Minis and Grids, do you use them?

[Crothian]

I don't use them, but the players do

 

[Morpheus]

When we play D&D, we use them for every combat. WHen we play other games, not so much. Last weekend, we played Angel and not using minis and a battlemat was, somehow, liberating.

 

[Ranes]

I voted 'other'. Grids, yes. Minis, no.

 

[IronWolf]

When I was DM'ing I always used the Tact-Tiles and minis for encounters. Starting a new campaign this week with a different DM (rotating the DM chair to someone else) and I am not 100% sure which way he will go.

 

[Khairn]

We've used them for many years. Long before D&D's current focus on the tactical aspects of combat.

We've found that it really does cut down on the disagreements regarding range, movement etc. And the rules are pretty simple, from our point of view anyway.

 

[Starglim]

I've always preferred grid-based and clearly defined combat positions, even in 1e which didn't support that style nearly as well.

 

[Quasqueton]

I've used minis and grids throughout my D&D "career". I've still got some of my original minis (25 years old, now). I used to create my own battle grids on white posterboard.

I also used minis and grids for other games (Shadowrun, Marvel Super Heroes, Nightlife, etc.). To me, it just makes sense. Every game I have ever played in without using minis has been a confusing mess in battles.

I even use minis for non-combat situations. When the party is trying to diplomacize their way through the town gate, I like them to see the number of guards standing around. It also reminds everyone who is actually in the store getting info from the merchant -- if their mini is not on the grid during the discussion, they remember better that their character is off elsewhere -- helps keep extra voices quiet. Setting up the scene with minis and a basic sketch takes about 5-20 seconds depending on how many persons are in the scene.

As for those who say, "The imagination is better than any grid or minis." or some such...

How is it you can imagine so easily that the bearded and balding, 200 pound guy next to you is a handsome, thin, elf wizard, but somehow looking at a mini of a handsome, thin, elf wizard hinders your imagination?

I have never, ever found a game without minis to be more imaginative or evocative than a game with minis. I have never, ever had a DM without minis be able to completely accurately describe a scene and battle well enough that everyone at the table understood and imagined the situation "correctly" or the same way.

Quasqueton

 

[diaglo]

as it says on the cover of Men & Magic... Playable with Paper and Pencil and Miniature Figures

 

[MerricB]

Most of the polls I've seen with this sort of topic end up with 15%-20% of players using just their imagination all the time, and the other 80-85% of them using some form of representation at times.

I use both, but I can say since D&D Miniatures came along - oh, they're so easy to transport and I don't have to paint them! - I've used the grid a lot more than before.

Cheers!

 

[Plane Sailing]

We use minis, but having recently played half a dozen games at a con, most of which didn't use minis and grids, I found the latter situation much more involving. As they used to say about Radio having better pictures than television, I found my imagination was engaged more.

I'd love to use minis less with D&D, but I think it would take agreement by all parties. Certainly easier to do with smaller groups than with bigger groups, when there is a little less to remember.

Cheers