Message:The purpose of detail maps and flourishes:
Enhance Game Mechanics and spacial relations. Never seen anything that works. Closest is In The Labyrinth (GURPS), but the game has no adventure element when a couple battles will take the whole day. GURPS is just silly. Too few useful skills and too many just because Tarzan would have this ability. Meaning you get Tarzan at 110 IQ just to use a knife as well as any INSET OBJECT. Only one system worse, Chaosium. And that's from a gamer who has played Tunnels and Trolls.
Ad Hoc Descriptions of character interaction with the environment. Now ask yourself to list seven things you can do with a big center rock in any Gygax DnD style play. That included them all, pretty much. If you get stuck at hide behind the thing, you're not alone. We just cannot be expected to be
On-Point and able to embellish every situation. Most players are just clever enough to roll dice and subtract wounds. Give them an hour and sure, they can come up with a great set of tactics to involve the center rock. (BTW that's what a Q&D presents).
Detail maps limit play, not enhance. They were useful forty years ago, when we had no idea what we could be doing. Now, scatter out the figures, move someone two spaces forward on a box grid...its slow and crap for play. Takes longer to draw than resolve most times.
Why do you think free-style evolved? I saw too many times when the players could have done something (interesting) and their response was We ATTTTTACKKK!!!!! (Kyeeliee) With a Q&D you get that combat with a set of flourishes of
What May Be?
I don't need to draw a map and know the chasm is in the center. It appears when it does in play. Better still it has consequences more than a empty room with a center rock. A picture of a chasm is faster to assemble. You Are Here.
The video guy said it himself, esthetics. People want Big Boom, marvel style action. Play a video game. All anyone has is minus D4 damage on a 100 hp villain, next player roll dice.
Yours,
IronRed
27-Apr-2021