What are your feelings on combat mats?

[SurfMonkey01]

** Cross-post from RPG.net **
I'm running several different games at this time, including a Star Wars d20, an epic-level Forgotten Realms, a Hunter:the Reckoning, and soon to be an Exalted, plus assorted one-shot games. One thing in common with all games I run is, no matter how large-scale a battle is (for example, this past weekend's Star Wars had a mini-war involving about 80 Jedi, including the PCs), I won't use a mat. I hate them. I think they limit the imagination and confine you too much. If I want to play a miniatures game, I'll play Mage Knight or Heroclix. I've been trying to explain to one of my friends why I don't use mats -- because I just don't like them, because they don't fit the play style my groups are evolving towards (more on this in a few), etc. This friend is one of those people who bought one of those huge roll-up eraseable mats and uses them for everything -- sometimes I think he would make you use the mat for taking a dump. But, I digress. I mentioned our evolving play style. We've been infusing more and more pulp into our games lately, by being far less strict with the game rules and trying to encourage imagination more. To me, it's perfectly fine for you to do a combat roll (without any kind of DICE roll), flip up into a cool stance, and still take your full attack, as long as you make it SOUND cool. It makes games a ton more fun, believe me. And as I said, I think the combat mats are restrictive and dull the imagination, which is why I don't like them. What are your opinions on this subject? Do you use mats or not? If not, why?

 

[Tsyr]

Don't use 'em except for a few rare situations.

My reasoning is a touch different.

It changes the game tone. Instead of roleplaying a combat situation, and making decisive moves, players begining fretting about "But if I move here, then with his movement of 30, he would be able to move within attack range... But if I move to THIS square instead of THIS square, he will be 10 ' away at the end of his move... and if I were to move HERE instead, the wizard could toast him with a fireball and catch his companion there on the fringe of the explosion, while it would stop exactly one square from me...."

That's not the type of game I want to run.

 

[Crothian]

Matts help keep everyone on the same page, I like them. It gets rid of the confusion og where everything is in relationship to each other, especially for those big battles.

However, with the little ones running around at our games and liking to get ahold of everything, my group doesn't use them much at all.

 

[Bagpuss]

Agree with the first poster which is why if I use minatures it tends only to be for party order.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

The first two opinions on here I agree with. Yes, mats can be restrictive to the imagination and encourage meta-battling (should I trademark that term? ). So if your players are happy with it, and you can keep track of positions in a way thats fine for you, then great.

However, sometimes you really need a mat. Say, when you have whiny players that continually don't listen to your descriptions and get all annoyed when their mage gets charged because they didn't think the ogre was close enough. In these cases, a battlemat is essential to stop arguments and make players play instead of claiming ignorance!

I don't know. My brother uses a mat for big battles, and that works well, but sometimes for the routine dungeon stuff its distracting. Having something on the mat is not as much fun as visualising it properly in your head. Some games have become, as noted, more about the drawing on the mat than the combat in your head.

 

[Maraxle]

I like the idea of mats, and I would use mine if I could find a marker that would erase from it.

 

[Dinkeldog]

No more arguments on whether or not you can disengage one opponent and make it across the field to another opponent. No more, "How far away were they again?" No more, "Can I get all of the bad guys in my spell radius."

I really, really, really like the mats.

 

[maddman75]

I use a mat for my games, and both the other DMs do as well. One of them tends to be more free and loose with the rules, but relented at player request to start using it.

The map IME speeds up gameplay a great deal. There's no arguements about who is where, I wasn't next to the door when dimbulb over there opened it, how far away the bad guys are. I feel it is a great aid to imagination rather than a hinderance. I don't see why knowing who is where would limit your imagination.

Several of us enjoy painting miniatures as well. Its almost a seperate hobby and the two mesh well together.

Now that said, I don't use the mat for everything. If the characters are exploring some kind of dungeon, I don't draw out each room or anything. I describe it, and when it is time to throw down we'll sketch the room and place the miniatures.

I don't know about the other games, but IMHO you are probably hosing fighter types by not using a mat. My fighter uses her mobility, spring attack, and tumbling and other feats nearly every round. Without minis, I fear the DM would ignore these abilities too often. Also, it tends (IME) to be much easier for spellcasters to grab bad guys in AoE spells while avoiding the heroes.

 

[Chaldfont]

Re: What are your feelings on combat matts?

And as I said, I think the combat mats are restrictive and dull the imagination, which is why I don't like them. What are your opinions on this subject? Do you use mats or not? If not, why?

Obviously everyone must play to their style. In this, gaming is like golf--everyone is going to give you tips, you just need to know which ones to throw away and which ones to keep. Still I have to object to the idea that using combat mats restrict imagination.

I never used combat mats or miniatures in that past (being both cheap and too lazy to paint minis) but I bought a mat when 3e came out. I liked the tactical rules 3e offered, especially rules for interesting things like tripping, bull rushing and grappling. In 2nd edition, you had to shell out for a splat book to get these rules and they never quite fit the system. Now that we use the mat, and some really quirky, cheap figures, I find that combats have gotten much more interesting.

The best reason why is that the mat helps the players visualize the environment. The visual queues of the drawings and figures on the mat help the players think up new, fun things to do during combat. I find players using imaginative tactics more frequently now that we play with a mat.

A secondary reason to use a mat is a social one. Anytime you put something in the middle of the table, the players will lean in to see what it is. This brings them closer together physically. Players stand up to move figures and when they stand, they are naturally more attentive. Many times they will act out their cobat actions. This makes the game far more engaging and exciting. With nothing focusing players attention, they tend to sit back and relax, character sheet in hand, isolating themselves in their own thoughts as they plan their next move.

I think it comes down to style--you can still have an exciting, engaging game session with everyone sitting around a living room, occasionally tossing dice on the coffee table. But my group prefers to be close around a kitchen table, frequently standing, shouting and pantomiming Jackie Chan-like action sequences.

Oh, and we like to leave the figures of the defeated foes laying prone on the mat so we can see the devastation our mighty heroes have wrought!

 

[Oni]

I always thought mats were a bad idea, basically a waste of time. That is until I played in a game that used one on a regular basis. I love the clarity it brings to the situation, it helps me to make better, more informed choices faster because all the info I used to pester the DM about is laid out in front of me. I also find they help to keep certain abilities from fading into the background, like the monk and barbarians increased speed; or the DM just arbitrary assigning AOO, or randomly attacking you mage who've you've stated over and over again is staying back out of combat and isn't standing there like and idiot next to the fighter where he'll be subject to that full attack action. er sorry, got to ranting there, anyway that's my take on it.