Old Idea – layered gaming table for realistic terrain

[Ben]

From my document where I keep thread/topic ideas:

-Layered game table (similar to what was posted at MT) – lowest for reefs, then sargassos and icebergs on the water, fog material above. (could also use waterspout) Maximize how 3D your game is

Through some searching I found what someone had posted at MT a while back – the Abyss Table.  Yours for only about $25,000.  XD   But anyone could make something much simpler with a glass table that had a second layer underneath, for reefs and shipwrecks.  Icebergs would be tricky since most of the ice should be underwater – perhaps magnets could work?  That way when you move the iceberg on the surface, the bottom underneath goes with it.  Imagine submerged sea creatures and submarines trying to move around a huge mass of ice while underwater on the bottom shelf of the table!

To clarify, I mean a glass table with shelves that roll out so you can move stuff on them, then slide them back into the table to create the layered effect.  Obviously things would need to be very open and transparent to allow for gameplay.

Entire new house rules could be created, especially if there was a third layer below the main underwater layer – perhaps a submarine could dive under an iceberg to avoid it, but would have to surface 2 turns later.  And perhaps it would take a move action to move from one layer to another.  The Divers event could be revamped to include diving on wrecks at the bottom layer.  Perhaps every sunken ship would be placed at the bottom, retaining its cargo for any brave enough to venture down below.  (perhaps submarines could be given submerged explore actions at extreme risk)  Salvage the body of Thomas Gunn from the sunken HMS Apollo, and get a reward of 10 gold.  Steal a sunken UT and use it for yourself.  Take the Eye of Insanity from a dead Devereaux and watch in horror as he returns to the Cursed home island more powerful than before!  XD  The possibilities are endless, as usual.  Having sunken “stuff” stay in the game could open up new strategies.

Any more ideas on this subject?  Have you ever played a game on a layered glass table?

[Ben]

Another idea for a multi-layered table: treasure chests or gold in the ground.  Must take island off table and there is gold in a hole underneath.  If entire table was like that (maybe a grid of squares or hexes to put things in?), could also use it for mines, submerged stuff, etc.  This would require a unique table that had enough thickness, and would likely require custom editing to be feasible.

However, you could eventually use the idea for multiple functions – perhaps if a ship is sunk, it can remain a wreck “under” the surface of the table and you could put a thin clear material (perhaps plexiglass) over the hole in the table to restore the playing surface.  Then that wreck could be searched or salvaged with custom divers equipment.

[Ben]

I should mention that I have since seen this done before, with Xerecs and his brothers having a “sub-ocean” in their CoEC 2021 game.

It would be hard to pull off in “full”, especially if more than 2 total layers were desired.  Ex: the normal surface, the “underwater” area where subs drive around and sea creatures swim, and then the ocean floor where shipwrecks and random objects/artifacts lie (such as cargo tossed overboard due to illegal situations!).  Having enough space for hands to move above ships would be tight, and it would be just about impossible without either sliding surfaces so you could pull out a sub-layer to access it, or a standing game where the main surface was above regular table height (such as ~4 feet high) to ensure room for the other layers.

Of course, if you went all the way and actually did this in a (preferably) big or huge game, you’d want to make it worth it – submersible customs available, and probably a bunch of house rules so that “sunken” cargo and even some ships would be somehow available to salvage/loot/etc.  Maybe a way for The Cursed to come back from the grave ala PotC….

[Author]

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