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5 months ago ::
Jan 28, 2013 - 12:00PM
#11
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Date Joined:
May 25, 2012
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I ran strictly TotM for many years. When 4E required the shift over to gridded encounters, I grudgingly attempted it, but found it so off-putting that I eventually had to shift back to the narrated version, heavily modifying 4E's rules in order to do so.
HOWEVER - my youngest son (9) first learned D&D under 4e's grid design. When I shifted back to spoken description, he declared that he really missed 'seeing' where his character was on a map. I've compromised by sometimes doing certain set-piece battles, particularly those with key terrain features, on a mat.
Lesson: it largely depends what style introduced you to the game.
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5 months ago ::
Jan 31, 2013 - 11:51AM
#12
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Date Joined:
Aug 24, 2008
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We've been using ToM and have tried maybe 3 grid combats. Frankly the grid combats have been okay, but I feel like we didn't need to use it.
However, in almost every ToM combat we've used a sketch of some sort. Since distance is an important part of every character's powers/skills, constantly rehashing how far away something is from you, and keeping track isn't so fun. On a basic sketch of the area, it much simpler to have everyone just remember where they are from the previous round. Simple symbols for trees, statues, buildings etc are enough to suffice at about a 1:4 proportion on a 1" grid.
I was just thinking today about how I would like to use our battlemaps just a bit more to be more clear. I've decided I'll try making a 1" box equal 30' since that is the standard distance a creature can travel in a round, and using this for outdoor settings. Indoor would probably be 1" = 10' or 20' just as a summary of the area.
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5 months ago ::
Jan 31, 2013 - 1:48PM
#13
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Date Joined:
Jun 20, 2012
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Spoken 99% of the time. Using a grid takes up so much time and space I don't generally feel like dealing with it.
In a dungeon or similar environment and in mass battles, I'm more likely to use a grid, because location becomes much more important, I think.
I found my 'battlemat' in the hobby section. Apparently people who design clothing use a 1 inch square grid. It was much cheaper than 'official' battlemats, but was essentially the same thing. I bought two of them for when the characters are searching large areas like town ruins and such.
A rogue with a bowl of slop can be a controller.
WIZARD PC: Can I substitute Celestial Roc Guano for my fireball spells?
DM: Awesome. Yes.
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