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Post by hasbinbad on Oct 9, 2012 20:17:26 GMT -5
So I REALLY like the idea of gridless play, but dry erase mats do work really well for something I haven't prepared for. What I have come up with is a hybrid system of gridded and gridless play.
Gridless: When I use tiles, players are gridless. They easily adapted to the measuring sticks, and I have been as lenient on exact distances as I promised. This combination produced great results, and much fun was had in the Yeti's lair.
Gridded: The area outside the yeti's lair was a clearing in the forest before an iced over ridge. I dealt with all of this by drawing a simple forest border and a ridge with a cave on the mat. When the players got close enough, I played the yeti's lair tile. By the time they were done with that, they ended up being chased into the forest. At this point, I erased the mat and threw down some trees, rocks, and bushes. They players had a dynamic fight scene, and then moved south to the river. I quickly drew out the river, placed the embankment tiles, and spread the trees out.
The gridded play above could have been accomplished gridless, but I still say a vinyl mat is rad for drawing stuff like rivers, which are going to be vastly different in each scene, and hard to make a versatile tile for, and the grids are really not intrusive when you use 2.5D terrain in addition to it.
For outdoor stuff, I think a good combination of trees, rocks, bushes, and embankments can really add a lot of style and interest to an otherwise boring grid mat, but I think inside stuff is better to build a tile for. All of that said, sometimes you NEED to invent something RIGHT NOW during a game, and a vinyl mat can't be beat for that IMHO.
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Post by dm1scotty on Oct 9, 2012 20:35:25 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing. You have made a good argument for using a dry erase gridded map for certain encounters. I think certain DM’s will find this useful. It is also a great idea to put in crafted items to add interest to the mat.
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brianblather
Tool Gatherer
Troll #2 working at Troll Forged Minis
Posts: 75
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Post by brianblather on Oct 9, 2012 21:17:58 GMT -5
I do play more hybrid games. However some of my builds do not include grids on purpose. Generally these builds are for climatic encounters. The lack of a grid causes players to choose carefully.
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Post by hasbinbad on Oct 9, 2012 21:26:59 GMT -5
I do play more hybrid games. However some of my builds do not include grids on purpose. Generally these builds are for climatic encounters. The lack of a grid causes players to choose carefully. Yeah I was kind of thinking to use the grid for random encounters outdoors with my 2.5D terrain, and then have tiles for the major events, but now I'm actually considering getting some cloth mats like Scotty's for planned outdoor major encounters..
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Post by hasbinbad on Oct 9, 2012 21:29:03 GMT -5
I really like the hybrid style, because if i don't draw out the blacksmith's shop my players have to visit, they will be assured that there isn't going to be an encounter, but if I actually draw it out and make them say where they are, they are never sure if an ogre is going to kick in the door.
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brianblather
Tool Gatherer
Troll #2 working at Troll Forged Minis
Posts: 75
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Post by brianblather on Oct 9, 2012 21:32:08 GMT -5
I know what you mean. I have also invested in some print and build models. as well as some print and play maps. DrivethroughRPG has become an addiction. I can whip out a 2d map for just about any random building now.
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Post by dm1scotty on Oct 9, 2012 22:36:15 GMT -5
I really like the hybrid style, because if i don't draw out the blacksmith's shop my players have to visit, they will be assured that there isn't going to be an encounter, but if I actually draw it out and make them say where they are, they are never sure if an ogre is going to kick in the door. Yeah, that can be a tip off to players. I just roleplay and describe most transitional elements so For example if the party came into town I would describe what was going on and if the players trip an encounter that is when I set it up. This method keeps you from having to build areas that won’t be in an encounter just to fool the players. My set ups are usually pretty fast and I continue to describe events to the players while I set up.
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Post by hasbinbad on Oct 9, 2012 23:08:59 GMT -5
I actually like giving the players the added suspense tho. I try and draw out any situation that will take up more than 5-10 minutes of game time to keep them guessing.
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Post by shadowmane on Oct 10, 2012 17:50:25 GMT -5
I play in mostly theatre of mind games, however, I'm very intrigued by crafting play tiles like I've seen on youtube from here. I play a D&D clone called Basic Fantasy RPG, so its easier to pull all of that off. However, I do intend to introduce elements of home-made play tiles. After all, adventures are made up of encounters no matter which game you use. I just like the flow I see from the gridless games DM Scotty has been showcasing. Kudos.
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Post by timlillig on Oct 11, 2012 11:56:34 GMT -5
If you want to draw out quick maps but not use a grid, you could just use a big pad of newsprint or erasable markers on a sheet of vinyl or acrylic.
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Post by danielc on Oct 27, 2012 19:20:08 GMT -5
If you want to draw out quick maps but not use a grid, you could just use a big pad of newsprint or erasable markers on a sheet of vinyl or acrylic. You can also get small white boards used at schools for students at their desk. This would give you the ability to wing a space and still have no grids.
