Generating a Battlefield (POCT)

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==Generating a Battlefield==
Since the Player's Option combat system relies on a figure's positioning and facing, any battlefield the DM creates should show obstacles and terrain features in the exact squares they occupy. The following section describes a quick battlefield generation system that the DM can use when he doesn't have the time or forewarning to prepare a detailed battlefield before the player characters get into a fight.
This system should not replace old-fashioned preparation for an adventure. If you know that the players are likely to encounter a troll ambush in a mountain pass, make some notes about the setting of the battle before the adventure begins. Any staged encounters in buildings should be described, too. If you take the time to draw a good dungeon map, the map can be copied to a larger size for use with the Player's Option combat system without too much trouble.
The only times you should have to create a battlefield from scratch are when you don't expect a fight to occur, such as when the PCs run into a random encounter while traveling cross-country or pick a fight with someone they were just supposed to talk to. Save yourself the trouble of creating a battlefield if it is fairly obvious that the encounter won't lead to a fight or if it seems likely that the actual fight will be very short.
==Step One: Scale==
Here's a tip for saving time: don't make a battlefield bigger than it has to be. There's no point in mapping every street of a town if you're confident that you can contain the battle in one dark alleyway. Refer to the encounter ranges listed for the various terrain types in the previous section; you probably don't need to make the battlefield bigger than about 125% to 150% of the maximum encounter range. For example, in light forest, the encounter range is 4d6 squares. The maximum encounter range is 24 squares, so you'll want a battlefield about 30 to 35 squares across. If the encounter is taking place indoors, it's not necessary to map out more than the room the PCs are fighting in.
==Step Two: Topography==
Take your battlefield and divide it into nine sections, like a tic-tac-toe board. The lay of the land may place some parts of the battlefield higher than the other parts. Each of these nine sections is assigned a height relative to the others; from these different heights, you'll derive the slopes of your battlefield. (If this is an indoors fight, ignore this step.)
First, determine the base topography for your battlefield: flat, hilly, or broken. Marshes, swamps, plains, and some fields and forests are flat; hills, deserts, and most other fields and forests are hilly; and badlands, caves, some deserts, and mountains are broken.
===Flat===
No slopes or elevations worth noting. You're done with this step.
===Hilly===
Roll a d6 for each section of the battlefield; on a 1, that section is elevated 20 feet above the rest of the battlefield, and all adjacent sections are elevated 10 feet above the base height. On a roll of 2, that section is elevated 10 feet above the base height.
===Broken===
Roll a d6 for each section of the battlefield; on a 1, that section is elevated 20 feet, but adjacent areas aren't elevated as they are in hilly terrain. On a 2 or 3, that section is elevated 10 feet.
===Slopes and Escarpments===
Hills are surrounded by slopes. Each 10 feet of elevation requires a slope of two to four squares to surround it. Draw a hilltop of three to ten squares at the midpoint of each elevated area, and then circle the hilltop with a ring of sloping squares.
Broken areas may be surrounded by slopes or escarpments. Any side of an elevated area has a 50% chance of being either a slope or an escarpment. If it is a slope, draw it as described above. If it is an escarpment, consider it to be one square wide.
==Step Three: Ground Cover and Water==
Now, take each section of the map and determine how dense the ground cover is in that area. The categories are clear (C), thickets or brambles (T), light woods (L), and heavy woods (H). Roll a d6 for each area and consult the chart below:
 	1	2	3	4	5	6
Light Woods	C	C	T	L	L	H
Heavy Woods	C	T	L	H	H	H
Swamp 	C	C	T	T	L	L
Hills 	C	C	C	C	T	L
Plains 	C	C	C	C	C	T
===Clear===
No ground cover in that section of the battlefield.
===Thickets===
Brambles or thickets cover that section of the battlefield. Thickets tend to be in clumps; take about two-thirds of the squares in that area and mark a couple of bramble patches.
===Light Woods===
Light forest is prevalent in that area of the battlefield. Trees are about three squares away from each other; mark trees in about one-quarter of the squares in that section.
===Heavy Woods===
Heavy woods are like light woods, but the trees are closer together. Mark trees in about one-third to one-half of the squares in that area, about one to two squares away from each other.
Standing water or bogs can be handled in much the same way as ground cover. Each section of a marsh, swamp, field, or plain may be clear (C), or it may have a pond (P), bog (B), or stream (S) in it. Roll 1d6 for each ninth of the map:
 	1	2	3	4	5	6
Marsh	C	S	B	B	P	P
Swamp	C	S	B	B	B	P
Field	C	C	C	C	S	P
Plain	C	C	C	C	C	S
===Clear===
No water in that region.
===Bog===
About one-half of the area in question is a soft, muddy bog. Bogs are usually knee-deep to shoulder-deep water, with lots of vegetation, mud, and debris. Bogs tend to be one large bog, and not many smaller bogs, so mark only one or two distinct bogs per area of the map. If two adjacent areas have a bog, they might be one larger bog. Consider connecting them together.
===Stream===
Most streams are only one or two squares wide, and range from knee-deep to shoulder-deep. Streams don't usually appear and disappear without a body of water to flow into or out of, so make sure that the stream squares form a continuous line and go somewhere if at all possible.
===Pond===
About three-quarters to all of the area is under water. Ponds are usually knee-deep or waist-deep near the edges, but can be 10 or 15 feet deep in the middle.
==Step Four: Obstacles==
Battlefields are often littered with obstacles and obstructions. They provide cover, limit movement, and occasionally endanger the people fighting around them. The DM should arbitrarily scatter a handful of obstacles of his choice over the map. Obstacles include:
* Gulches, ravines, or ditches (any terrain except marsh or swamp)
* Boulders (hills, mountains, badlands)
* Rockfalls (hills, mountains, badlands)
* Deadfalls (forests, swamp)
* Fences, earthworks, or buildings (any civilized area)
==Step Five: Putting It All Together==
Your battlefield should now be complete. Chances are, you have some defensible terrain and some open areas that invite attack. Now, the DM should decide where each force starts. If one side surprises the other, the surprised fellows have to set up first, and the surprising force gets to set up around them. If one side was stationary or defending, they set up along one randomly-determined map edge, and the attackers set up opposite them.
If both forces were moving, roll randomly to see which edge of the mapboard each force was coming from. They can enter the encounter area from adjacent sides of the battle map, but not from the same side. If the players have a set marching order, the DM can insist that they set up their figures accordingly. Or, if the circumstances dictate, he can allow them to place their figures wherever they see fit.
Please note that the simple creation of a battlefield does not guarantee a more exciting and interesting encounter—the DM has to reward characters who use their heads by making use of the terrain, and present the party with enemies who do the same. Even a grizzled party of adventurers should think twice before going up a rocky hillside against a band of orcs who can see them coming.