



Any tips for making them more interesting?

  • \$\begingroup\$ Note that Savage Worlds works just great without battle maps, so assuming that "minis and maps are important" may be part of the trouble. (The best SW fight I ever GMed was done theatre-of-the-mind, the worst was with a battlemap.) \$\endgroup\$ Jul 17 '13 at 17:28
  • \$\begingroup\$ Why would you say no one moves vs a wild card? It sounds like the opportunity cost is too low for your players to consider moving; i.e. nothing to take advantage of/worth risking over the tried and true methods and dice rolls they have come to expect (and be bored by). \$\endgroup\$ Jul 17 '13 at 17:47
  • \$\begingroup\$ Pretty much that... they'd rather risk dice exploding and moving a few inches to avoid being hit. Much of it my fault tough, I don't offer them thrilling/interesting tactical options. \$\endgroup\$ Jul 17 '13 at 17:51
  • \$\begingroup\$ This episode of “Man vs. Wild” might give you some interesting ideas: youtube.com/watch?v=yqGdqCOJzjE (this is just a trailer). The episode is about survival in an abandoned shipyard. \$\endgroup\$
    – liori
    Jul 17 '13 at 20:55
  • \$\begingroup\$ @liori after that trailer I think he should just watch a lot of macgyver. \$\endgroup\$ Jul 18 '13 at 19:18

Actually, combat in a modern city should be a lot more interesting than in most fantasy settings! That's because of the complexity of the terrain. The opponents the players are facing may have numerous types of advantages.

  • Height - the enemies may have higher ground than the players. It may be small scale, they may attack surprisingly from the ceiling of a room, they may be higher on a staircase or just sit on top of a garbage container. It may give them the advantage of reach or surprise, it may make it easier for them to defend them selves. They may be a lot higher than the players, sitting on a roof of a building, a balcony a few stories above ground. It may let them attack the players from afar, provide them great cover from gunfire, let them observe the players from afar and not be seen.

  • Cover - it's really easy to hide or set up a trap in a city. There's the severs, back alleys, rooftops, you can hide in buildings... It's not as simple as in fantasy, where the cave in the middle of the woods is obviously the Den Of Evil and where the monsters just jump out of the bushes. Same for indoor encounters - that damn monster may actually be hiding in the closet! When fighting in a city, you may never be sure where and how numerous the enemy is. Also, narrow corridors, small spaces and the like may be used as a tactical advantage.

  • Mobility - fights can be set up very dynamically in an urban environment. The enemy may be moving swiftly and quickly. Airducts? Sure! Jumping around from window to window? Why not? Don't get me started on the usage of vehicles... This may need a little imagination and creating home rules, but still, the possibilities are there.

  • Other circumstances - the players may need to do their work secretly, not letting the regular folks know about the monsters. Maybe they have to limit the casualties among civilians and destruction of property. Maybe they can't use open fire due to being too close to a gas station / whatever. Civilians might get in the way, so can the law enforcement or other authorities. All this can be used to pose an additional challenge to the players and help avoid boredom during fights.

Limiting the fights to simply choosing the target and rolling the old faithful combo can indeed be boring, but fights don't have to look that way! Try to have all of this in mind when designing maps, and I think you'll be able to come up with interesting ones!








I have two suggestions:






  • \$\begingroup\$ Is this implying that using real floor plans... something something? Are they inherently more exciting? Have inspirational details? Saying what the benefit is explicitly (apart from "easy to find", which is beside the question) would be excellent! \$\endgroup\$ Jul 18 '13 at 5:03

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