5' diagonals

[mirzabah]

Three words - hexagonal battle mat

Hear hear! You really have to wonder why 3E combat is squares based. Things are bad enough when you consider diagonal 5' steps, but it just gets plain crazy when you look at creatures and weapons with 10' reach - or more.

Hex-based combat just makes so much more sense.

Cheers,
John Carney.

 

[HellHound]

In my opinion, the prevalence of square-based mapsheets over hex-based is locked in at the graph-paper level. It's a lot harder to draw a room on a hex map when the modules all have them drawn on graph paper.

Things start falling apart as the minis "wiggle" their way down narrow hallways, lurching left, then right, as they go from hex to hex in a 5' wide East-West hall.

It also has a lot to do with ease of access. I can get tons of 1" grid stuff, and I can fake it with desk-sized 4-quad and 5-quad graph tablets whenever I need to. Getting 1" hex battlemats generally means going out and buying one specifically for the game.

Personally, I actually prefer hex-based combat. But the logistics for the average younger gaming group can be daunting and it could turn a number of them away quickly when they first see it.

 

[EOL]

I think the ease of drawing on a square map is more important than the realism of a hex map. But then again I'm lazy and a sucky artist...

 

[Lord Pendragon]

If moving diagonally is a problem on the square grid, isn't moving left or right an equal problem on the hex grid?

 

[Gromm]

If moving diagonally is a problem on the square grid, isn't moving left or right an equal problem on the hex grid?

Yes. Not to mention to have to all but change the game in order to figure out damn near everything (since its all in cubes/squares, etc).

Seriously the 5', 10' ,5' thing works perfectly and has no real issues, and more importantly you can move in all the cardinal directions without problems.

 

[Ranger REG]

Unfortunately, the hex supporters' math skills aren't great, that they can't add 5s and 10s. Heck, they couldn't tell the difference between evens and odds.

Then again, moving left and right in hex is kinda neat. It's like your character is speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno. (sideslip left, sideslip right... don't forget to sway your arms like you're in broadway... )

Just kidding.

-- a recovering Star Fleet Battles players.

 

[Demogorge]

Thanks for the replies guys. The 5-10-5 thing is cool, and the tower shield replies were illuminating.

I need a tower shield with command word activated Reduce/Enlarge. And the Shield spell too while I'm at it.

 

[HellHound]

Ranger REG; as a Hex supporter who generally plays on grid instead due to existing game props, I resent the implication that I don't know how to add!

 

[Christian]

FTR: I made some templates for weapon reach and spell areas under the 5'/10' system, and I only found one genuine issue. A 10' reach weapon needs to be considered to have a 15' reach on the diagonal (two full diagonal squares) or else an opponent can avoid the AoO for closing by slipping in on the diagonal. Otherwise, it works quite well. (For long ranges, whether on a square grid or hex grid, it's best to have a yardstick or tape measure handy rather than counting squares; so the cumulative inaccuracy of the 5'/10' system [the diagonal distance is more like 7' 1", not 7' 6"] is irrelevant.)

Regarding the game system's assumption of 8 like-size figures surrounding a character-mathematically, that's too many-really only six could. (Get some pennies and try ...) This is yet another minor compromise you make for the simplicity of the square grid. Personally (having tried it both ways), I think the simplicity (especially for indoor situations, when you're dealing with rectilinear architecture) far outweighs the compromises in accuracy.

Um, did I say I'd tried it both ways? What I meant was ...

(Today's ten-dollar word: 'rectilinear')

 

[Ranger REG]

Resent away.

Seriously, while hex have its place in some games: BattleTech, Star Fleet Battles, Champion (all modern and sci-fi genres), grid is making a strong comeback.

In fact, I especially like how they use grid for the revised (and definitely much sorely needed) Star Wars starship combat rules (found in Star Wars Gamer #008). I mean, it's one of those smack-your-forehead "why didn't I think of that before!" idea.

When, it comes to Dungeons & Dragon, particularly the Dungeons part, not many medieval builders commonly do hex-shaped rooms. So why make it hard on the DM who has to draw the dungeon or house map on hex?

BTW, did you get the part of my message above where I said, "I was kidding"?