Now, this is a fantastic video! As a map creator, I very much promote using battle and terrain maps when appropriate. It's just not always necessary to run an encounter with a map or other visual aid. Some of my most successful encounters have been run with theatre of the mind. Saying that a good battle map, themed for your encounter with tactical play in mind can really level up your battle encounters.
This is arguably one of the most important videos for DM's, especially from s financial point of view. People think they need to spend a ton of money to make their games great but lose focus on what's actually important! Great video Luke!
I hadn't considered making them sign a contract with their own blood to make sure they go where I want them to. I've been relying on the honor system so far. I'll give that a go
I have aphantasia so I struggle with theatre of the mind when it comes to battles. Basically, I struggle to picture stuff. Use theatre of the mind for a battle with me and I'll probably make some weird decisions ;)
I really like TOTM as its generally easier on my group. When we need yo go tactic mode: some meeples and a dry erase board or grid works wonderfully. Or generic player token from board games of old. Colored cubes sometimes too. But we still stay in the realms of generic and approximative because well, we rarely use dnd or mini based systems truth be told. But when we use them, we rarely play for long mostly because as you said, it makes combat take a while. Also less prep on the dm is always good
I use TotM with tokens to keep track of enemies. My group has been confused by terrain a couple of times, derrailing the fight, but in general it works awesome. With experience, the confusions diminish, you need some terrain bulletpoints for the players to work with, and that solves most issues.
I DM through roll20 as most of my gaming group lives distant. One thing that helped alot was preparing a few maps that were just a image I found that fit the setting. For the desert setting I found a few good stock images. When we would switch from a battlemap to one of these images it helped players to realize this was a theater of the mind section and the image just helped set the stage.
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@@angelmanfredy The DM just wasn't good at running the game. I don't know how else to describe it. The terrain didn't make up for the lack of GM skills, if that makes sense.
Theater of the mind doesn't make combats go faster when I need to ask a billion questions to get the layout on each of my turns, and I still don't wind up with the same exact layout in my head as everyone else at the table and still wind up being told I can't do what I'm trying to do because I've misinterpreted the arrangement of things, requiring me to keep trying over & over to take my turn. I just can't personally do theater of the mind. As for ease of map making... I use interlocking whiteboard tiles and whiteboard markers. It doesn't have to look amazing. Most of my minis are actually chess pieces. Applying imagination to the layout once I can see it is easy, but I need to be able to visually see that layout first.
100% this. Theatre of the Mind has the absolute risk of participants not being on the same page about important details. Not to mention having players with actual ADHD that just can't keep up with all the information you supply them without a visual aid
I played a lot of RPG's using only theater of the mind before trying 3.5 D&D briefly then going back to other systems because those where the most popular with the groups I was playing with. Only after getting into DnD 5e did I really consider minis and maps because I have to say that the rules as written might be theater of the mind compatible it really is written for grit and mini kind of game. So I got a dryerase foldable gameboard with hex and suqare grit on each side, some markers, gaming chips and cardboard paper printouts in stands for minis as an afordable solution and must say i really enjoy that. These things are afordable and easily portable and lets me get the most out of the grid specific rules in 5e
Our group has 35+ years of collected minis, wet-erase battle mats, and an assortment of both 2D and 3D scatter terrain, some of which is inherited from abandoned model railroad stuff, some that I have crafted or adapted from other toys. We will use minis for most combats, even if we have to say things like, "These wolf minis are standing in for displacer beasts." We don't worry too much about having "THE PERFECT MINI or TERRAIN" but instead having minis and terrain that we can identify across the table and easily associate with the intended being or object. - It is pretty amazing how many towns have the same five buildings!
My group uses limited minis and terrain. It works really well, and when someone makes some really cool terrain element, then it is a special bonus. Our main DM is really uptight in life, so we never lack cool monsters to battle.
THANK YOU! Neither does one style if mapping make you a better DM over another. It's hard not to try to cover up our weaknesses with shiny things, but a good reminder to better ourselves!
I like to use both, like you had said some encounters don't require terrain and slow the game down. Problem I run into sometimes is if the players see the terrain out they have their guard up and makes it hard to surprise them.
One tip I would give, it's not as much of a dichotomy as you'd think. There's all kinds of approaches to D&D combat, use whichever approach works at your table. I've played at tables where the DM kept the map and miniatures behind their DM screen and just used it to weave tactical info into their theater-of-the-mind narrative, I've seen DM's just use a map-and-minis for the "melee, near, far" low-tactics approach common to theater-of-the-mind, I've seen DM's drop a fancy terrain-and-minis setup on the table for a roleplay scene in the tavern. All of those can work at the right table.
YES!! My old DM used TotM and a few well chosen minis for almost every combat . Kept the action flowing. But, when we heard, "Let's move out to the garage," we knew we'd hit the Boss battle! Terrain also kept the DM honest after a certain 80' x 100' room suddenly morphed into a huge cavern so that his dragon could take flight.
