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The map sets consist of the following:
A "Royal" Dungeon set (King's Dungeon / Queen's Dungeon / Emperor's / Scepter Dungeon)
These are a "typical" dungeon set, rooms of various shapes and sizes connected by passages. These verge on being some kind of template or old-school geomorphs. There aren't even discernable entrances or exits, much less major features.
A Magical Tower Set (Deception / School of Sorcery / High Mountain Wizard’s)
Each of these maps includes a picture of the tower, and a series of small maps for the various levels of each tower. The School of Sorcery tower features the best detail work; the other 2 are largely non-descript.
Lead and Diamond Mine Facilities (Overview / Windmill / Minehead / Cavern Port / Grand Gate and Towers)
This is one of the better map sets of the Folio. Each page includes both a 2-D map and a 3-D drawing of the location. The quality of the art is excellent, and the locations are interesting. Where needed, diagrams of mechanisms are included as well. These locations are linked to each other through their geography, which is displayed on the Overview map.
Hidden Coast (Overview / The Village Poisson / The Drunk Duck Inn / Misty Bay)
Like the previous set, this set of 4 maps is a series of linked locations. Irritatingly, some of these maps are more illustration than actual map. A good example of this is the Drunk Duck Inn. The illustration takes up virtually the entire sheet, while the map itself is so tiny that it is virtually unusable. The Overview map and the Village map are more useful, though.
The Greater Poc-Toc-Lah Valley (Overview / Dwellings / Mountain Cat Temple / Underwater Treasury)
This is another of the best sets of the Folio. Each page has both a good map and an excellent illustration related to the titular civilization. Each also includes a kind of sidebar, presenting Typical Food Preparation Utensils, Giant Totems, and stone tools of the culture. The feel of these maps is actually somewhat anthropological; sort of a capsule presentation of a culture. Of all the sets, this one feels the most natural and "organic".
The Githyanki Citadel (Overview / Side View / Ground & Second Floor Sections / Third Floor & Central Tower Sections)
These maps are all directly related; they diagram one of the astral Githyanki citadels. Looking it immediately reminded me of the Githyanki material in Dungeon #100. This maps could easily be incorporated into the scenarios described there. The maps themselves are clearly useful and utilitarian; the illustration and size is good and clear, and the scale of the maps is pratical and useful. These maps are quite attractive, and the background does a good job of giving the feeling of floating through the Astral.
Generic Dungeon Set (Underground Temple / Catacombs / The Old Mines / Hillside Dungeon)
These maps are largely as undetailed as the first set discussed. They do, however, feature the following additional details: doors, statues, pillars, stairs, and rail-track. The illustrator spices up the map a little with some background detail.
The Great Petrified Worm (Sorceror's Tower / Tunnel Bridge / Subterranean Prison / Salt Mine Level 5)
These maps are all linked through some kind of gigantic Petrified Worm structure. The maps illustrate different portions of the Worm complex, including one of the more interesting prisons I have seen. The detail work is excellent on all of them, as is the art and so forth. All except the salt mine map include an illustration of the subject.
This set has an interesting discrepancy. They are all clearly linked by a thumbnail illustration of the Great Petrified Worm in the upper right corner. However, the format/motif of each map is not the same within the set as it is within other sets. Three have a celtic design on the borders, one does not. Those three also have a portion of text describing the map, while the other does not. The one that differs from the rest is also the only one of the set that is available on the Map-a-Week page.
DISCUSSION
OK. So whats the actual use of all of these maps? The back-cover description states they can be used as "inspiration for creating new adventures, for handy reference during your game, or as detailed handouts to capture your player's imagination".
There are 2 prime uses suggested by the maps.
First, the blank maps suggest themselves for use as templates for making your own dungeons. A friend of mine actually used one of these maps to create a dungeon from Map-of-the-Week. He was also a fairly novice DM though, and personally, I think I can easily make a far better map than those presented here, for far cheaper (though my maps would be less pretty).
The Second potential use is the better reason for purchasing these in my opinion. That is, use as actual specific world locations. Incorporating the Githyanki Citadel as part of a series of astral adventures, or the Poh-Toc-Lah Valley as a part of one's campaign setting, or the School of Sorcery as a PC wizard's starting place could work well. This is best use of these maps in my opinion.
The occasionally available illustrations could be useful as handouts, assuming you use those specific locations. But there is the issue of not showing the players the actual maps while doing so.
This is not a standard product. The closest thing I can think of to this is the old Treasure Maps supplement released for 2nd Edition. That set did actually prove popular, demonstrating that releasing a set of just maps isn't necessarily a bad idea.
Personally, I found publishing already available free maps counter-intuitive. Unless someone either doesn't have a printer, or wants his maps to be glossy, I can't understand why someone would pay money for something they can get free.
There is no question about quality though. Purchasing the set because of a lack of access to a printer, or to the internet could be ample reason to buy it.
2002 Map Page http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/mw/mw20021226x2002
02/28 Dungeon 4: Underground Temple.
02/21 Dungeon 3: Catacombs.
02/14 Dungeon 2: The Old Mines.
02/07 Dungeon 1: Hillside Dungeon.
07/25 King's Dungeon
07/18 Queen's Dungeon
07/11 Emperor's Dungeon
07/04 Scepter Dungeon
2001 Map Page http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/mw/mw20020725x2001
The Githyanki Citadel (main watch tower not included with this set in Map Folio).
11/29 Main Watch Tower.
11/22 Third Floor and Central Tower Sections.
11/15 Ground and Second Floor Sections.
11/08 Side View.
11/01 Overview.
The Greater Poc-Toc-Lah Valley
10/25 Underwater Treasury
10/18 Mountain Cat Temple
10/11 Dwellings
10/04 Overview The Hidden Coast
7/26 The Village Poisson
7/19 The Drunk Duck Inn
7/12 Misty Bay
7/5 The Hidden Coast
Lead and Diamond Mine Facilities
6/28 Pumphouse
6/21 Minehead
6/14 Cavern Port
6/07 Grand Gate and Towers
5/31 Overland Map:
The Great Petrified Worm
2/22 The Great Petrified Worm: Sorceror's Tower
And: Tunnel Bridge
Subterranean Prison
Salt Mine Level 5
Magical Towers
2/15 School of Sorcery
2/08 Tower of Deception
2/01 High Mountain Wizard’s Tower
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