D&D General Dungeon Mag vs TftYP Hill Giant Steading (Spoilers)

[DND_Reborn]

It's true that your "see-through" icons (more correctly reflect the actual size of the creatures, rather than just their spacing) make it not quite so bad. And yes, story-wise it's a feast, so the hall might OUGHT to be crowded. (I really do like your maps. I'm jealous, really, I do what I can with Excel and MS Paint).

It also doens't help how 'dinky' the TFtYP map's furnishings are, either... your tables are so much better.

I would love to take credit for the maps but I bought them online. There is a link here: Jon Pintar - Against the Giants Realistic VTT Maps

But it say $0, so I don't know about that... I paid a bit for mine, but it was pretty cheap IIRC.

Otherwise, I do all my mapping in Powerpoint using tokens/icons I find online for free. Powerpoint can set any color to transparent and the outline box (usually red) helps denote the occupied space for a creature. You can even use Powerpoint to create a fog of war if you want to take the bit of time to prep it.

If you have powerpoint, I have the files for the Fire Giant still and the lower level of the Frost Giants, but the others got lost sadly. Let me know and I'll upload them and PM you the link.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I would love to take credit for the maps but I bought them online. There is a link here: Jon Pintar - Against the Giants Realistic VTT Maps

But it say $0, so I don't know about that... I paid a bit for mine, but it was pretty cheap IIRC.

Otherwise, I do all my mapping in Powerpoint using tokens/icons I find online for free. Powerpoint can set any color to transparent and the outline box (usually red) helps denote the occupied space for a creature. You can even use Powerpoint to create a fog of war if you want to take the bit of time to prep it.

If you have powerpoint, I have the files for the Fire Giant still and the lower level of the Frost Giants, but the others got lost sadly. Let me know and I'll upload them and PM you the link.

I've never used powerpoint. I'm relatively technology-ignorant compared to most you'll find here. For a guy running PBP on this website (for the last four years or so), I do most of my gaming at work (I own a comic and game store) and mostly theatre-of-the-mind (though I have a lot of minis, too.) Thanks for the offer, though!

 

[Shiroiken]

Really? It says 10 on it. Is the original larger? (I mean, obviously that would help a lot.) I admit, the first one looks more like the giants are having a party, which is what both descriptions suggest is going on at the time.

For Steading, it's not quite so bad. If you try Glacial Rift you must increase the spacing, as most locations the frost giants couldn't even reach by squeezing. Hall is better, but also comes off really crowded. I personally suggest 15 squares, since it matches the original intent from 1E.

 

[DND_Reborn]

For Steading, it's not quite so bad. If you try Glacial Rift you must increase the spacing, as most locations the frost giants couldn't even reach by squeezing. Hall is better, but also comes off really crowded. I personally suggest 15 squares, since it matches the original intent from 1E.

Yeah, there were some areas and especially tunnels in the frost giant rift that the giants would have to use the squeezing through rules to move through them, and some were only 5-feet so they couldn't even then.

I never changed scales and made it work, though.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

For Steading, it's not quite so bad. If you try Glacial Rift you must increase the spacing, as most locations the frost giants couldn't even reach by squeezing. Hall is better, but also comes off really crowded. I personally suggest 15 squares, since it matches the original intent from 1E.

I can see how in my above TftYP examples, using 15-foot squares would make everything easier - and Giant-Sized! (The giants would fit perfectly in the squares, and anything smaller would have to content themselves with fitting in partial squares, which could help to make you feel tiny.)

Does anyone here remember the 4e Dungeon Mag version fondly? I've been reading them side-by side, and if we move on from the maps/spacing issues, I actually like the Dungeon one for some of its improvements to the story. This surprised me. (I am somewhat neutral in the Edition Wars - I liked 4e, but I agree with a number of criticisms against it - still, story is not generally what the edition is remembered for!)

It was "reimagined" for 4e from the original Gygax by Chris Perkins. IMO, he did a bang-up job.

Another question: I don't have the original. How does the 5e one compare to that? Is it pretty much just a simple straight conversion?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Using an outsized grid is a great way to create the effect of giant sized. Or the PCs are really tiny. "No, your character only occupies a ninth of the grid square."