Hi all

Apologies if a thread like this already exists somewhere - I couldn't find anything via this forum's weird search functionality.

Anyway, I was wondering what environmental factors people have used in their games, and what effect that had on the game. I've realised that far too many of my encounters are really bland in terms of their scenery, often with little more than a few chest-high walls that provide basic cover and that's it. Boring.

Obviously there's some examples in RAW (i.e. concealment rules, cover rules, low grav rules, difficult terrain rules, etc.) but I wondered if people had specific examples of cool environmental factors that really spiced up their games, either narratively or mechanically - whether in the wilderness, in urban environments, in space, whatever. This could include stuff that affected the dice pools, or stuff that triggered when enough Threat/Advantage/Triumph/Despair was rolled. Any/all suggestions welcome.

Thanks in advance.

PS If this has been discussed elsewhere on the forums, could someone post a link?

Fuel/explosives in landing bays or star ports, crowds of by standers, sensitive controls or equipment all around.

Either can be represented mechanically by Setbacks or Challenge dice, depending on the narrative impact you're looking for. Introducing consequences for firefights in settings is the easiest way to dial things up I think.

You might enjoy looking through the Environmental Set Pieces fan-made booklet, I think it had a lot of examples of environment-specific factors. You might also like O66's "The List" for encounter design, it'll help add some spice too.

As for a list, that would be great to have but an exhaustive effort to be sure. I like take a moment to assess a situation to gather these sorts of facts. For example, I might pick out range bands for objects I can see, figure out Boost and Setback applications, and generally try to engage that part of my brain so when it comes time for me to describe a scene, I have a brain full of examples. Now, if I'd just write them down....

I enjoy using a combination of elevation, and terrain:

• steep, winding switchbacks up a steep mountain path
• talus slope punctuated by larger boulders
• exposed cliff, with climbable weaknesses, connecting a system of ledges
• stemming across a chasm in a cavern or rocky terrain
• temple ruins, pyramids, war-ravaged structures
• wrecked ship hulls at awkward angles

Advantages and triumphs can involve knocking an adversary off-balance, or down to a ledge below. Perhaps a saber spirals out of control and flies down the mountainside, or a blaster drops into the talus, lost amongst the rocks?

Threat and despair could find the PCs facing similar difficulties. A stray blast could create rockfall; native avian creatures could fly out from a crevice, startling the players. Have fun with it!

9 hours ago, themensch said:

You might enjoy looking through the Environmental Set Pieces fan-made booklet, I think it had a lot of examples of environment-specific factors. You might also like O66's "The List" for encounter design, it'll help add some spice too.

I didn't know about the Environmental Set Pieces booklet - I'll have to see if I can dig that out. Is it on the Compiled Resources thread?

I followed a link from the resources thread to the d20 forums to get it. The direct links were all dead.

Any chance someone could put the link here? I'd be interested to see this.

I found it in a thread over on the d20 radio forums, link works for me:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pwbzr6clnnots10/EotE - Environmental Set Pieces v1.9.pdf?dl=0

2 hours ago, themensch said:

I found it in a thread over on the d20 radio forums, link works for me:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pwbzr6clnnots10/EotE - Environmental Set Pieces v1.9.pdf?dl=0

Thanks!

Much appreciated.

I've always wished someone would create some cards for this like we had in FFG Warhammer. The Environmental Set Pieces does the job also and I've used it. Doesn't have to be cards, but I an expanded list would be great with "environment" not just being outdoor terrain, but stuff like, Cantina, Urban Plaza, Capital Starship Bridge, Cargo Bay, Natural Cavern, Sith Ruins, etc.

43 minutes ago, Sturn said:

I've always wished someone would create some cards for this like we had in FFG Warhammer. The Environmental Set Pieces does the job also and I've used it. Doesn't have to be cards, but I an expanded list would be great with "environment" not just being outdoor terrain, but stuff like, Cantina, Urban Plaza, Capital Starship Bridge, Cargo Bay, Natural Cavern, Sith Ruins, etc.

You missed the boat on this one: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stanshinn/adventure-location-cards-for-fantasy-modern-and-sc?ref=email

Or did you?

1 hour ago, themensch said:

You missed the boat on this one: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stanshinn/adventure-location-cards-for-fantasy-modern-and-sc?ref=email

Or did you?

No I saw those. They were cool, but I didn't want on the boat. Not what I wanted. If you've played Warhammer you got "Location Cards" for the core game and several supplements. Each card was for a specific iconic location which included a narrative description plus suggested rules for the environment. As in a Deep Forest card may have limited maximum range of encounters and given 2 bonus to Stealth checks. A Crowded Tavern might have suggested a setback for Perception and called it Difficult Terrain if combat breaks out. Some even had suggestions for spending die results.