I use 3d printed minis and a dry erase grid. I like grids but I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on fancy minis and terrain. I have bought a few minis and painted them but ultimately I try to keep my game low budget because I'm in highschool and don't have tons of cash to blow
That's all cool. Even though our group has gathered several hundred or thousand minis over the decades, we started with plastic game tokens with character or monster names on masking tape stuck to them. It is rather amazing how many monsters you can get our of a visit to the dollar store and a pack of colored pipe cleaners. We have a half dozen giant spiders one of us made from black pipe cleaners, and have been using them for about twenty years, even though we also have some lead/pewter spiders.
I have started using paper crafting for my maps. I haven't done many, but there are some awesome floor textures put together by Crooked Staff Terrain, as well as maps that come with adventures. All you have to do is print them on standard paper, paste them onto cardboard or foam board from the dollar store, and put on some small walls to give the feeling of dimensionality without tall walls that obstruct views. Easily portable, cheap and expendable if someone spills something on them or they get ruined in transport. Easy to design your own dungeons or transfer someone else's to a paper experience. Add in your normal minis, 3D printed minis, or just paper standees or tokens, and you're off. It doesn't have to be very expensive, and you can still get a great feel out of it. It also saves you time on painting terrain or set pieces. But I definitely agree with Luke, sometimes TotM is better for the situation.
I mostly do theater of the mind. And roll with players ideas. Player: i run towards the monster to attack it Dm: it's a bit too far too reach with a single movement. Player: Then I will use my bonus action to cast courageous advance (we don't play d&d) Dm: Oh, then you do reach the monster and still have your action. You don't need to know exactly how many feet, just roll with common sense and what feel appropriate in any situation.
As both a DM and a player (in separate campaigns, mind you) I prefer to know where my chart and everyone else are EXACTLY, when that matters. I'm not going to run towards something I can't reach if I intend to stab it. I feel like knowing by sight that a certain choice is not viable, saves everyone a lot of time. It also prevents nasty surprises from stuff you or a player forgot, and - let's face it - eliminates certain forms of bullshit
@@PeopleHaveNoGender Given that my players can't know the EXACT details of many things I tend to be very forgiving on those details. But very punishing if they made overall really bad decisions. Like long resting in the middle of a dungeon or insulting the king of the realm. Different playstyles. I don't have a versus mentality against them so I do not bullshit them on things they didn't have exact details.
Whatever the group get used to is what generally works best. I've played where the map was a sheet of paper with general areas sketched out. I've also played games where minis and terrain was used. Both systems work just fine, till you take players used to one system and drop them into the other. I don't use minis any more. I use VTT. Even with old fashioned table top. My table has a TV set facing the players and I use a split screen on my laptop with the "Player view" facing them and the DM view facing me. It doubles as a DM screen. I toyed with the idea of laying it out flat on their table, but realised having it stood upright just saved SO MUCH space... and no knocking things over when people try to lean across the "board" because "NO ONE touches my character but ME!" I usually take control of moving the counters based on what they tell me, and if I move them the wrong way they can see, and tell me. I love "Theatre of the Mind" but it has the most potential to go wrong and mess the game up, and "...anyone who tells you otherwise... is selling something" Not only does the DM have to know exactly where everything is, and keep track of it they need to be confident that everyone understands where everything is every time something moves, and is of a shared mind. I find that becomes exponentially more likely to go badly wrong as more players above say 3 or 4 are at the table. It also leads to the potential of the Player who is always able to see what everyone else can... because wherever everyone THOUGHT he was, "Oh, no, I was standing behind Tim when he walked to the box... I DEFINITELY mentioned it!" Yeah... right. TOTM is great for general fast paced play, in down time, and when in a town or village or whatever and interacting with NPCs. Where strict understanding of positioning is irrelevant. TOTM has a tendency to drift towards "There are 6 Orcs... fight them in order... don't worry too much about where everyone is..." which is, absolutely, the FASTEST way to run a fight, but also the least rewarding as a role playing experience. Fights might not go as fast, but generally go smoother with everyone understanding what is going on. And when the DM is the one moving the counters/minis based on player instruction it makes them think faster, because if they don't tell me what they are doing in a reasonable amount of time, they are standing still till they figure it out and I'm on to the next player... I'm not saying that my way is the only way to go, or even the best way to go, but as with ALL the other styles, once the players get used to any method, and are comfortable with it, THAT is THE way they will probably want to stick with doing it
I essentially always use a map and tokens, but because I'm cheap I wouldn't use proper minis. In in-person games, my group would sometimes have a dry-erase grid (very helpful), but otherwise I would use a couple of grids I'd printed out on paper and build walls with blank notecards. Everyone would put down a token they'd recognize and go with that. For more complicated areas and ones not likely to engage in combat, I could use a mounted-on-the-wall whiteboard to draw out the area. In digital games, I use Roll20, but I don't bother with the extremely complicated lighting or backgrounds. I draw things out with the basic shape-drawer. If I'm preparing something special in advance, I might make some solid-color backgrounds or a little extra art like squiggly lines around water, but for the most part I focus on the room's shape and wear the doors are. Because of this, I can very quickly draw new rooms or buildings for players if the PCs go somewhere unexpected. I can even recycle leftover drawings pretty quickly. (I once had an apartment drawing that later served as a different apartment, an embassy office and a police station interrogation room.)
