Re: I Smell a Rat battle maps (spoilers)
 

I've been doing that for the GM in an online game I'm in.

It's been almost three weeks of play and we're still on the stairs, so I've got plenty of time... ;)

Re: I Smell a Rat battle maps (spoilers)
 

PbP is a little slow.

Re: I Smell a Rat battle maps (spoilers)
 

Sounds fantastic! I look forward to hearing about it when you're done.

On the bright side, we really did have a great time with the game. I honestly can't remember the last time I played an "impromptu" RPG. Usually there's all sorts of planning, prep, and scheduling negotiation. The players loved looking through the Delver's booklet and picked fun characters. Despite being new, they loved the idea of disadvantages.

I screwed up the combat rules in almost every possible way (I'm rusty) but nobody noticed. (Next time I get to tell Aelin that his frostbite spell *usually* takes three seconds to cast...) Come to think of it, maybe the spiders noticed, but they died before they could issue a complaint.

We're hoping to get a second session in later this week. Time to pull the old battlemat out of the garage and buy a new set of markers.

Re: I Smell a Rat battle maps (spoilers)
 

I know that the Powers That Be are watching these threads, so I hope that they make a special note that a battle map with visible secrets is.... useless might be a strong word, but another one doesn't leap to mind.

Re: I Smell a Rat battle maps (spoilers)
 

Yeah, I was confused as a veteran gamer. Admittedly, if I had prepared properly, I would have looked at the maps, realized the issue, and come up with a solution. First-time gamers, however, will assume (as they should) that all of the components of the set are intended to be used as-is. If there is no warning about covering up all the secret doors, then why would someone think to do that?

I picture DFRPG players doing something like what I did when I first played D&D back in 1980. We didn't realize that the map was only for the dungeon master, so we laid the map on the table and played our way through it. Whenever we stood near a secret door, we kept searching until we found it. Even in our youthful zeal, we knew something was wonky about that, but we had no idea what the "right" way to play was.

Re: I Smell a Rat battle maps (spoilers)
 

Same experience with the Red Box here - having nothing but board games to compare to, we assumed the map was a shared game board.

At this point I'm internalizing the maps as "lovely posters".

Re: I Smell a Rat battle maps (spoilers)
 

I was wondering about all the markings on the map. Well I have a Hex Grid Mat that I can use water based markers with. I'll have to use that. I could also whip up some dungeon tiles in CC3 as well.

Re: I Smell a Rat battle maps (spoilers)
 

Although we still don't have any idea what the intent was. How did they get used in the demo games?

Re: I Smell a Rat battle maps (spoilers)
 

In the private sessions at Gen Con, I folded over the map's edges to create a "fog of war." It helped a lot that the first exposure to the map was in area 1, with "Giant spiders want to eat you!" The fight distracted from some vaguely visible lines on the folded-over southern edge.

Players might have noticed exits to the south. However, the heroes hadn't explored the room yet, so the players had no idea whether those exits were meant to be obvious. They wanted to search the room for secrets regardless, so it's possible they assumed the hint of exits to the south was meant to be obvious and they were looking for other ways out. Nobody said, "I search the south wall here and here," or even "I search the south wall"; they just searched.

Of course, my philosophy as a GM is that even if you, the player, know there's a door at X or these special vampires don't like cheese – because you read ahead or peeked at a map – your character doesn't know that until you've made the right rolls for it. That's why the adventure notes: "If the GM sees obvious signs that somebody has read ahead (anticipating every secret is a big clue) . . . well, this is a game. The GM can play, too. Tougher monsters and skill penalties – and swapping a few of the surprises – should keep things challenging!" It's also the reason for Monsters and Player Knowledge (Monsters, p. 5).

Re: I Smell a Rat battle maps (spoilers)
 

I'm re-reading the scenario in preparation of this weekends adventures and hit something that I noticed before but assumed there would be a good reason for it and forgot about it until now.

3a is described as covered in mortar and slime.

Since the rest of the map is on the inside, who mortared it over? And did so long enough ago that it has re-slimed? Merle hasn't been gone all that long.

If I were asked this, I'd shrug and say "I don't know. How could that happen?" and let them investigate further (if they really want to know) and maybe find out one of Merle's associates sealed him in as part of a grander plan.