LoZompatore’s Alpha Peninsula, 2.5 miles per hex

This map of the northern section of Alpha’s peninsula in the Great Bay of Norwold was part of Michele’s Alpha development project. He first posted it in the main thread for the project in August 2013, not far into the discussion. At that stage, the map was largely unlabelled, with just the immediate Alpha area named (first map below). Then in October he revisited the project with an eye to adding labels to the map. In a new thread, he posted an update to the map with extensive numbering to aid in community development (second map below).

Unfortunately nothing seems to have come of this effort — surely a not unfamiliar concept within our community.

Style-wise, this map featured layered terrain, with contours underneath and various weights of forest cover on top. It’s an elegant solution, as the forests allow the underlying contours to be easily seen.

The scale seems rather peculiar, and although Michele labelled it 2.5 miles per hex, I suspect it is actually one third of 8 miles per hex — so 2.67 miles per hex. This latter scale has proved to be a popular one in the community, as despite the awkward fraction it follows the convention of tripling scales, being the next logical step in the sequence of 72/24/8 miles per hex.

Fan-made Map by Michele Carpita (August 2013)

*Alpha Peninsula, 2.5 miles per hex by Michele Carpita, August 2013*

Fan-made Map by Michele Carpita (October 2013)

*Alpha Peninsula, 2.5 miles per hex with numbered key by Michele Carpita, October 2013*

This is an original map created by one of Mystara’s excellent fan cartographers. For more information on the cartographer, including a gallery of all their maps, see also Appendix M: Mappers of Mystara.

Sources

CM1 Test of the Warlords (1984) (PDF at DriveThruRPG)
M2 Vengeance of Alphaks (1986) (PDF at DriveThruRPG)
M5 Talons of Night (1987) (PDF at DriveThruRPG)
GAZ9 The Minrothad Guilds (1988) (PDF at DriveThruRPG)
Poor Wizard’s Almanac (1992) (PDF at DriveThruRPG)
Rogues to Riches (1995)

Fan Sources

A city of Alpha mini-Gaz (with maps) discussion thread at The Piazza (August 2013)
A city of Alpha mini-Gaz by Michele Carpita at the Vaults of Pandius (August 2013)
Help request: name these locations (peninsula of Alpha) discussion thread at The Piazza (October 2013)
The Peninsula of Alpha: Northern Section as of AC 998 – 1000 by Michele Carpita at the Vaults of Pandius (October 2013)

References

All of Michele’s maps at the Atlas of Mystara
Michele’s entry in Appendix M: Mappers of Mystara (upcoming)
Michele’s author page at the Vaults of Pandius

Chronological Analysis

This is a fan-made map. It was published in August 2013, with a slight update in October 2013. The updated Atlas version of this map is not yet available. See also Appendix C for annual chronological snapshots of the area. For the full context of this map in Mystara’s publication history, see the upcoming Let’s Map Mystara 2013.

The following lists are from the Let’s Map Mystara project. Additions are new features, introduced in this map. Revisions are changes to previously-introduced features. Hex Art & Fonts track design elements. Finally, Textual Additions are potential features found in the related text. In most cases, the Atlas adopts these textual additions into updated and chronological maps.

Under Construction! Please check back again soon for updates.