Combat in your game

[diaglo]

I like the way you think. Eyrx. D&D never was chess.

Oops. forgot to add that to my list.

chess pieces and draughts/checkers pieces made excellent minis.

 

[evildm]

I run games online and have taken to using Fireworks MX to track placement in battle. It works quite well, really.

 

[Psion]

Players use (non-D&D) minis for D&D or fold-up stand ups for T20.

I use FDP counters or dice, depending on how prepared I am. Occasionally, if I have a painted mini ready appropriate to the encounter, I'll throw it in.

 

[Arnwyn]

Other.

We use miniatures (not D&D) for the PCs and BBEGs, and different coloured dice for the normal opponents.

Incidentally, has your way of running combat changed over the years?

Not one bit. We've been using a grid throughout even the previous editions. 2e's Combat & Tactics simply codified what we'd been doing for years and 3e was just an extension of that.

 

[AFGNCAAP]

Well, in past games, I've used lead minis, cheap plastic generic game pieces, dice, & other adequate methods of representation. However, this was rather infrequent, & not the norm.

However, now it's pretty much any sort of minis, since I have a sizeable collection now. D&D, various lead or hard plastic ones, MageKnight (or HeroClix for supers games), etc.

I tend to stay away from Warhammer-style minis (with the oversized weapons & whatnot)--I'm just not crazy about that style at all.

 

[Davelozzi]

We use painted metal minis (mostly if not all from Reaper) for our PCs, and D&D minis for monsters. I'll occasionally use a metal mini if I already have one painted (though I rarely make time to paint monsters these days) or FDP or homemade counter if it's all I have. But my D&D mini collection is big enough now that they're usually the easiest option.

For scenery, we use Dwarven Forge in most dungeons, but will switch to a drawn map if the room is too complicated to be represented. For outdoor battles, we generally use a big piece of construction paper of the appopriate color, sometimes stacking books or whatever's handy for hills and stuff like that.

And yes our battles are more tactical than they were in the 2e days (in which we never used minis in one campaign, and only occasionally did in the other).

 

[Steel_Wind]

We use:

• A massive amount of D&D plastic miniatures
• FAR more massive number of painted metal miniatures whe nrequired
• Hand modeled & painted houses, rocks, terrain, campfires etc. and trees for scenery
• Dragon Castles - some very cool RPG specific stiff for creating large caste walls and gate complexes
• Dungeon walls - again another complete set of purpose built dungeon walls and floors for a set piece diorama (this is too time consuming to use spur of the moment though)
• Chessex Battlemats and Megamat with wet erase markers
• Printed Dundjinni battlemats

In short, our gaming circle has amassed a huge number of miniatures which was in the thousands when it was just metal and basic plastic before the D&D minis came out.

The advent of D&D plastic minis has driven a few members in my circle to purchase these things in HUGE quantities, measured in the thousands. When a specific campaign needs a large number of individual miniature types, we've telegraphed it ahead of time and singles are bought up to make sure we have enought to represent these "iconic" encounters. (example: Goblins, Hobgoblins, Baaz Draconians, etc)

I am a HUGE fan of the D&D plastic minatures. While I loved metal minis and painted them over the years, I don't have the time for that anymore. The new plastic figs look good, can be reasonably cheap and hold up to wear very well. We love em and have a GREAT time using them. I look forward to new sets. Bring em on!

It's a lot of fun for us.

My one complaint is mentioned above - namely, some iconic monsters are too rare and expensive, even for those groups like our own which buy individual figurines in the after market in LARGE amounts.

Specifically, Giants and Ogres are too expensive. We need Ogres in large numbers, but not at $10 a piece. 0.25 to .99 a piece? We are ALL over that and there will be a vertiible army available. But not at 10.00-15.00 for a single monster.

 

[Someone]

I remember one combat while playing 2e. It was something like this:

DM (after rolling initiative -again-): "Ok, round 3. Summarizing, player1 is fighting with two drow, player2 (follows long briefing)"
Player1: "I attack the drow in front of me with my mace"
Player2: "What? Heal me, moron!"
Player1: "How so? you´re away."
Player2: "I´m not"
DM: "Is he?"
Player1: "You charged in the first round"
DM: "Oops, true." (dice are rolled) "You hit the drow, but he´s still standing. Player3 goes next"
Player3: "I fireball that drow"
DM: "What one?"
Player3: "The bitch that didn´t charged, the female one with the rod."
DM: "But you´ll catch Player2, too."
Player3: "Huh?"
DM: "I said the last round she moved next to him"
Player3: "True. Is there a group of them that I can catch with Fireball or Web, then?"
DM: "No."
Player3: "So, what one is the nearest to me?"
DM: "The two drow fighting player4"
Player3: "Then I cast web on him. He has a ring of free action, can ignore the spell."
DM: "Ok..."

After that battle, I though "never again!"

 

[reanjr]

I'd hate to play a fighter in such a campaign! A lot of 3E combat relies on knowing where you are specifically in relation to your opponents so you can know whether it's best to fight defensively or charge, whether you are in an opponent's threatened space, whether you make or provoke attacks of opportunity, whether you can use Cleave or how many foes you can use Whirlwind Attack on! How do you decide which foe it is most advantageous to Dodge? For that matter, how do you know where to place your fireball so it hits the most bad guys possible without hitting your allies? How do you know how many allies are in range for haste or mass cure serious wounds? How do you know how far away you are from the Big Evil Guy and whether or not he's in range of your spell? How do you know where to take a 5-foot step so you can cast a spell without casting defensively or provoking an attack of opportunity?

And on, and on...

I can't see divorcing 3E from the tactical system. Other game systems & previous editions of D&D, sure, combat is easily resolved abstractly. But in 3E the position & distance of foes on a battlefield is everything to determining success or failure. Without using a battle grid it just sounds so...arbitrary.

Yeah, that's the biggest problem with the D20 rules. They had said that minis were not required, but did their best (in 3.5 especially) to require them so that you bought their other products.

Nonetheless, we play without them. Everyone still knows who to dodge, bull rush, avoid moving by, etc. by description rather than modeling. And description allows for alot more varied combats. Unfettering yourself from the grid is a good thing.

 

[ForceUser]

Unfettering yourself from the grid is a good thing.

I disagree. The grid is unequivocal clarity necessary for fair play. Plus it's more fun to see it.