Strange, I can't find an example online, my google-fu fails me. The link below is a PDF I made for Warhammer of "over-sized" location cards. The rules are very similar with Star Wars narrative, so reading them you might get an idea of what I mean.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxzdHVybnNzdHVmZnxneDo1ZGI4Y2RkMmJkOGFkNDFm

6 hours ago, Sturn said:

I've always wished someone would create some cards for this like we had in FFG Warhammer. The Environmental Set Pieces does the job also and I've used it. Doesn't have to be cards, but I an expanded list would be great with "environment" not just being outdoor terrain, but stuff like, Cantina, Urban Plaza, Capital Starship Bridge, Cargo Bay, Natural Cavern, Sith Ruins, etc.

That would be cool. To be honest that's not dissimilar to what I'm trying to do, although I was just going to put it into a document - it never occurred to me to create cards! Could be fun. (Unfortunately I suck at computer design, so probably not the person to be doing this, but ah well).

On ‎2‎/‎14‎/‎2017 at 2:34 AM, edwardavern said:

That would be cool. To be honest that's not dissimilar to what I'm trying to do, although I was just going to put it into a document - it never occurred to me to create cards! Could be fun. (Unfortunately I suck at computer design, so probably not the person to be doing this, but ah well).

A list would be almost as good. Perhaps a spreadsheet or table with Descriptive Name, Affects, and Spending Results columns? The cards did have artwork for players to quickly glimpse and get a feel of the setting along with the descriptive text. Would be hard to include that in a spreadsheet, but the spreadsheet would be much easier as a GM reference.

1 hour ago, Sturn said:

A list would be almost as good. Perhaps a spreadsheet or table with Descriptive Name, Affects, and Spending Results columns? The cards did have artwork for players to quickly glimpse and get a feel of the setting along with the descriptive text. Would be hard to include that in a spreadsheet, but the spreadsheet would be much easier as a GM reference.

I'm a big fan of spreadsheets - I've got a seriously large one for my EotE game - but I must admit I don't like using it at the table. Not sure if that's because doing stuff on a screen makes it feel like I'm less involved in the game, or if it's simply a matter of I prefer physical to digital (I prefer dice to the roller app, for example).

I think George Lucas once said that he tried to come up with at least three different environments for each of his films, but I can't find the exact quote.

You can do this in gaming. Think of the environment like another character, and keep it varied, but you can play off of your pc's interests (and your own). Is there someplace you like to vacation or loved going to as a child? Someplace you would like to visit? You can turn that into an encounter setting. Just googling strange landscapes gives me ideas. Is one of your pc's spending all of his/her xp in Athletics, do they get excited over jump packs or always make sure they have zero-g suits? These are clues to the types of environments your players would like to explore. You can ask them more directly too; I often spitfire ideas at my gm that involve the campaign and not just my character.

For example: We just had to sink a rebel submarine (we're in a stormtrooper campaign) before it reached shore and rescued a rebel leader. One of the players (me, actually) had picked up aquatic gear and both the submarine and ocean around it made for a fantastic setting, with currents, coral reefs, pressure sealed doors, sea monsters, etc. On the shore was a cramped bazaar, similar to Jedha in Rogue One, but at night. A rebel frigate had crashed into it and even with the rain the natives were having a difficult time putting out the fires. Buildings were of all different elevations so the sniper player had lots of perches to choose from, but no one location had line of sight to the entire neighborhood. The gm wound up playing it like Black Hawk Down.

The next location was the hulked remains of a Venator-class Star Destroyer that lay in orbit over a world that had been the location of a Clone Wars battle. In an impoverished effort to make a concealed base, the rebels had restored power, but not much safety to the ship. I suggested a new rule to our gm: that he could hold threat in reserve. If the threat pool became too large, then a cabin might start to depressurize while we were in it, or toxic amounts of radiation might start to leak in, or we could lose thermal shielding in the the room, either freezing or burning up, depending upon our proximity to the system's star. Clusters of smaller starships lay around the Venator, also dead in space. This one was for the player who was obviously into zero-g.

I also love spreadsheets, especially for gaming.

22 minutes ago, edwardavern said:

I'm a big fan of spreadsheets - I've got a seriously large one for my EotE game - but I must admit I don't like using it at the table. Not sure if that's because doing stuff on a screen makes it feel like I'm less involved in the game, or if it's simply a matter of I prefer physical to digital (I prefer dice to the roller app, for example).

I meant the printed variety. Easy to type in a spreadsheet or .doc table. Then print out for table use. Separate into categories of Space, Surface, Shipboard, Settlements, etc. Perhaps a page each clipped together?