As a DM, how do you handle movement on a square grid?

[Hypersmurf]

I hate it when my obscure puns are missed, so:

Props for a terrible obscure pun!

Why, thank you Which one in particular?

-Hyp.

 

[aurin777]

As said above, the 5 10 5 is a must. Things get unrealistc, and no one wants that for a game that tries so hard to emmulate realism.
~~Brandon

 

[Quasqueton]

"I used to know a marvellous spell. Now how did it go again? Let's see, firebox... firebox..."

Firebox sounds better than fireoctagon.

Quasqueton

 

[Voadam]

Re: Re: Re: As a DM, how do you handle movement on a square grid?

While it's true that we don't have swarms like that very often, keep in mind that if you have eight opponents surrounding you, your combat space is a 15' square. There's a good chance that that's a space bigger than the room you're in right now, and I have no trouble imagining eight opponents surrounding me in such a space.

Daniel

Surrounding, sure, but engaging in melee seems a bit much to me.

Granted my experience with live action padded pvc sword fighting is limited, but more than about four people swarming a lone guy in a field generally leads to the extras having to hold back and wait for an opening IME.

So six versus eight for facing doesn't seem that off to me.

Of course, his question was balance issues, and six versus eight in swarms is not that big a deal mechanically for balance purposes, it impacts a rushing horde against a lone figure in a field, but not much else.

 

[Dax Doomslayer]

Hi Folks,
Not to hijack this thread, but a question on a similar topic. For movement I use the 5, 10 method, however, what do you do for a Reach attacks? Do you allow a creature with a 10' Reach to go 2 diagonals? One diagonal and one straight square or no diagonals at all? I'm curious as to what people do for this. Thanks.

 

[Pielorinho]

Re: Re: Re: Re: As a DM, how do you handle movement on a square grid?

Surrounding, sure, but engaging in melee seems a bit much to me.

Granted my experience with live action padded pvc sword fighting is limited, but more than about four people swarming a lone guy in a field generally leads to the extras having to hold back and wait for an opening IME.

That makes sense -- but remember that the swarming happens over the course of a six-second round. The swarmers will jump in and out of combat with their victim. And my guess is that when four people swarmed a fifth in the PVC fights, y'all weren't taking up a 10' by 15' T-shaped space -- the smallest space possible in D&D terms. Real-life fighting can happen in much closer quarters than D&D fighting, I think.

That said, your point is a good one, that 6 vs 8 on swarming isn't a huge difference, nor does it break the game's realism. The choice of 6 vs. 8 should be made on grounds of simplicity -- not of balance or realism.

Daniel

 

[Hypersmurf]

Not to hijack this thread, but a question on a similar topic. For movement I use the 5, 10 method, however, what do you do for a Reach attacks? Do you allow a creature with a 10' Reach to go 2 diagonals? One diagonal and one straight square or no diagonals at all?

Assuming 5'-10':

Two diagonals is 15' - can't reach. One diagonal and one straight is 10' - no problem.

However, if someone moves from a two-diagonal square to a one-diagonal square, they incur an AoO (unless it's a 5' step), because at some point during that movement they pass through the creature's 10' threatened area.

-Hyp.

 

[Nifft]

Re: Re: Twirlip says...

Hex maps don't make it simpler, they just make it impossible to make 90-degree turns. Ever try going east or west on a hex map? You get this bizarre zig-zagging effect.

Hex maps make for unambiguous movement. Sure, you sometimes have to zig-zag. On the other hand, square maps give the same problem for no pay off. You're restricted to 90-degree turns, or you can allow 45-degree turns (with the issues discussed in this thread).

How do you handle 60-degree or 30-degree turns on a square map?

-- Nifft

 

[Simplicity]

They're taking out the 5-10-5-10 rule in 3e? Let me just say,
if this is true, it SUCKS. It's not that complicated and it prevents
unrealistic weirdness from occuring...

DM: You can't quite reach the orc with a charge.

Player: Can we turn the grid 45 degrees, so that I can?

 

[Simplicity]

Re: Re: Re: Twirlip says...

Hex maps make for unambiguous movement. Sure, you sometimes have to zig-zag. On the other hand, square maps give the same problem for no pay off.

The benefit of a square map is that you can move in straight lines in the four cardinal directions. Representing a dungeon with
straight walls is usually far easier on a square grid than on a
hex grid.

The benefit of a hex map is that they can more accurately represent facing, and can handle more directions more accurately
than the square maps.

I don't think there's any reason to say one map is better than the other, as they both have their uses.