To grid or not to grid. New staff blog . April 11

[BobTheNob]

D&D to me has always and will always be miniatures-based. It's a roleplaying addon to a wargame, for crying out loud. Miniatures attract interest. You can tell at a glance what's going on, which side is winning, what combatants are in trouble. Seeing 20 or 30 zombies set out on the table breaks people out into a cold sweat much better than mere words.

The grid helps eliminate DM favoritism (whether conscious or unconscious) toward those players who are able to more eloquently lobby for favorable rulings. It does away with the need for constant adjudication of the players' actions. Players can help each other out with reminders of positioning and tactics rather than having to channel every action through the DM.

Yes, I can make do without, but I find that any time saved on not mapping everything out is consumed by people asking for clarification or reminders on the current situation when their turn comes up. Maybe they could pay closer attention, but players are human. They go for snacks, use the restroom, answer the phone/door, and chat about life.

I actually dont disagree with any of this. You reasons are sound and they have been the basis of why I have used grids for the past decade.

Im just at a point in my gaming where I look back and ask myself, given I have played both ways, which I preferred. The speed and "imagery" of TOTM vs the accuracy and tactical coolness of the map.

I just find myself moving away from maps. Its preference. I wouldnt for a second argue that one way is better than the other and I wouldnt dictate that anyone is wrong for having a preference. I know what I like, and Im glad you know what you like.

We know how to support maps. I just hope that they do give some thought to this find a way to support TOTM.

 

[Connorsrpg]

I love using minis - always have, right back to 1E. (Esp mook fights - then you get to use a lot of them and that looks cool ).

However, the very strict use of a grid caused a lot of headaches. I don't even mind the sqs being there, but 4E's strict use of them was too much.

With spears, more than two people can easily fight in a 10ft wide corridor for eg. Counting sqs was a complete PITA, esp when players would do so and then 'backtrack'. Or sit there strategically counting exact measurements for Area Attacks.

I like Savage Worlds' take with templates for Area Effect attacks. 'Tell me where you centre the blast is a much better idea, then bang template down.

I like 'seeing' what is around, where the walls/trees are, where the enemy is, etc., but strict adherence to rules of lines = no thanks.

 

[LostSoul]

Heh.

I like Sorcerer.

 

[Serendipity]

It amazes me that that so many people (apparently) use grid and minis. Nothing (at all) wrong with that, it's just that I haven't used minis since the 80s...which was about the last time I saw them used for D&D. It always seemed that the miniatures using contingent of the player base was a minority.
So...yeah, apparently wrong about that. Needless to say, not much caring for the 'necessity' of grid based combat.

 

[Shemeska]

No lines, grids, or minis. Never used them in D&D or any other RPG except for at cons, and it totally breaks immersion for me.

 

[FireLance]

Prior to 3e, I mostly played without a battlemat. Somewhere in the middle of 3e, I think around the time that WotC started selling randomized plastic minis, I started using one, and I've been using it ever since. I feel it's just more objective.

By the way, I can't believe that no-one has made a "gridding your lines" joke yet.

 

[Chris_Nightwing]

I'll throw in another plus for zones, or any other logical non-grid method.

 

[erleni]

As a player any system would work for me, but as a DM I strongly support grids or other hard coded systems like measuring with a string.

The reason is that they relieve me of a big burden:
1) I don't have to remember every single action and position. I'm forgetful, and I often DM when I'm tired.
2) I prefer to have a minimum of DM adjudication in combat as it takes time for me. As I am a single DM versus 4-5 players anything that increases the player's turn length and at the same time decreases the time I need to take decision is helpful. Grids take out a big part of the adjudication time from me and give me time to concentrate of monster tacticts and making the combat alive.
3) Even if I am a DM I'm still a shy guy. This means that I prefer to set down a grid and avoid discussions with my players about what can be done and what cannot be done. It really hurts me when there's tension at the table due to some ruling and having an hard-coded system helps me immensely in shifting the focus from a somewhat personal point of view as TotM is, to a matter-of-fact issue like a grid.

I think that point 3 is by far the most important for me. I should write something about D&D gridas and DM psychology.....

 

[ExploderWizard]

I can play completely without them or anything up to and including full grid.

I like minis, they are fun to collect and paint. Minis without paying too much attention to the grid is my default favorite. A grid is useful for at a glance gauging of distances but I'm not too concerned about occupying squares as such. For me the important thing is general position & facing to determine what can be seen with regard to the layout of terrain.

 

[EmbraCraig]

As a DM, I always use grids at the moment... mostly because I DM 4E, and as everyone has said, they're pretty much obligatory. If I was running Pathfinder, I'd probably still use at least a map to lay out positions, even if I wasn't using it strictly to scale.

For other systems as a player, I've played with and without - the 40k RPGs I'm happy to play gridless, as outside of "Am I in melee or not" or "Is it within x metres of me", positioning is pretty unimportant. I've played D&D with a DM not using a map, and seen characters made pointless for a couple of fights due to DMs ruling inconsistently (The DM saying there's no space for the Rogue to get around for backstabs while their monsters seemed to move around pretty freely, for example).

So in any system where positioning is going to matter, I'll be sticking to using a mat. Whether it's a rough guide or a strict 1" square = 5 feet will depend on how precise the rules need. I'll likely be doing the same for every fight.