Free Map(s) 12-14

Instead of one free map, this week I am putting up a trio of free maps.

Why?

Because they are all rather simple variations of a single theme: ambushes.

Last week's free map as a twofer encounter map, with the second encounter being a potential setup for the next encounter. That next encounter could either come across as a wandering monster encounter or it could be an ambush, all depending on how the party performed previously.

Further along in the natural cave/tunnel complex there is a large chamber with various stalagmites and outcropping columns. A large band of monsters is on patrol through the area and would normally encounter the party at a reasonable range....possibly being surprised. If this group was alerted to the PC's presence they'd hide behind the various nooks & crannies to ambush the party.

This map is also good just to plop down in front of your players for absolutely no reason at all....except to keep them on their toes.

This map is a real simple trail map for when the party comes out of the caves. While I clearly remember this encounter, the setup was quite a bit on the simple side. There are realistically only 3 options for the party, and all are designated with arrows.

I like this map because it is extremely simple. The idea wasn't to plot everything out but instead just make a simple recording of options that could help the GM run the encounter on the fly. This map was never intended to be shown to the players, hence the rather simple layout.

Think of it as a slightly dressed-up flowchart.

I had just a little too much fun with this map. It was another doubling of encounters, this time an ambush and a trap. As you can see with the scale, it is a long map. The X's designated adversary locations. The party is travelling uphill and can see where the tree-line ends. Since the trees are growing smaller and are otherwise sparse they can also see the mound of dirt on the side of the road. As the party approaches, teams of crossbowmen pop-up and start peppering the party.

I try to teach my players the general rule when facing an ambush is to MOVE! If the party rushes forward they will probably fall into the pit (hence some clue with the visible mound of earth). If the party wades into the scrub to face off with the crossbowmen they'll probably prevail, but the last two in line will rush over to the mounds of sticks and light the signal fires.....

Free GM Resource: Papermau

This week's free GM Resource is another blog. I know....whoopitidoo, but please bear with me. Papermau is a blog about "Free Original and Exclusive Paper Models and the Best, Rare, and Unusual Free Papercrafts of all the World!"

While this is quite the tall order, I think Papermau nails it.

There are a ton of paper models plastered all over this blog. Roughly 1.27 bazillion of them are appropriate for RPG use. Sure, some might need to be re-scaled, but that is easily done when printing them out.

There are so many models to look at I decided to go ahead and post this a day early so you don't spend too much of your workday screwing around looking at all the goodies. Of course you can still choose to do so, but if you get busted hogging all of your company's bandwidth on paper model downloads....it isn't my fault.

Have fun!

Frugal GM Review: Into the Wilderness Map 0

This is a pretty cool preview map of Crooked Staff's Into the Wilderness line of maps. While it is intended to be an accurate overview of the Into the Wilderness line, it falls a bit flat.

Don't get me wrong, it is a good map, just not as good as the rest of the Into the Wilderness line.

This download consists of two files: a 10 page PDF and a 1000 pixel square jpeg. You essentially get this map in two ways. You can use the 150dpi jpg file for your virtual table-top programs or you can print the PDF out to use as a battlemat. If you go the battlemat route you'll need to print out six pages. A seventh page shows the other pages stitched together and has room to write some notes.

Four tiles together

The coolest thing about this map is that the large tile is seamless, so you can extend the map out as far
as you want. The map does a fairly good job of not looking too repetitious.

The worst thing about this map is a bit of a toss up. On one hand it isn't an accurate representation of the rest of the line because the other maps have options when it comes to the grid lines. On the other hand the JPG is only 150 dpi. The other maps in this line have a variety of grid options (square, hex, or none).

If you want to cut apart the individual PDF pages in Photoshop or the like you can get a 300 dpi map. Something like this I would love to have as part of my pre-made map arsenal, printed up on cardstock, or even vinyl, and laminated (or just protected with a clear vinyl cover sheet). I think I'd get a ton of mileage out of this at my table.

I also wish that there were some extra pages, even just minor strips, that could help transition this map

seamlessly with the other in the line. I one one other of the Into the Wilderness maps and while it is also high-quality, they don't fit together without extra work.  This is a minor quibble though and not really enough to downgrade the review.

Crooked Staff does have a Into the Wilderness Bundle with all 7 maps for $5.49. Totally worth it!

Map 011 With Example of Use (Two Encounters)

This week's free map is something I made up as a bit of a surprise in the middle of a tournament adventure. All of us, players and GMs alike, are creatures of habit. If you are able to see the habits that you and/or your players have formed, then you get to have a little fun at their expense.

Now I don't mean "Killer GM" fun, just a minor tweak or two to catch the players offside a bit.

You know.....like if you players always choose to take right turns when starting out a dungeon, you can work with that.

I know as a player that when the GM throws down a map, things just got "real". To this end I like to sometimes bring out map and/or prop pieces for no reason at all. Sure it can "waste" a little bit of table time, but when you put the players on alert when they aren't expecting it and then something doesn't happen..., well that is a teaching moment.

Normally in a tournament your encounters are somewhat spaced a bit. Throw down a map and the players are expecting to complete some challenge (combat, social, or trap) and move on. With this map I combined two encounters to help throw off the players just a wee bit.

On this map the players are travelling from right to left in an underground tunnel. The tunnel opens up and the players can make out a couple of things: a small pool of water with a post and rope leading into the water, a small tunnel at the back, and an awful stench near the entrance to the tunnel.

