|
Last night I decided to do something different for the evening's encounter. It was a wilderness throw-down between the PCs and a gang of trolls. Instead of getting out the battlemat and the dry-erase markers, I instead reached for my Wargaming terrain - the grass mat, the miniature trees, the plastic hills, and so forth - and arranged the encounter that way, with no grid. Instead we used a tape measure for ranges and movement, with the standard 1" = 5' rule. Basically, we turned back the clock to before 3rd edition.
I've gotten so used to employing a grid for combat that it seemed like a really revolutionary idea at first, but then I remembered that this was the de-facto mode for RPG miniatures combat before grid mats became the standard. I guess I've gotten so used to the idea of employing a grid in the last decade or so that it felt very fresh and novel. This is probably because back in the early days I rarely used miniatures and most of the action was expressed narratively rather than on a miniatures mat.
At any rate, the experience was very organic and natural and I think I might prefer it to using a grid in the future - especially for outdoor or non-dungeon encounters where the landscape is supposed to be more natural and doesn't conform well to straight lines. Here's the analysis from my players:
Pros:
- Easier time measuring ranges, more organic movement and use of space
- Easier to visualize the action, more representational
- Easier to establish flanking maneuvers
- Use of wargaming terrain makes the scene prettier and more compelling
Cons:
- More difficult to figure out threatened areas
- More cleanup time putting away all the terrain (setup takes about as long as drawing the map on the grid)
- More stuff to lug to the game (this one from me)
- Possibility for partial inclusion in Area Effects needs some adjudication
Anyone else leave the grid behind when playing these days? I'd be interested to know if anyone else has traded their battlemat for a tape measure - or if any of us never left the tape measure behind in the first place.
Last night I decided to do something different for the evening's encounter. It was a wilderness throw-down between the PCs and a gang of trolls. Instead of getting out the battlemat and the dry-erase markers, I instead reached for my Wargaming terrain - the grass mat, the miniature trees, the plastic hills, and so forth - and arranged the encounter that way, with no grid. Instead we used a tape measure for ranges and movement, with the standard 1" = 5' rule. Basically, we turned back the clock to before 3rd edition.
I've gotten so used to employing a grid for combat that it seemed like a really revolutionary idea at first, but then I remembered that this was the de-facto mode for RPG miniatures combat before grid mats became the standard. I guess I've gotten so used to the idea of employing a grid in the last decade or so that it felt very fresh and novel. This is probably because back in the early days I rarely used miniatures and most of the action was expressed narratively rather than on a miniatures mat.
At any rate, the experience was very organic and natural and I think I might prefer it to using a grid in the future - especially for outdoor or non-dungeon encounters where the landscape is supposed to be more natural and doesn't conform well to straight lines. Here's the analysis from my players:
Pros:
- Easier time measuring ranges, more organic movement and use of space
- Easier to visualize the action, more representational
- Easier to establish flanking maneuvers
- Use of wargaming terrain makes the scene prettier and more compellingCons:
- More difficult to figure out threatened areas
- More cleanup time putting away all the terrain (setup takes about as long as drawing the map on the grid)
- More stuff to lug to the game (this one from me)
- Possibility for partial inclusion in Area Effects needs some adjudicationAnyone else leave the grid behind when playing these days? I'd be interested to know if anyone else has traded their battlemat for a tape measure - or if any of us...
I use a 1 inch hex map... the only real difference it makes is that you can only be surrounded by 6 guys instead of 8... shrug
aside from that "problem" it's incredible
It's only been about two or three years since we started using a grid. When I started, it was all imagined in your head. Then we moved to a white board with everything just drew free form.
The thing that will shock everyone is that I didn't start playing PnP RPGs until 3.0 came out. I always chuckle when I hear people say that you have to have a battle mat to play 3.x. :)
On a regular basis we don't bother with a mat.
