Battle Map Help? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Battle Map Help? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Lazy Wanderer
05-10-05, 05:04 PM I'm the DM in my group. I have a wet erase battle map. I use the side with the 1" squares, not the hexes. I'm just wondering how people effectivly show things like hills or raised levels effectivly. Also, with random encounters, for example in forests, it's a pain to draw trees and underbrush and what not. Also, do you guys do when a battle runs off the map in open areas? Is this would be too hard to pull off, does anyone have suggestions for things to buy for maps? I don't really want anything 3D and I don't have photoshop mind you. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Colmarr
05-10-05, 08:02 PM I represent hills with contour lines, just like you see on real maps. Just tell the players what elevation change each line represents (eg. 5ft) and explain what the sloped ground does to movement (normal, half, etc)

For trees and undergrowth, it's relatively quick to put them on the map. For trees that provide cover but don't block movement, just put a dot on the map. For trees that fill a square, put a circle in the square. For undergrowth areas, draw the outline of the area and shade its interior. Don't be overly picky about whether the battle mat exactly matches the map you're drawing it from. Minor inconsistencies are unlikely to make enough difference to be worth the effort it takes to avoid them.

Battles that run off the edge of the map are slightly trickier. As long as everyone is staying together, I find it is easiest to move all of the combatants at the end of each round (eg. In a recent battle in my campaign, the PCs routed a goblin worg-rider and then chased him down heading west. The speeds involved meant that the creatures quickly left the encounter map. At the end of each round, I therefore moved each creature 80ft east on the battle mat. That adjustment kept the creatures on the battle mat, but maintained their position respective to each other.)

The only problems with that method are terrain and slow creatures.

Terrain needs to be physically represented on the map for this to work, not just marked on. It's a pain to erase and re-draw a hill, but if the hill is represented by a book or piece of paper, they can easily be moved the same way creatures can.

If melee creatures "fall off the back" of the rolling map, I would suggest you simply say that they are out of the combat. Have that player keep a record of how far behind they are, because they may have a chance to catch up if the chase ends temporarily. If the PCs have ranged weapons, they can fire those, but doing so will likely cause them to fall even further behind.
Lazy Wanderer
05-10-05, 08:21 PM I was thinking about using tiny numbers in the corner of heightened sqaures to represent height, maybe also make 'hills' that I can just move onto the board during an encounter. During that thing with the goblin worg-rider, what did you do about passing terrain? And I really like the idea of falling out of combat, thank you for the suggestion. :)
Nom
05-10-05, 09:05 PM Another option is to use two maps, and "walk" them.

For ranged encounters, I typically find that 5 ft. scale battle maps aren't worth it. Either use a rough 20 ft. scale map, or just track distance. You'll need to figure how you want to do it when things close to close skirmish range (say under 50 ft.) - one useful option is to have a bunch of wilderness map tiles (I use SkeletonKey's) and just pull some out as required.

Options for elevation changes include contour lines, books or blocks with a smaller grid applied on top, slabs of cardboard, or commercial scenery.
ehrin
05-10-05, 11:29 PM we use candy for trees, stalactics, rocks and boulders. Scatter them around, and you have your cover, terrain, etc. right on the map. And, you can eat the forest afterwards.

Reeses Peanut Butter Minis work great: the cover about a square each. Candy bars are good for lines of hills, etc..
James Wildspell
05-11-05, 01:06 AM If you can do without the grid lines, you can get rolls of news print and pre-draw a lot of encounter areas. Of course access to a drafting table would make drawing the lines on large pieces go quite swiftly.

To make more permanent encounter maps, grid some pices of poster board and draw re-usable areas. Inns, common houses, shops and a lot more could be done this way.

I printed and copied a bunch of different tile sets that I got off of the net. I am going to cut and tape them onto peices of cardboard for dugeons. As the party reaches each room in turn, I will just place them on the table in the correct configuration. Much cheaper than commercial tile sets.

A small amount of immagination and a little work can often act as multipliers (A useful bit of philosophy that works in Real Life too...). :cool:
Colmarr
05-11-05, 03:15 AM Lazy Wanderer, for the worg chase, we made sure that all terrain was physically represented, not just drawn on the map.

It's easy to slide a book (representing a hill) and dice (representing trees) ten squares west. It's painstaking to erase and redraw those same features every round.