I think a grid with a marker (that can be easily wiped off) is excellent for terrain. You can use squiggly lines for borders, water, etc. You could write the words "ROCKS" and "TREES" over as many squares as you desire. We do that in my tabletop game. We were also using chess pieces for the PCs and non-PCs. Then we changed to simple colored pieces from something like an old-school board game. At least for the PCs (I'm blue!). Very simple, very effective, very cheap. AND portable.
Good tips! I have several pieces of white printer paper with black sharpie lines showing a 1' grid and its laminated with clear packaging tape. I can store it in a folder and draw on them with dry erase markers. It's great. Cannot recommend another way to do it more. The only thing it can't do too well is describe a third dimension, though it can do it.
Often I save grids for the setpiece combats, or the more interesting combat scenarios. Sometimes I just have players put minis on the bare table for quick encounters. I find this is still important, because nobody wants to fry their buddy with a lightning bolt, or realize they're JUST out of range to lay a smackdown when it's already too late. I like to call the bare table style Theater With Minis.
Uh, we played last Saturday and I play with self-made terrain. I use both ToM and Scatter Terrain as well as even putting up a picture to further put my players in the right setting. Also all my 4' 6" battle boards lay on a Lazy Susan so we can turn the table for easy reach for the players :)
This is a tricky part of DMing. I love minis but have very little prep time these days. I have found Dr Dungeoncraft's ultimate dungeon Terrain with some scatter terrain is great. I also just printed a bunch of Quick Dungeon Tiles, which are large room sized dungeon tiles. I lay them out beforehand, place some minis and loot, take a picture and put it in a box then I am ready to play. This method actual makes dungeon planning really quick, fun and allows for room based fog of war.
I would suggest a hybrid approach. Lots of theatre of the mind, but for combat I use a dry erase grid and each person uses one die (usually a d4) to represent themselves. Each of my baddies is a separate die colour as well, so I can roll for all monsters at the same time. The d20 is the same die as the monster. I can roll like.... A ton of d20s and their corresponding damage dice at one time. So easy. And saves room for snacks.
I had a DM that made, before his 3D printer, a custom 10cm tall minotaur. We didn't even fight it. It has been reused, hea. But... ¿The look on his face? Priceless. Note: we were a WARMONGERING party. We just... had the same idea at once.
Honestly less is more when it comes to this. you PC will look INFINIETLY cooler when you just visualize them (or have a drawing of them) than a static -silly, let's be real- miniature. a VERY minimal map for combat is all I want and not a touch more. Of course this means that the DM needs to do a stellar job at setting the scene. One underrated thing to set the scene are "mood boards", if we're walking down a path in a forest, just show us a single really good picture of a path in a forest, this will VERY quickly engage the imagination. My favourite is seeing one very cool art piece of the BBEG for example, the imagination will do the rest and imagine them talking, moving, attacking, I find plopping a miniature of them on the table a little immersion breaking.
Our group lives in different states, so totm just works for us playing over zoom. When i dm i sometimes use a sketch for tracking locations during encounters, but only when theres more going on than i can keep track of easily
I played in a game that was kind of a hybrid... we each had a mini, and we just layed them out on the blank table in approximate locations, so we could visualize how far away we were from targets. Also, moving figures around is fun :)
Theater of the mind is also good for playing anywhere at any time. For example, I'm hosting a D&D that is being held around an actual campfire. So theater of the mind. Will work great for that
looking forward to the upcoming video about theater of the mind combat! in the meantime, here are my personal top 3 recommendations for theater of the mind combat: - as explained in many other videos: try to describe the actions in a cinematic way and encourage players to do the same, even if it is just a simple attack (ofc this is also nice with terrain and minis but even more important here) - if there are multiple enemies of the same type (say 3 goblins) make sure that they are easily distinguishable for the players in order to avoid "i'll attack the one that looks the most injured" etc.; i mean of course anything that improves immersion is great for theater of the mind, but if you have to make something up on the spot (e.g. random encounter) a small detail might already do the trick; even if it is as cliché as the big scar on the face its good enough to tell them apart. remember it could also be a personality trait (taunting a player often works quite well to get them invested) or some unusual equipment that doesn't even have to be combat related - consider adding special terrain features without being too specific about their location (e.g. dense fog or rubble in the area) to set the scene and provide tactical diversity. if it suits you, explain that they can always ask if specific terrain details exist to interact with in combat. try to say yes if they do, or roll a dice to see if they are lucky enough i'm curious if anyone can share their experience with the area of effect adjudication table (dmg p.249) e.g. for cone: size divided by 10 rounded up = nr. of targets covered by the cone. i suppose it will feel less arbitrary to the players but doesn't factor in the general situation (cramped hallway vs surrounding ambush in the woods) and i'm concerned going that route might end up in a discussion about hitting specific targets at the same time
Definitely agree, I generally like to use terrain and minis for most combats as I'm running a group of 6, but theatre of the mind still has a strong presence in my game. Personally I have a tv that's wrapped in a wood frame, with dynamic dungeons playing on it and some paper minis to play with. Keeps my costs relatively low!
