How to run mass ariel combat? (and P-Kitty is EVIL)

[d12]

Use a grid and miniatures as normal. A very large grid - such as a "Battlemat" from Chessex (?) works best.

Next to each miniature place a d10. The numbers on the d10 represent #of feet (x10) the character is in the air. If your battle needs to go beyond 100 feet in the air then use percentile dice in the same fashion. If a character moves up or down in elevation as part of their move then change the number on their die accordingly. Approximate "diagonal" movement (such as dives) as well as you can.

My group did this when when the characters came across a group of 14 Spider-Eater riders in a cavern and it worked quite well.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Ah, you're all just evil. Beware, you've now run afowl Lela!

A fine feathered fiend, no doubt!

We've used the clear plastic dice cases some dice come in (about 1" square and 3" high) to elevate minis above the mat. Add a die to keep track of altitude -- use 5' increments rather than actual feet -- and you're set.

Make sure you're familiar with the rules -- aprticularly the maneuverability class ones about turning, hovering, and minimum forward speed.

Instead of counting "squares" moved, count cubes -- down or up one 5' cube counts as 5' of movement, alternating diagonals 5'/10' just like you do on a 2D mat. It's a simplification, but easy enough to keep up with. For example, with a 60' fly speed at 10' altitude, a creature might go 30' forward, climb diagonally up two cubes (another 15' moved; 10' foward and now at altitude 20'), and turn 90 degrees and fly another 15'.

 

[howandwhy99]

A E R I A L, perhaps?

 

[xrpsuzi]

I'm not quite looking for rules, those seem straightforward enough. It's the 3rd demmension of movement I'm wondering about. Minitures don't quite work the same.

Also, what are some ideas for Mass combat in general. I do have army men I can throw out, if I need them.

Any ideas?

Well, for combat in the air, we use our regular figurines, but we take mah jong titles and stack them under the characters to represent how high up we are. If we share the same space, but are at different heights, my DM says, "Write it down so you don't forget," and we stack the figurines on top of each other.

For BIG aerial combats, it's through narrative directions b/c it's hard to map something when people are over 200 feet away from each other in the lateral direction.

For Mass combat.. chess peices or mah jong tiles. Our DM just finished taking us through Against the Giants.... it's no fun when he stacks the mah jong tiles together and says "This is one creature....."

Hope this helps,

suzi

 

[Piratecat]

Like Olgar, we use clear plastic dice boxes for someone who is flying. Alternatively, when people are at different heights, we sometimes use kitchen glasses (the glass ones, obviously) as figurine stands to designate low, medium and high relative heights and relative positions on the battlefield.

If I had a lot of people to track and I actually wanted accurate movement, I'd use the battlemap for relative position horizontally. I'd then grab a piece of graph paper, make something looking like graph axes from math class, and make the vertical axes "height" with a 10' scale. I'd then use that to quickly and roughly track each individual's height above the ground.

Example: Gleep Wurp is 40' above the ground, and the eeevil wizard is 150' high and 70' away horizontally. I'd put the figures 70' from each other on the battlemap (maybe putting the evil wizaqrd figurine on a glass), and place a "GW" in pencil at my graph's 40' mark. I'd put an "EW" on the graph's 150' mark. When Gleep flew upwards 90', I'd erase the previous "GW" and scribble it in at the 130' mark on the graph while moving the figurine and its glass stand horizontally.

If you do decide to use this system, for the love of God don't get bogged down in it. It's only useful for tracking lots of people, and you shouldn't worry about the specifics too much. Graphing things is boring for players and officially Not Fun, so don't take up too much time. A better alternative might just be to make notes of peoples' heights on a piece of paper, and try to describe the action so well that no one complains about any inconsistencies. It's what I do!

 

[Rel]

Like Olgar, we use clear plastic dice boxes for someone who is flying.

I'd never have guessed this technique is so common. We use it too. You can place an "altitude indicator die" under the dice box so that it isn't taking up extra space on the mat. Just be careful that the die doesn't tumble over if you slide the box across the mat.

If you do use kitchen glasses then you probably won't be able to read the die if you place it under the glass. But the base of the glass will also probably be broad enough to place the die on top of it beside the figure.