Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Editing:
Layout:
Interior and Cover Design:
Cartography:
Michael Barker
Matt Click
James Kearney
Tim Kearney
Matt Click
James Kearney
Tim Kearney
Joe & Sarah Bilton, Heroic Maps
www.BeABetterGameMaster.com
Companion Video:
youtu.be/OW55vC7bQtM
For Heather.
For being my big dream; for seeing behind all these walls and
not once turning away from what we found there.
www.AbsoluteTabletop.com
Michael Barker
BeABetterGameMaster
www.TabletopTerrors.com
Narrative description is everything! When an adventurer slays an enemy, allow the player to describe what it
looks like as they are slashing through a squad of foes instead of just one.
THE FLOWCHART:
Use this customizable worksheet to help
organize your battles and give them a sort of
cinematic flow. Similar to the encounters table,
the flowchart is divided into the same three
phases. Choose three Phase One encounters to
place at the top of the chart. These represent the
opening events of the battle the first hurdles
the characters will have to overcome. Go through
these three encounters, asking yourself, What
if the characters are NOT successful? What
happens then? Put those negative outcomes
into Phase Two of the worksheet. So for every
encounter that the characters fail to resolve,
two more serious (and perhaps more challenging)
encounters are created in the next phase. In
this way, the battle is always escalating, but the
characters can still feel accomplished. Do the
same thing between Phase Two and Phase Three,
and voila! Your battle is ready to be fought!
Ultimately, the most important thing to
remember here is that your flowchart should be
treated as a guide to help you visualize how the
battle might progress. Nothing more. Same goes
with the encounters table. These are not hard
and fast laws for you to follow like a train on
the tracks. They are meant to guide and inspire
you not to tie you down. Have fun with it, and
remember:
Battles are all about pacing. If you find that the session is becoming sluggish or boring, dont be afraid to
blow something up (in-game, you maniacs)!
ENCOUNTER TABLES
IN 3 DISTINCT PHASES
PHASE 1
Defenders
Attackers
Without the food and supplies they need, our foes will
be forced into an early surrender. Secure the storehouse
outside the city walls for our own soldiers and defend it
from any possible counter-attack. We shall starve them
out.
The enemy is at the walls! Heat up the oil and pour the
cauldrons on their heads!
Keep the enemy interesting! If the adventurers are fighting an army of orcs, include melee warriors, ranged
archers, and self-destructing, explosive orcs.
ENCOUNTER TABLES
IN 3 DISTINCT PHASES
PHASE 2
DEFENDERS
ATTACKERS
Our attack from the sky will secure our victory, but not
if their ballistas shoot our dragons down! Hurry! Take
those weapons out!
A great philosophy is to view yourself as the camera operator, not the director. The players are the decisionmakers. With the proper preparation in place, your job is to show the players the results of their actions
and decisions.
ENCOUNTER TABLES
IN 3 DISTINCT PHASES
PHASE 3
All is almost lost. It is time, my friends. Time for us to don our most sacred armor and ride out to meet our enemies.
We may die, yes. But we will die as soldiers.
The battle is lost. All we have left are the people that have fought beside us. Retrieve all the wounded you can and
prepare to retreat!
Many of our men are dead! If you can find a way to destroy the dam, we could flood the city. It will mean heavy
losses on both sides, but it may be our only chance of holding this city!
All will be for naught if we dont call for aid! Hurry! Ride to the nearby village and light the beacons! At the very
least, it will warn our countrymen of this terrible onslaught!
The city is lost and we are preparing for retreat, but the enemy does not know your faces. Here put on these
enemy uniforms and blend in. Well need some spies in their ranks if we are to survive the next battle!
www.aFistfulofDice.com
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Use descriptions to make the small things matter! Yes, an epic battle is taking place. But that doesnt
mean a crying mother wont ask an adventurer to help her find her lost child.
SOME BATTLEFIELDS!
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A small, hilltop village in the marshlands, defended by nothing but aged, wooden palisades, and exposed on all
sides to the swamp and an enemy army.
An ancient fortress, built to guard an otherwise impenetrable mountain pass. The walls are beginning to
crumble, revealing various weak points in the defenses.
A woodland riverbed, filled with deadly quicksand, where the only way across is a slender, stone bridge.
A large galley, anchored at sea due to the surrounding magical storms. The coming attackers will strike from
upon, above, and within the sea itself.
A sewer, foul in both sight and stench. The attackers strike at three distinct choke-points from various
openings in the ceiling.
A tavern, surrounded by torch-bearing brigands. They shatter windows and burst through the doorways. But
will they find the secret passage leading up through the floor?
A gladiatorial arena, with attackers surging through the side entrances. Defenders might take up positions
behind the wall surrounding the arena floor, as well as at the portcullises and stone benches.
Miles and miles of labyrinthian battlefield trenches, carved out of the earth into a defensive fortification.
There are dangers lurking both through the trenches and across the projectile-ridden no-mans-land on the
surface.
An underwater city, attacked by amphibious creatures (or non-amphibious creatures using water-breathing
spells) from the nearby reef. The city utilizes the ancient shipwrecks surrounding it as defensive positions.
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A city built into the canopy of a large rainforest. It would be completely safe from assault, were it not for the
climbers and axe-wielding tree-choppers attacking from the forest floor.
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An open plain, littered with fallen soldiers and riddled with the charred scars of magical firepower. To the rear
is a roaring river with no bridge for miles.
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A frozen lake between two steep cliffs. The slippery surface is nearly impossible to fight on, and everywhere
the ice begins to break.
A battle should feel different from any other environment in the game. Illustrate this by describing how the
once blue sky has turned gray with smoke, or how the ground has become muddy not with water, but
with blood.
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www.AbsoluteTabletop.com
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MapHeroic Maps For a printable, full resolution version of this map, click here
Raddika Pass
Located in Hallowhall, Enchea
MapHeroic Maps For a printable, full resolution version of this map, click here
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BONUS TIPS!
Weather can be as much of a danger as an enemy with a sword. Are the ramparts slippery with ice? Is snowfall obstructing the adventurers vision? Perhaps a massive dust storm is on its way. The possibilities are
endless.
What happens to a city under siege? Rioting. Looting. Chaos. The more of these sorts of things you can
include in your descriptions, the more immersed in the battle your players will become.
Remember that the adventurers arent typical grunts. Theyre not cannon fodder. Let them feel powerful. They
can and should make a tangible impact. Show them how their actions are affecting the world around
them, and emphasize that their decisions are turning the tide of
battle for good or ill.
Thank you again for giving this supplement a look, and I really
hope it helped you in running some more immersive battles.
If you liked what you read, you can find more Game Master tips on
my website, www.BeABetterGameMaster.com.
Best of luck running amazing, cinematic battles!
- Double Tap Peace!
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An explosion rocks the castle walls, throwing debris into the air. The gates shatter
and split, and the orcish horde spills into the courtyard, falling upon the weary
guardsmen and hewing them down like blades of
grass. The sun sets as the castle towers burn. Only
heroes can turn the tide of this battle and only the
game master can make it real for the players.
Written by Michael Barker of Be a Better Game
Master, this supplement gives the game master the
tools and inspiration they need to run sweeping,
cinematic large-scale battles using their favorite
fantasy roleplaying game. Inside youll find pages of
practical advice, interactive battle-flow worksheets,
tide-turning events to make combats feel visceral
and dramatic, and plenty of sample battlefields to get those mental gears turning.
Take up arms theres a war to be won!
www.BeABetterGameMaster.com
Thank you for supporting Absolute Tabletop!
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