Square Megahexes

[JLV]

For those of you reading the forum here for a while, you may remember that I mentioned something called "Square Megahexes a while back that seemingly confused a lot of people. The sad part was that I couldn't remember who had done them or where you could find them on the web.

Well, over on Brainiac.com, Craig Barber mentioned that he'd created them a while back -- so Craig's the man! And here are the links he posted on the TFT Wiki quite some time ago:

TFT Wiki, Game Aids

You'll note that he provided two sizes; 3/4-inch and one-inch hexes you can work with.

These would be very helpful when mapping linear objects such as buildings. All you have to do is remember which hex is the actual target hex of an area effects spell (a "spell marker" becomes a useful thing) and then recognize that a megahex area of effect means it affects all adjacent hexes, two megahexes means that it affects all adjacent hexes and all hexes adjacent to them, and so on...

Thanks Craig, for providing the links!

[Jim Kane]

Originally Posted by JLV

For those of you reading the forum here for a while, you may remember that I mentioned something called "Square Megahexes a while back that seemingly confused a lot of people. The sad part was that I couldn't remember who had done them or where you could find them on the web.

Well, over on Brainiac.com, Craig Barber mentioned that he'd created them a while back -- so Craig's the man! And here are the links he posted on the TFT Wiki quite some time ago:

TFT Wiki, Game Aids

You'll note that he provided two sizes; 3/4-inch and one-inch hexes you can work with.

These would be very helpful when mapping linear objects such as buildings. All you have to do is remember which hex is the actual target hex of an area effects spell (a "spell marker" becomes a useful thing) and then recognize that a megahex area of effect means it affects all adjacent hexes, two megahexes means that it affects all adjacent hexes and all hexes adjacent to them, and so on...

Thanks Craig, for providing the links!

Now THAT is clever!

Cool concept. Seems to be a very creative and logical extension of the unique hex map provided in TFT: Security Station. This would also be a great way to render some classic Gygax dungeon designs in the TFT-style.

Great post JLV !

JK

[JLV]

Give the credit to Craig Barber -- he's the guy who did the work!

Frankly, when I first saw it a few years back, I had one of those (very frequent in my life) "D'oh moments" -- it was so simple and patently obvious an idea that I can't for the life of me figure out why I didn't invent it myself! But while I didn't, I recognize brilliance when I see it (for the most part), and this idea was simply brilliant.

I sincerely hope that Steve adopts it for the "mapping" portion of the ITL revision; it would enormously simplify mapping buildings and the classic "Moria-like" straight tunnels of Gygax's dungeons! But even if he doesn't, it's available for all of us who care to use it.

And, your point about Security Station is another D'oh moment for me; OF COURSE it is similar in concept, and may have even been inspired by SS. (Craig would have to answer that one, but even if it wasn't, it wouldn't be the first time that two great minds have reached a similar conclusion.) Now why didn't I notice that myself? ;-)

[Jim Kane]

Originally Posted by JLV

Give the credit to Craig Barber -- he's the guy who did the work!

Frankly, when I first saw it a few years back, I had one of those (very frequent in my life) "D'oh moments" -- it was so simple and patently obvious an idea that I can't for the life of me figure out why I didn't invent it myself! But while I didn't, I recognize brilliance when I see it (for the most part), and this idea was simply brilliant.

I sincerely hope that Steve adopts it for the "mapping" portion of the ITL revision; it would enormously simplify mapping buildings and the classic "Moria-like" straight tunnels of Gygax's dungeons! But even if he doesn't, it's available for all of us who care to use it.

And, your point about Security Station is another D'oh moment for me; OF COURSE it is similar in concept, and may have even been inspired by SS. (Craig would have to answer that one, but even if it wasn't, it wouldn't be the first time that two great minds have reached a similar conclusion.) Now why didn't I notice that myself? ;-)

Well, if it were not for you seeing the value in it, AND, doing the good TFT-family member thing by passing the word here, I would never had awareness of it; and I think it is a boon to TFT-style mapping.

