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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wil" data-source="post: 2790462" data-attributes="member: 3502">I take nearly the opposite view - combat is muddied, and confusing, and unless the character is a hardened combat veteran they will not have a clear view of what's going on.  To me, nothing breaks the suspense of the combat more than the obvious noncombatant PCs planning their moves along with the warriors like it were a game of chess.  Battlemats eliminate confusion by eliminating all trace of ambiguity - something which in real life only happens when you're the general sitting in the ops center, watching the live satellite images of the battle.  There's nothing wrong with that style of play, it just isn't for me - I tailor the information that each PC receives based on their combat experience and ability to have a clear idea of what is going on around them.  Hence, from the article I wrote the example of a (mostly) noncombatant character being told, "You hear someone scream for help, but you're too busy fending off your attackers to pay it much heed" while the veteran warrior is told, "You hear Imelda scream for help, you can see that she's being mobbed."  This I can see, but usually I like to back up the numbers with something "real"That is a definite given.Overusing anything can lead to it become passe, so I agree here.Most definitely.  This goes hand in hand with what I was saying earlier about keeping interest - if you have players that are zoning out during combats when it's not their turn, then something isn't working right.  In fact, it should be vital to their PCs' survival if they pay attention, especially when it's not their turn.  Keeping each player in isolation until their character acts is probably the single biggest beef I've had with GMs over the years.  EDIT: I don't mean literally...I mean treating each character as if they're in a vaccuum without relating to the other PCs.  In my experience, those have been the most boring combats I've ever been subjected to.This I can totally get behind as well.</blockquote>

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