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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mmu1" data-source="post: 387371" data-attributes="member: 319">I think battle mats and miniatures are the only way to fly.  They actually allow for tactical combat, instead of a huge game of cops and robbers with a few die rolls thrown in. While I'm a big supporter of describing your actions in creative ways, there's no reason why you can't do that AND use a battle mat and minis for clarity... Because the problem with having character do "cool" things without needing to roll for them is that, more often then not, it means giving them some kind of advantage (usually in terms of extra actions, mobility, or getting around the fact that they're actually completely inept in some area), in effect penalizing people who either don't feel like hamming it up or simply can't be quite as "cool" and colorful in their descriptions - this sort of stuff is what XP bonuses for good or interesting role-playing are for. And while I'm sure there might be groups in which this kind of play works quite well, I've seen it abused enough times, that it's not going to make its way into my game... Clearly defining where everyone is and what they're affected by keeps things fair, keeps the DM from marginalizing the more quiet players, and people trying to do algebra when figuring out where to center a spell or arguing for half an hour how to stand in front of a door is only a problem if you can't control your own game.</blockquote>