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View Full Version : weird@55 ideas #4: Incomplete maps!



Thoughtbot360
2007-02-18, 02:59 PM
*plays Jackass music*

While idea #3 was still being prepared for public release, weird@55 idea #4 sprang into being in its perfect, easy-to-describe form, beating number 3 to the punch. So instead of one weird@55 idea being showcased today, you can expect two!(maybe I should start a web site? nah...)

Anyway, heres another idea from my unproffesional, unqualified, obsessive-compulsive little mind:

For the next dungeon run/castle raid only complete enough of the map to show the quickest, most obvious (and therefore reinforced route) to the dungeon boss/king/goal, but leave several unmarked paths through out the location. Like so:

+=fork in the road

Boss-----+-----L___________}-------+--Entrance

If the players, in their ignorance of the map, head off in an unmarked direction, just render the rooms in real time. This may seem like an odd practice but consider the benefits:

1) saves the GM the time of writing up the entire dungeon, which the players are never gonna explore anyway.
2) Trains new GMs to get used to the idea of rendering events and challenges in real time. Thinking fast is a very important GM trait, or so they tell me, and this is my contribution to it.
3) The GM might just come up with something the location needs while the game is in session. Like an alternate, faster route to the goal from wherever the heck the PCs got themselves from mucking around so much. Also your players might discover an infirmary, a kitchen, living quarters, etc. I mean imagine, a dungeon that actually has a bathroom!

The only con I can think of is that this will never work in a competitive roleplaying tournament because players are graded by the amount of magic items they receive and GMs may be more stingy than others.

P.S. because traps are so dangerous for your own staff and other minions, the best security I can think of to deply against adventurers is: A complex riddle scribbled on some immersive center piece in the middle of the room or a door that leads to nowhere. Odds are, the PCs would just wrack their brains long enough for your guards to sneak into the room (via the proper exit the PCs never looked for) and ambush them. Not really on topic, but it is funny to think about.