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[Zinovia]

Originally Posted by Nytmare

Would it be less confusing to use things like the "burst 1" hexagon for "blast 3?" In other words have the blast number count as the number of hexes you counted across, and then use that row to describe a hexagonal area? So burst1/blast3, burst2/blast5, burst3/(and the oft used)blast7. It has the added benefit of cutting down the number of templates that you needed by a third.

You could certainly do that, and it would likely be easier and less confusing. In my case, I envision blast spells as cones (like the old AD&D Cone of Cold). The drawback of using the burst spells as the default shape is that they effect fewer hexes. I opted to go for symmetry there, rather than keeping the number of hexes the same as it would have been with a square grid. I feel it makes sense for the "round" burst spells. Also fewer enemies can surround you on a hex grid (6 rather than 8), so that kind of balances it. With the shapes I chose for the blasts, I managed to keep the number of hexes the same as they would have been on a square grid.

How do you translate creature sizes to hexes? Do you turn their bases into triangles? It would seem like making their bases larger and larger hexes would end up making them way too big.

I use a lot of WotC minis, and just leave their bases as they are. If it's a larger figure, we just put it on the mat and see how many hexes are covered. If a hex is more than half covered by the base, then the creature is occupying that hex. For determining flanking, I just do a quick visual assessment to see which hexes are on opposite sides of the monster from each other. It's extremely simple with medium sized minis, as it is always clear which hex is the flanking hex for any position.

Originally Posted by Nytmare

Actually, at that point, you could combine all of them into ONE template and cut the number of templates by a fourteenth!!

You could easily combine the bursts, as you've illustrated. That didn't occur to me, as I kind of like having the different templates for clarity. Also it's fun seeing the look on my players' faces when I bring out a nice big template for an area spell being cast on them. If you made the blasts the same shape (hexagonal), then yes, you could get away with a single template as you have shown. Nice work!