Wednesday 25 May 2011

Mapmaking merry (6.1)

Here's a variation on my system for random map creation. This time I need it to work for collapses, avalanches and the like, whenever characters could be trapped in new structures.

It's simple, but does build on the previous post so you'll need to read that to follow.

  1. The initial choice of polygon should have a number of points (corners, perhaps also centre) at least equal to the number of characters if you don't know who'll be affected, or the number affected if you do. Mark each character as being at a single point, arranged as they are at the moment the landscape changes.

  2. For who's affected, choose a die with a number of faces equal to or above the number of points. For a fair mass I'd suggest rolling it once per character and more dice for a greater mass or spread. The results indicate the points covered; results without points could be overspill. Repeat results could mean multiples of material finishing up in a location, for the purposes of injury and digging out.

  3. For the connections the degree of complexity ought to be low, perhaps half or less of the usual die, and a modifier of -1 should be applied. This means there could be no connections at all, with every character potentially isolated.

Buried characters could be allowed to create new passages, deeper in or outwards, and for this and the rescuers you'll need an approach suitable for the game system. It could be a roll per turn, or a random number of turns per connection. Direction could also be random to represent disorientation, with modifiers or a reroll for voices or other guidance.

Hiding the map from rescuers means they'll have to guess where to begin digging, but a roll could also be made. You might even want to have them test when moving over the material, to see if they trigger internal collapse and injury, or fall in themselves.
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2 comments:

The Angry Lurker said...

Creating new passages, will you factor in air/oxygen remaining?

Porky said...

That's something to consider, especially with materials like snow, or with a debilitating injury or pinning.

Again, the specifics would come down to game system, but to go about it in rules-light way shouldn't be too difficult. I'm looking at a mechanism for the game I'm working on, and at the moment it's based on the thinking re digging here, to balance realism - for example character awareness and possible replacement rate - with pace of play and record-keeping.

There's an interesting post on the subject at The Jovial Priest, re the Dungeoneer's Survival Guide.