To speed things up even further, get one of your players to help you. Have him start from the "north" end of the map. You start from the "south" end of the map. When you meet in the middle, you know everythings accounted for. Never use more than one assistant, as things get confusing about whether individual creatures/terrain were moved.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Lazy Wanderer 05-10-05, 05:04 PM	I'm the DM in my group. I have a wet erase battle map. I use the side with the 1" squares, not the hexes. I'm just wondering how people effectivly show things like hills or raised levels effectivly. Also, with random encounters, for example in forests, it's a pain to draw trees and underbrush and what not. Also, do you guys do when a battle runs off the map in open areas? Is this would be too hard to pull off, does anyone have suggestions for things to buy for maps? I don't really want anything 3D and I don't have photoshop mind you. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Colmarr 05-10-05, 08:02 PM	I represent hills with contour lines, just like you see on real maps. Just tell the players what elevation change each line represents (eg. 5ft) and explain what the sloped ground does to movement (normal, half, etc) For trees and undergrowth, it's relatively quick to put them on the map. For trees that provide cover but don't block movement, just put a dot on the map. For trees that fill a square, put a circle in the square. For undergrowth areas, draw the outline of the area and shade its interior. Don't be overly picky about whether the battle mat exactly matches the map you're drawing it from. Minor inconsistencies are unlikely to make enough difference to be worth the effort it takes to avoid them. Battles that run off the edge of the map are slightly trickier. As long as everyone is staying together, I find it is easiest to move all of the combatants at the end of each round (eg. In a recent battle in my campaign, the PCs routed a goblin worg-rider and then chased him down heading west. The speeds involved meant that the creatures quickly left the encounter map. At the end of each round, I therefore moved each creature 80ft east on the battle mat. That adjustment kept the creatures on the battle mat, but maintained their position respective to each other.) The only problems with that method are terrain and slow creatures. Terrain needs to be physically represented on the map for this to work, not just marked on. It's a pain to erase and re-draw a hill, but if the hill is represented by a book or piece of paper, they can easily be moved the same way creatures can. If melee creatures "fall off the back" of the rolling map, I would suggest you simply say that they are out of the combat. Have that player keep a record of how far behind they are, because they may have a chance to catch up if the chase ends temporarily. If the PCs have ranged weapons, they can fire those, but doing so will likely cause them to fall even further behind.
Lazy Wanderer 05-10-05, 08:21 PM	I was thinking about using tiny numbers in the corner of heightened sqaures to represent height, maybe also make 'hills' that I can just move onto the board during an encounter. During that thing with the goblin worg-rider, what did you do about passing terrain? And I really like the idea of falling out of combat, thank you for the suggestion. :)
Nom 05-10-05, 09:05 PM	Another option is to use two maps, and "walk" them. For ranged encounters, I typically find that 5 ft. scale battle maps aren't worth it. Either use a rough 20 ft. scale map, or just track distance. You'll need to figure how you want to do it when things close to close skirmish range (say under 50 ft.) - one useful option is to have a bunch of wilderness map tiles (I use SkeletonKey's) and just pull some out as required. Options for elevation changes include contour lines, books or blocks with a smaller grid applied on top, slabs of cardboard, or commercial scenery.
ehrin 05-10-05, 11:29 PM	we use candy for trees, stalactics, rocks and boulders. Scatter them around, and you have your cover, terrain, etc. right on the map. And, you can eat the forest afterwards. Reeses Peanut Butter Minis work great: the cover about a square each. Candy bars are good for lines of hills, etc..
James Wildspell 05-11-05, 01:06 AM	If you can do without the grid lines, you can get rolls of news print and pre-draw a lot of encounter areas. Of course access to a drafting table would make drawing the lines on large pieces go quite swiftly. To make more permanent encounter maps, grid some pices of poster board and draw re-usable areas. Inns, common houses, shops and a lot more could be done this way. I printed and copied a bunch of different tile sets that I got off of the net. I am going to cut and tape them onto peices of cardboard for dugeons. As the party reaches each room in turn, I will just place them on the table in the correct configuration. Much cheaper than commercial tile sets. A small amount of immagination and a little work can often act as multipliers (A useful bit of philosophy that works in Real Life too...). :cool:
Colmarr 05-11-05, 03:15 AM	Lazy Wanderer, for the worg chase, we made sure that all terrain was physically represented, not just drawn on the map. It's easy to slide a book (representing a hill) and dice (representing trees) ten squares west. It's painstaking to erase and redraw those same features every round. To speed things up even further, get one of your players to help you. Have him start from the "north" end of the map. You start from the "south" end of the map. When you meet in the middle, you know everythings accounted for. Never use more than one assistant, as things get confusing about whether individual creatures/terrain were moved.