squares vs hexes?

[ZzarkLinux]

Wow, lots of useful advice in this thread.

I personally prefer Hexes. Things work on a 60 degree setup, which yields more options than squares.

It's still possible to run 90 degree corners too, you just need to pause and think before drawing the lines on the grid.

 

[DracoSuave]

Wow, lots of useful advice in this thread.

I personally prefer Hexes. Things work on a 60 degree setup, which yields more options than squares.

It's still possible to run 90 degree corners too, you just need to pause and think before drawing the lines on the grid.
View attachment 41060

That diagram shows how screwed up square rooms+hexes actually get. At some point, you have to have staggered hexes. And at that point, you have inherent hexes that are tactically better than others.

Using squares, if you're against the wall, you can flank someone else against that same wall with ease. With hexes, you can flank someone against that wall, with someone who is five squares away from the wall (wtf?) but no one adjacent to the wall can flank you (wtf?) and you have a natural position where only three hexes can get at you (wtf?). And why? Because you happen to be a multiple of ten feet from the other wall? And the other wall doesn't follow these strange physics? Is this other wall made of magic? What is the power of East-West walls in your campaign that they inherently destroy the columns of sense and dimension?

Are East-West walls connected to Xoriat?

-That- is the problem with jhexes and square rooms.

 

[Nytmare]

These are great things to point out if you're arguing over "realistic inconsistencies" between maps and real life, but they're just as meaningless as the complaints about firecubes and being able to run farther when your'e running diagonally across a square grid. There's a disconnect between the real world and a battlemap, deal with it.

If you're getting flanked it means that you're getting flanked because those are the rules applied to the figures on the map. The game pieces you see on the map are not direct representations of real people standing in real places in a real room. If you argue that your piece is standing against a wall and so it can't be flanked, you're wrong because you're obviously NOT standing against the wall because you ARE being flanked.

 

[Nifft]

Every argument leveled against hex maps can be leveled equally against 45° angle walls on grid maps, and that's before we get to 60° corners and crazy stuff like circular rooms, which feature prominently in any Wizard's tower worthy of the name.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Nytmare]

Well, every argument except "The game runs on square maps straight out of the box."

 

[Nifft]

Well, every argument except "The game runs on square maps straight out of the box."

Dungeon Tiles has angled tiles. They don't have rules for how PCs interact with those part-squares. They're just politely ignored.

IMHO hexes deserve equally polite treatment.

"Hexapodia as the key insight", -- Twirlip

 

[Nytmare]

IMHO hexes deserve equally polite treatment.

I'm not trying for impolite, I'm saying that the game, the maps, the miniatures, the rules, and all of the bits and pieces that interact with that aspect of the game are built to work, automatically, with a square grid. No muss, no fuss.

That's the one problem I see with hex maps that isn't mirrored by square ones.

 

[Nifft]

I'm not trying for impolite

That "polite" is a reference to how WotC's rules treat the partial squares in dungeon tiles. Nothing to do with you.

I'm saying that the game, the maps, the miniatures, the rules, and all of the bits and pieces that interact with that aspect of the game are built to work, automatically, with a square grid. No muss, no fuss.

That's the one problem I see with hex maps that isn't mirrored by square ones.

WotC's Dungeon Tiles have these triangular tiles with some partial-squares on them. There are no rules for those partial squares. They are used in WotC maps, and politely ignored by everyone.

So the "problem" does already exist for grid maps, but nobody really notices it, so presumably it's not a big deal in play.

I suggest that the "problem" exists for lots of maps with angled rooms and corridors, and gets bad for round rooms. (Of course, in 4e geometry a square room is a circular room, but that's neither here nor there. We like to play on interesting maps, and right angles aren't always good enough.)

Cheers, -- N

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

So my question is, has anyone else tried to convert 4e to hexes, and if so, did it work? What are the pros and cons?

I use hex maps, and the only con is that some players have an unexplainable dislike of them. (Literally unexplainable: I've asked them and they can't explain it to me.)

 

[Infiniti2000]

Every argument leveled against hex maps can be leveled equally against 45° angle walls on grid maps, and that's before we get to 60° corners and crazy stuff like circular rooms, which feature prominently in any Wizard's tower worthy of the name.

Right, so which kinds of features do you use most? If it's square rooms a la most pre-printed modules, then square grids are best. If it's 45 degree angles and circular rooms, then hex grids are best. If you want a single answer for everyone, then create a poll!