Skill-set

 

Sorry to lean into this map a second time, but I want to make the point that nearly all of it was drawn IN GAME, mostly while the players were deliberating about what to do next.  I had a clear concept of how things would be arranged as I began the combat, and used the publisher design program to sketch out the walls as we went.  The stairs came from other maps drawn in the past, as did the doors.  The stone motif is a texture that I installed in the program, like adding a font.  All the characters were pre-made.  The imperfection of passage dimensions, narrow or wide, are a feature.

During the combat, many of the partial hexes are large enough to fight from; I tend to call these according to the size of the character.  Goblins weigh 50 lbs. and therefore can fit into much less than a full hex.  A large 240 lb. human, not so much.  All the character symbols are much bigger than their actual size, because it's more important for the players to easily see their characters than it is for these to be correctly scaled.  I've been meaning to provide a picture of the screen set-up I'm using for combats, but I keep forgetting.  Next running, I'll try to remember.

I want to stress that skill-sets like being able to draw quickly, adapt a program to the game, manage a complex set of rules, or keep players in line so that each person has their moment in the sun, take time to build up.  But they're worth it.  Decades ago I should have put more effort into being an artist.  I should have used opportunities to take art classes, or learned to sketch, as those skills would serve me excellently in the present.  As it is, I'm glad for all the time I've taken to use graphic programs, lay out pages for publication, use excel, gain the ability to write that I have and dozens of other lesser skills that I've acquired over my life.  Each has let me do strange and marvelous things, which of course look impossible to those who haven't spent the time.

But what has to be understood is that it isn't so much time as you might think.  Don't let "not being able to do something" get in your way.  Learn to do it.  Sure, it'll be a bitch at first, but in the long run, you'll find so many ways to apply that annoyingly obtained skill as to astound you.  And you'll appreciate that something you can do very easily seems to impress people a lot.  Remember that many of these skills have real-life applications in real jobs, not just for role-playing and fun.

Don't wait.  Pick something today that you don't know how to do, that you'd like to know, and get started.  You're just like any character in the game.  It's starting at 1st level.