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<blockquote data-quote="shadow" data-source="post: 388064" data-attributes="member: 2182">I ALWAYS use a mat when I DM.&nbsp; However, when I'm a player, I'm disapointed by the fact that few DMs use mats.&nbsp; I find mats vastly improve combat for two reasons:1. They encourage more stategy to battle.&nbsp; Back in 2e days, I rarely used mats.&nbsp; As a result combat was simply, &quot;I swing, I hit&quot; or &quot;I swing, I miss&quot;.&nbsp; With the attacks of opportunity used in 3e, mats become very important to&nbsp; determine your position in the battle.&nbsp; It also seems the more players think of strategy, the more different maneuvers they'll try.&nbsp; All the sudden players are using bull rushes, disarms, etc.2. (A corollary of the 1st point) Without mats, combat often seems more like a child's game of cops and robbers to me (&quot;I hit you!&quot; &quot;No you didn't!&quot;)&nbsp; Players convieniently seem to forget the distance they are from their foes and suddenly are able to move 120 feet to reach an enemy and still get their full number of attacks.&nbsp; Unless I pay close attention to where I said the enemys were a minute ago, I tend to lose track of where everyone is.&nbsp; On the flip side, players tend to complain a lot more with out a mat. (&quot;Hey wait a second, that monster couldn't move that far and still get to attack!&quot; &quot;The orc wasn't close enough to get an attack of opportunity on me.&quot; etc.)&nbsp; Mats are almost essential for attacks of opportunity.&nbsp; In short mats just make life a lot simpler.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="shadow, post: 388064, member: 2182"] I ALWAYS use a mat when I DM. However, when I'm a player, I'm disapointed by the fact that few DMs use mats. I find mats vastly improve combat for two reasons: 1. They encourage more stategy to battle. Back in 2e days, I rarely used mats. As a result combat was simply, "I swing, I hit" or "I swing, I miss". With the attacks of opportunity used in 3e, mats become very important to determine your position in the battle. It also seems the more players think of strategy, the more different maneuvers they'll try. All the sudden players are using bull rushes, disarms, etc. 2. (A corollary of the 1st point) Without mats, combat often seems more like a child's game of cops and robbers to me ("I hit you!" "No you didn't!") Players convieniently seem to forget the distance they are from their foes and suddenly are able to move 120 feet to reach an enemy and still get their full number of attacks. Unless I pay close attention to where I said the enemys were a minute ago, I tend to lose track of where everyone is. On the flip side, players tend to complain a lot more with out a mat. ("Hey wait a second, that monster couldn't move that far and still get to attack!" "The orc wasn't close enough to get an attack of opportunity on me." etc.) Mats are almost essential for attacks of opportunity. In short mats just make life a lot simpler. [/QUOTE]

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