This is the recent GAMEMASTERY flip-mat that I'm referring to.

Bought one?

Thought about it?

IF you have one or have seen it......

From the point of view of a Player Character group"

How would you defend that place? Provision it ? How many guards ? and where?

From the other side -

If your adventuring group had to take it or invade it - What would be your plan of attack ?


IF You are a DM/GM; What kind of ideas does that place give you ? (...beyond just using it for a combat encounter...) Could that location be used as a base of operations for a long-running campaign ? Or maybe the headquarters/lair of a major bad guy NPC?


- Ed C.

If you haven't seen it in-person, I was referring to this flip-mat:





- Ed C.

ooooooooo Nice! Although the catapult in the towers are a bit silly.

As for a plan of attack burn it if you don't want to keep it otherwise go for the gate.

Holy shit, this is exactly what our GM drew out for us last weekend when we started our Kingmaker game.

I don't remember any catapults being mentioned though.

Quote from: estar;372490ooooooooo Nice! Although the catapult in the towers are a bit silly.

As for a plan of attack burn it if you don't want to keep it otherwise go for the gate.

Spoiler: Burning it down is exactly what the bandits threaten to do to it.  Players are generally expected to protect this place.  It's just a dinky little outpost in the middle of nowhere.  

We ambushed the six bandits by having the owner invite them right through the open gate.  Threat contained, one prisoner, rest dead.  We have to hunt down the rest of their gang before they realize their friends didn't return and they come to rush the place.

We're thinking about just building onto the place and investing in some actual stone walls.  We need way more buildings than what's in there now.  We're getting four guard brought in, but the whole damn thing is made of wood and none of us have the means to put the place out if it gets torched properly. end spoiler

While I can't find how to do it I believe that there are ways to prevent wooden forts from being burned easily. The chances that a random gang of bandits or monsters have oil or greek fire is not that good.  And if they do then you have issue that go far beyond what a wooden fort/castle is meant to handle.

Keep tubs of boiling water around as part of the defense. Not only it is nasty for the attackers it puts anything they try to do the fort.

The weak point and the one you should address immediately is the gate. You need to put a pair of flanking towers on either side. Otherwise a covered ram will make for a very bad day for your side.

Quote from: Koltar;372478IF You are a DM/GM; What kind of ideas does that place give you ? (...beyond just using it for a combat encounter...) Could that location be used as a base of operations for a long-running campaign ? Or maybe the headquarters/lair of a major bad guy NPC?

I hate it to "burn" expensive props in single combat encounters, so I'd make that place a recurring feature of the game world.

I'd use it as a waystation/way inn in an obviously rough area (or else there woudn't be any need for such heavy fortification). That way I could use it over and over again, each time the PCs have to travel through that area, meeting new folk with each visit, with the occasional brawl/combat/siege as an option.



That said, I have yet to see a Gamemastery map that truly grabs me and that would make me shelling out money.

Maybe it's the Uncanny Valley at work. The more the mapmakers try to be (photo)realistic, the more I find right angles and squares jarring - up to the point that  I am repulsed.

I am not at all against squared maps, as a means of abstraction. These maps work way better for me:





The lower one is a monastery on a mountain. The accompanying screen has a birds eye view that helps players to get the elevation of the place. Also, the adventure came with rooms as overlays for the big map (which ties neatly into the rant I did yesterday):

Yeah. The Catapult detail jumped at me too. Did they build them there? Are they just supposed to rotate on their axis? Where do you put you know... the guys it actually requires to be reloaded, fired and maneuvered? LOL Funny.

It's a pretty cool map, honestly.

I also concur with Rob's plan. You have the time to wait it out and don't care for the fort? You burn it. You are into more of a hurry, or care about seizing the castle? Get rid of the guys manning the catapults, battlement/crenellations, and ram me some gate!

I'm getting more use out of the reverse side, which is a nice generic field that I can do all kinds of things with. But I'm sure I'll use the fort someday, preferably as a recurring venue.

That map finally got use in my last two game sessions - and in a STAR TREK game too!

The planet that the crew of characters had to visit was called Neural. They were heading there to investigate loss of contact with a Federation reaearch and observation team. The scientists were strudying the native humanoids from a distance. The hill people villagers wore mostly sleeveless tops with leggings and furry boots. The Valley people wore long-sleeved white shirts and had dark hair.

Sound familiar?

Remember the TOS episode "A Private Little War"?

Yeah my players were visiting and investigating that planet. The fort/outpost map was used as a fortification that the valley people had set up with help from meddling pesky Klingons.

...and yes , my players had fun with the situation.

- Ed C.