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First, let me say I have always loved the maps on the WotC website. They've always been not only wonderfully rendered, but highly detailed as well. When I saw this in the shop, I slapped down the $10.55 without a second thought, and walked out happy.
I didn't stay happy long.
After pulling off the shrink-wrapping, I began looking through the maps. Each page was a single sided glossy on thin magazine paper. Each was rendered as aged paper on a black background.
Now, up to this point, everything looked great.
Each page has the bottom 1/8 taken up with the name of the 'map' and the scale. The rest contains the art/maps.
Each of the maps are hand drawn, or created to seem like they are. This looks fine, and does work for the style. The problem is not the quality of the rendering, but the fact the maps are so sub-par in terms of how much map you get. The cover said the combined maps created an ancient city. Sadly, they don't do this except in the loosest possible terms. The maps take up about 3/7 of the page, with the rest of the usable space being filled with general artwork that supposedly deals with the map in some way. Sadly, It did not always seem to do so.
Each actual map was generally a small section of a building. None of these maps really connected with any of the others, and overall felt like a quick sketch of a dungeon that the players never finished exploring.
The only full map was that of a Temple. Sad part is that it takes up eight of the 32 maps, with each level of the fairly simple temple. Worse still, each of these eight pages uses the exact same 'art' aside from the level map, giving each a cookie-cutter feel.
The city overview is nearly worthless as an actual map, and only looks like a high view of the city. While pretty, it ain't a map.
Several more maps are like aerial photos of random village sections than a map, but could be used as such. They don't seem to have anything to do with the ancient city, so these feel like filler and don't do much to improve my option on the collection, regardless of how pretty they are.
Lastly is a continental map. Actually, it’s a black blob with a star on the spot they say the city is. No mountains or other landmarks are hinted at...
After all of the maps I have seen in my past, I am saddened to say this is one of the worst I have ever seen in terms of being a map set. It looks pretty. It's printed on high quality paper with a glossy coat. But it ain't worth $10.55.
Don't consider this a review. Consider it a warning. If you actually want a ruined city map for your game, this ain't it.
I would give this 1 star out of 5, and that's only for the quality of the prints and because they're pretty.
I want my $10.55 back. Anybody want my copy?
Later, John Bowden Mr. Oberon The Fool
