The Map That Lied
- Squirrelbirb
- 20. Mai
- 2 Min. Lesezeit
Battle maps are my thing. I find most of them beautiful to look at, I draw my own, and they fit right in with my desire to present situations as clearly as possible for everyone at the table.
A little while ago, when we met up again for our Warhammer RPG campaign, something strange happened...
Our characters are currently traveling through the region on behalf of a local count, investigating a goblin raid. We were already pretty tense as we stepped into the clearing where the attack had taken place. Shredded tents, dead soldiers and horses, goblins lying slain, and the air reeking of dried blood, days-old decay, and goblin piss.
Before we started our investigation, our GM spread a battle map across the table. We placed our miniatures and a few markers to represent the dead (we’re not a group that uses high-end terrain pieces), and immediately slipped into a kind of turn-based mode: not quite like in combat, but still keeping our actions short and taking turns more than we usually would. All alarm bells were ready to ring.
Step by step, we examined the ambushed soldiers, the trampled tents, the goblins who’d taken heavy losses despite having the element of surprise, and the churned-up trails leading through the underbrush giving us a sense of where they’d come from and where they’d fled to afterward.
Bit by bit, we pieced together the situation with weapons drawn and ready at any moment to roll initiative and fend off survivors lurking in ambush.
And then… nothing happened.
No second wave of attackers, no sneaky strikes from the shadows, no dire wolves pouncing on us after being left behind by their riders. Just a GM quietly grinning to himself, having triggered this deep sense of tension in all of us simply by laying out a battle map.
For everyone who likes using battle maps, this might be an interesting idea and a powerful tool. It’s not something to overuse. Otherwise, players might stop taking it seriously (just like those fights where they know the GM won’t let their characters die). But when used sparingly and with the right group, a battle map can apparently carry the entire atmosphere of a scene.
From a mapmaker’s perspective, the evening was especially fascinating to observe. From a player’s point of view… well, let’s just say this idea was blog-worthy. I think that statement speaks for itself.