What are your feelings on combat mats?

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I never used a mat, or minis, or anything like it in all my years playing 1E and OD&D. Never saw the point.

Then I tried 3E with a battle mat and loved it. I won't DM without it now (and I don't own a mat, but one of my players always brings one ...). I've gotten into painting minis because of it, though the combat between the gummi bears and M&Ms was cool because you got to eat the fallen ...

My last session I got to do the surprise unveiling of a monster with a new mini on the battle mat, and it was great! The party was slinking through a dank cavern, when something lashed out at the lead character from the darkness. They pursued, catching a glimpse of fur or claw, and when they finally cornered it the light revealed ... the charging owlbear! Minimal description, just unveiled the mini and let the party panic.

I was a long-time Avalon Hill wargamer, so I really like the tactical aspects of 3E, but even that aside I think the visual benefits of the battle mat are worth it. Don't knock it till you've tried it!

 

[Spindel]

Never use a mat till 3e. Use minatures in 2nd, but with some potter file (fringe benifit from work), a white board marker and my slowly dying Hero's Quest minatures, it's broughr a whole new level to combat that I don't think I could do without now. It's made for some truely memorable battles two as it guarentees that everyone has the same view of the combat. It's also indispensible for determininy AOO's.
I don't mind the meta-gaming at all, ok, so it allows people to count down to the exact square where something might move be able to move to, but I don't see why a seasoned veterain of countless fights wouldn't have a good idea anyway.
I've also noticed a lot more imagination going into the game when I place some of the tables and bookcases into the rooms. Lots of ducking, diving, leaping and over turning. It's great.

PS. Glad to see I'm not the only one who'll occasionally use M&M's and eat the fallen. Unfortunatly, being the DM, I don't get to eat as many, so I keep the bowl up my end.

 

[Victim]

We didn't start using tactical maps until our realized that Evard's Black Tentacles was cool. That spell pretty much requires a battle mat.

I like battle mats.

First of all, they can make mapping much easier. If a room goes onto the mat because we're fighting there, it is much easier to draw it on the dungeon scale map. Describing rooms can take awhile, especially if they're irregularly shaped. When DMing Night Below, I'd always draw out whatever new area they could see for the group, because all the areas had weird shapes.

Also, it is much easier to pre-plan my actions. With a mat, I can usually figure out exactly what I'm going to do on my turn, you when I come up, everything is ready to go. I don't have to go, "Well, can I get to the evil mage?" "No" "Oops, that changes what I'm going to do. Who is in range?"

Also, since I can know what's happening ahead of time, I can even create a fancy description that fits the results: "Allin rushes at the dark elf, feints, and then leaps into the area, almost, but not quite, flipping over his head. Fortunately, his sword hits a chink in the evildoer's armor, as if by accident, while he falls to the ground. I made the tumble check, failed the jump by one, and did 3 points." I've found that whenever someone tries to embellish their move in advance, they end up looking stupid. Whenever one player would have a nice description for his attack, he'd roll low. I think people should described what does happen.