Okay, the news for today is, I have now built a combo map and set it up on my dining room table. Specifically, it is
Dance of the Dryads +
Ticalla Sunrise ==
Dryad Sunrise. For this one, I tried just going ahead and recreating the entirety of both maps. Thoughts:
- It wasn't as much of a PITA as I expected it would be. I wasn't considering that these tourney maps rarely have more than 3 or 4 levels, and often nothing beyond level 1 is very extensive.
- Plus, now that I know we won't ever have to have half the combo map supplied by one person and half by another, keeping the mapbuilding instructions separate seems less important.
- They, once again, fit together very beautifully, requiring only 2 doubles to complete the bridge. I even managed to connect water to water.
- In addition to the 3D pic from VS, I added some actual pictures of the map on my table. I forgot to add the glyphs before taking the pics, tho; sorry about that. But you can see where they'll go in the VS pic.
- I hadn't really considered how big these suckers were going to be. VS claims Dryad Sunrise is 51 inches wide.
@warriorneedsfoodbadly
, are we going to be able to fit 4 of these babies on the rec room tables? Maybe if we push some of them together?
- Now that I'm adding the startzones to the map, I'm also realizing how close the treasure glyphs will be ... on this map, one army on either side could pick up a glyph with a hero on move 1, even if the hero only had a move of 4.
I'm not sure if this is a problem, but it seems like it might be. I really need someone who understands map design to help me out here ... I have a little understanding of unit design, but almost none of map design.
@superfrog
?
@hivelord
?
- Assuming it is a problem, here are some potential solutions I've considered:
- Add some barrier that must be crossed to get to the glpyh (e.g. ruin, battlement).
- Add more terrain that stretches out into "void" areas (i.e. not touching the map on either side), so that figures have to walk down a sort of pier-like spit of land to get to the treasure glyphs.
- Make a rule that you can't pick up a treasure glyph on round 1.
- Start the trap roll for treasure glyphs higher than normal, then drop it down every round until eventually it goes away entirely. Trap consequences would presumably be something simple, like "take a wound." Still, if you had, say, a 50/50 shot of taking a wound in round 1, you might think twice before just leaping immediately onto the glyph. And, on the flipside, say the roll drops down by 2 every round, so long about round 6, glyphs are free! Which might help speed up the endgame. The only real downside of this plan is keeping track of the current number, but I was thinking maybe we (by which I guess I mean "I"
) could make some flipbooks with the current number. Plus that would give me a chance to add other helpful reminders for things that people might forget (e.g. rolling for lava field damage, if applicable). I kinda dig this idea, personally, but I understand if people think it's too complex. (Although, realistically, that ship has sailed. 
)
I'll work on doing full map builds for all the other combo maps, and I think I'll start putting together some ideas for pool armies. It's probably a good idea to throw out some ideas so people will have an idea what to expect. Plus that way people can offer ... shall we say ... constructive criticism.
I was also thinking about what hivelord brought up before ... what happens if you don't get your preferred army from the pool? Again, totally just spitballing here, but maybe there could be some sort of consolation prize for someeone snaking your army. Something tiny: 10 extra points when counting up at the end of the game, or a token that can be redeemed at any time to remove a single wound marker, or something along those lines. I still think it won't happen as often as we think, especially if we have several terrain-specific choices. But, it couldn't hurt to balance the scales in some small way if random choice screws you out of an army choice that you think would've helped you win.