Supplement Four
Mongoose
Here's something I've been doing for years, using it with many different games. It works extremely well, so I thought I'd share with you Conan-ites.
First, go to your local office supply store and by a fairly large wall mounted cork board--the type you hang notes on using push-pins. They're not that expensive (you don't need a pretty one), and once you buy it, you'll have it. It will last you for years (I bought mine in the early 90's.)
While you're at the office supply, but some push-pin tacks. Also, pick up some sticky dots to color code the tops of your push-pins.
Pick up a black marker or two while you're there.
You'll probably spend $20-30 bucks on all this, but it will be worth it to your game. And, as I said, once you have it, you have it.
Next, go to the local art supply house (if the office supply doesn't have it) and buy some large sheets of graph paper. You can probably buy a large pad that will last you for years for about $5 bucks.
And, now, you're set.
When game night comes around, lay the cork board on the gaming table. When the fight breaks out, use the push-pins to represent the characters and their combatants.
In Conan, each square on the graph paper will equal 5 feet. Each push-pin fits into one square! How neat is that?
Use the stick dots to either color code good guys and bad guys. And, use a pen to write initials on the dots that you place on the heads of the push-pins. This will help you remember which tack represents which character.
The tacks become stand-ins for miniatures. Plus, they stick where you stick them on the cork board--so you don't have to worry about position moving until you're ready to move the push pin.
Also, it's easy to figure line-of-sight simply by connecting one pin head with another (usually, you can eyeball this, but you can also use a piece of string or a ruler or some other straight edge if precision is needed).
As the PCs explore ruins and dungeons and cities and wilderness areas and what-not, the GM uses the black marker to draw on the graph paper (which, of course, has been attached to the cork board).
You can pre-draw detailed maps before the encounter, if you like. But, I typically just draw things as the PC's line-of-sight reveals it.
Viola! You've got a tactical combat board you can use for your game, with clear positions of all combatants, and it's quite flexible for use as you continue to draw what the PCs can see and move the push-pins.
You don't have to worry about the combat, either, if you have to end the game session right in the middle of a fight. Just make a note of what round you're in, and then take the entire cork board and lean it up against a wall somewhere, out of the way. Positions don't move because of the push-pins! And, the board is out of the way until the next game session.
Sometimes, you will have over-sized units that move on the combat board. Maybe one combatant is a Stygian riding an elephant. No problem. Cut out the approximate size of the combatant on a piece of cardboard. You don't need to draw graphics on it--you're just trying to get a representation of size for the gaming board. Stick a pin or two through the cardboard slice you've made...and, you've got your over-sized combatant.
This is how I usually do vehicles in the game.
And...save your pieces! You can re-use them down the road.
It's a poor-man's method of gaming with miniature's, but it's also more flexible than gaming with dioramas in that you can continually "build" the combat area on the graph paper just by drawing a few lines. And, you're not spending a lot of money on expensive figurines. The scale is small enough to encompass large areas (and you can always adjust the grid scale if needed for a particular encounter!).
This is a wonderful tool I've used with just about every rpg that I play over the last decade or two, and I thought that some of you would get some use out of the idea too.
First, go to your local office supply store and by a fairly large wall mounted cork board--the type you hang notes on using push-pins. They're not that expensive (you don't need a pretty one), and once you buy it, you'll have it. It will last you for years (I bought mine in the early 90's.)
While you're at the office supply, but some push-pin tacks. Also, pick up some sticky dots to color code the tops of your push-pins.
Pick up a black marker or two while you're there.
You'll probably spend $20-30 bucks on all this, but it will be worth it to your game. And, as I said, once you have it, you have it.
Next, go to the local art supply house (if the office supply doesn't have it) and buy some large sheets of graph paper. You can probably buy a large pad that will last you for years for about $5 bucks.
And, now, you're set.
When game night comes around, lay the cork board on the gaming table. When the fight breaks out, use the push-pins to represent the characters and their combatants.
In Conan, each square on the graph paper will equal 5 feet. Each push-pin fits into one square! How neat is that?
Use the stick dots to either color code good guys and bad guys. And, use a pen to write initials on the dots that you place on the heads of the push-pins. This will help you remember which tack represents which character.
The tacks become stand-ins for miniatures. Plus, they stick where you stick them on the cork board--so you don't have to worry about position moving until you're ready to move the push pin.
Also, it's easy to figure line-of-sight simply by connecting one pin head with another (usually, you can eyeball this, but you can also use a piece of string or a ruler or some other straight edge if precision is needed).
As the PCs explore ruins and dungeons and cities and wilderness areas and what-not, the GM uses the black marker to draw on the graph paper (which, of course, has been attached to the cork board).
You can pre-draw detailed maps before the encounter, if you like. But, I typically just draw things as the PC's line-of-sight reveals it.
Viola! You've got a tactical combat board you can use for your game, with clear positions of all combatants, and it's quite flexible for use as you continue to draw what the PCs can see and move the push-pins.
You don't have to worry about the combat, either, if you have to end the game session right in the middle of a fight. Just make a note of what round you're in, and then take the entire cork board and lean it up against a wall somewhere, out of the way. Positions don't move because of the push-pins! And, the board is out of the way until the next game session.
Sometimes, you will have over-sized units that move on the combat board. Maybe one combatant is a Stygian riding an elephant. No problem. Cut out the approximate size of the combatant on a piece of cardboard. You don't need to draw graphics on it--you're just trying to get a representation of size for the gaming board. Stick a pin or two through the cardboard slice you've made...and, you've got your over-sized combatant.
This is how I usually do vehicles in the game.
And...save your pieces! You can re-use them down the road.
It's a poor-man's method of gaming with miniature's, but it's also more flexible than gaming with dioramas in that you can continually "build" the combat area on the graph paper just by drawing a few lines. And, you're not spending a lot of money on expensive figurines. The scale is small enough to encompass large areas (and you can always adjust the grid scale if needed for a particular encounter!).
This is a wonderful tool I've used with just about every rpg that I play over the last decade or two, and I thought that some of you would get some use out of the idea too.
