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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Imaculata" data-source="post: 8043349" data-attributes="member: 6801286">I should note that I play 3.5E, as this question was asked in the context of 5th edition.1- creature positions and movement: I do all of my battles on a grid. So creature positioning and movement is very important. I also design my maps as to encourage strategic positioning, so the players can take advantage of the terrain and funnel their opponents through areas that offer a strategic advantage.2- distances and weapon/spell ranges: Again, since I use a grid, we always measure distance. The majority of our battles feature firearms (since I run a pirate campaign), so distance is always a factor.3- elevation, angles and directions: Elevation does occasionally affect my combat, but I don't change cover based on direction much, unless the direction of attack clearly negates some of the cover. I do place enemies in positions where they may have a height advantage, and present my players with opportunities to get a similar advantage. In one particular big battle, my players fought mobs of cultists in an underground cathedral, by surprising them from the top floor. The cultists had to make their way up the stairs, where the players had strategically placed traps. Also, they dropped a massive chandelier on top of a procession of cultists. It was glorious, but of course purposefully designed by me with that strategy in mind.4- terrain and obstacles: I always take these into account. I use rules for difficult terrain, and ask for skill checks when obstacles need to be overcome. I also deliberately place obstacles in my battles, to make my players think about their movement and positioning.5- lesser actions on someone's turn: I use the default rules regarding free actions and standard actions.6- spells somatic/material components: I take somatic components into account for any enemies that the players face, but rely on my players to check if they can cast a spell or not. Maybe I should keep a better eye on this as a DM. We have discarded the rules for material components entirely, because who wants to keep track of all that?7- light sources and visibility: I do occasionally ask my players if they have dark vision or low-light vision, or if they carry a light source. But in truth, I find this difficult to track, since we always have someone playing an elf in the party (if only for the benefit of seeing in dark places). Its kind of hard to maintain the mystery and menace of the dark, when you have to follow that up with: "Except you Jeff, you can see just fine."8- any particular tactical area (e.g. hiding in combat, flanking, facing): I keep track of all of these. But using a grid makes these elements clearly visible to my players.</blockquote>

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