Klataubarada
First Post
We have yet to use miniatures but I want to incorporate them for quest enders and such.
D&D 5E Theatre of the Mind or Miniatures?
Henry
Autoexreginated
I answered minis, but in truth I've to date used them almost 50-50. I suppose I lean more 60/40 in favor of minis, because of my ba kground using them in 3e and Pathfinder, so it's reflexively familiar, but compared to Pathfinder/3e where it was more like 90% minis use, it's been a dramatic shift for me back to Theatre of the Mind.
Ask this question again in 6 months and I may have flipped my answer.
Ask this question again in 6 months and I may have flipped my answer.
thalmin
Retired game store owner
I've used minis for almost every game played since I started playing (well, since the third game I ever played back in early AD&D). And since I collected ALL of the D&D prepaints, I have most everything covered without needing to proxy.
The picture covers about 2/3 of my collection.
The picture covers about 2/3 of my collection.
the Jester
Legend
Usually with, but not always. But my players love the minis and battlemat, so we use it more often than not. If not for their preference, I'd probably be more like 50/50.
I particularly like how you've glued all the minis down to stop them sliding off the shelves!
That's an impressive collection. I wish I had the space to properly store my minis; at present they're a little jumbled. (Which is not a good thing when you're talking about 2,000+ minis)
Cheers!
trentonjoe
Explorer
We use mini's for battle like 90% of the time. Whenever we include some "skill challenges" in the combat we generally scrap them though. We don't forgo them often but when we do it's pretty cool. One of my favorite combats in 5E was between the party and a bunch of 1e FF Dark Creepers with essentially levels in rogue. The PC's had three skill checks to make each round (ATH to get to the buggers, PER to find them, and something else I have forgotten), If they won all 3 they attacked with advantage, if they won 2 they got to attack, if they only one 1 they were attacked, if they lost all three the Dark Creepers attacked with advantage. This was the first time we just scrapped minis and had guys describe their actions. It was super cool. Hard to duplicate but worth the experience. Our group scribe described it in his recap as this "A running, swirling melee ensued, with dark creepers popping in and out, using shadow magic, while our party attempted to isolate and attack them (Awesome Skill Encounter)."
Tony Vargas
Legend
In keeping with the 5e philosophy, I generally run TotM. It's convenient, in that I don't have to pack maps or minis, and it also keeps the players' guessing, since they can't just count the minis on the table or double-check their positions. That leaves me freedom to adjust the number of creatures in a large combat, let a plot-important enemy get away or be captured, and the like, without the players noticing (or being sure, if they do notice).
And, TotM is the expected mode of play. Technically, the system doesn't do much to facilitate TotM, but I've been running games so long, it's not a problem. I was able to run Hero System combats TotM, and that's a more map-dependent system than any version of D&D.
And, TotM is the expected mode of play. Technically, the system doesn't do much to facilitate TotM, but I've been running games so long, it's not a problem. I was able to run Hero System combats TotM, and that's a more map-dependent system than any version of D&D.
Psikerlord#
Explorer
Mostly without. I prefer the flexibility of ToTM and the whole experience feels more... "seamless" (?) without a grid/minis.
Henry
Autoexreginated
For example: in the climax fight for first session of the campaign, they PCs faced off against an evil merchant looking to get revenge via a curse-casting by allying with a priest. The PCs faced the merchant, the priest, and his 3 guards in the merchant's storefront in town - totally theatre of the mind, from running skirmish to stop a ritual right to the merchant's forces in a showdown in the store front. The warmup however, involved a Great Hunt with a Giant Boar that I used minis for because it was imposing as Hell for the PCs watching a boar the size of a draft horse charging them in a wide open space.
In our latest session, I am using minis almost all the way, because it evokes the feel of the dungeon they are exploring (old crypt), but there will be parts where I use no minis becuase it's a short skirmish or doesn't make sense.
Compare this to Pathfinder games I have run in the past - even city street scenes I felt compelled to use minis because I was short changing some people's feats and abilities if I had use Theatre of the Mind. I gues that's the biggest change - not feeling compelled to use minis because no one's abilities were dependent on them.
In our latest session, I am using minis almost all the way, because it evokes the feel of the dungeon they are exploring (old crypt), but there will be parts where I use no minis becuase it's a short skirmish or doesn't make sense.
Compare this to Pathfinder games I have run in the past - even city street scenes I felt compelled to use minis because I was short changing some people's feats and abilities if I had use Theatre of the Mind. I gues that's the biggest change - not feeling compelled to use minis because no one's abilities were dependent on them.
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