Phandalin and the surrounding region of the Sword Coast have featured in three D&D adventures:
Each of these adventures have featured a slightly different versions of a region map drawn by Mike Schley. At the moment, I’m specifically interested in the various versions of the map designed to be given to the players as a handout. The best of these is probably the poster map found in the D&D Essentials Kits (to accompany Dragons of Icespire Peak), but all of them are fatally flawed as player maps because they spoil the adventures — not only showing locations that the PCs don’t know about yet (“Boy, I wonder if Icespire Peak — the only mountain labeled on this map — will be significant at some point…”), but frequently showing hidden sites that the PCs are supposed to go on adventures in order to locate.
NPC: But where could Cragmaw Castle be?! Nobody knows!!!!
Players: It’s right there.
NPC: If only someone could find it!
Players: It’s right there.
NPC: It’s a mystery wrapped in an enigma, baked into a souffle!
So I wanted a version of the map I could actually give to the players. I also, for purely personal reasons, wanted a version of the map without the hex grid.
Fortunately, you can purchase a digital map pack from Mike Schley that includes multiple versions of the map, including one with no grid and no labels.
The only catch, though, is that I don’t want NO labels… I want some labels: The roads. The major cities. And so forth. And I suspect I’m not the only one.
So what I’ve done is to create label layers that will let you control exactly which labels you want on your version of the map:
- Roads & Cities
- Regions
- Mountains
- Thundertree & Helm’s Hold
- All Layers
To use these labels:
- Download the files below.
- Buy the map pack from Mike Schley (also linked below).
- Load the no-label map from the map pack into any graphic program that allows you to easily add and edit layers. Then add the PNG layers you want.
The layer files should line up perfectly with the map and with each other.
Alternatively, I’ve included a PSD file that you can use with Photoshop. (You’ll still need to add the no-label map from Schley as the background layer.)
ALTERNATIVE MAPS
Phandalin Hexmap
Reveilled’s Phandalin Player Map
