Area of Effect Templates

[el-remmen]

This might touch on house rules, and if ends up going in that direction I will move the thread (don't think I won't! )

Anyway, I was browsing the Best Game Aids thread and got interested in the flip mat and the SqWire templates people kept talking about (esp. the latter) and went to go check them out.

And then I realized the shape of them totally turns me off.

You can check out the area of effect templates here: http://www.steelsqwire.com/prod02.htm

I draw straight lines and circles for AoE, not based on the shapes of boxes. I have always just run it that if a mini is in a square that is more than half in the AoE that mini is effect, and if the mini is in a square that is half or less there is a straight up 50% chance they are affected.

This is one of those things where I might not have ever bothered to read the rules in that section of the PHB and just ran things based on what makes sense to me, but I could have sworn at some point somewhere I read the 50% thing.

Does anyone else do this, or something like it? Do most people just measure area of effect in boxes?

Between the rule stated above and the fact that we play that AoE spells target a square and the corner of the square used as the spell's center is determined randomly* helps to add a bit of a random factor and danger to spell-use that fits the flavor I look for in my games.

* The Accurate Caster feat cancels this, and the caster can choose the intersection.

 

[diaglo]

for the newest edition i think steel sqwire was spot on.

edit: it was one of the very few items i kept from last year as a judge.

 

[el-remmen]

Yeah, well thinking on it some more, the shape of the templates does make them a lot easier to move around and place flatly onto the mat. . .

I am just not sure if the convenience is worth the annoyance I would feel about the lack of precision. Which is ironic, because my complaint is that they don't allow for lack of precision. . . Us humans are complicated animals

 

[frankthedm]

I draw straight lines and circles for AoE, not based on the shapes of boxes. I have always just run it that if a mini is in a square that is more than half in the AoE that mini is effect, and if the mini is in a square that is half or less there is a straight up 50% chance they are affected.

This is one of those things where I might not have ever bothered to read the rules in that section of the PHB and just ran things based on what makes sense to me, but I could have sworn at some point somewhere I read the 50% thing.

One or two Examples in the 3.0 PHB really made it look like that was the case. 3.5 really cleared that up.

One does not 'measure' this edition, one counts squares. This counting also clips alot of area from radius effects.



I prefer half in, half effect, save for none on those edge of the effect cases.