I want to learn how to do theatre of mind better because I think it would be more convenient and natural for some situations. Unfortunately, I am not good enough at it yet, and several of my players lose engagement when they don't have a map and minis or pogs to see the terrain. I need to figure out how to run it in a way that doesn't depend as much on their own spacial imagination skills.
Try out a couple battles with theatre of the mind but keep your minis. This is just who you are as players and DM and that’s okay! Luke’s advice is try out TofM when it suits the situation. Everything takes practice! Keep exercising that mind and keep those minis out and your players engaged!
if i play 1 on 1, most of the battles are in our mind, important ones are sure on a mat using meeples or chess figures. If i run for a group we have printable cardboard minis and printed terrain.
As much as I want the dungeon forge terrain tiles, I know it'll be more annoying than practical. But I use a tv for maps and miniatures (which aren't painted). My players love it and I love making them.
*Absolutely agree .* *The really elaborate terrain & minis is no where as cool to play a game on then to play with ( like a toy ) , & look at .* *The best set up is a simple grid map or tiles ( think Paizo flip map & tiles which are some of the best ) .* *I use a lot of Paizo Stuff ( Flip-maps , Flip-tiles , pawns & tokens ) .* *If i'm going to paint something .* *It will be Warhammer 40k & Warhammer Age of sigmar modals & terrain .*
I used a gridded board I can mark on (until I moved). So I would just draw the layout in front of the players when they reached something. Also, for minis, I printed out images on card stock.
Another reason to use Theater of the Mind is when the map would just be too big for your table. I mean, I have a limited amount of space to actually place a map. Then, I get these modules with encounters that happen in a pile of ruins, and they are HUGE, and I can't possibly create the map on fewer than 10 sheets of paper, and no, I'm not even going to try. Gonna go Theater of the Mind on that. And, of course, when your players say, "Yeah, I know the hook says to go there, but we want to check out this other place, first," and you have to do a map on the fly? Or just TotM it. But for me, mostly it's just "That map would be tooooooo big, so it's TotM time. But when they get indoors, I will break out the map."
Dry wipe eraser mats, and paper miniatures printed onto cardboard. You can still do minis but it doesn't have to be expensive. I see some guys on Reddit building whole dioramas for a single encounter they are planning in a few months... But the party might go in a totally different direction Now when I finish the garage I'm going to be investing in Hirst Art molds and making modular pieces so that we can have sets with nice terrain without having to break the bank.
I just hand draw dungeons with a huge sketchbook from hobby lobby. Like 18"x24" and make my own paper minis and use a base ordered off Amazon. $5 for like 12 bases.
I've felt a little pressured in one of the games I run to use vtts instead of TotM because there's an eagle Barb Forest Elf with a halbard whose build is about exploiting range and superior movement.
Skipping maps, terrain, and minis is great for short fights, like a crossbow sniper firing down at the adventurers from a high vantage. (Once they spotted him and start shooting back, he fled.) Very short, and kept the tension up.
I’ve nearly always used *nothing*, which is now called Theater of the Mind for some stupid reason. Isn’t the entire game TotM? Anyway, for years I’ve done this thing where players describe their attacks, and how they react to enemy attacks, and this leads to relatively quick and enjoyable combat where rolling a crit or fumble is easy to describe because you know what the player was trying to do, and the DM can give advantage and disadvantage for good/bad moves.
Bit late, but... That kind of combat can work well when everyone is basically in a big mess around w/e theyre fighting, or if the location is simple and theres just a handful of combatants to track. But larger battles with diverse locations? It only works by bending things around. And thats valid! But you do lose out on a lot of the tactical aspects.
