Scurvy_Platypus
Explorer
Rather than retype it all out, here's what I've said before in a different thread:
I don't actually print the strip out. Like I said, I've got a magnetic dry erase board that I use to keep track of initiative order and monster HP.
It might seem a bit hard to wrap your head around how to initially set up where everyone is, but it's actually pretty simple. There's usually someone that has a darn good idea where they want/need to be; they become the "baseline" if you will.
For example, Bob says "I'm going to melee that sucker". Boom, you're done. Everyone else is basically in relation to Bob and his melee. Folks are hanging back for support, others are headed in to smack stuff around, whatever.
Maneuvering characters/monsters into funky terrain has varied a bit. Usually I go with an opposed roll just to keep things simple.
At the end of the day, it's a judgement call. My first litmus test is, "Is it cool?" If yes, then it's much more likely to happen. Next is, if it's an "even split" between the PCs and the monsters, PCs win.
It's not only possible to do mini/token free, I've done it and hand no problem. Granted it's been at the first Tier so maybe there's funky stuff I'd have issues with later, but so far it's been just fine. Some folks might not _like_ D&D without miniatures, some folks might be the sort that want to argue stuff unless there's no wriggle room for them, or whatever; that's a person problem, not an indication that the game can't be run mini/token free.
And just so my own personal bias is clear: I refuse to run D&D/d20 games with minis. I'm willing to play in them, because so many people love minis, but I can't be bothered with them when I'm running a game. Everyone that shows up to my table knows this, I let 'em know before character creation ever happens.
Hope something there is useful.
I guess I have to ask, what's the point?
One reason for going mini-less is because of a desire not to deal with all the fiddly bits of miniatures. This approach certainly doesn't seem like it's going to be _less_ fiddly, there's just a bunch of additional stuff to keep track of.
I mean, it looks like you still have to track who's in combat with whom, you've got another list to maintain for everyone as to how many TP=Whatever movement, and you need to keep track of how many TP each character/monster has as well. And still try to track conditions, marks, etc.
I run 4E mini-less right now and so far I haven't had a problem. I use an abstract positioning system (taken from a game called Agon by John Harper). You can see the Range Strip (which is the core of the system) here:
http://www.agon-rpg.com/range_strip.pdf
So, ranges are all relative. Someone shows up in a strip and the strip right next to them is Close. If they're in the same strip, they're in Melee. I've got a small magnetic dry erase board with lines drawn on it. Each character's name is written on a small magnet, and then I've got extras to cover foes. I can organise the Initiative order on it and at the same time have the representation needed for who's in what range. Very simple to set up, easy to explain.
Range bands are Melee, Close, Medium, Long, Extreme. I used the ranges of weapons from the PHB, so Extreme is basically max distance of a Long Bow.
Combat Advantage is determined by 2 things: Narrative and number of foes. If the narrative suggests that a foe (or character) wouldn't be aware of something or would be disadvantaged in some fashion, CA is granted. If there's 2+ on a target, CA is granted.
Push/Pull/Slide powers... there's not really a hard and fast rule here. A lot of the time, it's shoving someone around within the same Range Band. As a general rule, if someone is getting shoved around and it's granting Op Attacks, if someone is in the Range Band where an Opp Attack could occur, then they can take the Opp Attack; that's of course assuming that they can make one in the first place.
Funky terrain (like lightning that hangs out in a square or whatever) is handled mainly by narrative. If there's some sort of struggle to get someone/maneuver them into funky terrain, a simple check/opposed check is my standard approach.
I think that covers it.
Obviously there's an element of "trust", but to be honest... there's _always_ an element of trust. You trust that the GM isn't going to screw you over on all sorts of things that they can. So "trust" in the case of mini-less combat is just one more element that people need to acknowledge but not really obsess over. I personally tend to operate on the Rule of Cool sort of thing and if there's a question whether something should favor the foes or the characters, characters win hands-down.
Soooooo.... I'm not saying your system sucks, I'm just not quite sure what problem you're trying to address with it.
Of course, there's also this approach to combat:
Fluid 4e: Gridless Combat.
There's some solid ideas there, especially the Move Save. My ranges are a bit different than what's there, but so far it hasn't been a problem; if need be I can tweak 'em more to match this version later.
I don't actually print the strip out. Like I said, I've got a magnetic dry erase board that I use to keep track of initiative order and monster HP.
It might seem a bit hard to wrap your head around how to initially set up where everyone is, but it's actually pretty simple. There's usually someone that has a darn good idea where they want/need to be; they become the "baseline" if you will.
For example, Bob says "I'm going to melee that sucker". Boom, you're done. Everyone else is basically in relation to Bob and his melee. Folks are hanging back for support, others are headed in to smack stuff around, whatever.
Maneuvering characters/monsters into funky terrain has varied a bit. Usually I go with an opposed roll just to keep things simple.
At the end of the day, it's a judgement call. My first litmus test is, "Is it cool?" If yes, then it's much more likely to happen. Next is, if it's an "even split" between the PCs and the monsters, PCs win.
It's not only possible to do mini/token free, I've done it and hand no problem. Granted it's been at the first Tier so maybe there's funky stuff I'd have issues with later, but so far it's been just fine. Some folks might not _like_ D&D without miniatures, some folks might be the sort that want to argue stuff unless there's no wriggle room for them, or whatever; that's a person problem, not an indication that the game can't be run mini/token free.
And just so my own personal bias is clear: I refuse to run D&D/d20 games with minis. I'm willing to play in them, because so many people love minis, but I can't be bothered with them when I'm running a game. Everyone that shows up to my table knows this, I let 'em know before character creation ever happens.
Hope something there is useful.