Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Can D&D be played without all the mini rules?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="timbannock" data-source="post: 4325009" data-attributes="member: 17913"><p>First off, a comment: I think that -- assuming you're the DM -- you should try to go with what the majority of players want (or some form of compromise erring close to that)...so, if your players mostly want minis, then give them the minis because it'll make them happier, and happier means better gaming. Same goes the opposite way if that's what they want: no minis...give 'em no minis.</p><p></p><p>And now, some thoughts (none have been playtested for your convenience, but feedback is welcome in case I ever throw away/sell off my little plastic friends):</p><p></p><p>- Don't rule out the idea of a combat map. No minis, no keeping track of movement every second. Just have a basic layout of the room and its features set before the players, and keep the positioning in your heads. Remember that 1 square = 5 feet, and just guestimate how much people are moving around. You gotta be descriptive though, coz players will argue with you if you're not.</p><p></p><p>- Regardless of maps/minis or lack thereof, you may want to breeze through the lists of powers in the PHB, and just make a few mental notes of ones that deal with a lot of movement. Then consider the following points:</p><p></p><p>-> Are most of the powers dealing with roughly the same (or a small number of different) "ranges of motion"? If every power is only a 1 to 3 square push/pull/slide, then it's probably pretty easy to visualize 5 to 15 feet of movement as long as you keep your head on straight and your descriptions decent. Again, having a map might help a little though.</p><p></p><p>-> If the powers vary widely, try grouping those variations a little, and trim down the list to something manageable. If 15 powers are 1 square push/pull/slide, 15 are 2 squares, 27 are 3 or 4 squares, 10 are 5 squares, etc. try wittling them down into 3 categories: "minor push/pull/slide = any power with 1-2 squares", moderate = 3 or 4 squares, and greater = 5+ squares. Then, either keep this as description, or better yet...</p><p></p><p>-> Try to come up with some kind of alternate "rule" that gives the feel of these movement powers, without requiring you to track movement. For instance, "every time a creature is pushed, it receives a -1 to all of its defenses until the start of its next turn." Something like that basically assumes all attacks push a creature in a way that is tactically advantageous, and simulates the creature being off-balance or having its guard dropped temporarily. Remember to apply this equally to the attacks of the enemies, or else the PCs will become overpowered.</p><p></p><p>Those are just quick thoughts. While substantial numbers of powers and abilities refer to pushing/pulling/sliding and other movement-related things, you could probably wittle (sp?) all that down to just a few "categories" of movement, and then come up with some easy modifiers that can take their place.</p><p></p><p>If I recall correctly, this always seemed to be how the old editions worked anyway: any kind of "tactical" anything really just gave a few small + or - to somebody. +1 to hit for having higher ground; +1 to hit a target on foot when you are mounted; -1 AC when moving through difficult terrain (as opposed to having to lower a movement score or something); blah blah blah.</p><p></p><p></p><p>There you go.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="timbannock, post: 4325009, member: 17913"] First off, a comment: I think that -- assuming you're the DM -- you should try to go with what the majority of players want (or some form of compromise erring close to that)...so, if your players mostly want minis, then give them the minis because it'll make them happier, and happier means better gaming. Same goes the opposite way if that's what they want: no minis...give 'em no minis. And now, some thoughts (none have been playtested for your convenience, but feedback is welcome in case I ever throw away/sell off my little plastic friends): - Don't rule out the idea of a combat map. No minis, no keeping track of movement every second. Just have a basic layout of the room and its features set before the players, and keep the positioning in your heads. Remember that 1 square = 5 feet, and just guestimate how much people are moving around. You gotta be descriptive though, coz players will argue with you if you're not. - Regardless of maps/minis or lack thereof, you may want to breeze through the lists of powers in the PHB, and just make a few mental notes of ones that deal with a lot of movement. Then consider the following points: -> Are most of the powers dealing with roughly the same (or a small number of different) "ranges of motion"? If every power is only a 1 to 3 square push/pull/slide, then it's probably pretty easy to visualize 5 to 15 feet of movement as long as you keep your head on straight and your descriptions decent. Again, having a map might help a little though. -> If the powers vary widely, try grouping those variations a little, and trim down the list to something manageable. If 15 powers are 1 square push/pull/slide, 15 are 2 squares, 27 are 3 or 4 squares, 10 are 5 squares, etc. try wittling them down into 3 categories: "minor push/pull/slide = any power with 1-2 squares", moderate = 3 or 4 squares, and greater = 5+ squares. Then, either keep this as description, or better yet... -> Try to come up with some kind of alternate "rule" that gives the feel of these movement powers, without requiring you to track movement. For instance, "every time a creature is pushed, it receives a -1 to all of its defenses until the start of its next turn." Something like that basically assumes all attacks push a creature in a way that is tactically advantageous, and simulates the creature being off-balance or having its guard dropped temporarily. Remember to apply this equally to the attacks of the enemies, or else the PCs will become overpowered. Those are just quick thoughts. While substantial numbers of powers and abilities refer to pushing/pulling/sliding and other movement-related things, you could probably wittle (sp?) all that down to just a few "categories" of movement, and then come up with some easy modifiers that can take their place. If I recall correctly, this always seemed to be how the old editions worked anyway: any kind of "tactical" anything really just gave a few small + or - to somebody. +1 to hit for having higher ground; +1 to hit a target on foot when you are mounted; -1 AC when moving through difficult terrain (as opposed to having to lower a movement score or something); blah blah blah. There you go. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Can D&D be played without all the mini rules?
Top