Hi All,

As I contemplate running the GPC, I'm struck by the many maps in the PDF I'll never be able to use. As a totally blind gamer, the visual aspect is entirely lost on me.

I'm wondering how essential people find the maps? It strikes me that they were almost unknown in the era depicted. It seems like it might be harder to get a sense of relative geography and "local color," so to speak. The gazetteer is mildly helpful, but doesn't quite have the same effect.

Any thoughts would b appreciated.

The main advantage, for me, is to put the geography in context quickly. Who are the neighbors? What manors are most exposed to the Wessex raids during Anarchy? What route do we need to take to get to X?

The two maps that get most of the use in our games is the 485 map from KAP 5.1, and the Salisbury manor map made by Andrew Williams originally and with manors added by Matthijs Krieger, which is available online. It is easier to tell the players that you are in place X on the map, but it is not ESSENTIAL. For instance, last night's game, I told them that they made their way north on the western edge of the Forest Sauvage, and it would have made very little difference had they been missing the map. They stopped in a village which is not marked in the map, anyway.

So I'd say that maps are very nice to have, but they are not essential.

While them old timers wouldn't have had drawn maps, and certainly not maps as accurate as the Williams/Krieger Salisbury one, they would have had very good knowledge of their home turf which the players do not have. Maps, for me, substitute for "having lived there for 20 years and ridden over most of it" and "general knowledge of the Kingdoms of the time". While it's okay to rely on the GM's narration, and this will generally fulfil the GM's anticipated narrative needs, providing a map allows, I feel, for greater player agency, since they can decide upon their own route, with potentially unforseen consequences.

This is an interesting challenge. I can see the appeal of giving players a substitute for the IC knowledge their character has.

I'm not quite sure how to make up for this in my own games, short of perhaps having a sighted player handle the map if I decide to make use of it. I have a friend who might be able to describe it in text form, but of course that is less useful in a number of ways :)

This is an interesting challenge. I can see the appeal of giving players a substitute for the IC knowledge their character has.

I'm not quite sure how to make up for this in my own games, short of perhaps having a sighted player handle the map if I decide to make use of it. I have a friend who might be able to describe it in text form, but of course that is less useful in a number of ways :)

I only use the Salisbury map from KAP 5.1 and a printed map of Great Britain's outline (just Google Britain Outline Map) where I quickly draw the kingdom's frontiers for player reference ("Here is Gorre" and "Logres, and Anglia are here and here, they are revolting this year", etc.). I usually have little use for greatly detailed maps such as the castle maps and the Hundred maps in Book of Warlords. Most of the times the knights won't interact with those places and when they do, that's when I fix the place on the map. I find the Great Pendragon Maps of use to me to put things in perspective but I don't show them to players. Their interests lie elsewhere.