Corpses on the battlefield = difficult terrain?

[Kaledor]

Do you keep track of fallen enemies on the battlefield map?

If so, why? If not, why not?

Normally, we just make the bodies vanish off the map -- it would get too cluttered. But in my online game we have a digital map and it is very easy to keep track of anything on the board with different layers and masks. So, we were thinking of keeping bodies on the map and making them difficult terrain.

Thoughts?

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

The Rumble macros in Maptool move the dead to the background layer, so you can still see them. In fact getting rid of them is fairly annoying. The rules really say nothing about what corpses do as terrain. Generally we just ignore them since otherwise a lot of fights would bog down. OTOH if there were many bodies or say huge monsters then I may designate them as difficult terrain. I might even allow them to be blocking terrain or grant cover (a huge dragon say). OTOH usually the battle is about over when it is littered with huge dragons...

 

[Dice4Hire]

Sure, it could add to the combat. But only if it is worth the effort. I suppose Monster tokens could be a good way to mark where they have fallen if you use minis.

 

[Dice4Hire]

The Rumble macros in Maptool move the dead to the background layer, so you can still see them. In fact getting rid of them is fairly annoying. The rules really say nothing about what corpses do as terrain. Generally we just ignore them since otherwise a lot of fights would bog down. OTOH if there were many bodies or say huge monsters then I may designate them as difficult terrain. I might even allow them to be blocking terrain or grant cover (a huge dragon say). OTOH usually the battle is about over when it is littered with huge dragons...

Huge Dragon minions......

 

[Chronosome]

My groups have been doing this for many an edition. We usually draw individual stick figures or an "X" on the battlemat to mark the fallen, and it has never been a hassle (to the players, anyway). If anything, the representations make the battlefield more dynamic and remind players of the carnage a fight produces for the story.

 

[On Puget Sound]

With the kind of attacks that get thrown around, from raging barbarians with execution axes to giant balls of magical flame, who's to say that a corpse stays in the square it died in? Or, for that matter, stays in a single square? Results could range from "vaporized - no terrain effect" to "splattered - pieces litter a burst 1, difficult terrain" to "thin red paste - entire map is affected as by a grease spell".

I sense a random table coming, time to make 27 more results because this d30 has to be good for something.

 

[Incenjucar]

With the kind of attacks that get thrown around, from raging barbarians with execution axes to giant balls of magical flame, who's to say that a corpse stays in the square it died in? Or, for that matter, stays in a single square? Results could range from "vaporized - no terrain effect" to "splattered - pieces litter a burst 1, difficult terrain" to "thin red paste - entire map is affected as by a grease spell".

I sense a random table coming, time to make 27 more results because this d30 has to be good for something.

Clearly there needs to be a "Results of Death" TCG so you can draw the result from a deck, complete with an illustrative picture. And "Vaporized" could easily be a zone that obscures for a round.

 

[jcayer]

Before we went digital, it was a running joke that any dead creature on the map would be coming back. And it was true.

Being digital, we leave them and in most cases, call them difficult terrain. The options to trip/slip, etc in that square are the reason.

 

[KarinsDad]

We often have Large and larger sized creatures as difficult terrain.

The thought is that Medium and smaller sized creatures can easily be stepped over, even in combat, not so for larger creatures.

 

[Arlough]

For me, it totally depends on the encounter. If I think it will make it more fun, then I will leave the bodies on the field as either difficult or challenging terrain. If it is more likely to be annoying accounting, then all bodies vanish until battle is resolved.
I do let my players know, though, by telling them why the tokens are left on the field, and usually at least hint at what the penalties are.