Agent Oracle
First Post
Settembrini said:
They mean THIS kind of board:
Not a map and minis.
Is gaming without map and minis really bad?
- Thread starter Settembrini
- Start date
They mean THIS kind of board:
Not a map and minis.
skinnydwarf
Explorer
Before 3.0 came out, I never used minis. Today, I sometimes I use minis, and sometimes I don't. Sometimes I do both in the same session!
I find that I use minis more often in D&D, though. When I ran C&C, I never used minis and it was fine.
The decision to use minis usally has more to do with how much I feel like setting up the battleboard, and how complex/important the combat is. If it's a quick "Five orcs attack!" encounter, which will only last a round or two, I don't use minis.
I find that I use minis more often in D&D, though. When I ran C&C, I never used minis and it was fine.
The decision to use minis usally has more to do with how much I feel like setting up the battleboard, and how complex/important the combat is. If it's a quick "Five orcs attack!" encounter, which will only last a round or two, I don't use minis.
Flexor the Mighty!
18/100 Strength!
We sometimes use Minis and sometimes don't. It depends on the encounter, or if I felt like lugging all the stuff over to the house we game at.
just__al
First Post
This question always comes up from time to time. We use maps and minis. For me, Mini's are the creature collection printed onto cardstock. Photoshop makes it easy enough to get 15 horses without printing the page with a horse on it 15 times.
My players have feats and abilities that come into play depending on where everyone is and what they do. I don't have the ability to keep track of everything in my head so I need a map If you can be fair to your players without the need of visual aids then don't use them. I desperately need them.
My players have feats and abilities that come into play depending on where everyone is and what they do. I don't have the ability to keep track of everything in my head so I need a map If you can be fair to your players without the need of visual aids then don't use them. I desperately need them.
farscapesg1
First Post
Well, while I didnt' start with the red box verion of D&D, I started playing in high school around 1990, so I enjoyed "good old 2e".
When we started gaming, we never used miniatures. In fact, we didn't really use miniatures until 3.0 came out on the shelves. Personally, I miss the groups that relied on imagination for all the combats. It just seems that we always had people that paid better attention to what was going on since you didn't have little representations on a board. I realize that is more of an issue with the players than the game, but hey, it's how I feel.
It was a lot more fun, IMO, when a players would have to pay attention to what all their comrades are doing before dropping a fireball into the combat zone, compared to counting grids nowadays. If a fellow adventurer was in hand-to-hand combat, fireballs and other area of effect spells were held in check.
When we started gaming, we never used miniatures. In fact, we didn't really use miniatures until 3.0 came out on the shelves. Personally, I miss the groups that relied on imagination for all the combats. It just seems that we always had people that paid better attention to what was going on since you didn't have little representations on a board. I realize that is more of an issue with the players than the game, but hey, it's how I feel.
It was a lot more fun, IMO, when a players would have to pay attention to what all their comrades are doing before dropping a fireball into the combat zone, compared to counting grids nowadays. If a fellow adventurer was in hand-to-hand combat, fireballs and other area of effect spells were held in check.
tonym
First Post
Crothian said:
If your real-life friend's PC is going to die and you are the DM of a game without minis, do you really want to deprive him of the potion that would save his life? Do you really want to be seen as a jerk, when all you have to do is say, "Yeh, you manage to get there in time"?
HOWEVER....if there are minis on the table and they are far apart, what can a DM do? His hands are tied, and nobody thinks he's being mean for letting the PC of his friend bleed to death.
What I'm saying is, If you are a friendly DM, you will help the PCs during battles whenever there is a crisis. And if you are a wicked DM, you will nudge events to hurt PCs whever you can. Players will eventually pick-up on your patterns, and your game will be more predictable (at least more predictable than it would be were it using minis).
PLAYER 1: Can I leap to the other side of the huge crack in the floor so I can help Droo fight the Ettin?
PLAYER 1, 2 and 3: (thinking) Of course he's going to say Yes.
DM: Hmmm. Yes. You barely make it, but you make it.
If a mini-less DM asserts his desires and emotions do not come into play during battles, he is either mistaken or he is as impassive as Spock. Or he is a stranger at a convention who doesn't care if he sees you again.
Tony M
Flexor the Mighty!
18/100 Strength!
tonym said:
What does a PC dying have to do with the DM being a jerk? He's the ref after all and if the PC dies, he dies. It isn't that difficult to run the game straight and not fudge either way. If players get mad about that they shouldn't game with me.
Crothian
First Post
tonym said:
Either he can reach the potion or not. It doesn't depend on me choosing if he can. It depends on where the potion is, where he is, and if he can reach it in time. Either way my friends never see me as a jerk because they trust me and know I run a fair game. I'm not playing favorites, I set the game up and let it progress from there.
I get the feeling that you don't trust your DM's motives.
So, a DM can't be friendly towards the PCs or wicked to the PCs with minis on the table? I'm fairly certain that is not the case. One is just friendly or wicked in different ways.
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