Just watched the BTS interviews of "Escape from the Bloodkeep". They talked about how this specific epic moment never would have happened if there hadn't been a model of the environment. One of the players decided to use a piece of chain that was just there for decor, but she grabbed it and used it to grapple an enemy, which led to a crazy move that basically ended the battle & saved the party. Which wouldn't have happened if she hadn't seen that chain laying there on the terrain.
Fixed the title for you: "Theatre of the Mind is better than Terrain & Miniatures, in D&D." You said you are planning on doing a video on using "Theatre of the Mind". I think we are in greater need of videos talking about "Effective Use of Terrain & Miniatures in D&D". I have invested heavily in WarLockTiles and both me and my players love it. It took our games to another level. However i have tried several different styles of using it and there is one in my group who rarely liked how it was used. Until i designed and built a specific terrain furniture with several shelves, letting me pre-build several different types of terrains. So i could start using it like Mercer in CRole: Only put forth the specific terrain for the environment they're in and when its time for lager combat. Now everyone loves it even more. Even the complainer. Who doesn't even watch critical role, so he doesn't know i use it like they do. So this is obviously the best way to use it imo. I would still love to see a video of how you use terrain and minis.
Honestly, this is one of the things I like most about online play. Websites like Inkarnate make it reasy to have maps that are on par with things like dwarvenforge or other expensive props, and for a fairly minimal cost overall.
i just bought the Into to thr Fey pack and its the best purchase I have bouhgt for d&d. Thank you for making such an amazing adventure. I also love your videos. Funniest youtuber of all time.
Oh roll20... My main group and I started using Talsespire and think it's amazing. Although I need to get on that theatre of the mind business because it's not a fast building system, at least not for me.
I am mostly a player, interested in DMing. But for me as a player I like theater of the mind, or crudely drawn maps over the fancy dwarven forge stuff. Now the DM has to still prepare and be on point, I don't want a lazy game, but often a great dm will spend more time on story, and depth instead of building a dungeon, which I would prefer. It also makes me feel more in control. If we go some where, stumble on some random place, and the DM pulls out a large dungeon he spent hours on, it feels like I am just following the script, but if he starts shuffling through random maps he has on hand, or starts drawing a map at the table, it makes me wonder if we went off the path. I do favor open world games, so that is probably part of it, it often just feels like I am blindly following a premade story, instead of a player driven adventure, where the DM is there to show the content but not fully drive it all the time. If I remember right I think Critical Roll even did more theater of the mind content before they got all the sponsored deals. But to me, it really does not add much to the show, nor a game, to have all the fancy premade maps, when you can have a stack of drawn maps on hand or even draw one as needed.
I like a map because it helps giving visual reference of the distance you are from everyone in Combat. But I do agree there is a pit trap if you don't know how to use it. My social and exploration are all theater of the mind.
If you *do* decide to run combat theater of the mind, may I suggest ripping off the distance rules from ICRPG? It's really easy to play with Close, Near, and Far and imagine it!
I use Fantasy grounds and theater of the mind. Most of the time I run combat in FG along with appropriate puzzles and whatnot. I do use theater of the mind as well. It really just depends on whats going on. Also my players prefer to have a visual reference when in combat but there are times where combat simply needs to be run theater of the mind. I keep a massive archive of maps on hand to drop into FG if and when needed. My players are very random and can be hard to figure out what they are going to do, and often times when I think I know they change direction. Its still within the course of the story however. I try to give my players as much freedom as possible. The last session I ran a combat that was both theater of the mind and on a map. This is nothing new to me. Started playing back in 85, most of it as a DM. Only played a few short sessions as a player 3 or 4 times. So yeah. Been doing this a while.
You need a battle gride and minis because everyone sees the scene differently in their mind. And players can be confused and arguments will happen. So battle gride and minis eliminate the confusion.
Also for terrain that will span a large but barely described place like a long canyon or something that is in motion like a train or a diligence. Theater of the mind
you've never had the enjoyment of moving a token down a hallway and letting the lighting/walls reveal the next room to you? I'm sorry. It's an amazing experience to physically move your own character and reveal an actual image of what you see. A picture is worth a 1000 words after all.
I like the video, good tips :D But is it only me or is there a mistake in the video? Everytime it seems you want to show images of terrain it ist just a blurry mess?!
I don't understand why people make entire maps. I agree with theater of the mind, but I go all out of fights. It's the only time I break out minis, or terrain. Been doing it that way for 30 years, don't see that ever changing now.
IMHO it's worth considering the poor man's reusable battle grid with tokens with non dungeon/combat areas being theater of the mind. It's fast, still has some of the precision help from the grid and overall cheap. Much cheaper than real minis.
