Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Zyphus 04-18-05, 11:51 AM	So the group of about 12 characters (PCs + NPCs) made it to the top of the first mountain where the 40+ bad guys are, where about 30 of them are flying gargoyles that can hide in the irregular rocky terrain. Is there a nice way to depict this on a conveniently down-scaled battle map? There should be outcroppings, gullies, etc., I need to know which gargoyles are hiding where (and ditto for sneaky PCs) with scree and cover all around. I'm hoping someone has already done this and found a way to simplify and minimize an outdoor encounter. If you have some extra details for snow, that would be a large bonus. Two options I can think of are: Grid paper, each tiny square being 5 or 10 feet and use the draw/erase method of movement. Perhaps a clear overlay so I don't have to worry about erasing terrain. Not sure how to do the different elevations. Use a large room, move furniture around, and use the old 1" = 10 yards scale. This means we have to play somewhere else since the people that host the game have cats, which love to bite metal figures for some reason. Terrain becomes a little difficult to keep in place though, as people will probably kick it around. What have other people used, and problems were encountered?
Lxarth 04-18-05, 12:07 PM	I have a battle mat and I love it. If you have a battle mat (or dry erase board) you can just draw it on with lines showing elevation such as a topographical map does. And just circles and sqaures for terrain and what not.
Zyphus 04-19-05, 08:55 AM	Please tell me more about a battlemap that can accomodate 50 figures and what do you do for large terrain features (I was thinking blocks but didn't see any at the dollar store). I have access to a little battle map (far too small), but I know the players are going to run helter-skelter from what happened last session. They surrounded a single Bad Girl, but she had tumble and bounced away into the mist that the PC spellcaster had put up. Is there a good way to map out some of those large area spells? Is a cut-out or drawing with a marker usually better?
Lxarth 04-19-05, 11:22 AM	A Battlemat is this (http://www.crystalcaste.com/miva/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=CC&Category_Code=CM). Now, I don't advise buying one from the company. They jerked me around after they sent me the wrong one...if you want one go to a hobby store so you can look at it first hand and know what you are buying. Also, if you just have a large table a battle mat might not be nessicary. I would just suggest using a ruler for movement. If the place you play at has alot of books you could use those to show elevation. Area spells, like Fireball, are easy to calculate with a ruler. If the area has a duration like Entangel or Fog Cloud you can just cut out the diameter from paper and use that. Hope this helps.
Thomar_of_Uointer 04-19-05, 07:12 PM	1 cm grid paper works best for large-scale. I don't use a mat, because I can just print out 8 sheets of 1' grid and lay them on the table.
Nytmare 04-19-05, 08:25 PM	The problem with what you seem to need is that a good 3 dimensional fight doesn't usually translate well to a 2D battlemat. You can do it, but I'd opt for making an actual 3D representation of the peak. I'm assuming that you're not looking to make a huge production out of making this thing, so the easiest would probably be to do what Lxarth said, and just make a huge pile of books. It's fast, cheap, easy, makes a good visual representation, and means that you don't have to cart around anything with you. I'd also suggest making a bunch of measuring ropes: thin, non-stretchable cords with knots every inch or two to help with movement and figuring out ranges and whatnot.