Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Mind Style versus Grid Style: can core support both?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="DEFCON 1" data-source="post: 8814305" data-attributes="member: 7006"><p>The biggest hurdle in my opinion is for those who play Theater of the Mind to get past the idea of needing precision. The precision you otherwise would get for playing with a grid.</p><p></p><p>Actual distances in TotM? Irrelevant. As the DM, you get to make up and narratively decide what the characters can see and do. Do they have light sources? If yes, then you have to arbitrarily determine where the monsters might be and which ones are in view... and should not once bother with the "ranges" of the light sources per the PHB. You know what those ranges are "supposed" to be-- torch throws weaker than hooded lantern throws weaker than bullseye lantern-- so just decide what can be seen.</p><p></p><p>Is a mage casting a ranged spell? Then as the DM you can and have to just arbitrarily decide how many creatures can get hit. You might have a visualization in your own theater of the mind of where the monsters are... but you won't have precise coordinates, neither in distance nor clumpage. So you just have to essentially make it up, while using a sense of logic and reason for yourself as to where they all might be.</p><p></p><p>Basically... if you wish to play Theater of the Mind, you should not try to play the board game without having the board. Just use reasonable determination and make calls that seem as likely as you can visualize, and leave the distance and positioning to those using the grid.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DEFCON 1, post: 8814305, member: 7006"] The biggest hurdle in my opinion is for those who play Theater of the Mind to get past the idea of needing precision. The precision you otherwise would get for playing with a grid. Actual distances in TotM? Irrelevant. As the DM, you get to make up and narratively decide what the characters can see and do. Do they have light sources? If yes, then you have to arbitrarily determine where the monsters might be and which ones are in view... and should not once bother with the "ranges" of the light sources per the PHB. You know what those ranges are "supposed" to be-- torch throws weaker than hooded lantern throws weaker than bullseye lantern-- so just decide what can be seen. Is a mage casting a ranged spell? Then as the DM you can and have to just arbitrarily decide how many creatures can get hit. You might have a visualization in your own theater of the mind of where the monsters are... but you won't have precise coordinates, neither in distance nor clumpage. So you just have to essentially make it up, while using a sense of logic and reason for yourself as to where they all might be. Basically... if you wish to play Theater of the Mind, you should not try to play the board game without having the board. Just use reasonable determination and make calls that seem as likely as you can visualize, and leave the distance and positioning to those using the grid. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Mind Style versus Grid Style: can core support both?
Top