Terrain height and open air terrain
Aug 16, 2014 13:19:24 GMT
DMScotty, tauster, and 5 more like this
Post by sal on Aug 16, 2014 13:19:24 GMT
Hi All,
Been looking at everyone's great work, lots of inspirational stuff.
I am a disciple of the DMG's modular dungeon terrain, pretty much made everything that has featured in the first 40 or so videos. I started with the dungeon pieces, but with a more define grid which was used in combat etc. Then when the cave modules came up we went gridless, it worked very well as I'm sure you have all experienced, just a small 1m retractable tape measure that also has inches (makes it a lot easier than tying to constantly convert between logical and idiot - aka imperial - units).
We actually had a player join the group right around that point and when we moved back into the dungeon she was a bit confused about how to move and preferred using the tape (diagonals were a particular sticking point with the 1, 3, 4, 6 counting system from 3.5e). Anyway, the flexibility of gridless works well with our group - we have recently had another member join (2 sessions) and I'm sure she will have similar issues if we ever encounter a grid again.
Anyway, that's the intro, what I really came here to talk about was how I have tried to incorporate something resembling natural terrain. I enjoy trying to add the possibility of tactics being involved - cover, higher ground etc - something beyond how can I flank this guy and not get flanked. Also I had some story that fitted much better outside than in a dungeon, and just making a huge flat plain was a bit boring. So to break this wall of text, here is an image of what I have done, I will try to explain some of the details and reasons for choices I made (I apologise in advance if the images don't work properly, this is my first post).
Ok, so it looks huge. I don't knwo how to fix that just now. At least it makes the text look less daunting. As as you can see the base tiles are just flat squares (DMG would refer to them as 3x3 squares - 150x150 [actually 225x225 but that's a modification I have made to allow the grid to fit easier with walled dungeon tiles, I saw a similar idea mentioned around here]) of double walled corrugated cardboard. Then I have just used layers of 1mm thick corrugated card to indicate the contours of the landscape - I have only made the most basic shapes at present, mainly straight sections. Eventually I aim to have more convex corners, introduce concave corners, stand alone mounds (you can see a very small one just next to the pool) and also depressions that could have water or similar below ground level.
Each contour (layer of 1mm card) indicates a rise of 5ft, so it is vertically very compressed, which was my aim as my group has found the 2.5d extremely convenient as everyone can see what's going on and there are no areas where players can't see. The idea is that the actual contours aren't a hard 5 ft step, but like the contours on a map, an indication of the height at that particular point with the actual terrain sloping between the two heights. By this scale each contour piece represents a height increase of 20 ft (about 4mm), which is conveniently the same height as the double walled corrugated board I am using. This represents a 1:1 slope, or 5ft vertically for every 5ft horizontally at the join areas and varying depending on the horizontal distance across the rest of the piece. This is possibly a bit steep, but it's easier to say, that's 5ft up as the 5ft increment is fairly embedded in the rest of the system.
The contours all end at regular spacings: 25 (1"), 50 (2"), 75 (3") and 85mm for the lowest contour which lines up with the ends of where my walls would be for inside tiles, and means all the contours can join together to create larger spaces (reasonably) seamlessly.
It works quite well, it's a little annoying to set out (I think mainly because I haven't completed all the parts I want yet) and conveys natural hills and features while maintaining good playability. It gets a bit tight when trying to put a contour on either side of a base tile, and when they are offset it starts requiring non standard size base tiles to work nicely which is less neat than I would like.
Anyway, that's my contribution for now. I would like to post some more things I have made (even though most of them are copies of DMG), so potentially updates may be coming.
If anyone wants to know more let me know, and feedback would be much appreciated.
Craft on DMs, craft on.
PJ
P.S. I haven't proof read any of this, I should have gone to bed several hours ago, so please be distracted by this gratuitous tilt shift-esk setup shot.
Been looking at everyone's great work, lots of inspirational stuff.
I am a disciple of the DMG's modular dungeon terrain, pretty much made everything that has featured in the first 40 or so videos. I started with the dungeon pieces, but with a more define grid which was used in combat etc. Then when the cave modules came up we went gridless, it worked very well as I'm sure you have all experienced, just a small 1m retractable tape measure that also has inches (makes it a lot easier than tying to constantly convert between logical and idiot - aka imperial - units).
We actually had a player join the group right around that point and when we moved back into the dungeon she was a bit confused about how to move and preferred using the tape (diagonals were a particular sticking point with the 1, 3, 4, 6 counting system from 3.5e). Anyway, the flexibility of gridless works well with our group - we have recently had another member join (2 sessions) and I'm sure she will have similar issues if we ever encounter a grid again.
Anyway, that's the intro, what I really came here to talk about was how I have tried to incorporate something resembling natural terrain. I enjoy trying to add the possibility of tactics being involved - cover, higher ground etc - something beyond how can I flank this guy and not get flanked. Also I had some story that fitted much better outside than in a dungeon, and just making a huge flat plain was a bit boring. So to break this wall of text, here is an image of what I have done, I will try to explain some of the details and reasons for choices I made (I apologise in advance if the images don't work properly, this is my first post).
Ok, so it looks huge. I don't knwo how to fix that just now. At least it makes the text look less daunting. As as you can see the base tiles are just flat squares (DMG would refer to them as 3x3 squares - 150x150 [actually 225x225 but that's a modification I have made to allow the grid to fit easier with walled dungeon tiles, I saw a similar idea mentioned around here]) of double walled corrugated cardboard. Then I have just used layers of 1mm thick corrugated card to indicate the contours of the landscape - I have only made the most basic shapes at present, mainly straight sections. Eventually I aim to have more convex corners, introduce concave corners, stand alone mounds (you can see a very small one just next to the pool) and also depressions that could have water or similar below ground level.
Each contour (layer of 1mm card) indicates a rise of 5ft, so it is vertically very compressed, which was my aim as my group has found the 2.5d extremely convenient as everyone can see what's going on and there are no areas where players can't see. The idea is that the actual contours aren't a hard 5 ft step, but like the contours on a map, an indication of the height at that particular point with the actual terrain sloping between the two heights. By this scale each contour piece represents a height increase of 20 ft (about 4mm), which is conveniently the same height as the double walled corrugated board I am using. This represents a 1:1 slope, or 5ft vertically for every 5ft horizontally at the join areas and varying depending on the horizontal distance across the rest of the piece. This is possibly a bit steep, but it's easier to say, that's 5ft up as the 5ft increment is fairly embedded in the rest of the system.
The contours all end at regular spacings: 25 (1"), 50 (2"), 75 (3") and 85mm for the lowest contour which lines up with the ends of where my walls would be for inside tiles, and means all the contours can join together to create larger spaces (reasonably) seamlessly.
It works quite well, it's a little annoying to set out (I think mainly because I haven't completed all the parts I want yet) and conveys natural hills and features while maintaining good playability. It gets a bit tight when trying to put a contour on either side of a base tile, and when they are offset it starts requiring non standard size base tiles to work nicely which is less neat than I would like.
Anyway, that's my contribution for now. I would like to post some more things I have made (even though most of them are copies of DMG), so potentially updates may be coming.
If anyone wants to know more let me know, and feedback would be much appreciated.
Craft on DMs, craft on.
PJ
P.S. I haven't proof read any of this, I should have gone to bed several hours ago, so please be distracted by this gratuitous tilt shift-esk setup shot.