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  1. #1

    Question on proper placement of LoS for walls

    i am trying to figure out where the correct location to run the line of sight when doing something like a wall. Should it be on the edge inside a room, edge outside the room or down the middle of the wall? Or should you be doing a double line (one on the inside edge and one on the outside edge of the wall)?

    I ask as i have seen on different maps it setup differently.

    Case in point this screenshot from the Map: Arcane Academi of Thadrulex (players) out of the Mini-Dungeon Tome. (for 5E specifically but would bet it is the same for any other rulesset).

    You will see they did the double wall all throughout.

    Thanks for any help with best practice as I have a large number of maps I am about to start putting LoS into and want to work towards making it easy as well as not overloading the system with huge number of LoS data points when not necessary.
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  2. #2
    LordEntrails's Avatar
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    I am not a fan of double walls, almost ever.
    Why? Because they double the number of LOS segments and increase required calculations and hinder performance.

    I prefer lines down the middle of the walls. That way the players can actually see some of the wall graphics and its clear that it is a wall. BUT, there are exceptions to that rule. Especially with some old school maps where the walls between rooms and corridors are drawn as a single line. As well, some maps have secret doors shown on them and it can become tricky adding LOS segments without given that away.

    But, there is no right or wrong way, it's a matter of preference. Plus, a lot of the LOS maps were done by community members just learnings, so it can be hard to be too critical.

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  3. #3
    Zacchaeus's Avatar
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    There's no correct answer to this question.

    Initially line of sight was drawn to line up with the inside of the wall with double lines where the wall was thick enough. Feedback from the community however suggests that when players view such a map they don't 'see' the walls only blackness and so don't know what they 'see'. In more recent modules I've developed I've drawn the line of sight back from the edge so that what the players see is actually a wall before the blackness takes over. I have been waiting for the feedback from players and DMs who don't like this approach but so far there's not been any. So I'm guessing that the latter approach is probably the way to go.
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  4. #4
    thanks for the info. that is what I was thinking of doing with the down the middle of the wall or slightly back from the wall for things like cavern walls.

    I didn't mean to be critical of any maps that have been done as it is a lot of work to get LoS setup for all of the items that have been out before. I just wasn't sure what the best practices were as I have seen different setups in different maps.

  5. #5
    Also as a note on the round room: While it likely doesn't matter as much for smaller maps, it may make sense to only approximate the curved walls with an octagon or something similar so there are less individual segments to calculate.

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