Tokuriku
September 3rd, 2007, 03:46
I am one of those GM's that like to use the visual aspects of FGII a lot. Be it for images, vistas, portraits or maps. As the title of this post suggests, I'll be talking about maps here.
I find a lot of good points about maps and/or battlemaps but there are some points I'd like to address and see if a comfortable solution can be found.
Don't get me wrong, I REALLY like the way maps work to give a good battle ground for encounters. One thing that resonates out of using them is that, once you start using a couple good ones and your characters go somewhere unexpected, then you have to draw one on the go within FG wich leaves a sense of lacking even to the most comprehensive players. The other pending of that is that when you have a great map to show, then the players have a feeling that they are not in control of their character's action (since they got where the GM wanted them to).
Well with any adventure, once the players agree to go to some place, then the "BIG" important maps can be used without them feeling out of control. As for the maps on the fly, I tend to use generic maps, be it only a background of grass for outdoor encounters and a wooden floor background for inside stuff. I can draw walls and important stuff over that using the built in FG options. This way, the visual aspect of the game is not interrupted.
Now, one of the major problems I have with maps of enclosed environments is the following. Back when I played on Tabletop, I could describe the rooms and encounters to the players... even draw the room on a battlemat or something but I never gave the "big pcture". I always let a player be the mapper for the group. This was part of the intresic aspets of a game. Some feel it as more ritualistic and for some, it helps them sink in the universe better. Whatever it was, it was for sure a part of what roleplaying is as much as getting rewards after a mission or finding a new magical item, etc... If the player handling it made mistakes, it could bring interesting situations. The players had to describe the way to get back out of places. And the GM could use it for evolving (changing) environments like sliding doors and corridors and stuff.
Is there anyone with some advise to bring this back to my now "Virtual" Table.
I find a lot of good points about maps and/or battlemaps but there are some points I'd like to address and see if a comfortable solution can be found.
Don't get me wrong, I REALLY like the way maps work to give a good battle ground for encounters. One thing that resonates out of using them is that, once you start using a couple good ones and your characters go somewhere unexpected, then you have to draw one on the go within FG wich leaves a sense of lacking even to the most comprehensive players. The other pending of that is that when you have a great map to show, then the players have a feeling that they are not in control of their character's action (since they got where the GM wanted them to).
Well with any adventure, once the players agree to go to some place, then the "BIG" important maps can be used without them feeling out of control. As for the maps on the fly, I tend to use generic maps, be it only a background of grass for outdoor encounters and a wooden floor background for inside stuff. I can draw walls and important stuff over that using the built in FG options. This way, the visual aspect of the game is not interrupted.
Now, one of the major problems I have with maps of enclosed environments is the following. Back when I played on Tabletop, I could describe the rooms and encounters to the players... even draw the room on a battlemat or something but I never gave the "big pcture". I always let a player be the mapper for the group. This was part of the intresic aspets of a game. Some feel it as more ritualistic and for some, it helps them sink in the universe better. Whatever it was, it was for sure a part of what roleplaying is as much as getting rewards after a mission or finding a new magical item, etc... If the player handling it made mistakes, it could bring interesting situations. The players had to describe the way to get back out of places. And the GM could use it for evolving (changing) environments like sliding doors and corridors and stuff.
Is there anyone with some advise to bring this back to my now "Virtual" Table.