Need ideas for encounters on a 4'x6' gaming table

[Sullivan]

So I made a really big grid table for my group and now i'm trying to think up some great ideas about how to use all the space in a fun way for encounter or anything really. I figured why not bring this conundrum to the greatest Dm tool there is other Dm's and players. So guy's and gals, you have 3,456 square inches of table, what do you do? my first idea was to pre-draw a large building then have my player's clear it and chase the bad guy's through it. Any ideas are appreciated.

[Kane0]

A large complex dotted with ways to teleport to other sections of the complex.

A building within a building, or a dungeon within a dungeon.

A fully drawn out fort/camp to be either breached or defended. Especially good if the fighting moves forward and back through the stronghold and surrounding grounds.

A small village or city block that the party needs to get through without drawing attention.

[Sullivan]

i do like dungeon pseudo maze idea. I'm braking it out for the first time for a big boss fight we have next game and I've been toying with the idea of drawing up three different maps. each part part will be like a phase of the encounter with the boss running away at 2/3 and 1/3 health. the player's will need to chase the Boss through a skill challenge and the outcome will effect there positioning for the second. I like the idea of teleporting squares too, it could bring a little flavor to the encounter.

[hydraa]

I have a eight foot table that I made a grid for. I used it for a village that was being visited by the PCs. The town was being visited by a hobgoblin overlord (with levels of beguiler, i think it was) and his minions for tribute every so often. Also the statue in the town square was a mech that one of the goblins was able to climb into a operate.

Another thing that a large board is nice for is archers with silly long range increments. The archer in my group had a 195 ft range increment, so she could shoot something at 195 squares (the board is 90 squares long). This way we could play out her sniping at an advancing troop of bad guys. (takes 5 rounds for a 30 ft movement character to close at a run)


Also you can draw out 2 or 3 encounters ahead of time and reveal as needed. Allow for them to go back to somewhere without having to redraw.

[Sullivan]

The idea of a pre-drawn village is a really good one. It may prove to be pretty immersive too, nothing like actually walking to the tavern right? The tables three time bigger than what I'm used to so i could use 2/3rds to draw the village and use the other 1/3rd for thing like the second story and basements. it will be fun to just jump into combat and not have to draw it out first too.

[sammyp03]

http://www.dailydot.com/geek/digital-projected-tabletop-rpg-map/

probably the most awesome way I have seen maps done is this ! endless possibilities!

[Occasional Sage]

So... tell me about this table. Anybody building their own furniture gets my attention!

[Sullivan]

are you looking for the cut's I used to make it? It's really just a simple frame with a plywood top, then I bought some 1'' grid paper that comes in a 30'' X 12' roll and glued it to the plywood. I went with plexiglass for the cover, I was worried the glass would break. I still need to fix some legs on it and frame the plexiglass so it looks nicer, but ultimately a pretty good table. In the future I should have tried harder to find a cheaper alternative to the plexiglass, but still well worth it.

[hydraa]

my table was a standard 8 ft table that I had. I bought a piece of white panel board from the big box home improvement store and had them cut it to the dimensions of my table, and cut the remaining into a couple of useful sizes.
Then I used permanent marker to make the 1 inch lines (a bit labor intensive but a lot cheaper then using the little bit table).
Just a note the white board you can use dry erase markers on, but dry-erase markers will erase, permanent marker. Wet erase (vis a vis) markers work very well

[Garimeth]

Reminds me of what some guys use for playing Warhammer and the like on. If you do the dungeon or the village you should take pics of the set up and post them here!

[Modran]

Some more ideas :


Ship boarding : You draw both ships (could be airships or whatever other mode of transportation) and the player can actually move around, rope swing and take over the other ship.

Get to the catapults :Players are down in a valley and giants/catapults/magic users are on top, bombarding them. The have to reach them or flee to survive. The steep climb can be filled with hidden holes, boulders to hide behind and other obstacles.

Forest Fire : A major forest fire is going on, and the player need to navigate it to save childrens/precious griffin eggs, or themselves, etc.


Have fun using your table.

[Sullivan]

I'll definitely post some pic, and I love the idea of forest fires too. incorporation environmental stuff into encounters always liven it up a bit.
for the christening I have a boss battle planned. the'll have to fight through a temple to the main chamber where they'll meet the boss and at 2/3 hp he'll run triggering a skill challenge, which will effect positioning and such for the next room. I'm thinking that at 1/3 hp the floor will give way and the fight will finish in the last room. I fell like it will be epic, lots of mobs too. Depending on how the first room plays out I may give them the benefits of a short rest for succeeding on the skill challenge. These guy's are lv 12 and the mobs will be <1 CR so if they don't just pop off all the good spell to feel cool everything should be fine for the fight.

[Occasional Sage]

are you looking for the cut's I used to make it? It's really just a simple frame with a plywood top, then I bought some 1'' grid paper that comes in a 30'' X 12' roll and glued it to the plywood. I went with plexiglass for the cover, I was worried the glass would break. I still need to fix some legs on it and frame the plexiglass so it looks nicer, but ultimately a pretty good table. In the future I should have tried harder to find a cheaper alternative to the plexiglass, but still well worth it.

The description's fine; it's obsessive professional interest, mainly.

Good call with the plex. RPG maps and multipart board games can be underneath, allowing marking and piece movement above without problems.

Something I've wanted to try is collecting fabric scraps in an array of natural colors to scatter as terrain: different greens for density of underbrush, blue patches for water, and so on tossed out at random, with a few road bits and walls laid over afterward.