D&D 5E Minis and no grid?

[Tony Vargas]

Anyone Use minis for 5e without a grid?

I haven't yet. The last time I ran minis on a bare table top was Essentials, when I ran Temple of the Frog in a fairly retro-old-school style. Part of that 'style' was using minis on a bare surface (at most, with dice, pencils or whatever was handy to to mark the position of objects, walls, &c), and checking distances with a tapemeasure when needed.

5e lends itself very well to that mode, just choose a scale (that approximately matches you minis, so probably 1" = 5', though you could go all 1e and make it 1" = 10' indoors/30' outdoors), and off you go - it gives everything in feet, so it becomes easy to determine exactly who gets caught in what fireball.

 

[Mercule]

I've considered it on numerous occasions. It bugs me to no end to watch players count things out and have every fireball end right between two melee combatants -- I don't care how smart the wizard is, that stretches credulity. It bothers at least half the table, as well, so it's usually the other players shouting, "Stop counting and just pick a spot!"

Using a grid actually works against my players at least as often as it helps them. My brain parses gridwork very fast, so I never make mistakes unless done on purpose. I have one player who's close, but not quite as fast.

 

[Connorsrpg]

Always have. In fact, I just use what is available. Normally I place a felt mat in the middle (as things can be placed under it for elevation.

If I have a floor plan I may place it down, or use tiles for some things (they are especially good for raised areas). I use blocks, hoody strings, dominies, etc. All without grid. Just put some stuff out there and go.

Savage Worlds inspired me too. I still use their templates for bursts etc. And I have small, plastic rulers cut off at 30ft (or other lengths for other mvt rates - though 30ft is easily used), so a player can very quickly determine how far they can move. Or the DM does it. These flexible rulers bend too. We do this approximately and quickly, not exactly. If it looks like someone can engage an enemy, then they do.

I too liked the 13th Age approach. Have not used it specifically, but it has influenced my DMing.

I started 4E by using squares and very soon ditched the idea. But we LOVE using minis. Have done since 1E and this is how we have always used minis.

 

[dd.stevenson]

Anyone Use minis for 5e without a grid? I have started doing this for 5e to just get some rough relative positioning. Sometimes I use a large dry erase board to draw in room/terrain but haven't used a grid in quote some time.

I do the online equivalent; I have portraits on an ungridded non-map background, and move the portraits around and draw doodles to get the relative positioning of everything important.

 

[sleypy]

I prefer to use theater of the mind. I will switch minis with no grid or use a grid and be liberal if someone complains too much. That only really happens because of flanking. (I'm so glad 5e doesn't have 3e/4e flanking rules.)

 

[Bupp]

I use a whiteboard with minis all the time. I draw in features with dry erase markers.

 

[Connorsrpg]

I believe I wrote a blog post here somewhere in the past about what players can do to help create the battle map and collect items to help portray the battlefield without having to 'draw' or use grids.