D&D: A Redditor Has Mapped Out All Of D&D’s “Starting Zone”
If you’re playing one of the D&D Starter Kits, you’re playing in Phandalin. And now, you’ve got two maps (PC and DM) that show you the whole story.
Pulling details from the no less than four different 5E books (and a few older sources), Redditor u/smurfkill12 has created the most accurate maps of the Neverwinter/Phandalin region of the Forgotten Realms, giving both players and DMs the most complete picture of the area featured in both of the D&D Starter Sets: The Lost Mine of Phandelver, and the D&D Essentials Kit. This is a great resource for anyone starting out in this area–or for DMs looking for a good template for their own beginning campaigns.
Why do I keep harping on about beginning campaigns? Well, this is the region that is held up as an example for new players. It’s in both of the starting sets, so it’s liable to be a lot of folks’ first steps into D&D. And as an intro, this map is full of interesting things to explore–they’re also not all leveled for beginning players. Some of them are meant to be explored later, but they’re there to tantalize players who explore. Let’s take a look.
via Reddit
I made a map for Neverwinter and its nearby area. iIused various sources to make the edits from the original map, here are the sources: 4th Edition Neverwinter’s Campaign Guide, Storm Kings Thunder (SKT), Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide (SCAG), and some others from pages of the wiki and youtube videos. This is a resource for anybody that wants to expand their Lost Mines of Phandelvers Game or the upcoming Essentials Kit using all official lore of the Realms.
Here’s just a taste of some of the extra locations you’ll find waiting for you on this updated map:
Dread Ring: There’s so much information on the Dread Ring that I cant really cover all of the information in this post. This structure, a combination of ritual focus and functional fortress, is one of Thay’s Dread Rings. Szass Tam, the lich regent of Thay, created the rings for use in a fell ritual in his quest to attain godhood. His efforts were thwarted, however, and this ring is now the center of Valindra **Shadowmantle’s (**Female Lich) regional efforts. for more information you could read Neverwinter Campaign Guide pg 179.
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Sharandar: The Sharandar was an ancient elven keep lost within the Neverwinter Wood. Around 1479 DR, eladrin( i think Eladrin in 4e were High elves, so Moon and Sun elves) descendants of the empire of Illefarn, lead by the fey knight, Merrisara Winterwhite (female moon elf), were attempting to restore the ruins of Sharandar, and by extension all of the empire of Iliyanbruen, by performing incursions into Neverwinter Wood through a portal leading from the Feywild located within the Feywild city of New Sharandar. Not much is given about New Sharandar. It is a relatively small military outpost some distance from where Iliyanbruen now lies in the Feywild.
Built around a feywild portal, New Sharandar is fortified both within and without, to defend against incursions from Toril and the rest of the Feywild. if you managed to cross the portal to the feywild, elven archers will meet you in the other side with their weapons drawn. Standing in a Feywild forest far less dense than Neverwinter Wood, New Sharandar consists of structures that are little more than log cabins on the ground or tree houses in the branches—far less ornate than the ruins of old Sharandar. Armed sentries stand at nearly every vantage point, watching for trouble. The fey knight Merrisara Winterwhite commands New Sharandar but spends most of her time on rebuilding Old Sharandar. Her second in command is Olirien Mistcrown, an arcane archer. There’s more information if you look at the books, I don’t want to drown this post with more information. Source: Source: Neverwinter Campaign Guide 4e pg 176, Wiki
Morgur’s Mound: Spirit Mound of the Thunderbeast tribe (Uthgardt Barbarians). They have not visited the mound in years, leaving it ripe for plunder. There are already many excavation sites. Source SKT pg 99
Both the DM’s and Player’s maps are available below:
Download the Player’s Map
Download the DM’s Map
Happy Adventuring!
