pukunui
Legend
I certainly did notice that.
D&D 5E (2014) About to run Lost Mine of Phandelver & I have some questions. May contain spoilers.
- Thread starter painted_klown
- Start date
This is what I did as well, except I put Schley's unmarked maps in an app called "Lecture Notes" on my Android tablet, which allows for layers. Even though the tablet (a 10" one) isn't very big, it worked pretty well for most uses --- I scaled the "fog of war" layered map down when they were exploring, so they could see the map and then just zoomed in to about a 1" scale when they were in battle, so I could place the minis right on the tablet. The only problem was that metal minis would react with the touch surface, so we needed a transparent layer between the minis and the tablet.
Nebulous
Legend
So you used the tablet as the "board" to place the minis? Interesting. If the dang thing was just bigger....
I absolutely love maps and minis, but I tell you, it's hard printing off unique maps. I can usually get by with premade Paizo maps or just dry erase marker, but occasionally i like to go all out. Well, I would say often. 4th edition D&D, damn, I ran the first three official modules, Shadowfull/Thunderspire/Pyramid, and I had the entire things printed out to scale. Took forever.
I ALSO bought Mike Schley's maps. I printed Phandalin out on a little 4x6 print and let the players point where they wanted to go.
I printed Cragmaw castle and Cragmaw hideout on 4x6 also. That was a touch small as I needed really little cut out pieces of paper to cover up each room...
They were very pretty, though, and I think the players appreciated them. Perhaps this should be a hint to WOTC to have high quality map files available for their products?
I printed Cragmaw castle and Cragmaw hideout on 4x6 also. That was a touch small as I needed really little cut out pieces of paper to cover up each room...
They were very pretty, though, and I think the players appreciated them. Perhaps this should be a hint to WOTC to have high quality map files available for their products?
Nebulous
Legend
High quality maps already imaged at 5' scale for printing would be ideal. I never liked the little tiles they put out very much.
Lol, i printed Cragnmaw too and had it all ready to go, and then the party completely skipped it once there. They were standing right outside the castle and went on to Wave Echo Cave. Oh well. I still have a nice map.
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Yeah, the tablet works well for encounters in relatively small areas, but wouldn't work for very large ones... maybe there should be an app that can run on multiple tablets that allows you to place them in a grid and conveniently lets you display one map on all of them, using bluetooth. That actually seems feasible for an interested app coder. Maybe if I decide I'm looking for a new project. It seems more realistic that my friends and I would have four android tablets of the same dimensions than any one of us getting something larger.
When we play with minis, we don't play super tactically, we do a compromise with TotM, since I hate how the little details and technicalities slow the game down, but my players love the visual aid... we started off with TotM but they had a real rough time envisioning encounters without minis. So we don't measure or count much at all.
When we play with minis, we don't play super tactically, we do a compromise with TotM, since I hate how the little details and technicalities slow the game down, but my players love the visual aid... we started off with TotM but they had a real rough time envisioning encounters without minis. So we don't measure or count much at all.
Pickles JG
First Post
1) Our sessions are about "half length" at 2 hours less chat but while the smaller sections took 2 sessions & the later ones many more. After the first section things are not super linear & the second & third parts can overlap & you by no means have to complete all of part 3. You do need to be pretty familiar with all of those sections as the players can go in any direction. As I play short sessions I try to find out what the players are going to do next time so I can prepare that.
2) Nothing to add to the other great replies
3) If the players are using lights the goblin will almost certainly see them & can sneak off. If they sneak up on him it's best to roll his skills against their passive values - passive perception is called out but you can roll any active skill against a passive skill ie assume the passive party rolled a "10". You can roll the goblins stealth against the parties best passive perception & the goblins perception against their "passive stealth" if they are trying to be sneaky. This allows either party to spot the other & react, for both lots to spot each other at range or for them to blunder into one another close up. If the players are not being stealthy then the goblin will automatically spot them or maybe get advantage. Lot of discretion going on here & also my preference for only one side rolling dice in situations like this.
4) I play on google hangouts & I photographed bits of the map & shared them with the players. I have not done this for subsequent maps which are more complex. What usually happens now is I describe the situation & one of the players sketches it in paint or whatever the drawing app is. If he gets things badly wrong I can correct him. We don't really use it to move around on but it's far more effective in getting the situation across (a picture is worth a thousand words & all that).
(battle) Maps can enhance some encounters too but are not needed for most run of the mill slaughters.