Last Friday, the party used a teleportation circle and ended up in a trap that was in a 60-foot diameter room with six binding traps around the edge, and which was tilted at a 60-degree angle. Four advanced astradaemons popped out of the binding traps to attack, and we ran the entire combat without bothing with mat or minis, even though the combat involved teleports, feather falls, a druid who turned into a beholder, and a reality maelstrom.
I don't think a mat is mandatory. Depends more on the players than anything.
With my gaming group we only use the battle map if were playing 4e all other games and systems we use to quote Sheldon from Big Bang Theory "The greatest graphic chip in the universe, the human brain."
|
|
I certainly agree that the mat is not necessary compared to just using narrative and imagination to describe the action. However, I'm more interested in whether other folks are using miniatures without tying them to grid-based movement. (that is, going back to wargames-style measured movement and ranges)
I certainly agree that the mat is not necessary compared to just using narrative and imagination to describe the action. However, I'm more interested in whether other folks are using miniatures without tying them to grid-based movement. (that is, going back to wargames-style measured movement and ranges)
Ohhhhhh.
No, haven't done much of that since MageKnight days.
With my gaming group we only use the battle map if were playing 4e all other games and systems we use to quote Sheldon from Big Bang Theory "The greatest graphic chip in the universe, the human brain."
That's amusing, he's probably directly quoting Dragonstrike, fast forward to 0:42 .
Like I mentioned before, we used to do that with a white board up until a couple of years ago. Everything was ad-hoc, though. We eyeballed most everything and rarely measured.
Well, if you or any of your play group are wargamers and have terrain lying around, I'd definitely recommend giving it a go. A lot of game stores that have wargaming tables have terrain available as well, so if you don't have your own you could use the shop terrain to have a go.
I started out as a wargamer. I use gridded floorplans for buildings / dungeons (with furniture, columns etc. added) but terrain etc. for outdoor encounters. I think you laid out the pros / cons pretty well. I just prefer the visual esthetic of terrain with the miniatures.
We haven't used a grid since 2005 or 2006. Before that, we hardly used it anyway.
For the most part, we just play here at my place where the terrain is. Nobody else ever wants to GM anyway.
We've never had trouble eyeballing distances, but we keep all my wargaming measuring tools on hand, anyway. There are plenty of accessories out there for people who want to play this way.
Frankly, I don't see any cons at all to this. What's nice is it gets you thinking in multiple dimensions. Having measurement tools and no grid to force interpretations, you can measure between elevations for more tactical thinking, and best of all, you never get into that trap of worrying about a "diagonal path" across the squares versus a straight one. Every movement is simply a straight line.
I could go on all day. Using actual terrain is not for everyone: it does mean cultivating a whole new aspect of the hobby, and it can definitely add up, cost-wise. But the benefits and the simple joy of it are endless.
In my old gameing group we used a large dry erase board for encounters and loved it for the random danger of poorly placed area of effect spells like fireball or entangle. I had the players 'eyeball' where they wanted to center the spell, put a dot on the board and then I would get the ruler and measure the area of effect. Lots of times there would be a friend or two caught in the effect. Makes for a more natural feel than the world being a chess board and everyone moving about straight line for three squares then a diagonal square to the right.
-Flea
In my old gameing group we used a large dry erase board for encounters and loved it for the random danger of poorly placed area of effect spells like fireball or entangle. I had the players 'eyeball' where they wanted to center the spell, put a dot on the board and then I would get the ruler and measure the area of effect. Lots of times there would be a friend or two caught in the effect. Makes for a more natural feel than the world being a chess board and everyone moving about straight line for three squares then a diagonal square to the right.
-Flea
Anymore, in my home games, if I use a map I use hexes. However, during 3.x when we first started using maps at all they were grids. The people I played with at the time didn't like the ability to precisely aim spells in little 5' boxes since it lessened immersion for them, so we had people target a square with an effect, let's say fireball, and then roll 1d4 to see which interection it targeted, meaning the affect could shift 5' or so in any direction and potentially scorch some allies when trying to carefully aim. It worked pretty well at the time.