tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post2969556113375051365..comments2024-03-28T22:10:04.089+08:00Comments on Monsters and Manuals: Useful and Non-Useful Maps: Three General PrinciplesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-3181900846040745342018-05-25T02:48:47.344+08:002018-05-25T02:48:47.344+08:00A good map is art as well as being useful. That is...A good map is art as well as being useful. That is why they proliferate. Sad that all maps aren't good ones.Ruprechthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00139664977453444000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-2739130849306965672017-04-19T17:04:42.023+08:002017-04-19T17:04:42.023+08:00I have been in crunchy games in which minis were u...I have been in crunchy games in which minis were used, but I dunno...I suppose I've never seen the advantage over just scribbling on scraps of paper to show people's positions. Minis look more elegant but there is a big buy-in (literally).noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-34727794696117856082017-04-19T17:03:20.313+08:002017-04-19T17:03:20.313+08:00Yeah, I think that is quite astute.
My own feelin...Yeah, I think that is quite astute.<br /><br />My own feeling of dissatisfaction with maps, particularly town maps, came on early. When I was a teenager I remember playing in a game of Shadowrun set in a future version of my home town. Somehow one of us had got hold of a photocopied street map, and we spent the entire session plotting out journeys, ambushes, chase sequences and so on using it. It basically just became a war game. noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-61141653359283232352017-04-19T07:01:04.850+08:002017-04-19T07:01:04.850+08:00What's your take on the need for miniatures in...What's your take on the need for miniatures in crunchy games, versus their irrelevance in narrative ones?<br /><br />My group and I played Only War (part of the WH40k Dark Heresy line) and while we didn't use miniatures, we might as well have, considering the absurd amount of time I spent making gridded maps. Now that we play Dungeon World, we never need more than a cursory sketch for the most complex battlefields.Anonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13724503732185604374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-49634902384803055692017-04-19T04:13:22.443+08:002017-04-19T04:13:22.443+08:00The proliferation of maps may just be because they...The proliferation of maps may just be because they're an easy product to produce and charge premium prices for, and the miniatures-focussed style of recent D&D editions has meant that a lot of playwers were brought into the hobby believing that maps are as much a necessity as dice. Not that earlier ages are without the excess, even Chaosium liked to pad out it's sourcebooks with pointless maps.<br /><br />I'm actually in a period of experimenting with maps at the game table again, having experienced a few games as a player where the aid did a lot to focus play (in particular, ironically, a town map). But I'm using them sparingly, because I don't want players to look at all situations as tactical ones. E.T.Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04816067470809236388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-5801148359181331982017-04-19T02:48:52.224+08:002017-04-19T02:48:52.224+08:00Being able to play fully without a grid was one of...Being able to play fully without a grid was one of the main draws that had me drop E6 Pathfinder for B/X.Yorahttp://spriggans-den.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-89225176240037367612017-04-18T05:36:40.410+08:002017-04-18T05:36:40.410+08:00Yeah, I never use minis. I despise them in RPGs fo...Yeah, I never use minis. I despise them in RPGs for exactly the reasons you suggest. It's like willingly putting on a straightjacket for your imagination. <br /><br />I do scrawl a lot of maps during play on scraps of paper to show what positions people and objects are in when it's necessary to do so. noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-22878015796674321842017-04-18T04:10:24.932+08:002017-04-18T04:10:24.932+08:00I wonder if the proliferation of useless RPG maps ...I wonder if the proliferation of useless RPG maps owes something to the use of miniatures. In that sense, it might be a bit of a hangover from RPGs' wargaming origins.<br /><br />While I'm keen on the use of miniatures in some games (especially Tales of Blades and Heroes, which I've run with great success for my kids and their friends), I increasingly think that they're a constraining factor in all kinds of ways: cramping scales by limiting things to the size of the tabletop; limiting the GM's imagination to the available models (even if subliminally and irrationally); and entailing a huge amount of NPCs and stuff (e.g. for a fight in a crowded marketplace). <br /><br />Tales of Blades and Heroes - an RPG that draws on a very cleverly designed skirmish wargame - gets round all this by working from the miniatures up; you pick a model and design a character to fit it, rather than the customary opposite process. But for D&D-style games, the use of miniatures rather highlights the game's roots in a long-outdated wargame - obsolete maps and all.JChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17964744140140515737noreply@blogger.com