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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Orryn Emrys" data-source="post: 4115940" data-attributes="member: 6799">I take everything "off the grid".  I even ran a 4th Edition CHAMPIONS game once without a battlemat.  I just don't like the battlefield precision that occurs with tacticals, where everyone knows precisely where to place their fireball, or whether or not they could reach their opponent and still get an attack off in the same round.  If the enemy is 5 feet too far...  I just don't feel that the chaos of combat should be so rigidly precise.  I tend to keep track of things in my head, or on paper for myself if it's particularly complicated, and simply ask the players what they intend to do and tell them what they manage to accomplish round by round.  Given the manner in which this could easily tilt against them, with characters constantly provoking Attacks of Opportunity or falling consistently short on their moves, and consequentially getting attacked before they have a chance to do so, I tend to "err" on the side of the PCs.  I warn them if Attacks of Opportunity are likely, or assume that they will take steps to avoid them if it seems viable.  I warn them when they are closing with an enemy but obviously won't get to attack before their opponent, so that they might alter their approach slightly.  The 4e proliferation of ranges and effects in "squares" is a little disconcerting, but I don't think I'll have any problems.  The secret to my success is probably in the delivery, however.  I don't necessarily describe the battlefield in a tactical sense, unless it seems very appropriate for one or more of the PCs to see things that way.  I'll answer questions about distances and such in a fairly general way... "it's about forty feet..."  But generally, the rest is a narrative.  I like to keep the events limited to the perspectives of the individuals involved, so I'll describe what a character sees and hears and smells and such based on his actions and those of his comrades.  This means that I will frequently describe a PC's actions by turning to one of the other players, whose character was in a position to see, and describe things from his/her perspective.It's challenging, but habit-forming.  And the players really respond to it.</blockquote>

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