As the party checks things out they get attacked, which is the combat encounter. I used Stirges so the party would be engaged/grappled and not try to flee into the next encounter. When the battle was done the party has two options: try the water route or go along the side tunnel. The distance between the two pools was such that and average swimmer could just make it.

The stench? That is an olfactory marker for the inhabitant further along the cave system to know not to take the path. In the path are four Shriekers which cause such a ruckus that everyone knows there is someone at that spot. Setting off the Shriekers turns the next encounter from a combat where everyone can be surprised to an ambush that can really put the party at a disadvantage.

The players were only shown the right side of the map and they assumed that the encounter was pretty much done after defeating the Stirges......

Free GM Resource: Tales of the Grotesque and Dungeonesque

This week's Free GM Resource is a series, well a trio for now, of GM sourcebooks that seems like a huge yearly zine.

Called Tales of the Grotesque and Dungeonesque (say that 5 times fast), this annual compendium of "gothic fantasy" from Jack Shear comes from his blog of the same name.

These three sourcebooks are intended to be used in a custom game setting outlined in the first book, but they are filled with all kind of goodies you can use in any FRPG. Monsters, poisons, spells....you name it.

The first zine/sourcebook is 164 pages, the second is 118 and the third runs 112 pages. That is a ton of content. It took me quite a while just to skim the first volume and I want to go back and read it before moving on to the second, much less the third.

I'm not big on running a gothic campaign and there is pretty much no way I'd run this special setting, but there are lots of bits I will be using, like the "Random Weird Organization Generator" in the first volume. I'm going to put my players up against The Unutterable Cult Of Opheliacs and see how they fare.

Frugal GM Review: Dreamworlds Hex Tile Maps

This review is for the free Hex Tile Maps: Village and Roads Pack from Dreamworlds.

It is a representative example of their Hex Tile Maps line that costs between $1.99 and $6.99 (but most sets are $1.99).

This particular set consists of 20 hexagonal tiles, 5 pages of 4 tiles each. The tiles are about four inches across. The pages are A4 sized, so you'll have to re-size them when printing. Since I was going to have to re-size them anyway, I decided to reduce them in size about 50% and print them 6 to a sheet on 4" x 6" photo paper at the local store.

I was able to get a lot of these tiles made up for cheap this way. I spent less than $1.30 on a total of 60 printed tiles, which seemed pretty good to me. After mounting the pictures to some mat board I had I began the somewhat tedious process of cutting them out. Next time I think I'll mount them on a backing that is easier to cut out.

If printing them "full-size" I think I'd maybe go with some magnetic sheeting or something already suitably thick.

Realistically there are "only" 16 tiles in this set since one full page of tiles is blank. Of course, this isn't so much a stand-alone product, but a free addition to another set. The general idea is that these tiles are "random" and you can pretty much just put them together any which way to make a small village map. Most tiles of this nature are square, but Dreamworlds went with a hex shape.

The big difference between using squares and hexes are, of course, the addition of two more sides.

While this seems like a cool idea, in practice I think it detracts from the ability to easily create a random village. Most tiles have two or three roads that would connect to another tile. Two tiles have four roads connecting to other tiles.  With six-sided tiles this means that only 1/3 to 1/2 of the sides have to match up to other tiles. When laying out the tiles this meant I was spending more time trying to place tiles like a puzzle than I was simply putting them down.

Even though it seemed a bit "fiddly" to work with, I did enjoy the end result. A couple more tiles that had dead ends or more road connections would have been cool, but for the whopping $1.30 and supplies I already had......not complaining one bit. I might get one of the other sets and give it the same treatment.

Overall I thought this was an interesting new take on random map tiles and a pretty cool way to come
up with a quick village map. A few more tiles would really help round out this set. The 75 tile set that this is an expansion of is the most expensive of the set, but it is also the largest by far.











PS. My cat liked them as well!

Katie goes on a rampage.

Free Map 010

This week's free map is the second level of the eeeeeeevil temple from last week. The second floor is the private residence of the Head Priest and his personal guards.

There isn't a lot to this map.........

Like last week, the example given has numbered areas that aren't on the bigger version.

Hmmmm.....figures I've just noticed now that there is an error with the map. I'll leave it to you to notice it or not.....

Free GM Resource: Sketchup & Mr. Hook's GENERICA Project

Today's Free GM Resource is a bit of a twofer, depending on your point of view.

First up is the popular, free, 3D rendering program. Yes, there is a paid Pro version, but the basic version is still free for non-commercial use. You can get SketchUp for downloading here.

For a few folks, SketchUp might be the ultimate in mapping. Even I have to admit that being able to render a map in 3D is wicked cool. I've seen some game products done in SketchUp in a style that makes it look like it was drafted by hand and given an artist's once-over.

Me....I'm a bit too lazy to play with SketchUp, at least for now. I have enough problems mapping in 2D, much less in 3D. Given my predilection for using the computer to stitch together assorted map parts you'd think this would be the perfect thing for me.

I can, however totally get behind SketchUp if I get to download some wonderful renderings that other people have already created, which is really my main point in today's post. Mr. Hook, a graphic designer/illustrator from Nebraska, put together an awesome sampling of 3D RPG renderings. He calls it his GENERICA Project and I think the results are amazing. I'm only going to share one picture of his work, the quintessential tavern:

Seriously, don't you want to start off your adventure in a place like this? Since it is 3D you can move about the space virtually and change things however you want. Too many tables? Easily fixed. Needs a larger fireplace....done.

Even if you don't want to make your own models, I think you'll get a ton of mileage out of SketchUp and Mr. Hook's GENERICA Project files.