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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Peskara" data-source="post: 1530748" data-attributes="member: 5241">I don't feel it's a matter of battlemat versus imagination. In our group, which has been using battlemats since 2e, we find battlemats really aid imagination, giving us a clearer picture of what's possible. We always try to describe the combats pretty cinematically when we use them, which is pretty much every combat. I agree that a battlemat also helps keep everyone focused. Back in our old apartment where we didn't have a dining room table and didn't always use a mat, I recall that the DM pretty much had to re-describe the scene just about every round (more if a player went off to use the bathroom in between turns). And there is at least one player who would pretty much be paralyzed with indecision far too long every turn  if there wasn't a battlemat as a visual aid. It also neatly solves the problem of players who are convinced their characters can be everywhere at once.Since we've moved to a house with a dining room, it's no longer a matter of "dragging out the battlemat," when combat starts. I had my dining room table built to accomodate a large battlemat so that there's room for everybody's books and dice around it. Plus most of our players love painting minis and those that don't can always find a fellow player willing to paint and often convert a mini for their characters. And when my husband has to DM he can often decide what to throw at us by looking over his minis collection and saying, "What looks cool and interesting?"It does take a little time for the DM to draw out the scene on the map sometimes (although for ruined cities we use some cardboard buildings we picked up from GW's Mordheim for just such occasions). But it's less time consuming than re-describing the scene every round or so. And one Dm who drives a long way to play with us and is fond of complex dungeons, has a giant pad of 1" graph paper so he can draw everything out while he's planning the adventure if things are really complicated.Nobody here ever stops roleplaying to start "rollplaying" when the battlemat comes into play and using some form of tactics doesn't detract from roleplaying. I think it actually enhances roleplaying as it help us more clearly visualize what our characters see and what their options are (it's especially helpful to spellcasters in this regard, I find). It also lets each player use their character's abilities to the fullest, which would be hard to do otherwise. If you simplify combat to make it easier to do without minis a lot more things come down to the DM's judgement and I think many opportunties to use particular feats and whatnot, may be missed.</blockquote>

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