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It seems like a while since we've brainstormed ideas for Map Packs and Flip Mats. I love the ones that have come out so far. How 'bout ideas for more!
Map Packs:
• Beaches wide enough for a landing encounter, with rocks and maybe some small boats and shipwrecks, sea caves, sand bar, reefs...
• Urban details that connect the other urban sets - avenues, parks, urban greenery like streets with trees, fountains, statues, monuments, wells, sewer grates/manhole covers, some residential units (huts and houses), shops, a burned out building, urban bridges over rivers, clock/bell towers, something that connects the village dirt roads to the city streets...
• City walls thick enough for people to walk on, city gates, urban on one side of the wall and dirt on the other (same dirt as village so you can put huts outside the city), broken sections of wall (otherwise the same as one of the whole sections so you swap it out after it falls), watch towers, siege weapons and defenses...
• Probably not a big enough theme for it's own set, but more rooftops for rooftop chases (Right now, I use several copies of one of the old Dungeon magazine village battle maps and cut out the buildings. I use them to cover other battle maps that have visible building interiors, or I just spread them out and do roofs only.) Maybe combine with residences and shops...
• Something between village and city, like a town set - buildings, but with dirt roads, plus one or two cards to connect to village or city (maybe THIS is the village/city transition I mentioned above)...
• A mine, with and without tracks, cave-ins, connects to the existing caves set...
• A river, 1- and 2-tile wide sections, a small dam, ambush spot on the banks, a place to ford the river, a bridge, a river boat, a pure water tile that could go between two bank tiles to actually make it 3-wide, rapids, a waterfall with a cave entrance that connects to caves, curves at 45º so rivers don't have to zigzag, at least one small building/hut on the banks with a dock...
• A huge, multi-leveled hollow tree (doesn't Magwani have giant mangroves?), maybe as part of an in-the-trees village/fort, tree-to-tree bridges, in-the-trees traps...
• Caves II and Dungeons II - Caves and Dungeons weren't my favorite sets, maybe because there just isn't enough variety, connections/transitions between sewer/dungeon, dungeon/cave, dungeons and caves and some of the existing big Flip Maps...
• The Sewers Pack just didn't work for me. Why not? Not sure, but maybe a Sewers II that increases the utility of those cards...
• A labyrinth where all the pieces have a opening in the middle of each side so it can be combined in multiple ways, a couple of rooms in the labyrinth and an entrance and exit (maybe several - wilderness, cave, dungeon, sewer)...
• Cliffs, canyons and gorges, cave/mine entrances, looooong rope bridges, ambush areas and places where the cliff trail gets REALLY narrow, ways to arrange them represent different altitudes on the same slope, a cliff dwelling, a waterfall, a way to represent both sides of a canyon, a monastery/shrine, a narrow pass to defend, an avalanche...
Flip Mats:
• A real slum, like the Maze in Sanctuary, with winding alleys and dead ends and narrow streets. The Slums Map Pack has nice cards, but the buildings are WAY to far apart to be a real slum, and the one alley we have so far is like two cards wide. I want skinny alleys, 10' or even 5'!
• A good underwater scene, one side ocean floor, one side with a ship wreck and/or some seafloor ruins (Maybe this would be a better Map Pack, or I really like the way that the new Waterfront Map Pack joins with the Water front tavern. Maybe a seafloor/coral reef Flip Mat with an adjoining Map Pack with underwater details)...
• Another combo idea - sky! A Flip Map with blue sky on one side and some clouds on the other, then a Map Pack with more clouds (white/gray/magical) and some structures built on clouds (a giant's castle maybe? a big bean stalk?), perfect for aerial encounters, maybe a few cliff cards and a big nest...
• I'd also really like a couple of whole ships, above deck only, to do ship-to-ship fighting. I could buy a couple of the Ship Flip Mats and cut them, but that's a lot of $ for something I'm only going to use part of. How about either a two ship (not very flexible) Flip Mat or 3 different ships ('cause that's how Flip Mats fold anyway) that the buyer could cut apart and use on the ocean side of the other ship Flip Mat (or just on blue paper), or maybe 2 big ships (2 panels each) and 2 small ships (1 panel each). They could have sea terrain - a reef or two (2 panels each - to create a channel), a big rock or an iceberg (1 panel), a floating structure (like an oil rig or an aquatic space station - 1 panel) - on the back
Misc.
• Is the current Map Card size the only option? 1/2 pieces (long-skinny or square) might be good for urban/dungeon/wilderness details or the modes of transportation cards I've always begged for. How would people feel about whole cards with 2 1/2 images printed on them for the buyer to cut in half?
• Issue with the Tavern Flip Map - I don't mind that the tavern is less-than the whole map, but I keep wanting to cut it so you can't see both floors at once - but I can't 'cause I don't want to loose the image on the other side. Maybe in the future make both sides match up so one can cut it? Or avoid less-than whole Flip Mat size images?
