My feeling is that the CAM as presented doesn't offer the GM enough options for adversary placement. This could be addressed by moving the enemies in combat to the lower edge of The Enemy section, leaving those not engaged or using missile / spells in the middle of The Enemy section and moving any engaged in a backstab styled attack on the right side of the section. I'd reserve the top of The Enemy section for enemies that are engage with PCs attacking from advantage.
Still, I think there is an OSR styled CAM residing in the mind of one of the readers of this post that would address the needs of a D&D styled game and still maintain the simplicity of the Ancient Odysseys Conflict Action Map.
Any up for the challenge? ;)
I think the Old School Hack combat hex is also a pretty sweet 'Theatre of the Mind' battle map. It also is a equal balance of options for both PC's and adversaries.
ReplyDeleteSend me your email to iandimitri004 at gmail.com and I will send you an OSR styled CAM that meets your challenge based on the one you posted.
ReplyDeleteIan
Here is one I whipped up a while ago, which was originally inspired by 3:16 Carnage Amongst the Stars:
ReplyDeletehttps://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxE3Gy9gHrzeYzk5MzNkZmItZDYxMS00ZDZhLWI2NmUtYmNhNmE5ZDI0Zjk0/edit
Hope this helps. :-)
Oh, and here is the original blog post, which explains things a bit:
ReplyDeletehttp://swordandsanity.blogspot.com/2010/07/simplified-battlemat.html