Saturday, July 25, 2020

Pathfinder Map Pack: "Slum Quarter Alleys" [RPG]


I've been using the Slum Quarter Alleys map pack frequently in running my urban-centric Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign, and I've found them tremendously useful.  You can take the time to assemble particular buildings like a jigsaw puzzle, or (like I do for random encounters) just lay them down in no particular order for an instant maze of city streets and alleys.  The other night, the players wanted to set an ambush for someone in an alleyway, so I just laid the whole pack down in random order and told them to pick their preferred spot.  It worked perfectly.  Because of the random element, you avoid the flip-mat problem of every encounter seeming to take place in the exact same setting. Most of each tile shows narrow streets and the interior of buildings, complete with steps and doorways, which is really useful.  Portions of the tiles show rooftops, and I'm not sure if I like the mixture of interior and exterior--but I can understand why having rooftops would be very useful in certain circumstances.  The interior of the buildings are very detailed, with bunks, chairs, tables, bookcases, etc.  With a little bit of patience, you can probably assemble most configuration of slum-type housing (except for perhaps large tenements).  Also, keep in mind that these are back alleys and side streets, so this isn't the map pack to buy if you want long, wide avenues.  But the important thing is the map pack accomplishes what it's designed for.

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