Without minis

[Velvetlinedbox]

So I am thinking of moving away from combat maps and minis. I did not use them tell I switched to third and than ended up using them in every game since than.
So just wondering how many people don't use minis and if you do not can you give any tips on how to run a game with out them.

[kyrt-ryder]

The best advice I could give you is to do your best to bring your combats to life in the minds of your players with your descriptions.

I'm a writer at heart, so maybe it comes easy to me, but my players have never had any trouble with tactical positioning despite the fact that I won't use miniatures.

Just make it real, use your words to paint the scene, don't just lay out "this is here, that is there, and you see a bad guy that looks like this standing over here bla bla bla" but instead get into the mood and become the scene.

[Weylin]

My group has used minis at some points in the past. In general though we dont bother. It makes this a bit more complex without them especially when it comes to area effects, but we make do with descriptions. From both the GM and the players. It also leaves some things to GM call. But not using them lets us focus on playing the characters and not paying attention to the complicated chess board that is a gaming mat. That is just our style of play.

When we do feel the need for locations (in any game system), we just use rough drawn maps and coins/dice/x marked on the paper/poker chips. No one in our group paints minis and we are all vain and wont play with poorly painted miniatures. ;) And it leaves more money for books.

-Weylin