Minis or Theatre of the Mind? (Survey)

For combat with more than 5 I will pull out minis. Exploration going into towns 99% theater of the mind

 

[Lylandra]

Minis for everything combat related that's more complicated than 2-3 "easy" opponents or 1 big brute. Especially when you have a rogue or someone else with tactical positioning in your party. TotM for all other interactions and quick combat.

 

[Wepwawet]

I actually use the same map that I draw as the players explore. In complicated fights where positioning is important I just point out with a pencil where everyone is standing, as the map is too small for minis.

Ideally I'd like to use nothing but TotM because it makes fights look more real as minis aren't fixing your imagination. But on complicated fights you need clearer positioning

 

[Faenor]

Neither. I use engineering graph paper and sketch lightly with mechanical pencils. each character or monster is an initial. hold the pad in front of them and ask them where they want to move to, erase and write the initial in the new spot.

I never have understood why this isn't the most common way to do it.

 

[The Human Target]

Neither. I use engineering graph paper and sketch lightly with mechanical pencils. each character or monster is an initial. hold the pad in front of them and ask them where they want to move to, erase and write the initial in the new spot.

I never have understood why this isn't the most common way to do it.

We used to do that.

That's exactly the same conceptually as using minis on a battlemat though.

 

[JonnyP71]

Neither. I use engineering graph paper and sketch lightly with mechanical pencils. each character or monster is an initial. hold the pad in front of them and ask them where they want to move to, erase and write the initial in the new spot.

I never have understood why this isn't the most common way to do it.

Replace the graph paper with plain paper and that's how we did it before someone bought a whiteboard....

 

[Nebulous]

Miniatures by far. But, I also like to document our adventures in photos and story form, so having physical sets makes photos far more of an incentive.

 

[The Human Target]

These results are very, very interesting.

 

[Queer Venger]

Both.why is this argument still a thing?

 

[Cathayan]

Minis for combat are a must IMO. To many things require the exact placement of everyone.....backstab, attacks of opportunity, etc. Also causes far less confusion/discussion during combat that I found always bogged things down.
Everything else in the campaign is TotM though.

 

[umberfane]

Minis for combat exclusively...