Hex and figurines

[steph]

Hey guys, Just want to know for you fantasy game if you use hex map and figurines in combat. I want to try to be free of this but i am scared to confused the combat. GM who don't use hex and figurines i am wanting your advice.

 

Hope i am clear english not my first language 

 

steph

[Markdoc]

I often use figures and a hex map, mostly because it keeps my players happy, but it's perfectly possible to run fights (even complex fights) without them. I do it all the time. All that is required is for the GM to have a good idea of what is going on in his head: you need to be able to visualise where all the various people and things are. What I typically do is just sketch out the battlefield on a scrap of paper and then just note where everybody is, make notes as the fight progresses, stuff gets broken, etc.

 

One advantage of this approach, if the GM is comfortable with it, is that it's much faster than a hex map and figures. Players spend less time agonizing over where they are going to move and counting hexes, and more time thinking about what they are actualloy going to do.

 

cheers, Mark

[tkdguy]

Depends on my group. I've played in groups that preferred the "theater of the mind" to using miniatures. If some visuals are needed during combat, the positions and movements of the combatants were sketched on a chalkboard.

 

Other groups I've played in definitely prefer using miniatures in the game. We usually used a battlemat with squares rather than hexes, though.

[Ninja-Bear]

I've used figures without a map per se. The firgures are nice to visualize where everything and marching order is and used the glass stones from craft stores to represent walls.

[bluesguy]

I have never done 'theater of the mind' for combat.  Way to hard for this GM.

 

I have actually gone the other way by making a number of 3d paper terrain props (trees, logs, hills, etc) plus pre-printed & laminated maps or ones that I print and laminate myself.  Players like it.  I like it.

[mhd]

For large battles I tend to get out my old Chessex battlemat, otherwise it's really all in our minds, plus the occasional sketch to denote position. At least in a melee-based fantasy campaign like my current HERO adventures. When area weapons are common, plenty of "mooks" abound and/or melee positioning actually matters (D&D, GURPS), maps are used most of the time. I do sometimes use tokens just to count how many opponents are still engaged, without any maps.

[Steve]

Our last Champions battle was simply played out on the tabletop without a mat (as I forgot it), and things worked out pretty well just measuring things off in inches.

[Manic Typist]

I've always liked figurines, but never liked using hexes/squares. I just treat everything as inches and it seems to work fine with a tape measure.

[Spence]

Depends on the scene (this applies to all RPG's, not just Hero)  

 

If the entire point of the scene is the combat, then I will use a map.  At game scale (Square or Hex).

 

If the combat is to be more incidental, I let the players describe what they intend to do.  We work out what success and failure could mean in a more narrative way and then chunk the dice.  That pulls all the players into actively weaving the story instead of the GM carrying the entire load.  Plus you'd be surprised at how creative the players can become for failures.   And a spectacular failure in combat that was created not just mechanically by the rules, but instead as a narrative the the player helped to define/create has a much greater chance of becoming one of those epic gamer stories that are retold and draw in new players.  

 

Maps are great and I use them a lot.  But they are a tool that can be left in the box sometimes......

 

 

 

 

[tkdguy]

Counters are another option, especially if you have to carry stuff across town. Coins work just as well.

 

One of my groups that didn't use miniatures sometimes used dice to represent the PCs and NPCs. Of course, that can bring on other problems with certain characters,  especially their looks. Do you know how hard it is to find dice that look sexy?

[Scott Baker]

Counters are another option, especially if you have to carry stuff across town. Coins work just as well.

 

One of my groups that didn't use miniatures sometimes used dice to represent the PCs and NPCs. Of course, that can bring on other problems with certain characters,  especially their looks. Do you know how hard it is to find dice that look sexy?

I still have some dice that I think of by the name of the character they used to represent on the map.

[Spence]

Counters are another option, especially if you have to carry stuff across town. Coins work just as well.

 

One of my groups that didn't use miniatures sometimes used dice to represent the PCs and NPCs. Of course, that can bring on other problems with certain characters,  especially their looks. Do you know how hard it is to find dice that look sexy?

 

 

I still have some dice that I think of by the name of the character they used to represent on the map.

 

 

I still carry different blocks of small six sided dice.  Green for Goblins or Orcs and so on. 

[Christopher R Taylor]

I prefer hex maps, but you can use some terrain or just a cloth and a tape measure.

[steph]

Yesterday we played a long Fantasy Game. We had a long battle and we did not use figures or hex map. With a good description of the premises and notes during the fight everything was perfect . The idea is that everything stays in the head without project into a kind of board game .

 

S

[Markdoc]

You go, boy!

