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Message: <blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 6596569" data-attributes="member: 97077">I find that having a map or not has little impact on the speed of combat. What matters most is how many combatants are involved and the nature of the conflict. I also don't care how long a combat scene takes as long as it's interesting... and we always make interesting combat scenes.I prefer having a map with a grid that is visually interesting. At a minimum, I provide some kind of visual aid in the form of evocative imagery for the scene plus minis to show relative positioning if I don't use a grid.Further, grid or no grid, I frame the scene as it stands before every player's turn. "Chuck Dagger just stabbed the orc and he and it are wrapped up in a melee. Two more orcs have just arrived in the doorway 20 feet away and look like they want to charge down Vanciana Feyzalez and Marshal Heeling. In the distance, you hear the baleful call of a war horn. What do you do, Lactos the Intolerant?"Taking a few seconds to do this in a pithy manner makes things exciting and cuts down on the players asking questions before acting. (That plus a policy at our table that players should never ask questions during play. Playing 20 Questions when the scene is supposed to be exciting and memorable just kills the pacing and tension.)</blockquote>