• I LOVE the idea of details/decor on small cards or clear plastic to use to spice up or modify existing cards. Spell effects, forest fires, fogs and walls, some way to add a secret door to an existing solid wall, traps, garbage to turn a nice street into a slum, a cave-in, treasure...
Anyway, just some ideas :)
Personally, I want the flip-mats more regularly used in other Pathfinder products. I so wanted the Keep flip mat to be Black Arrow Keep from Hook Mountain Massacre and was disappointed it wasn't. I saw the Desert Oasis flip mat is used in Jackal's Price, and immediately purchased it.
Nothing beats an elaborate, cool map with an elaborate, cool scenario written for it.
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This may sound weird, and maybe no one else will agree with me, but would it not be better for the flip-mats of buildings (especially taverns) be printed without furniture?
I suggest this because:
1.) It allows the DM to re-use the map for other purposes. A tavern could, instead, be a general store with stacks of crates and rows of shelves.
2.) The inevitable indoor combat. A DM could wipe-off and re-draw an overturned table, or place chair sideways on the other side of the room once it's been thrown at someone.
3.) It would reduce the number of snarky comments from players (i.e. "Did you ever notice how every temple has the exact same layout?")
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This may sound weird, and maybe no one else will agree with me, but would it not be better for the flip-mats of buildings (especially taverns) be printed without furniture?
I suggest this because:
1.) It allows the DM to re-use the map for other purposes. A tavern could, instead, be a general store with stacks of crates and rows of shelves.
2.) The inevitable indoor combat. A DM could wipe-off and re-draw an overturned table, or place chair sideways on the other side of the room once it's been thrown at someone.
3.) It would reduce the number of snarky comments from players (i.e. "Did you ever notice how every temple has the exact same layout?")
+1
I agree, Cuchulainn, maybe (if possible) Paizo or some other company could create print outs of furniture to be cut-out an placed on the mat. I know Rackham miniatures did this with their battle mat line before the company goofed.
Maybe this furniture (and other objects/terrain/obstacles) could be printed on transparent film/cel so that you can see the details of the mat underneath. They caould have a pretty drop-shadow to make it blend in more.
Actually, I'm going to make something like that for myself now!
Cheers! :D
Well, you guys are in luck. For the entire weekend of my attendance at PaizoCon, I will be accepting brief commissions for custom map tiles. For $25, I will design for you a custom 5" x 8" map tile using existing tile elements from previous Flip-Mat and/or Map Packs.
Some original content will need to be done for some, but I think you get the picture. I hold my own discretion to illustrate certain things within reason, but am open to whatever you bring to the table. Bring in your sketch, be it hand-drawn, previously inked by a chicken, or rough layout concept and I will make it into a map tile on site and deliver it to you on a CD for you to print. You will only receive the static file and are not allowed to sell it as your own work. Simple enough. I look forward to seeing you all there. Thanks!
P.S. I CANNOT accept credit cards.
Is their anyway that the a set of map packs could give the layout to a Hill Giant Stead? Would even be interested in the a Frost and Fire Giants areas. Also would be interested in seeing some sort of underdark city street maps, Drow, Duregar. LOVE the maps, keep putting them out and I'll keep getting them!
Oooh, fun:
- Second the sewers. I think I missed the original Sewers map pack, but I know when I've wanted to run sewers adventures in general I've been very disappointed by the lack of sewer maps out there, D&D or otherwise.
- Also second a giant lair
- Also second the Underdark city. WOW would that be fantastic.
- Twisty mountain pathways and terrain; ability to connect to the Mountain Pass flip mat a plus. There's gotta be a roc nest in there somewhere too.
- Mine shafts
- Dwarven undercity
- Gnome city, above and underground. Things like stuff built into hills and cool workshops and such.
- While we're on racial areas, while I loved the Elven City Map Pack, I'd love to see a Tree City map pack, where you have things like buildings built into giant tree trunks and rope bridges and things.
- Catacombs--the twisty passages under cathedrals and such where ancient clergy are buried.
- Labyrinths (twisty circly single path leading toward a center) and Mazes (twisty passages with lots of dead ends)
- I LOVED the lairs Map Pack and would love to see more things along that line (a Lairs II anyone?) -- kobold warrens, lizardfolk jungle home
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I run a lot of my games like a action movies. So I need some crazy places:
* Rooftop battles: Especially in larger more built up towns. Places like Waterdeep, Sharn, Venice.
* Floating Islands: I run in a lot of planer sets. Strange floating mountains, islands. Waterfalls that run into vast lakes below.
* Construction sites: Building a temple, road work, all great places to have a fight.
* Churches: Vast temples, smaller alcoves to larger buildings, classic wooden pews.
* Ship Graveyards: Wrecked ships, half-sunken areas.
* Technological Ruins: Tron-lights everywhere...half working. Strange paterns etched into the ways. Statues of long dead civlizations.
* Port settings; Docked ships, cargo piles, multiple levels, warehouses.
* Swamps: Muck and mire, buildings on stilts, strange deadfalls.
Stuff like that.
A winding trail through mountains (perhaps complete with a cavemouth). For some reason, we always seem to fight things in the mountains.