"Theater of the Mind" or Map and Minis?

Hexmage-EN · Apr 24, 2018

Has your 5E combat experience been mostly theater of the mind, or does your group use a map and miniatures? If a map, what kind?

Personally my current group has nearly entirely fought on a grid. Our DM earlier on tried a few combats without a map, but quickly went back to the grid when it became clear the players were interested in knowing exactly where the combatants were in relation to one another (myself included, since my character has maneuvering strike and repelling blast).

Skidrow · Apr 24, 2018

I voted "other" as I'm torn with this question. I live painting minis but find grid combat inconvenient and/or time consuming where as theatre of the mind seems so freeing. I'll be running CoS in the fall and so I've been watching DCA and Chris Perkins does a real great job of theatre of the mind. The rogue even does tactical moves. I can only hope I can replicate that.

Raith5 · Apr 24, 2018

We use fantasy grounds even when we are face to face, so we are 100% on the grid. The interface of FG bugs the hell out of me, but the maps are good.

pogre · Apr 24, 2018

I voted other, but really would fall in the grid category - I just use tons and tons of Dwarven Forge, Hirst Arts, and other scenery bits. We never use a grid - tape measures when needed - 1" = 5'
An old gaming pic:

SkidAce · Apr 24, 2018

Other.

Because we use both depending on the battle.

Mouseferatu · Apr 24, 2018

SkidAce said:
Other.

Because we use both depending on the battle.

This is, almost to the letter, what I was going to say.

JamesVail · Apr 24, 2018

I use both theatre of the mind and grids. For more complex scenarios I prefer the grid, but I like theatre of the mind for more visceral encounters, where the environment is simple, for example a time when an altar of gore started growing and growing, blocking passage beyond it, and forcing the PCs towards a cliff. Not really necessary for a grid. Whereas an encounter with multiple enemies and environmental details definitely works better with a grid so there is no lack of communication/understanding.

Li Shenron · Apr 24, 2018

Hexmage-EN said:
Has your 5E combat experience been mostly theater of the mind, or does your group use a map and miniatures? If a map, what kind?

Maybe you're new to the forum, but for the Nth time... TotM and grid are not the only options, there is also the GRIDLESS map/battlemat, meaning that (unlike TotM) you DO use miniatures and measure distances but (unlike the grid) you do NOT have squares or hexes but open spaces. Think of it as an "analog battlemat"

GRIDLESS map is my favourite way of running combats

although I also use TotM quite often, when a battle isn't very interesting, typically because there is a solo monster and not much environment features to be used to your advantage.

What I like about GRIDLESS, is that it offers about the same amount of tactical choices as the grid and is almost as easy to use, but feels more natural and immersive.

neogod22 · Apr 24, 2018

I hate TotM mainly because when I play characters that don't want to get hit, the grid makes sure there are no shenanigans from the DM to put something in front of me that shouldn't be there. I have a very tactical mind and need to see where everything is.

ccs · Apr 24, 2018

SkidAce said:
Other.

Because we use both depending on the battle.

This.
In addition we've had some combats that were a mix. Things where the "map" was really just a crude, not-at-all-to-scale, sketch with minis placed to show approximate location.
We're also not particular about what side of the battlemat we're drawing on. Squares or hexes....