How do you all make use of your grids?

[Lanefan]

So I'm new to the world of gridded play. I ran my first session using it two weeks ago. First encounter I just drew out an area with symbols for statues and other obstacles. The second encounter I went all out and drew an entire eight room house that the PCs infiltrated. I had drawn it out and used pieces of paper as a fog of war, removing them as PCs entered rooms.

I can see the first method being the primary way to use a grid. The party enters a room with an encounter and I can draw out that specific room.

Yep, that's the way. Drawing out the whole site ahead of time risks that work being wasted if they suddenly decide to go somewhere else.

I use a gridded chalkboard, and draw out what they see when they get to it. It's on the players to add what I draw to their own maps, as once it's erased I likely ain't drawing it again.

Do you guys draw out entire dungeons? Or just specific rooms? Any other tips or tricks for a newbie to on-grid play?

Tips from here: don't get married to the grid and don't force everything to "snap to grid". It's mostly there to show scale and distance as an aid to positioning (and mapping!) for the players, and if someone puts their mini half in one square and half in another, so what: leave it be. Use feet rather than squares for your AoE areas, and measure if you have to (measuring comes up surprisingly infrequently, all things considered). Also, 3e-4e-5e are quite harsh when defining what can fit in a given area e.g. by RAW only two front-liners can fight side by side in a 10' wide passage when reality says there's clearly room for three.

 

[Lanefan]

A trick I used recently with the Against the Giants cavern is to use the 1 inch grid inside Christmas Wrapping paper. I bought some after the holiday for $1.00 and rolled it out. I worked great for set places like the cavern at the end of Forge of Fury and big fights or rolling places like the cavern in AtGiants. Although the one, long roll was not as cool as I though in play with coiling up one end and unrolling the other on the table without fiddling around with player space and moving a lot.

If I ever run another con. game this is the route I'll go. I'd probably cut the paper into 4' lengths ahead of time, though, and just swap them out as needed.

 

[Irlo]

So I'm new to the world of gridded play. I ran my first session using it two weeks ago. First encounter I just drew out an area with symbols for statues and other obstacles. The second encounter I went all out and drew an entire eight room house that the PCs infiltrated. I had drawn it out and used pieces of paper as a fog of war, removing them as PCs entered rooms.

I can see the first method being the primary way to use a grid. The party enters a room with an encounter and I can draw out that specific room.

While the second method was really fun and had what I felt to be a large pay-off.. It was A LOT of work. Plus it was a pain. I drew it out the night before, and had to store the tiles in another room. While moving them I had to be super careful to not erase any of the marker.

Do you guys draw out entire dungeons? Or just specific rooms? Any other tips or tricks for a newbie to on-grid play?

Edit: I should have mentioned beforehand that I was primarily looking for answers regarding in-person play. I do enjoy hearing about the VTT options though.

I've taken several different approaches to mapping. I've tried drawing as we go, on tiles or on paper, but alas I'm a slow drawer and it can be awkward to draw on a surface on a table surrounded by players. I've also drawn out entire dungeon levels on large easel-sized grid paper and, like you, used paper as fog of war. I've done some elaborate maps for big battles in fantastical locations. That's fun, but I don't have that kind of time anymore.

 

[Irlo]

Tips from here: don't get married to the grid and don't force everything to "snap to grid". It's mostly there to show scale and distance as an aid to positioning (and mapping!) for the players, and if someone puts their mini half in one square and half in another, so what: leave it be. Use feet rather than squares for your AoE areas, and measure if you have to (measuring comes up surprisingly infrequently, all things considered). Also, 3e-4e-5e are quite harsh when defining what can fit in a given area e.g. by RAW only two front-liners can fight side by side in a 10' wide passage when reality says there's clearly room for three.

This is excellent advice.

 

[MNblockhead]

This is a classic tip, and I'm thirding it. IIRC I've seen the same happen with brown, though less severely.

I have heard that windex can get the stains off, but I don't have certain firsthand knowledge.

Other colors I've been able to leave on for an extended period without permanent staining.

I don't know about Windex specfically, but be careful with advice for removing permanent marks. A lot of chemical break down the mat so that it gets harder and harder to clean properly.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

Also, 3e-4e-5e are quite harsh when defining what can fit in a given area e.g. by RAW only two front-liners can fight side by side in a 10' wide passage when reality says there's clearly room for three.

Maybe pikemen. Stand shoulder to shoulder with 2 other guys swinging swords, blocking with shields and trying to dodge fireballs and tell me there's enough room to not get in each other's way.

 

[Lanefan]

Maybe pikemen. Stand shoulder to shoulder with 2 other guys swinging swords, blocking with shields and trying to dodge fireballs and tell me there's enough room to not get in each other's way.

If someone's wielding a greatsword then yes, that person needs 5 feet. But three with one-handed weapons and shields can fit across a 10' hall; four if they're all Hobbits or Gnomes.

And if the front-liners are dodging fireballs that means one side or the other is fireballing their own front line as well, which isn't often a winning tactic.

 

[Mannahnin]

Maybe pikemen. Stand shoulder to shoulder with 2 other guys swinging swords, blocking with shields and trying to dodge fireballs and tell me there's enough room to not get in each other's way.

Or shortswords or spears or something. With those and interlocked shields you might even manage 4 across.

But yep, how tight your formation can be is very weapon-dependent, which is why 1E had stats for how much space weapons needed. And slashing vs. stabbing makes a huge difference.

Every grid requires certain abstractions.

 

[Reynard]

And if the front-liners are dodging fireballs that means one side or the other is fireballing their own front line as well, which isn't often a winning tactic.

Depends. Do you have animate dead prepared as well?