As to why you didn't think of it yourself... who knows? Maybe you were busy being brilliant in some other area of TFT refinement; of which you share so many of your interesting and worthy ideas here.

Thanks again for sharing JLV - We would be lesser of a community without your POSITIVE and CONSTRUCTIVE input.

JK

[Rick_Smith]

Hi everyone.
I've never felt the need for these. When I want things to run on right angles (like inside square buildings), I run the walls along the alternate hex grain so many hexes are cut in half.

Then any one in a half hex is given -2 DX for a crowded hex. Other things give the same penalty, if you are fighting in a hex with a sofa the hex is crowded. If you are in a small room and are crammed between a table and a wall, the hex may be crowded.

Warm regards, Rick.

[JLV]

Personally, I find these a much better solution than to come up with "special case" rules and exceptions for everything.

Simpler is better.

[tbeard1999]

Originally Posted by JLV

For those of you reading the forum here for a while, you may remember that I mentioned something called "Square Megahexes a while back that seemingly confused a lot of people. The sad part was that I couldn't remember who had done them or where you could find them on the web.

Well, over on Brainiac.com, Craig Barber mentioned that he'd created them a while back -- so Craig's the man! And here are the links he posted on the TFT Wiki quite some time ago:

TFT Wiki, Game Aids

You'll note that he provided two sizes; 3/4-inch and one-inch hexes you can work with.

These would be very helpful when mapping linear objects such as buildings. All you have to do is remember which hex is the actual target hex of an area effects spell (a "spell marker" becomes a useful thing) and then recognize that a megahex area of effect means it affects all adjacent hexes, two megahexes means that it affects all adjacent hexes and all hexes adjacent to them, and so on...

Thanks Craig, for providing the links!

Give that man a golf clap. That's pretty slick. I abandoned megahexes fairly early on and imposed the rule "half hexes are playable; partials are not". But if you're gonna use megahexes, this is a great accomodation for square rooms and corridors.

[Falstaffe1965]

Actually, an even better way to map buildings for TFT would be to use squares instead of hexes, but offset every other row (like bricks in a wall) so it follows the same pattern as hex-grain, but has convenient right angles.

[JLV]

Originally Posted by Falstaffe1965

Actually, an even better way to map buildings for TFT would be to use squares instead of hexes, but offset every other row (like bricks in a wall) so it follows the same pattern as hex-grain, but has convenient right angles.

Perhaps, but that was always so jarring visually that it tended to break the spirit of adventure so key to playing an RPG -- at least for my group. And besides, this is just such an elegant solution that allows you to retain the hex grid for facing and combat purposes. The squares you advocate always seemed to create facing problems and range arguments for a lot of the more...um..."lawyerly" players in the group (with apologies to Ty -- you know what I mean, Ty, "rules lawyers" who always want to argue about the meaning of footnote 32 on page 96 of D&D Players' Manual...)

[tbeard1999]

Originally Posted by JLV

Perhaps, but that was always so jarring visually that it tended to break the spirit of adventure so key to playing an RPG -- at least for my group. And besides, this is just such an elegant solution that allows you to retain the hex grid for facing and combat purposes. The squares you advocate always seemed to create facing problems and range arguments for a lot of the more...um..."lawyerly" players in the group (with apologies to Ty -- you know what I mean, Ty, "rules lawyers" who always want to argue about the meaning of footnote 32 on page 96 of D&D Players' Manual...)

No problem. The term is reasonably applied. I agree with you; there was something about staggered squares that bugged me and my players. I can't really explain it.

Another option - just a thought, really - would be to use a "hexagonal lattice" - what you'd get if you removed the hexes but left the center points (Ala Battlesuit, an early SJG effort).

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...attice.svg.png

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexagonal_lattice

The result is exactly the same regarding movement, but the hex grid isn't there to distract. Of course, it's unfamiliar and might create other issues. Dunno how to do megahexes though.