Hussar said:
The problem with hexes is exactly what you've pointed to though KarinsDad. Drawing a square room on a hex map is a major PITA.
It's typically a piece of cake.
Just draw a square. Ignore the hex lines. If a hex is 50% or more visible, a medium or smaller creature can fight from it.
That is so super simple.
Want an irregular shaped room? Just draw it.
The problem you are discussing is totally within your own frame of reference and has nothing to do with the game system.
Why can't rooms be 18'x27' instead of 20'x25'?
Because the game system designers didn't show how easy it is to do something outside a 5'x5' mentality and they trained an entire generation of RPG players to "stay within the lines".
How lawful!
Hussar said:
Hexes and Dungeons don't go together very well. I don't know why you would say hexes were preferred in 1e considering every dungeon map was drawn on squares. It was only overland maps that got hexes and you don't fight at that scale.
I was referencing the 1E DMG, but yeah, I think you are correct that a lot of the 1E adventure maps were squares.
Squared off dungeons? Who squares off a dungeon?
Caverns are not square. Mines are not square.
Only civilized "rooms" should have geometric shapes.
What about the rectangular room that is 45 degrees off the square room? Same issue with a square grid.
You yourself pointed out that sometimes, the lines end up 2.5 feet from the grid.
Square grids gain the system nothing significant. They do, on the other hand, create game mechanic issues that do not need to exist at all.