Improving on the Pathfinder Thornkeep map

After many years I returned to Thornkeep in my pursuit of answers about the False God. I had traveled through this land once before, in my youth, as I journeyed eastward to my home in the Stolen Lands. This time, I marvelled at its many caves, ravines and hidden corners. And, of course, I mapped...

--Zi Mishkal. 

Ever since the Thornkeep module came out as a backer reward for the Pathfinder MMO, I've wanted to improve on the included overland map. Now that I'll be running at least one adventure within that setting, I thought it would be a perfect time to indulge that feeling.

The original Thornkeep map was a nicely done if somewhat boring map. It had several points of interest, some forests, a couple of towns and a few lakes. It was perfectly suited as a background setting for some low-mid level dungeon crawls. However, the descriptions spoke of ravines, caves, streams, et cetera and the map, by comparison, looked so plain. Of course, this was likely by design as the map was for the MMO which had not been completed. Much like the novelization of Star Wars has differences from the initial theatrical release, there were bound to be changes.

Paizo's Echo Wood map, on which my Thornkeep map is based - copyright Paizo. 

Paizo's Thornkeep is set in the River Kingdoms - a portion of Golarion which is low-lying, boggy and wet. To my geology-based mind, the River Kingdoms remind me of low lying land which has been recently de-glaciated. Which reminds me.. I do need to do a blog post on that topic as well. Paizo also points out that the Thornkeep area is unusual in the River Kingdoms in that it is hillier than the surrounding area. The hills rising out of the flats remind me of the change in topography along I-90 going through Wisconsin. You're driving along for hours in flat lands and then suddenly you start seeing hills and then a few miles later, at Castle Rock outside of Camp Douglas, you see actual rock for the first time in forever. So I wanted my map to have that feel of isolated ridges popping up from the surrounding terrain.

My revised Thornkeep map - ink on grid paper. 

The parallel dashed brown lines represent a contour interval of 50 feet and are meant as a general guideline. There are, undoubtedly, more little cuts and divots in the hillside than what I drew but I wanted to maintain that feeling of the unknown in the Echo Woods. You may note that many of the ridges are parallel and looked chopped up - this is intentional to convey the sense of old, dissected terrain.

Most of the bedrock underlying the Echo Woods are limestones containing caves of various lengths. I have only included the ones mentioned in the source material - there are many more. I have also added in the major surface drainage for the area. Most of the area is drained by the Echo Stream which has its source in Toad Hollow. It flows northward into the ridge containing the Emerald Spire before sinking in its bed. Once underground, it flows past the Woodbristle homestead before rising at their spring and winding its way to Thornkeep. At Thornkeep it hits some sandstones and meanders in the small valley containing the town before heading north again through the Echo Cleft. A short (10 foot) waterfall is the highlight of the cleft as the stream continues north past Dismal Caverns (where the stream widens in flood to a swamp) and into Silvershade Lake. From Silverhsade Lake the stream turns west to pass through an unnamed pond and into the West Sellen.

The southern part of the map is drained by the Southwood Stream which rises as the edge of the forest in a spring and passes through Fort Inevitable. From the fort it continues westward to empty into the West Sellen.

The center part of the map is drained by an extensive series of mostly undiscovered caverns. The Skull Basher's Den is one entrance to these caverns and its description in the Thornkeep book hints at the larger system. All of the water appears as a series of springs which feed Glowwater Lake and then the Sellen.

Many of the ruins are located on hilltops - again by design. There are additional hilltops for additional ruins or other features not already mentioned. Bald Knob, just north of Thornkeep is one of my additions and I haven't decided what should go there.

The map also shows the extent of the patrolled area of the two Crusader towns - Riverwatch and Inevitable. The paladins and hellknights don't have many resources, so they keep their patrols pretty close to the town itself. Within these areas it's a lot harder for bandits to operate. The occasional patrol may venture past the edge of the standard patrol area, but there will likely be an exceptional reason for it.





One last item I wanted to mention in parting is the scale - one box equalling a quarter mile. A quarter mile is 1320 feet. A fireball's range is 400' + 40'/level. An enlarged fireball's range (which adds one to the level of the spell) is 800' + 80' level. A 7th level wizard can cast a 4th level enlarged fireball and hit something 1360' away. In other words, a 7th level wizard can cross an entire square with a spell. The point is that this map is at a weird scale - it's almost small enough for outdoor tactical combat. Towns and keeps are more than just dots, they are at least the size of the circle that represents them. It's just something to keep in mind.

That's all I have. If I can, I think I'll put up a few of the encounter areas I've fleshed out next - Echo Cleft and Dismal swamp are mostly done. Until then, enjoy and if you have questions, feel free to ask!