 

Cheers, Mark

[Nolgroth]

It's funny. Back when I first started gaming, I didn't use any sort of map or token for the character. Later, I was introduced to the Chessex Battlemat. I have not been able to go back to theatre  of the mind since then. Now I use MapTool when I (rarely) game because it is easier than physical miniatures and I can load up some very detailed maps. In a twist of irony, I find it hard to use my old Chessex mat now that I have that tool. Suppose I just love gizmos too much.

[Tasha]

I prefer hex mats and miniatures for combat. As both Player and GM I really like seeing how everything is setup. Also, there's no question about who is in line of sight, what the range is etc. Theater of the Mind can be very tiring to run and to play in. Also, I hate the whole interrogate the GM to find out what is where.

[mhd]

The worst thing about maps in my experience is that they change the setup of locales. The hex/square becomes the universal unit of measurement. Corridors get pretty wide, everything tends to be quite square and uniformly shaped.

 

And often, encounters occur at more fixed places. Because, well, you've got that one room prepared as a hex map, whereas transfering any random location from your maze of twisty passages will lead into some dead time while you get your ruler out.

 

Mileages do vary, of course. My drawing ability pretty much defines the lower end of the scale here. I recently had to quickly sketch an octagonal room with corridors on every edge. The result was almost non-Euclidean.

[bluesguy]

The worst thing about maps in my experience is that they change the setup of locales. The hex/square becomes the universal unit of measurement. Corridors get pretty wide, everything tends to be quite square and uniformly shaped.

 

And often, encounters occur at more fixed places. Because, well, you've got that one room prepared as a hex map, whereas transfering any random location from your maze of twisty passages will lead into some dead time while you get your ruler out.

 

Mileages do vary, of course. My drawing ability pretty much defines the lower end of the scale here. I recently had to quickly sketch an octagonal room with corridors on every edge. The result was almost non-Euclidean.

 

I have ended up purchasing:

 

• Paizo Flip maps and Map Packs - Which you can get either as a printed/laminated map or as a PDF to print out yourself.
• Heroic Maps - Which are PDFs and have to be printed out and laminated.
• DramaScape -  Which are PDFs and have to be printed out and laminated

This has provided my group with a wide variety of settings where encounters can occur and it only takes seconds to put them down and have people using them.

[Manic Typist]

I've never understood the compulsion to lay down hexes/squares on a good map, when either a printed image or a table top with props does fine and avoids having to worry about forcing terrain to match the grid. Do peopler really object to just doing away with the grid, and using a ruler/string?

[tkdguy]

Depends on the game. I sometimes run spaceship combat games, and have used maps both with and without hexes. I have no problem with either. I prefer no hexes, but if I'm playing solo, the hexed map saves me the effort of measuring distances.

[mhd]

I've never understood the compulsion to lay down hexes/squares on a good map, when either a printed image or a table top with props does fine and avoids having to worry about forcing terrain to match the grid. Do peopler really object to just doing away with the grid, and using a ruler/string?

You say that as if making high quality pictures or arranging props is easier than just jotting down some lines on a grid. And you've got the option of gradually revealing something, which isn't as easy with a e.g. a printed out dungeon.

 

Never mind that, yes, I think that estimating distances with a grid (esp on the lower level, 5-10 increments) is easier than flitting around with a ruler or string. I always felt like a manic tailor when doing that.

[Manic Typist]

You say that as if making high quality pictures or arranging props is easier than just jotting down some lines on a grid. And you've got the option of gradually revealing something, which isn't as easy with a e.g. a printed out dungeon.

 

Never mind that, yes, I think that estimating distances with a grid (esp on the lower level, 5-10 increments) is easier than flitting around with a ruler or string. I always felt like a manic tailor when doing that.

None of that is easier with a grid. I assume you mean draw a map when you say "jot lines on  a grid." I can do so on a blank surface just as easily. A printed out grid map will reveal just as much as a non-grid map, so that's a non-issue.

 

I can only see estimating distances as easier with a grid if you mean, quite literally, estimating and not measuring. I can tell a distance on a grid (esp. short ranges like you said) at a glance fairly easily- my eyes can quickly count the 10 grid spaces. However, measuring in either requires the application of a tool for counting/measuring (even if it's just your finger), and at that point they are equal except that grids can create weird space distortions.

 

I'm not saying grids are wrong, or inferior. I just don't get the preference for them given that they seem to create problems/questions that don't exist sans grid. I don't see (except in the example of quick estimates) the value-add that comes from grids. It eludes me, and I seek to understand.

[tkdguy]

It's a matter of taste. I know folks who don't like grids/hexes and folks who prefer them. If you use miniatures, using a grid does help keep things in scale when drawing the map, but it's not necessary. YMMV.

[mhd]

I don't see (except in the example of quick estimates) the value-add that comes from grids. It eludes me, and I seek to understand.

How do you feel about graph paper for maths and lined paper for writing?