D&D 5E Battlemap Vs. Theater of the Mind

[aramis erak]

I cut my teeth on AD&D 2e back in the late 80s, early 90s. Even back then we had a three-tiered battle map setup with erasable markers. We built it ourselves and it was the envy of many a gamer at the time. So even back then we were using grids. It served the same purpose as it does now - it made spatial positioning more clear.

Listen to some actual play podcasts and you will no doubt see relatively slow TotM fights. Typically it's slow because there is a lot of asking for permission and clarification of the DM before the player actually does something.

Me personally? I don't care how long a scene lasts so long as it's fun. And I can create some pretty complex set-piece affairs that can take a little while to resolve. But the questions and clarifications would make it not fun for me, so a map and a policy of avoiding questions solves the problem.

I started with a hybrid of Moldvay and AD&D 1E... in about 1981... we used a chessboard for combats.

And, one can see from the early photos, M.A.R. "Phil" Barker used minis extensively in running EPT - a variant of D&D OE.

 

[iserith]

I started with a hybrid of Moldvay and AD&D 1E... in about 1981... we used a chessboard for combats.

And, one can see from the early photos, M.A.R. "Phil" Barker used minis extensively in running EPT - a variant of D&D OE.

I mean, it makes sense, right? What with D&D's wargaming roots?

 

[Grainger]

D&D certainly had wargaming roots (indeed, in the early days, it was thought of, and marketed as, a new type of wargame). However, going from Playing at the World, ToTM was common for D&D (before that, Chainmail was of course pure minis). I actually looked for early D&D photos earlier today to find out how people played it back then, and failed miserably. I did find Frank "BECMI" Mentzer running a game at a modern con in ToTM mode, for what it's worth. Not that any of this means there's a "right" or "wrong" way to play D&D, anyway, no matter what people did back then, but I do find D&D history interesting.

 

[cmad1977]

We do both. TotM when necessary. Vague mini's when necessary.

Boom. Problem solved.

 

[Keldryn]

I like using minis & battle map as play aids when there are a large number of combatants and/or when the layout if the environment really matters. I used minis much of the time when playing AD&D back in high school, but never really noticed it slowing down the game until 3e.

The main difference, I think, was the more abstract 1 minute combat rounds. We generally didn't need to be too concerned with precise distances when moving, as characters could move most of the way across the table in one round. There weren't any AOOs, only a free attack if you were engaged in melee and retreated without a cautious withdrawal.

This made it very easy to just eyeball distances. The grid was still useful as a tool for estimating distances, but it never dictated play the way it often did in our 3e and 4e games. As a DM, it drove met nuts watching players spend the first 30 seconds of each turn counting all of their movement options and checking to see if they triggered and attack -- and not taking their hand off their mini until they were sure, as if playing chess.

Frustrates me just thinking about it, actually. When everybody does this every turn, it adds a up to a lot of time waiting.

1 minute rounds have issues, but they facilitate TotM play pretty well.

 

[aramis erak]

Why would you use a battle mat for a non-combat encounter?

Yes. Recently, even.

 

[aramis erak]

D&D certainly had wargaming roots (indeed, in the early days, it was thought of, and marketed as, a new type of wargame). However, going from Playing at the World, ToTM was common for D&D (before that, Chainmail was of course pure minis). I actually looked for early D&D photos earlier today to find out how people played it back then, and failed miserably. I did find Frank "BECMI" Mentzer running a game at a modern con in ToTM mode, for what it's worth. Not that any of this means there's a "right" or "wrong" way to play D&D, anyway, no matter what people did back then, but I do find D&D history interesting.

It's worth noting that Dave Arneson DID use minis, but not all the time. (I asked him about a decade ago.) It's Gygax who was opposed to their use in combat.

 

[Grainger]

It's worth noting that Dave Arneson DID use minis, but not all the time. (I asked him about a decade ago.) It's Gygax who was opposed to their use in combat.

Fascinating, given his heavy involvement with wargaming (minis as well as hex and counter)!

 

[EthanSental]

Battlemap/mini here as well. Although we have been using the overhead projector cast on to the table for the past few years which makes it as simple as picking the jpg for the scene so its almost as quick as ToTM anyway and they have something to look at to help keep them mentally into the game. Combat maps/tavern maps - you name it, projector throws it, not waiting around around.

 

[aramis erak]

Fascinating, given his heavy involvement with wargaming (minis as well as hex and counter)!

Gygax thought of RPGs as separate from wargames on a fundamental axiom level. Arneson did not; he explicitly saw them as part of a spectrum. Barker did, eventually, see them as separate, based upon the introductory material in later editions of EPT. Mentzer seems to see them as part of the same spectrum, but very distinct ends.