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<blockquote data-quote="Ariosto" data-source="post: 4832234" data-attributes="member: 80487">Roleplaying outside of combat requires spells? That's a new one on me! Maybe it arose during the 3E era, when from what I saw the vast majority of characters (assisted by the class-mixing rules) were at least tyros at spell-casting -- and the broader notion that anything worth doing was done with number-crunching and dice-rolling was gaining traction.Miniature figurines per se are not required in any edition, but 4E very clearly and strongly assumes a square grid and markers of some sort. The 3E rules were also, but perhaps more weakly, geared to that setup. The default level of abstraction in old D&amp;D more easily accommodated tactical play without such apparatus. The first edition Dungeon Masters Guide at pp. 10-11 suggests, &quot;The special figures cast for ADVANCED DUNGEONS &amp; DRAGONS add color to play and make refereeing far easier.&quot; Of the Grenadier Models line, it states, &quot;These figures are the only ones which comply in all respects to AD&amp;D specifications and the AD&amp;D MONSTER MANUAL,&quot; and urges, &quot;Always look for the name, ADVANCED DUNGEONS &amp; DRAGONS, and the TSR approval mark before purchasing figures for your campaign.&quot;That last &quot;word of warning&quot; to use only OFFICIAL or Authorized products appears three times in half a page! One may consider whether the existence of an in-house line of figurines has any bearing on game design.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Ariosto, post: 4832234, member: 80487"] Roleplaying outside of combat requires spells? That's a new one on me! Maybe it arose during the 3E era, when from what I saw the vast majority of characters (assisted by the class-mixing rules) were at least tyros at spell-casting -- and the broader notion that [i]anything[/i] worth doing was done with number-crunching and dice-rolling was gaining traction. Miniature figurines per se are not required in any edition, but 4E very clearly and strongly assumes a square grid and markers of some sort. The 3E rules were also, but perhaps more weakly, geared to that setup. The default level of abstraction in old D&D more easily accommodated tactical play without such apparatus. The first edition [i]Dungeon Masters Guide[/i] at pp. 10-11 suggests, "The special figures cast for ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS add color to play and make refereeing far easier." Of the Grenadier Models line, it states, "These figures are the only ones which comply in all respects to AD&D specifications and the AD&D MONSTER MANUAL," and urges, "Always look for the name, ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, and the TSR approval mark before purchasing figures for your campaign." That last "word of warning" to use only OFFICIAL or [i]Authorized[/i] products appears three times in half a page! One may consider whether the existence of an [i]in-house[/i] line of figurines has any bearing on game design. [/QUOTE]

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