Dawn of the Emperors Empires of Alphatia and Thyatis, 72 miles per hex

Not only did Dawn of the Emperors detail the two major empires of the Known World region, but it also provided the first major continental map since the Master Set‘s world map four years before. And it did this in a new format: 72 mile hexes.

In many ways, the scale is a natural extension of the 8/24 range: three large scale hexes fit perfectly into one smaller scale hex at each transition, so that nine 8 mile hexes fit inside a single 72 mile hex. It’s quite easy to convert between these scales.

The map itself provided an unprecedented amount of detail for a whole swathe of previously undeveloped territory. The nature of the scale means that it’s all painted with a very broad brush; nevertheless it provides an invaluable guide for further development of these areas.

Unfortunately, the positioning of terrain on this map did not match up perfectly with contemporary 24 mile per hex maps, though it’s close enough for this not to be an issue for general use.

Replica Map (May 2018)

Sources

• Dawn of the Emperors (1989) (PDF at DriveThruRPG)
  • Poster map

Chronological Analysis

This is Map 116. It was published in August 1989. The updated version of this map has not yet been released. 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 1989.

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; and 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.

Additions

• Terrain —

Revisions

• Terrain —

Hex Art & Fonts

• Symbols — Gazetteer series standard.
• Fonts — Feinen throughout.

Textual Additions (Dawn of the Emperors, 1989)

• Mountains — The Surkarian Mountains dominate the southern coast of Bellissaria. (Dawn I page 84b)
• Terrain —