Legend (1983)
1983’s maps expanded the Known World significantly, but in terms of art, they followed the same general pattern as previous years. Only two new symbols were added to the palette: Mountain Pass (for the Great Pass through the Black Mountains in X4 and X5) and Module Location (for marking the location of existing modules on the Expert Rulebook revised Known World map).
There was also a major change, with two existing symbols — Castle and Ruins — being swapped around. This change originated in the Expert Rules Set Legend, although it was not made in any of the accompanying maps, which confusingly retained the 1981 definitions.
The symbol set here combines all of 1983’s legends and symbols, together with those from 1981. All of 1983’s chronological maps have been updated to use the new definitions for Castle and Ruins.
Chronological Map (August 2021)
This map is part of the Mystara 1983 series of chronological maps. It is an updated map, incorporating all available sources and made internally consistent with other maps in its series. But it only uses sources published in or before 1983.
For more information, see Appendix C: Cartographic Chronology.
Sources
- Mystara 1981
- Expert Rulebook (1983) (PDF at DriveThruRPG)
- X4 Master of the Desert Nomads (1983) (PDF at DriveThruRPG)
- X5 Temple of Death (1983) (PDF at DriveThruRPG)
Revisions
For detailed notes, see the posts for each individual source map at the links above.
- Font — Baskerville to match the new style of BECMI from 1983.
- Hex Art — Mountain Pass from X4/5, Module Location from Expert 1983. Castle and Ruins have been swapped, and are now opposite to their 1981 definitions.
References
- Let’s Map Mystara 1983 — the original project thread for this year
- Let’s Map Mystara Together discussion thread at The Piazza
31 October 2021 @ 2:31 am
Unless I’ve missed something, the castle and ruins small icons are switched. The Expert set had castles with filled-in square, and ruins with the hollow square (the way I’ve hand-mapped them since 1983 due to the Expert Legend).
1 November 2021 @ 11:06 pm
Unbelievable as it may seem, the original symbol set in 1981 had the symbols this way, with the filled square ruins and the empty square castles. You’re right that the Expert Legend in 1983 switched them, but it took a while for the maps to catch up — with much confusion in the meantime. It’s because of this misunderstanding, for example, that Krakatos became ruins; originally it was marked as a castle.
The whole situation is rather complex and confusing, but I think it’s clear that the change was a good one, as filled squares seem more substantial and complete, and therefore more intuitively represent functioning castles.
I’m not entirely clear right now on when the changeover was completed, and I don’t remember my logic, but I have made the changeover in my 1986 maps.
I suspect it wasn’t until 1987 and the Gazetteer legend that the symbol confusion got sorted out completely. At that time, filled squares became castles, while empty squares became forts, and a new empty square with a slash through it was introduced for ruins. I think this little refinement was a great idea.