TOTM should only be used for easy/inconsequential combats, otherwise some players feel cheated because they can't take advantage of tactical positioning. Every time the DM says, 'no, you can't do that', it builds doubt. For important combats, use the Battle Board. Battle boards make planning my turn much easier (and keeps the DM honest). I can see what's going on and know where everyone is, so it's extremely fast for me. TOTM takes my turn much longer because I have to ask the DM how they envision the combat positions. I think it depends a lot on if you are a tactical player or not. I seriously enjoy combats that were designed to be challenging and only won if you play smart and take every advantage and win by a narrow margin. I really dislike inconsequential combats. I'd rather spend that combat time moving towards an important combat.
I had one player WHO could Never Do Totm and were not hot at grids. They were horrible. So bad, one combat I drew the layout of my house on the grid. They had been in my house gaming for 8 years and did NOT recoginze the layout.
D&D is an anomaly in the ttrpg world in that the vast majority of systems don't use maps. It does turn the fights into tactical combat simulations rather than narrative fights most of the time. That is fun and leads to some really interesting fights but for me I much prefer more descriptive combats. D&D is the complete opposite of the spectrum to i.e. Feng Shui, where the players can just add cool, fun scenery to fight with.
Now, this is a fantastic video! As a map creator, I very much promote using battle and terrain maps when appropriate. It's just not always necessary to run an encounter with a map or other visual aid. Some of my most successful encounters have been run with theatre of the mind. Saying that a good battle map, themed for your encounter with tactical play in mind can really level up your battle encounters.
100% agree!
This is arguably one of the most important videos for DM's, especially from s financial point of view. People think they need to spend a ton of money to make their games great but lose focus on what's actually important! Great video Luke!
Thank you!!! :D
Thank you for mentioning inexpensive ways to do things. Paper minis and a battlemat have saved me a fortune.
This is a videos I’ve really been waiting for someone to make for years now. THANK YOU!
You are very welcome!
I hadn't considered making them sign a contract with their own blood to make sure they go where I want them to. I've been relying on the honor system so far. I'll give that a go
Unless yu involve actual magic, blood is a horrible replacement for ink. It just peels off.
You can also use the old, false choice dm trick. Where, no matter the path they take, they end up where you want them to be.
Why not have them use each other's blood? Once it is done, use a heat gun to quick dry it.
I don't often see perfect advice, but when I do, it looks like this!
Wow, that million dollar makeover doesn't completely suck.
I have aphantasia so I struggle with theatre of the mind when it comes to battles. Basically, I struggle to picture stuff.
Use theatre of the mind for a battle with me and I'll probably make some weird decisions ;)
I really like TOTM as its generally easier on my group. When we need yo go tactic mode: some meeples and a dry erase board or grid works wonderfully. Or generic player token from board games of old. Colored cubes sometimes too. But we still stay in the realms of generic and approximative because well, we rarely use dnd or mini based systems truth be told. But when we use them, we rarely play for long mostly because as you said, it makes combat take a while. Also less prep on the dm is always good
I use TotM with tokens to keep track of enemies. My group has been confused by terrain a couple of times, derrailing the fight, but in general it works awesome. With experience, the confusions diminish, you need some terrain bulletpoints for the players to work with, and that solves most issues.
I DM through roll20 as most of my gaming group lives distant. One thing that helped alot was preparing a few maps that were just a image I found that fit the setting. For the desert setting I found a few good stock images. When we would switch from a battlemap to one of these images it helped players to realize this was a theater of the mind section and the image just helped set the stage.
I was a little shook when there wasn’t a skit! Lol! I can’t wait for the theater of the mind video :)
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You said you played a massive fancy terrain based session and were no longer impressed. How did that particular session turn you off?
@@angelmanfredy The DM just wasn't good at running the game. I don't know how else to describe it. The terrain didn't make up for the lack of GM skills, if that makes sense.
Theater of the mind doesn't make combats go faster when I need to ask a billion questions to get the layout on each of my turns, and I still don't wind up with the same exact layout in my head as everyone else at the table and still wind up being told I can't do what I'm trying to do because I've misinterpreted the arrangement of things, requiring me to keep trying over & over to take my turn.
I just can't personally do theater of the mind.
As for ease of map making... I use interlocking whiteboard tiles and whiteboard markers. It doesn't have to look amazing. Most of my minis are actually chess pieces. Applying imagination to the layout once I can see it is easy, but I need to be able to visually see that layout first.
100% this. Theatre of the Mind has the absolute risk of participants not being on the same page about important details.
Not to mention having players with actual ADHD that just can't keep up with all the information you supply them without a visual aid
We have been blessed with a new video!
I played a lot of RPG's using only theater of the mind before trying 3.5 D&D briefly then going back to other systems because those where the most popular with the groups I was playing with. Only after getting into DnD 5e did I really consider minis and maps because I have to say that the rules as written might be theater of the mind compatible it really is written for grit and mini kind of game. So I got a dryerase foldable gameboard with hex and suqare grit on each side, some markers, gaming chips and cardboard paper printouts in stands for minis as an afordable solution and must say i really enjoy that. These things are afordable and easily portable and lets me get the most out of the grid specific rules in 5e
Our group has 35+ years of collected minis, wet-erase battle mats, and an assortment of both 2D and 3D scatter terrain, some of which is inherited from abandoned model railroad stuff, some that I have crafted or adapted from other toys.
