It's been a casualty of how busy I've been (work, boardgaming, ccging and roleplaying), but the humble D&D Miniature is seeing less and less of my game table.
Why? Well, I just haven't had the time to properly search through the 2,000 odd minis I have for those perfect ones... and being completely overbusy in the last few weeks, I've also not had enough time to fine the imperfect ones. So, we've been having a few combats without minis at all.
While I'm sure that we're losing a few tactical options (and occasionally my players may be frustrated by a few imprecise descriptions), 4e-without-minis feels a lot like the games of 1e-without-minis I used to play back in the 80s.
Probably the biggest difference between the two is that 4e has a lot more powers that move things around the battlefield than 1e did. (Indeed, in 1e, I'm sure that any "I knock him off the cliff" needed to be a narrative trick adjudged by the DM rather than being supported anywhere in the rules). Without minis, adjudication of these effects does move more to a narrative feel; the drawback, of course, is that you've got to trust your DM. Is it a drawback? It can be, if you've got the DM who always says "No!" Luckily for my players, I'm not that DM.
So, when they create a zone of necrotic energy and then the fighter attempted to use Tide of Iron to knock the Ogre into it, I allowed it. And everyone rejoiced. Nate's teleport-happy warlock is a bit more challenging to run (I occasionally think of him as Nightcrawler-on-speed), but it's achievable.
To some extent, I believe that I first needed a solid background of running 4e-with-minis to see how the system worked, but now I have that background - and the background of a lot of AD&D 1st and 2nd edition without minis - the "requirement" of minis for 4e seems a lot more loose. Imagination works - at least some of the time.
So, how are you finding it? Have you abandoned minis for your 4e games? Did you never use them? Or do you still find them essential (or you just prefer using them?)
Cheers!
Why? Well, I just haven't had the time to properly search through the 2,000 odd minis I have for those perfect ones... and being completely overbusy in the last few weeks, I've also not had enough time to fine the imperfect ones. So, we've been having a few combats without minis at all.
While I'm sure that we're losing a few tactical options (and occasionally my players may be frustrated by a few imprecise descriptions), 4e-without-minis feels a lot like the games of 1e-without-minis I used to play back in the 80s.
Probably the biggest difference between the two is that 4e has a lot more powers that move things around the battlefield than 1e did. (Indeed, in 1e, I'm sure that any "I knock him off the cliff" needed to be a narrative trick adjudged by the DM rather than being supported anywhere in the rules). Without minis, adjudication of these effects does move more to a narrative feel; the drawback, of course, is that you've got to trust your DM. Is it a drawback? It can be, if you've got the DM who always says "No!" Luckily for my players, I'm not that DM.
So, when they create a zone of necrotic energy and then the fighter attempted to use Tide of Iron to knock the Ogre into it, I allowed it. And everyone rejoiced. Nate's teleport-happy warlock is a bit more challenging to run (I occasionally think of him as Nightcrawler-on-speed), but it's achievable.
To some extent, I believe that I first needed a solid background of running 4e-with-minis to see how the system worked, but now I have that background - and the background of a lot of AD&D 1st and 2nd edition without minis - the "requirement" of minis for 4e seems a lot more loose. Imagination works - at least some of the time.
So, how are you finding it? Have you abandoned minis for your 4e games? Did you never use them? Or do you still find them essential (or you just prefer using them?)
Cheers!
