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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Retreater" data-source="post: 7503749" data-attributes="member: 42040">I had gotten very tired of the grid combat that was the focus of 3.x/PF. Since I had started DMing in 2nd edition without a battle grid, I was excited to get back to "theater of the mind." It went okay for a few months, then I found out a few things. My groups consisted of no one who had played AD&D. Everyone came from a background of 3.x, 4E, or was new to D&D altogether. They had difficulty understanding where creatures were. What their options were. Who was attacking whom. Theater of the mind actually slowed down the game as I had to explain everything on every player's turn, sometimes multiple times. And then we'd argue about it. Most times I would have to sketch out a map anyway just to clarify things.This wasn't happening in a solitary gaming group either. I run 5e for three different groups. So then I got out the battle grid, the minis, 3D terrain. The level of excitement among the players exploded. Combats are faster, played with greater use of tactics, positioning arguments fell by the wayside. While I think theater of the mind is great for investigative games where you're not supposed to fight (Call of Cthulhu comes to mind), I think any game system that focuses on combat and adventure (which I would say D&D is - at least for me) benefits from battlegrids.</blockquote>