| Rovik |
An issue I've encountered often in previous 1E adventure paths and modules, and now in the playtest, is the scale of the maps used for battle and exploration.
Just to make it clear, I'm speaking from the standpoint of someone playing exclusively on virtual tabletops (roll20) with 'Dynamic Lighting', and our group consists of six players.
In 'The Lost Star' I tried doubling the map size. The players were really immersed in the spacious cavern, using bullseye lanters and reported feeling a real sense of dread as they moved through the dark cave. Combat felt more interesting with the possibility of ambushes and flanking maneuvers if they weren't vigilant. On the flip side some of the features like doors became unnaturally large and unrealistic.
In 'Pale Mountain's Shadow' I used the map straight out of the book, because stretching would leave it horribly pixelated. Players ended up gridlocked in all the fights inside the Tomb, especially in the elemental rooms due to the environmental hazards. Lighting never came into play despite the Tomb being mostly dark. And through no fault of Paizo, players constantly got stuck inside the walls on the diagonal hallways due to roll20 dynamic lighting.
We haven't started 'Affair at Sombrefell Hall' yet, but a quick glance at the map confirms that despite it not looking very polished the scale seems much better.
Some of the key issues for us have been:
1. Single-tile hallways. Inevitably ends up in gridlock near the entrance, leading to frustrating and static combat.
2. Diagonal/curved paths. Frustrating to path on, and tokens usually end up halfway inside a wall or over the edge.
3. Cramped environments. Tactical movement and creative use of environment is basically non-existent, especially with larger party sizes.
These are issues that can really kill the mood during a session, and should be used with caution, and only deliberately. As much as I would love beautifully rendered maps in the upcoming adventures, I much rather have low-res maps if that's what it takes to get well designed grids.
What does everyone else think? How do you prepare your maps, and is there any tips and tricks you use to improve the experience for your players?