We will use minis for most combats, even if we have to say things like, "These wolf minis are standing in for displacer beasts."
We don't worry too much about having "THE PERFECT MINI or TERRAIN" but instead having minis and terrain that we can identify across the table and easily associate with the intended being or object.
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It is pretty amazing how many towns have the same five buildings!
My group uses limited minis and terrain. It works really well, and when someone makes some really cool terrain element, then it is a special bonus. Our main DM is really uptight in life, so we never lack cool monsters to battle.
THANK YOU! Neither does one style if mapping make you a better DM over another. It's hard not to try to cover up our weaknesses with shiny things, but a good reminder to better ourselves!
That one about the players not going where you think they will is the MAIN reason why I stick to vinyl maps, dry-erase markers, and minis.
I like to use both, like you had said some encounters don't require terrain and slow the game down. Problem I run into sometimes is if the players see the terrain out they have their guard up and makes it hard to surprise them.
Great video, I'll keep this in mind while prepping :D
One tip I would give, it's not as much of a dichotomy as you'd think. There's all kinds of approaches to D&D combat, use whichever approach works at your table.
I've played at tables where the DM kept the map and miniatures behind their DM screen and just used it to weave tactical info into their theater-of-the-mind narrative, I've seen DM's just use a map-and-minis for the "melee, near, far" low-tactics approach common to theater-of-the-mind, I've seen DM's drop a fancy terrain-and-minis setup on the table for a roleplay scene in the tavern. All of those can work at the right table.
YES!!
My old DM used TotM and a few well chosen minis for almost every combat . Kept the action flowing.
But, when we heard, "Let's move out to the garage," we knew we'd hit the Boss battle! Terrain also kept the DM honest after a certain 80' x 100' room suddenly morphed into a huge cavern so that his dragon could take flight.
All very true also you could use a hybrid approach by putting minis on the table in the relative positions of where they would be on a grid.
I use 3d printed minis and a dry erase grid. I like grids but I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on fancy minis and terrain. I have bought a few minis and painted them but ultimately I try to keep my game low budget because I'm in highschool and don't have tons of cash to blow
That's all cool. Even though our group has gathered several hundred or thousand minis over the decades, we started with plastic game tokens with character or monster names on masking tape stuck to them. It is rather amazing how many monsters you can get our of a visit to the dollar store and a pack of colored pipe cleaners.
We have a half dozen giant spiders one of us made from black pipe cleaners, and have been using them for about twenty years, even though we also have some lead/pewter spiders.
Telling GM upfront what you would do next session is essential.
I have started using paper crafting for my maps. I haven't done many, but there are some awesome floor textures put together by Crooked Staff Terrain, as well as maps that come with adventures. All you have to do is print them on standard paper, paste them onto cardboard or foam board from the dollar store, and put on some small walls to give the feeling of dimensionality without tall walls that obstruct views. Easily portable, cheap and expendable if someone spills something on them or they get ruined in transport. Easy to design your own dungeons or transfer someone else's to a paper experience. Add in your normal minis, 3D printed minis, or just paper standees or tokens, and you're off. It doesn't have to be very expensive, and you can still get a great feel out of it. It also saves you time on painting terrain or set pieces.
But I definitely agree with Luke, sometimes TotM is better for the situation.
I mostly do theater of the mind. And roll with players ideas.
Player: i run towards the monster to attack it
Dm: it's a bit too far too reach with a single movement.
Player: Then I will use my bonus action to cast courageous advance (we don't play d&d)
Dm: Oh, then you do reach the monster and still have your action.
You don't need to know exactly how many feet, just roll with common sense and what feel appropriate in any situation.
As both a DM and a player (in separate campaigns, mind you) I prefer to know where my chart and everyone else are EXACTLY, when that matters. I'm not going to run towards something I can't reach if I intend to stab it. I feel like knowing by sight that a certain choice is not viable, saves everyone a lot of time.
It also prevents nasty surprises from stuff you or a player forgot, and - let's face it - eliminates certain forms of bullshit
@@PeopleHaveNoGender Given that my players can't know the EXACT details of many things I tend to be very forgiving on those details. But very punishing if they made overall really bad decisions. Like long resting in the middle of a dungeon or insulting the king of the realm. Different playstyles.
I don't have a versus mentality against them so I do not bullshit them on things they didn't have exact details.
as always loved the video
Whatever the group get used to is what generally works best.
I've played where the map was a sheet of paper with general areas sketched out. I've also played games where minis and terrain was used. Both systems work just fine, till you take players used to one system and drop them into the other.
