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So I have a player that likes to move off the map at times. He thinks that the edge of the map should not limit his movement. For example, area D of 6-12 has only a single row along the north and south side of the ruins. When a fight between one characters and kobold is happening in one of these rows, he wants to move his character around it (off the map) to get into a flank.
I am wondering how this should be handled.
1. Do you allow it or not?
2. If so, what would be the terrain cost be?
3. What happens if he does not have enough movement and ends off the map?
To save a discussion, in the case above, I allowed it and made each square cost 2 as I deemed them rough terrain.
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I consider the map in question. Outdoors, on fairly flat ground; I'd assume the terrain continues similarly and sketch something up quickly that was consistent with map.
Indoors, probably no.
Does it make sense that the edge of the map is a cliff or something similar, treat it accordingly.
Don't assume that the universe ends at the edge of the printed map. If a player is maneuvering at the edge, just make up something reasonable and sketch it out on paper or a flip-mat.
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It can be annoying, but there's no force field keeping players from leaving a map. If players in my game leave a map, I either place a blank flip-mat next to it (if the table allows) and quick sketch in terrain features, or I use a white board marker and jot down how many squares from the edge of the map they are. Most players realize it complicates things and don't do it unless they have a good reason (like their character is fleeing for its life).
I so completely hate some of the smaller maps with their false confined quarters that I typically reproduce/draw every map on a full Chessex 32"x48" battle mat.
Yes, for most PFS modules, I bring 4 or 5 full Chessex battle mats to the game, pre-drawn, and just pull off the top map after they finish with it, and keep going.
So if the module has a small 10' wide, 30' long alleyway, I put that onto a battle mat faithfully, and then draw out the entire city area that has that alleyway in it.
I typically associate small maps not with "we want a confined fight to make it harder" but with "we're cheap, and this is all we paid for." So I'm not limiting my players to that.
Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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Some fights really take place on unreasonably small maps. I remember a fight against a gargantuan critter on a 8*10 map. Not because the area was enclosed, but because those map tiles showed everything that was "interesting" about the area - everything interesting except room to move around in. The fight was outdoors on a fairground.
Another typical culprit is freestanding farms; the map pack typically uses most of the space on a tile for building. So if the fight spills outdoors you're off the map really quickly.
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Too-small maps suck. I mean, sometimes, they can be tactically interesting. And then sometimes you end up with a room where some sort of editing or authoring flub left a small room with a large thing (or many large things) in it that simply don't fit in the room anymore.
I usually print my maps out, but I keep blank flip-mats around for just such a purpose.
If it makes sense I do often let people wander off-map. Table-space allowing.
This is also something you have to worry about with cause fear and other similar effects. To get around drawing more map I usually track the first movement and then double the duration. However fast the PC is moving away is about how fast they will be moving back to get back in the fray, so if they're feared for 2 rounds, we move them 1 round away. Then double the remaining duration (1 round becomes 2 rounds) and set a timer. In 2 rounds that character will reappear in that spot.