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Message: <blockquote data-quote="QuaziquestGM" data-source="post: 4120144" data-attributes="member: 22559"><a href="http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=222000" target="_blank">http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=222000</a>The above thread is about running mass combat.I'm quoting myself from the tread above to avoid retyping.  Here is some of my experience with gridless combat._______________________I've run major battles on several occasions for a "all comers welcome" 3.x game run for my university Sci-Fi club.My methods vary depending on room set up (subject to what is available at the university)In all cases, for mass combat I use a D100 initiative roll: (initiative mod x 5)+ 1d100...This provides 200 or so initiative slots so not everybody is bunched at 17 and 5, and if somehow 2 pcs or groups get the same score you can bump them a bit without people getting too whiny.If I have a good table, then I use either a battle mat and/or hero scape tiles. .....(skip)If I don't have a good table, but have a chalk board, then I will sometimes use "Sector" initiatives. I use this often when there are guards around a building, or if the battle goes around a lake or something......(skip, but you know what else I mention in the tread in case you are interested)If I have a magnetic white board, then the ABC magnets come out. I use larger magnets for larger bad guys, have a 24 inch metal ruler, and abandon the grid in favor of movement and reach determined by the ruler. this results in circles instead of squares, actual cones, as many mooks in reach as can actually fit, and much more of a "hectic raging melee furball knifefight with swords, bazookas, grenades and flamethrowers" feeling when I start asking the mages "where do you want to center that fireball, choose in 5,4,3,2,...and then draw out the blast radius with the ruler....I get 2 sets of what ever magnets I'm using. One set represents location, the other is placed on the initiative line with the critters name and current damage written next to it so I'll know what magnet is which hill giant going when. smaller magnets form magnetic travel games are used for generic mooks. I ran G1:Hill Giants this way with 11 pcs.(the section below is not strictly relevant, but is included to give you an idea of my players, environment, and situation so that you can evaluate how much salt you need to take with my above comments. My games are a "club sponsored student entertainment and community education outreach program".  I try to run classic modules for their "historical heritage" value and try not to compromise too much in accounting for rules changes. This was my old Friday night game that had teenagers from the local high school, college students, and military personnels from Hunter AAF. The pcs were 7th level. the kids had worked up from level 1, the 3rd ID guys showed up with equivalent level template stuff...and since they were about to be shipped back to Iraq <<<again>>>, what the hell?) In one instance, I ran what was supposed to be an infiltration and room by room elimination in a multi story fortress on a ravine. I knew better. I had 14 pcs ranging in playing experience from 3 months to 1st ed veterans, ranging in age from 15 to 40, 4 of whom had flying pcs, and an SNA spam happy druid. 4 battle mats for the main floors, and 3 sections of the approach, towers, and roof tops on the blackboard. something like 100 gnolls, (UK:2 The Gauntlet). We were in initiative for nearly 2 hours of in game time, and played for 8 hours. Buff spells wore off and summoned creatures timed out. I had pcs on all 7 blueprint areas, at once; a group on the lower floor fighting while a group in a mid level was sneaking, while a group in a tower was looting, gnolls shooting down out of windows at the guys in the courtyard and in the air, while another group was in a spiral stair case....and of course large sections of fighting that amounted to 20 gnolls in 1 room, 8 pcs in another, all bottlenecked in a doorway.</blockquote>

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