Combat positioning in D&D (all editions) and other games

[amysrevenge]

I'm very, very surprised that we *didn't* use minis and a grid back in the 90s. We all also played Mech games, so we even had lots of pre-printed hex grids. It just never occurred to us to do it.

And almost every session would have a lengthy argument (or two or three or more) between one or more players and the DM regarding who was standing where....

 

[CharlesRyan]

Ironically, I went years and years rarely using a battlemat or minis, even when playing highly tactical games. Even more ironically, I was won back over to minis a few years before third edition by a GM and a game that wasn't tactical at all.

I played for a few years with a really good, very evocative and story-oriented GM. Despite the fact that his games of choice were Vampire and Ars Magica, he always used minis--even in entirely social scenes. Conversation with an NPC? There was a mini of your character and the NPC on the middle of the table. No map, no terrain. (Maps and terrain did come out when things got tactical, even if there was no grid and ranges, movement, etc. were estimated.)

I found that it really focused play, having a little visual cue of who was "on stage" at the moment--and the use of maps (when things got tactical) aided my creativity in deciding character actions by painting a more evocative and complete picture of the scene. I have used minis ever since. "Disruptive" and "chess-like" certainly aren't my experience--quite the opposite!

 

[Fenes]

I found that it really focused play, having a little visual cue of who was "on stage" at the moment--and the use of maps (when things got tactical) aided my creativity in deciding character actions by painting a more evocative and complete picture of the scene. I have used minis ever since. "Disruptive" and "chess-like" certainly aren't my experience--quite the opposite!

Experiences vary. For me, miniatures put me in "board game" mode. The bird's eye view is even hindering my visualisation, distancing myself from the scene.