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Battlefields versus the 5' dungeon.
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<blockquote data-quote="Philotomy Jurament" data-source="post: 5767878" data-attributes="member: 20854"><p>The only time I use a battle mat or grid at all is for combat, and even then it's only some of the time. We never it use it like a game-board during exploration and such. (I run OD&D and AD&D, if that matters.) </p><p></p><p>During exploration and non-combat play, the players usually arrange their figures in a marching order, just for reference, but we just play using description, and sometimes the players map on graph paper or I might draw a diagram on some scratch paper. </p><p></p><p>During combat, there's often no need for a battle map. (And the editions/rules I'm running don't require it.) If I think the situation warrants one, we'll use one, though. </p><p></p><p>When I use a battle map, I don't use a 5' square, but a 3⅓' square. Thus, a 10' dungeon corridor is 3 squares wide on the battle mat. I do that because, depending on the weapons being used, I allow up to three characters abreast in a 10' frontage. For example, three fighters with shields and short swords up front. If the fighters were wielding longswords, I'd only allow two abreast, and a fighter with a flail would require the entire width of the passage. The space required stats for weapons are a useful guideline -- I give those numbers some wiggle room, though.</p><p></p><p>(I've been using minis and a grid at the 3⅓'/inch ground scale for years -- long before 3e made the 5'/inch square standard. The 1e AD&D DMG has a passage about it: "…squares of about 1 actual inch per side are suggested. Each ground scale inch can then be used to equal 3⅓ linear feet, so a 10' wide scale corridor is 3 actual inches in width and shown as 3 separate squares. This allows for the typical array of three figures abreast…remember that ground scale differs from figure scale, and when dealing with length, two man-sized figures per square is quite possible, as the space is actually 6 scale feet with respect to length. This is meaningful when attacking a snake, dragon, etc. if the characters are able to attack the creatures body length.")</p><p></p><p>In OD&D with a battle mat, <a href="http://www.philotomy.com/combat_sequence.html" target="_blank">these are my preferred combat rules</a>. When running without a battle mat, I usually use the same basic sequence, <a href="http://www.philotomy.com/simple_sequence.html" target="_blank">often like this</a>.</p><p></p><p>I think AD&D 1e provides the best D&D rules for running combat <em>without</em> a battle mat. This surprises people because they remember the little diagrams about number of figures that could attack a single combatant, and the discussion of miniatures and such (like I quoted above). Nevertheless, the actual 1e combat rules are very abstract. You can use them without any precise positioning at all.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Philotomy Jurament, post: 5767878, member: 20854"] The only time I use a battle mat or grid at all is for combat, and even then it's only some of the time. We never it use it like a game-board during exploration and such. (I run OD&D and AD&D, if that matters.) During exploration and non-combat play, the players usually arrange their figures in a marching order, just for reference, but we just play using description, and sometimes the players map on graph paper or I might draw a diagram on some scratch paper. During combat, there's often no need for a battle map. (And the editions/rules I'm running don't require it.) If I think the situation warrants one, we'll use one, though. When I use a battle map, I don't use a 5' square, but a 3⅓' square. Thus, a 10' dungeon corridor is 3 squares wide on the battle mat. I do that because, depending on the weapons being used, I allow up to three characters abreast in a 10' frontage. For example, three fighters with shields and short swords up front. If the fighters were wielding longswords, I'd only allow two abreast, and a fighter with a flail would require the entire width of the passage. The space required stats for weapons are a useful guideline -- I give those numbers some wiggle room, though. (I've been using minis and a grid at the 3⅓'/inch ground scale for years -- long before 3e made the 5'/inch square standard. The 1e AD&D DMG has a passage about it: "…squares of about 1 actual inch per side are suggested. Each ground scale inch can then be used to equal 3⅓ linear feet, so a 10' wide scale corridor is 3 actual inches in width and shown as 3 separate squares. This allows for the typical array of three figures abreast…remember that ground scale differs from figure scale, and when dealing with length, two man-sized figures per square is quite possible, as the space is actually 6 scale feet with respect to length. This is meaningful when attacking a snake, dragon, etc. if the characters are able to attack the creatures body length.") In OD&D with a battle mat, [url=http://www.philotomy.com/combat_sequence.html]these are my preferred combat rules[/url]. When running without a battle mat, I usually use the same basic sequence, [url=http://www.philotomy.com/simple_sequence.html]often like this[/url]. I think AD&D 1e provides the best D&D rules for running combat [i]without[/i] a battle mat. This surprises people because they remember the little diagrams about number of figures that could attack a single combatant, and the discussion of miniatures and such (like I quoted above). Nevertheless, the actual 1e combat rules are very abstract. You can use them without any precise positioning at all. [/QUOTE]
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