D&D 3.5 did well with miniatures and did alright without them (only minor adjustments based on my personal experience). How dependent on miniatures are the Pathfinder RPG rules going to be?
Can't wait until August. :) Gen Con Indy!
Pretty much exactly the same, I like to use a grid and models, but this is still basically 3.5, its not a new edition, more an update.
Pretty much exactly the same, I like to use a grid and models, but this is still basically 3.5, its not a new edition, more an update.Good to know. Thanks for the quick responses! :)
Any chance of PRPG being hex-based? If there's already a good discussion of this please point me there.
Any chance of PRPG being hex-based? If there's already a good discussion of this please point me there.Pretty much exactly the same, I like to use a grid and models, but this is still basically 3.5, its not a new edition, more an update.Good to know. Thanks for the quick responses! :)
Doubt it, as the rules are already written and thats hardly as backward compatible. I'm sure it'll be convertable though.
D&D 3.5 did well with miniatures and did alright without them (only minor adjustments based on my personal experience). How dependent on miniatures are the Pathfinder RPG rules going to be?
Pretty much the same system (as far as we know of course).
I *do* think there are some new options that actually make it a little *easier* without miniatures. "Step Up" for instance may deal with the very miniature's based idea of 5' steps, but it basically means you don't need to know exactly where that dang wizard stepped to.
But really, the same.
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I ran four encounters tonight with a PF Beta'd Hollow's Last Hope and used a grid and minis for three. Could have done half without the grid in the end. I find it useful for encounters where there are multiple foes and interesting terrain features, but not absolutely nescessary. Here's the breakdown:
Enc #1: giant mosquito -no grid, combat lasted 3 rounds plus surprise. Mosquito had its fill by round two and was splattered easily. It happened while camping, so no real map/grid was needed.
Enc #2: Zombie (I changed the kobold for a young girl who was the first to die of the taint) - I started the encounter at 100 ft and described the situation until the party was close enough to see all was not well, at which point I went to the grid. Interesting tactical descision by the sorcerer left him exposed to a charge attack and bite (my zombies bite!). Opportunity would not have presented itself if we just used straight up descriptive style of combat.
Enc #3: Bait -Used the back of the River Crossing flip mat. Placed the fox on the opposite side of the river. Placed crows in the trees. Hidden Hobgob down the trail. As the party inched across the river, the ambush was sprung. The position of enemies and characters was important to this encounter, so the grid was very helpful.
Enc #4 Tatzlwyrm - The grid was used, but the static nature of the fight made it redundant and I swiftly stopped referring to it.
From that experience, it appears to me that although the PFRPG is designed to use the d20 grid system, you can just as easily dispense with it when the situation is simple or drama calls for it. Not really different from 3.5 in that aspect.
I've played it with a grid and on graph paper (particularly when the PCs get split up over a very large area) just fine. Pretty much plays exactly like 3.5 did.
Any chance of PRPG being hex-based?
Well, if you want to see hexes, the bard gets some new options in that area, as an addition to his boosts. ;-)
I think it won't be that much of a problem using a hexagonal battlemat - or none at all.
It's still a RPG first and foremost, and the battlemat is just a tool to help with combat. Damn useful, but they didn't make it part of the game in this game.
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