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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ColinChapman" data-source="post: 6601135" data-attributes="member: 6779742">My personal approach is not to sweat details, exact locations, etc. in favour of a more freewheeling, dynamic approach. One criticism oft levelled at TotM is the issue of, "Folks have different mental images." My response is, "That doesn't matter if you are prepared to relinquish the idea that a fight scene must occur in a strictly codified area, e.g. the cave is exactly this wide, there are precisely three stalagmites of X size there, there, and there, etc."Let me explain:I may say that my players enter a vast cavern, its ceiling disappearing into darkness. They see the glimmer of light on several pools of water. Their torchlight flares crimson off the eyes of a band of goblins now roused and reaching for weapons!Note the lack of precise lengths, numbers, etc. Unless someone takes the time to count (or can visually measure range accurately and quickly - almost impossible in many conditions) the vagueness adds verisimilitude. If asked (and someone isn't having a character spend a round desperately counting numbers or accurately trying to gauge distance) I'll give vague numbers, e.g. maybe 10-20 goblins, about 30-40 yards, etc.When the action starts, my players also have the ability to extemporise their surroundings because we're not nailed to a strict map. If a player says they dive behind a large stalagmite nearby, then does it really matter that I didn't say there was one there? No, no it doesn't. They've just added to the scene and described something dynamic. They've taken action quickly and creatively. If another PC, disarmed, says they scrabble for a dagger a goblin failed to pick up when the PCs appeared, does it matter that I didn't describe such an event? No, no it doesn't. I'm fully prepared to share some of the control of the scene with my players, and keeping things vague and fluid helps immensely. It works both ways, of course, and extemporizing must make sense/be plausible and is obviously restricted to things that don't directly impact the NPCs/completely change the scene (e.g. a player could not state that an opponent trips on a rope on the floor, or that allied guards suddenly appear, etc.), but it empowers the players, keeps things moving, creates dynamic, fluid scenes, and renders worrying about minutia pointless.How do I adjudicate how many NPCs are caught in range/by AoE? Rough estimate and roll, considering that (again) most folks could never be as precise as some folks assume, especially in the constant dynamic of combat.The whole approach has a number of benefits:1) Players are empowered.2) Some adjudication burden is lifted off the DM (compared to TotM with a more detail/rigid approach).3) It plays very quickly.4) The reason for any arguing is massively reduced/eliminated (another problem sometimes thrown at TotM play).5) It unfolds in a more cinematic manner (with players empowered to describe actions *and* some environmental interaction without kowtowing to a rigidly-defined map environment).6) It has a bit more verisimilitude (the artificiality of top-down, all-seeing, accurate measuring/counting is gone).7) It makes mapping/planning adventures a piece of cake. A dungeon map, for example can be a bunch of scribbled circles connected with lines, each with just a few key elements jotted next to each.Now, I know this open, fluid, organic approach won't work for everyone, but for those who love or want to try TotM it can completely eliminate many of the issues some folks have with it. Just ensure folks are aware they have some control, that things will be dynamic/vague/shifting, and go from there. Stop sweating the exact details and play fast, play furious.</blockquote>

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