D&D General The Grid vs. Theater of the Mind vs. a Mix [a poll & discussion]

[cbwjm]

When playing in person, it tends to be theatre of mind, with perhaps some minis (no grid) to give a general idea of where things are for the more complicated battles.

Lately though, Auckland has been back in lockdown, so my friends and I have been using roll20 to run some old Thunder Rift modules where I've used the grid, it's been a lot of fun running them.

 

[Vendral]

The different groups, and different RPGs, I have played in since early 80s have always used miniatures/tokens. I have however moved away from grid and playing gridless with measuring sticks since a few years back.
I do play a lot of different miniature games so I have quite a big collection of minatures and terrain which helps .

 

[J-H]

I use about 80% map/20% theater of the mind. TOTM is for single-monster encounters without major terrain choke points or features.
Note: "You're in the rainforest and there are 3 layers of vegetation" doesn't map well anyway.

My players sometimes use minis. I use coins or printed off paper tokens.

General mini-users

• How much does what is depicted on the battlemat limit what is in the environment? For example, if the drawn scene does not depict rocks or a tree in a particular spot, can they still be there based on player query? A room depicts a fireplace but no fireplace tools, does that mean they are not there or might they be there if the players ask the DM about it? No, I basically just draw the rooms/walls and locations of trees and other "you can't move there" obstacles. If they want bushes, there will be shrubberies.
• Do you (or your DM) draw out encounter places ahead of time? Sometimes, when I can. Hexcrawls are unpredictable. I use a roll-up dry erase map. Note: I have pre-done map diagrams in my notes/module write-ups, but it's not a player-facing grid
• If you use minis in a dungeon environment, do you (or your DM) draw out the dungeon on the battlemat as you explore it or simply describe it, drawing particular rooms/areas when and if there is a combat there? I only draw combat areas. I've used dry erase a few times to give them overviews of fort/settlement layouts after recon as well. If they want to map the dungeon, that's on them.
• Connected to the previous question: Do you use minis for non-combat circumstances? (like when a party fans out and searches a room). No, but I will take pencil notes on my map of the area.
• If you use minis, how do you handle things like running fights through a city or when the party gets split up? They've been kind enough to not do that to me so far.
• Anything else you think is important to know about how you use (or don't use) minis/grid? I follow the Matt Colville video idea of Pythagoras not existing in D&D. 6 over and 6 up is the same as 6 diagonal. It makes things easier.

 

[dave2008]

I chose: "Generally we use minis, but for brief combat or some other situations ToTM is fine"

However, I do want to point our "use minis" doesn't mean we use a grid. I have used minis with D&D since I started with 1e/BECMI back in the 80s but didn't start using a grid until 2008 with 4e. So for most of my gaming career it has been minis w/ TotM, but not gird combat (at least not with minis though we did scribble some things on graph paper)

 

[el-remmen]

Anything else you think is important to know about how you use (or don't use) minis/grid? I follow the Matt Colville video idea of Pythagoras not existing in D&D. 6 over and 6 up is the same as 6 diagonal. It makes things easier.

This is the thing Matt Colville and I will end up arm-wrestling in heaven over. Not doing longer diagonal movement/range is just hurts my head as does the idea that it is somehow too difficult to bother with. Though in all honesty, my players still struggle with it, so I made them measuring sticks and that has made it clear and even easier.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

This is the thing Matt Colville and I will end up arm-wrestling in heaven over. Not doing longer diagonal movement/range is just hurts my head as does the idea that it is somehow too difficult to bother with. Though in all honesty, my players still struggle with it, so I made them measuring sticks and that has made it clear and even easier.

Just use hexes. That's close enough.

 

[el-remmen]

Just use hexes. That's close enough.

I find hexes difficult to draw buildings and structures on without busting out a t-square every time.

 

[tetrasodium]

There was a pretty good video on the pros and cons of each recently

 

[el-remmen]

There was a pretty good video on the pros and cons of each recently

Sounds about right. . .

 

[Ath-kethin]

In 30-ish years of gaming, the only time I've used miniatures is if I'm in a game someone else was running and that GM provided/chose to use them.

• How much say (if any) do the players (as opposed to the DM) have in describing the environment?

As much as they have in describing what a game board - sorry, "battlemat" - looks like. Probably more, since it's easy to ask if there's say, a handhold or a skylight above and adjust their plans accordingly.

• Do you use other visual aids to help the players picture the area (a map, a quick sketch?)

Yes. Player-facing maps and elevations can help establish physical spaces. And I find that players using ToTM tend to think more vertically than those looking at game pieces, too. That is, people moving minis rarely think to ask what's above them, whereas people imagining a hallway/room/valley are more.likely to do so.

• How do you keep track of distances, ranges, and movement?

All descriptions. It's never been an issue. And since almost nobody could stand in one place and tell with precision what's, say, 15 or 20 feet away without measuring it, the descriptions and up being more realistic too.

• Anything else you think is important to know about how you use (or don't use) minis/grid

I get that collecting and painting minis is fun. I buy them and I paint them. But what I want to play a boardgame, I whip out my old HeroQuest set. When I want to play a TTRPG I leave the toys at home.