Do you use miniatures or counters to resolve combat?

[MerricB]

I don't use miniatures. Well, not unless the fight is complex - which is rarely. That's about 10 times out of 200+ sessions of 3E.

Cheers!

 

[Tom Cashel]

Painted miniatures.

 

[coyote6]

We use Cardboard Heroes; occasionally supplemented with counters or beads. Might use some D&D minis in the future, too.

 

[haiiro]

More counters than you can shake a stick at (thanks, Fiery Dragon!), and nice big maps on 1" square graph paper to go with them.

 

[jdavis]

Your DM must make a lot of arbitrary decisions on the use of AoOs, flanking, cleave, sneak attacks, whirlwind attacks, cover, concealment, spell area coverage, etc. etc. I can imagine the misinterpretations by players for the above actions when they "see" the battlefield differently.

nope never have had a problem (actually I'm the DM right now), been gaming with the same people for 15 years we know each other good enough to end any confusion quickly and get on with the game, now when we tried the battlemat with counters then we really did have a problem, you do something one way all your life and then you try to do it differently and it becomes a real mess. Heck I didn't even know people actually used mini's to game D&D until I got messed up in one of these threads 6 months or so ago. This was all news to me and everybody I game with. It's pretty simple if the DM says they are 50 feet away then they are 50 feet away, nobody questions it, why bicker about it, we use all the rules (3.0 we haven't went to 3.5 yet) and have very few problems.

 

[caelvar]

We use minis & are lucky enough to have a good collection of well-painted minis (mainly Reaper) in our group. On a slight variation of theme, we recently ran a mini-campaign where the DM listed all the PC-type minis,we rolled a random number, & then had to create our characters based exactly on the figure inc. eqipment etc.. It actually worked well & a lot of fun was had by all. In case anyone`s interested I got the Reaper mini sold as "Lorna the Huntress", & created a 2/2 barbarian/sorceress, with a racoon familiar.

 

[The_Gneech]

Our general order of preference goes like this:

1. Painted lead figures
2. Mage Knight or Plastic Miniatures
3. Unusual figure (pewter dragon, kneadable eraser for gray ooze)
4. Toy of some kind
5. Cardboard Heroes or other stand-up paper figs
6. Counters (Paizo Rules)
7. Dice (we would use glass beads, if they weren't all in a box somewhere)
8. A mark on the battlemat

I never used mini's until I went to college -- now, I can't stand to game without 'em. Makes it SO much easier to get across who is where and doing what. Plus, I like being able to use the rules to maximum effect -- not trying to break them, just doing tactical thinking ("Send the barbarian after the spellcaster over there, while the dwarf stays here and protects the mage..."). For me, that's where the fun in combat comes.

-The Gneech

 

[Razuur]

Tonguez, you took the words out of my mount.

Imagination, with the occasional whiteboard for an overall terrain map - but that is extremely rare.

Its all in the head baby.

Razuur

 

[johnsemlak]

I'll chime in and say that I prefer counters, and in my main group that's what we use. I've got Fiery Dragon's Counter Collection, and CCII is on the way

 

[Emerald]

By far the best thing to use for enemies is hershey's kisses, then when you kill the bad guy you get to eat him.