2) Nothing to add to the other great replies
3) If the players are using lights the goblin will almost certainly see them & can sneak off. If they sneak up on him it's best to roll his skills against their passive values - passive perception is called out but you can roll any active skill against a passive skill ie assume the passive party rolled a "10". You can roll the goblins stealth against the parties best passive perception & the goblins perception against their "passive stealth" if they are trying to be sneaky. This allows either party to spot the other & react, for both lots to spot each other at range or for them to blunder into one another close up. If the players are not being stealthy then the goblin will automatically spot them or maybe get advantage. Lot of discretion going on here & also my preference for only one side rolling dice in situations like this.
4) I play on google hangouts & I photographed bits of the map & shared them with the players. I have not done this for subsequent maps which are more complex. What usually happens now is I describe the situation & one of the players sketches it in paint or whatever the drawing app is. If he gets things badly wrong I can correct him. We don't really use it to move around on but it's far more effective in getting the situation across (a picture is worth a thousand words & all that).
(battle) Maps can enhance some encounters too but are not needed for most run of the mill slaughters.
Nebulous
Legend
I know that large, thin tablets are around, but not really affordable for the consumer yet, but they will be. Eventually we'll be able to plug into a big table and never have to print anything again. AND it will have lighting effects and fogs of war.
I do like ToTM, and that's how we played for many, many years, but I just love the tactile details of minis and a map.
aramis erak
Legend
Samsung makes a 12" tablet... I keep hoping for the 20" eInk "newspaper" slates to be released.
Now, I've been printing maps off so that my 8mm cubes can fit in them (roughly 0.2" =5')
Guyanthalas
First Post
As an estimate on time, my players just finished the 4th session (4 hours a piece), and they just arrived at cragmaw castle. It depends on how long your sessions last, but I'd suggest you put a time constraint on them (which will inevitably be ignored) and start to look for a wrap up point (long rest, back to town, etc.) that will help end the day. Sometimes its unavoidable, but it helps us to have the timeline laid out. "Thursday from 5:30 - 8:30" (Note, that we've never actually wrapped up prior to 9).
My players DID actually climb up the chimney stack. Had to pull the rogue up, as she can't climb worth a darn.. but they used rope for that. They consumed all the mage's spells on the battle (sleep helped a lot), and took out the bugbear encounter right off. It was their first fight in the hideout actually, as the dwarf tamed the wolves using rations. It made going through the base backwards really easy for them (the traps don't spring), but I think that is a good reward for going up the chimney rather than the main route. Kuddos to them.
If they DID just leave, you could probably have a lot of people in town worried about Sildar. "What do you mean he's missing! Did the goblins take him? There have been a lot of goblins recently". Even if he's dead by the time they get back to the cave, at least they explore the whole thing.
Regarding maps, my players REFUSE theater of the mind. I'm unhappy with that decision, but the game is a cooperative effort and some compromises need to be made. In this case I've done what others have suggested and said "This is what you see, draw it if you wish". Also, I've printed out the artists work and cut them out into sections. They are too small to act as tiles, but they give people scale to draw on.
On a funny note, when you get to part 3 you might have to remind them about overland travel. The PC's bought 30 days of rations to go from Phandalin to Cragmaw Castle, then to Neverwinter. It took my players 6 in game days to get to Cragmaw castle from Phandalin. After the 3rd random encounter (feel free to read my Stirge posting) the rogue/map holder says: "Oh crap. I was reading the map wrong. Its not one day per hex is it..." Apparently they circled the castle about 2 times, and have plenty of food now.
My players DID actually climb up the chimney stack. Had to pull the rogue up, as she can't climb worth a darn.. but they used rope for that. They consumed all the mage's spells on the battle (sleep helped a lot), and took out the bugbear encounter right off. It was their first fight in the hideout actually, as the dwarf tamed the wolves using rations. It made going through the base backwards really easy for them (the traps don't spring), but I think that is a good reward for going up the chimney rather than the main route. Kuddos to them.
If they DID just leave, you could probably have a lot of people in town worried about Sildar. "What do you mean he's missing! Did the goblins take him? There have been a lot of goblins recently". Even if he's dead by the time they get back to the cave, at least they explore the whole thing.
Regarding maps, my players REFUSE theater of the mind. I'm unhappy with that decision, but the game is a cooperative effort and some compromises need to be made. In this case I've done what others have suggested and said "This is what you see, draw it if you wish". Also, I've printed out the artists work and cut them out into sections. They are too small to act as tiles, but they give people scale to draw on.
On a funny note, when you get to part 3 you might have to remind them about overland travel. The PC's bought 30 days of rations to go from Phandalin to Cragmaw Castle, then to Neverwinter. It took my players 6 in game days to get to Cragmaw castle from Phandalin. After the 3rd random encounter (feel free to read my Stirge posting) the rogue/map holder says: "Oh crap. I was reading the map wrong. Its not one day per hex is it..." Apparently they circled the castle about 2 times, and have plenty of food now.
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