Figures on the Map – DREAMING DRAGONSLAYER
Y’all can thank Varzival for this one. They pinged me about their excitement for a post about MB from me 🙂
So I deliver.
MAPS
Having a map players can see is nice. Have minis on said map is every cooler. Push your knights around, see the distance from one place to the next, despair when you realize how far you have to travel to get back to civilization, it’s GREAT!
But what about interacting with other pieces on the map? What if you have a small seer mini or knight token or a Magic the Gathering card of a dragon in that hex? How does that interact happen? Do they just ~FIND THEM THERE~ or something a little more unpredictable?
Enter this Luck table:
When entering a hex with another figure on the map, roll:
1: The trail goes cold. Remove that figure from the map.
2-3: The figure is not in this hex, but there is evidence they are in a random adjacent hex. Roll again when entering that hex.
4-6: The figure is in this hex.
I *REALLY* like that 2-3 result. In fact, it’s the whole reason I wrote this table. I love the idea of getting close to a target and then WHOOPS I forgot that things can move. Or be moved. Or hide. Generally, things are where the rumors and information lead you, but that’s no guarantee to its accuracy.
You could set after a seer in the hills, arrive at their hex, roll a 2 or 3 and realize, “Oh they must be closer to the coast than we thought. Huh, okay. Wonder why they’re going there.” And then you as the GM go, “Yes, why indeed?”
Or you could set off after a fabled boar in the woods, roll a 2 or 3 and begin chase. But now it’s getting late, afternoon turns to evening. Do we camp here? Or push on? Now we have interesting options. “How’s our Clarity and Spirit? Should we push through the night?” Once you get there, what if you roll a 1? “ARGH! This boar is evading us. We need more information. What about the village nearby? Or a seer? ” Once you hear rumors of the boar again, the GM places its figure back on the map.
Or it could be morning and you could pursue a robber whose taken an artifact from a sleepy village. You give chase into the next hex and then roll a 2-3, make another roll to find his random direction and determine “Wait, he doubled back to the village! The sneaky rascal!!” Now when you catch up to him, you roll a 4-6 so he’s here but now it’s evening instead of afternoon. The village is dark. “Get out your torches, everyone! We’ll find ’em!”
Now, I would generally use this for individuals or small groups: tracking down a vassal, hunting a bear, searching for a lost princess or relic or creature on the move, a ship, that kind of thing. It doesn’t quite make as much sense to use this for armies (unless it’s a ghost army!), standing militia, a fleet, or invading force. Some things are so big that it’s immediately obvious whether or not they’re there.
Side note: it’s interesting how Chris wrote these with a curious lack of player/GM perspective. It’s not “when you arrive in a Holding” or “when the players arrive in a Holding” it’s just “When arriving in a Holding, roll to gauge the local mood.” Funny language-of-rules-writing thing.
So yeah, another table for the arsenal.
Enjoy pushing minis on the map! Or pieces of lint or Skittles or whatever you use…
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