Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 smeelbo Feb 18, 2009 14:29:59	When I first read the Kobold Keep adventure, I was disappointed that it was all straight lines and right angles. My favorite introductory scenario involves rooting kobolds out of a silver mine, and I wanted a way to depict caverns and twisting passages in 4E. However, 4E combat depends fundamentally on squares, so I can't really use hexes, partial squares, and so on. So here is my proposal for representing non-straight tunnels and caves using squares and right angles. The essence of the idea is that I want a wall that acts like a corner, that is, it provides Cover. [INDENT]"Cornery" Walls: Cornery Walls are marked on the battle map like "--^--^--^--^--." Count the number of squares adjacent to Cornery Walls between the attacker and the target, not including the squares they occupy. If there is at least one such square, then the target has Cover, if there are at least four, then the target has Superior Cover.[/INDENT] Simple, elegent, and easy to explain. At the same time it accounts for blocked lines of sight arising from curves of the tunnel and their uneven walls, but is depicted on the battle mat as squares and right angles. So I can use a simple straight 5' or 10' corridor to represent a winding tunnel, right angles for branching tunnels, and large rectangular rooms for large but rough caverns, add the occassion difficult terrain for rubble or other obstacles, and viola! I do realize that this is very bad terrain for some characters. It rewards melee and sneakers, and punishes ranged powers. I wouldn't use it all the time. However, it does seem an elegant way to depict windy ways and rough hewn caverns. Tested this out recently, and it went exactly as I had hoped. Ranger and Rogue sneaking down dimly light tunnels scouting out a back way into the Goblin Fortress. It allowed for good but not perfect sneaking. More than once, the hidden Rogue and hidden Goblin guards bumped into each other, which was a great way to start combat. It even allowed a modest amount of sneaking partway into a "cavern," that is a room with "cornery" walls. There was a little running back down the tunnel to hide during combat, but no more than if you had a regular bent corridor to duck behind, and it was costly in terms of time out of combat. I am very happy with how this rule performs: it gives me the feel of curving rough walls while using the standard 5' square and right angles. I will be using this when I DM. Smeelbo
#2 1shmael Feb 18, 2009 22:50:07	Or. You could try this. More of these to come. Including many depicting narrow, winding caverns.