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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mercurius" data-source="post: 5078467" data-attributes="member: 59082">There are a few threads on this already, but I was hoping to start a new one that brought together as many different approaches to miniless combat for 4E as we could come up with.By way of explanation, I'm trying to speed up the game a bit and get to the point where using minis is optional, yet without losing the tactical elements of 4E (streamlining them is ok, just not at the expense of the wealth of options). I wouldn't mind using minis on occasion, but most of our sessions include three combat encounters and I'd like to save the minis for the larger, more intricate situations. Why, you ask? I suppose I don't like the sense of cognitive displacement that occurs when you leave the collaborative imaginative space and "come down to earth," that is, come down to the battle map or dungeon tiles. I find that it is difficult (for me at least) to retain full immersion in the imaginative realm, or at least I forget to and my focus is largely on the little metal dudes. This is fine for some, but is where I feel D&D becomes too wargamish for me. To put it another way, it seems that both 3E and 4E have become bifurcated experiences: you have the storytelling aspect--the "collaborative imaginative space"--and then you have the wargame. When initiative is rolled, the game turns from one aspect to the other. I don't have a problem with the twofoldness, I just don't like it when they are completely separate. I would rather that the former "enfold" the latter, so that the combat situations arise within the context of the imaginative space, not outside of it.I honestly can't tell if earlier editions relied on the use of miniatures as much as 4E or 3E; they may have been just as necessary if you wanted to play the RAW (rules as written), but I just didn't do so, especially in my formative years of 1E when we played the RAU ("rules as understood").OK, for starters, here is Mike Mearls on <a href="http://kotgl.blogspot.com/2009/03/no-minis-no-problem.html" target="_blank">4E without miniatures</a>. My general take, which I've used a few times in quicker combats, is, very simply, to just use my own judgment as DM (imagine that!). This means that we focus on the imaginative space and I, the DM, have to be especially good and diligent about visualizing things. But it really means that I, the DM, have to make judgment calls and they, the players, have to trust my judgment; furthermore I, the DM, have to be open to discussion and be willing to change my mind if a player has a reasoned, intelligent argument; and then then, the players, have to be OK with the DM's final ruling.So it becomes more a matter of collaborative storytelling with a lead storyteller (the DM), thus requiring a healthy degree of trust and respect.What about you?</blockquote>

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