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Post by onethatwas on Nov 3, 2012 2:41:35 GMT -5
A bit on the expensive side, but my Girlfriend (of all people) made an interesting suggestion, which was to use that new chalkboard paint they are producing lately. Make a wooden tile like DM Scotty does in the forest terrain videos, and then paint over it with the chalkboard paint, and viola!
Also good for those lucky enough to be talented chalkboard artists!
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Post by anthonyroma1969 on Nov 3, 2012 7:14:43 GMT -5
What I am doing in my next game is the party is going by ship to a large port town, and then search it to find this lair of slavers. I am creating the tiles for the ship (which I will reuse for the rest of the campaign), a couple of buildings for the city, and the rooms of the slaver lair (an abandoned temple expanded down and connecting to the sewers).
Everything else (other buildings, corridors between rooms taht are unnecessary, etc) are going to be done by using a dry erase board. I have a large one that I was using for gaming before I started crafting, and will be using that. Hopefully it will keep the players immersed enough without my having to do unnecessary tiles.
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Post by hideousprime on Nov 3, 2012 8:31:47 GMT -5
I have created a campaign in which the pc's go to Silver City. The first area they come to through the city gates is the slums. I only made one street lined with buildings on both sides. Three buildings are all they need to visit for their quest, the bar, the blacksmith shop and the chapel, but they don't know that yet. There are 10 buildings total on the street. The other buildings just add illusion to being on the street and gives more options for me to have random encouters(which can be fun, ex. running into the town sot passed out in the lean-to stable). The reason I made them all was as dm scotty said, i can use them later, ex. the empty houses can be used for a small village later in the adventure. So the point is, just drawing it out could take away from extra things like interaction with townfolk or getting pick-pocketed or catching the theif and chasing him into a warehouse you would otherwise not have used. Ask yourself would you check out a drawing or just go straight to the 2.5d buildings.
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Post by dm1scotty on Nov 3, 2012 9:50:43 GMT -5
I have created a campaign in which the pc's go to Silver City. The first area they come to through the city gates is the slums. I only made one street lined with buildings on both sides. Three buildings are all they need to visit for their quest, the bar, the blacksmith shop and the chapel, but they don't know that yet. There are 10 buildings total on the street. The other buildings just add illusion to being on the street and gives more options for me to have random encouters(which can be fun, ex. running into the town sot passed out in the lean-to stable). The reason I made them all was as dm scotty said, i can use them later, ex. the empty houses can be used for a small village later in the adventure. So the point is, just drawing it out could take away from extra things like interaction with townfolk or getting pick-pocketed or catching the theif and chasing him into a warehouse you would otherwise not have used. Ask yourself would you check out a drawing or just go straight to the 2.5d buildings. Very cool. It really depends on how much you just want to do in the theater of the mind and how much you want to show on the table. A combination of both is how I do it but nothing prevents you from laying out a large area to explore and then letting the characters loose. My home issue is space. I have to work with the limited playing space I have.
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Post by dm1scotty on Nov 3, 2012 9:52:51 GMT -5
A bit on the expensive side, but my Girlfriend (of all people) made an interesting suggestion, which was to use that new chalkboard paint they are producing lately. Make a wooden tile like DM Scotty does in the forest terrain videos, and then paint over it with the chalkboard paint, and viola! Also good for those lucky enough to be talented chalkboard artists! Interesting.
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Post by onethatwas on Nov 3, 2012 16:24:46 GMT -5
My home issue is space. I have to work with the limited playing space I have. Although not as cool as a laid out playing space, apparently they also make magnetic chalkboard paint, and I suppose it is concievable to turn the dungeon tiles into magnetic dungeon tiles with a little bit of ingenuity, and make your playing space vertical. Probably not the most appealing of ideas (Most people would prefer to see something laid out across a table than up on a wall), but it all comes down to what you have available. Theatre of the Mind is of course the absolute cheapest anyone can go, and if you have such limited space using pictorals can help for those players who don't have the benefit of having a vivid image oriented imagination. I also have limited space, and had to take into account things such as inches (rather than footage) when I did some redesign of my house. So when I consider playing space I make use of even the flat surfaces of walls to give visual aids to players. Another benefit to considering magnetizing a dungeon tile (and thereafter allowing it to be stuck up on a vertical, magnet friendly wall) is modularizing a set so you can come up with various dungeon layouts before a game takes place quickly and easily, and have a layout prepared in advance. Of course it depends alot on what you can afford and are willing to do. As much as magnetizing self crafted dungeon tiles sounds cool, I personally wouldn't be able to afford the bulk of magnets to do so for an ever expanding set, on top of setting the tiles up to be magnetic (which does take some extra consideration. Not exactly "Cheap and Easy," which is a big benefit of this whole concept fro DM Crafting).
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