Big Picture : Hand Cannon

This is a replica Elizabethan hand-held gun - halfway between a small cannon and a musket. This sort of weapon was loud, produced a lot of smoke and (when filled with grape-shot) lethal to infantry. However its range was limited and was most effectively employed at close quarters on board ships or in prepared defensive positions.

From The Big Picture

This replica was on display at the English Heritage property Tilbury Fort a few years ago.

Three Dimensional Mapping

Anyone who has ever played D&D will instantly be familiar with the use of graph or grid paper to draw maps as an adventure unfolds. Often the GM's map will be much more detailed than the players but eventually both sides of the GM screen will have an essentially identical map. But some time ago I discovered a different type of graph paper and it put a hole new dimension into my map making.

Here's an example of a simple dungeon layout but presented in two different ways. The first example isn't strictly 3d but it does allow the GM to show vertical changes in floor level easily and graphically.

Here's the same plan but on standard grid paper.

An excellent site for different types of Paper is Print Free Graph Paper which does exactly what it's name suggests.

"Fundamentally, a good map should enhance the factors which make dungeon crawling enthralling: for instance, exploration, player decision making, uncovering hidden areas and secrets, as well as maintaining the pace of action."
(Source: Melan "Dungeon Mapping" at Darkshire.net)

High or low Magic Settings?

As a writer and GM I am always looking for ways to re-imagine the setting of my games. The D&D world settings are typically very high magic with magical armour, weapons and artefact's as standard fare in all games. Indeed in 4th edition this seems to have been increased and magical items have become an essential part of progression and maintaining balance as the players increase in levels. But is it possible to play D&D in a low magic setting or should you be looking for an alternative game to play?

Evil GM " Hmm, Low Magic=Good, High Magic=Bad? I guess it's just a matter of taste and how familiar you want your fantasy. Personally I don't like magic to overcome all obstacles - ie a magic shelter to protect from the wind, a magical ever-filling cup, a bag that provides an endless supply of provisions. Maybe that's down to the style of fantasy novel I was brought up on - I remember reading the likes of David Eddings where magic wasn't something you used everyday to overcome every slightest issue - the characters still had to find food, got wet and miserable when it rained and got lost from time to time. I guess it made the stories and characters more accessible if, despite their magic powers, awesome weapon skills, ninja-like stealth etc they still faced the same issues we could imagine ourselves facing in similar situations. Hence I've always had a fondness for the 'book-keeping' side of the game - do you have enough rations, who has the torch, does the Wizard have his spell components, is your PC carrying enough to be encumbered yet etc. And for that to work you need a relatively low magic world.

But in the context of a fantasy RPG I can see the argument for removing these fairly mundane tasks with a little magic 'faerie dust' so the PC's can concentrate on the 'fun' parts of the game - storming floating castles, defeating fierce ogres, disabling deadly traps and solving fiendish puzzles without having to slope off home every few games to get more bread and bat guano, and counting every gold piece to see if your PC can still walk under the weight of all that loot. And as soon as magic is commonplace enough to solve all the mundane issues you will normally have a high magic campaign.

As for High vs Low tech - just doesn't do it for me. I've never been a fan of Steam Power or Gunpowder in D&D, and even Techno magic leaves me cold. Never bothers me when we play 'modern' games - Call of Cthulu, Dr Who, Buffy etc, but I like my fantasy medieval so ban anything overly technical. In fact my Anval campaign was originally conceived with a bronze age level of technology, but as soon as the players started creating their PC's and wanted Plate Mail, Repeating Crossbows and the like I dropped that idea to avoid keep saying 'no' to the players."

My personal leaning is that a setting that includes magic cannot stick to medieval 'norms' of technology and therefore its application should be carefully controlled by the game system. Magic in effect becomes a replacement for science in a fantasy setting and I would expect some bizarre and incongruous combinations of inventions to exists in any world where magic was as universal as it is in the current edition of D&D.

Daytime TV

I've been off work for a couple of days with a virus of some kind. I won't go into details, but it hasn't been pretty. I've spent a lot of time sleeping or laying on the sofa looking pathetic and annoying the wife. I hate being ill.

On the plus side I have spent the best part of two days watching some interesting TV. But surely, I hear you say, daytime TV is the domain of chat shows and cookery programmes. Well yes there is a lot of rubbish on during the day, but surprisingly there's also a few gems as well. Two channels in particular had an interesting selection of documentaries (Discovery and Yesterday (formerly the History Channel)). I'm not sure what sort of audience they think are watching in the middle of the day, but as a weak and pathetic sick person I appreciated something interesting to watch and take my mind off how awful I felt.

One programme stood out for me, Killer Tanks. I've not seen this before and It was full of interesting little details and interviews that brought the subject to life. Now all I have to do is either throw a few more sick days or learn how to programme the video recorder.