I don't use minis any more. I use VTT.
Even with old fashioned table top.
My table has a TV set facing the players and I use a split screen on my laptop with the "Player view" facing them and the DM view facing me. It doubles as a DM screen. I toyed with the idea of laying it out flat on their table, but realised having it stood upright just saved SO MUCH space... and no knocking things over when people try to lean across the "board" because "NO ONE touches my character but ME!"
I usually take control of moving the counters based on what they tell me, and if I move them the wrong way they can see, and tell me.
I love "Theatre of the Mind" but it has the most potential to go wrong and mess the game up, and "...anyone who tells you otherwise... is selling something"
Not only does the DM have to know exactly where everything is, and keep track of it they need to be confident that everyone understands where everything is every time something moves, and is of a shared mind.
I find that becomes exponentially more likely to go badly wrong as more players above say 3 or 4 are at the table.
It also leads to the potential of the Player who is always able to see what everyone else can... because wherever everyone THOUGHT he was, "Oh, no, I was standing behind Tim when he walked to the box... I DEFINITELY mentioned it!"
Yeah... right.
TOTM is great for general fast paced play, in down time, and when in a town or village or whatever and interacting with NPCs. Where strict understanding of positioning is irrelevant.
TOTM has a tendency to drift towards "There are 6 Orcs... fight them in order... don't worry too much about where everyone is..." which is, absolutely, the FASTEST way to run a fight, but also the least rewarding as a role playing experience.
Fights might not go as fast, but generally go smoother with everyone understanding what is going on. And when the DM is the one moving the counters/minis based on player instruction it makes them think faster, because if they don't tell me what they are doing in a reasonable amount of time, they are standing still till they figure it out and I'm on to the next player...
I'm not saying that my way is the only way to go, or even the best way to go, but as with ALL the other styles, once the players get used to any method, and are comfortable with it, THAT is THE way they will probably want to stick with doing it
I essentially always use a map and tokens, but because I'm cheap I wouldn't use proper minis.
In in-person games, my group would sometimes have a dry-erase grid (very helpful), but otherwise I would use a couple of grids I'd printed out on paper and build walls with blank notecards. Everyone would put down a token they'd recognize and go with that. For more complicated areas and ones not likely to engage in combat, I could use a mounted-on-the-wall whiteboard to draw out the area.
In digital games, I use Roll20, but I don't bother with the extremely complicated lighting or backgrounds. I draw things out with the basic shape-drawer. If I'm preparing something special in advance, I might make some solid-color backgrounds or a little extra art like squiggly lines around water, but for the most part I focus on the room's shape and wear the doors are. Because of this, I can very quickly draw new rooms or buildings for players if the PCs go somewhere unexpected. I can even recycle leftover drawings pretty quickly. (I once had an apartment drawing that later served as a different apartment, an embassy office and a police station interrogation room.)
I use that terraino system. Super inexpensive and it keeps the crafty bug at bay. Time and a place for those things for sure though.
I think a grid with a marker (that can be easily wiped off) is excellent for terrain.
You can use squiggly lines for borders, water, etc. You could write the words "ROCKS" and "TREES" over as many squares as you desire.
We do that in my tabletop game.
We were also using chess pieces for the PCs and non-PCs. Then we changed to simple colored pieces from something like an old-school board game. At least for the PCs (I'm blue!).
Very simple, very effective, very cheap. AND portable.
Good tips! I have several pieces of white printer paper with black sharpie lines showing a 1' grid and its laminated with clear packaging tape. I can store it in a folder and draw on them with dry erase markers. It's great. Cannot recommend another way to do it more. The only thing it can't do too well is describe a third dimension, though it can do it.
Often I save grids for the setpiece combats, or the more interesting combat scenarios. Sometimes I just have players put minis on the bare table for quick encounters. I find this is still important, because nobody wants to fry their buddy with a lightning bolt, or realize they're JUST out of range to lay a smackdown when it's already too late.
I like to call the bare table style Theater With Minis.
I like that term, 'Theater with Minis'.
Uh, we played last Saturday and I play with self-made terrain. I use both ToM and Scatter Terrain as well as even putting up a picture to further put my players in the right setting. Also all my 4' 6" battle boards lay on a Lazy Susan so we can turn the table for easy reach for the players :)
i so love your videos , i even watch ads till end !
Awesome. Thank you so much!
This is a tricky part of DMing. I love minis but have very little prep time these days. I have found Dr Dungeoncraft's ultimate dungeon Terrain with some scatter terrain is great. I also just printed a bunch of Quick Dungeon Tiles, which are large room sized dungeon tiles. I lay them out beforehand, place some minis and loot, take a picture and put it in a box then I am ready to play. This method actual makes dungeon planning really quick, fun and allows for room based fog of war.
I would suggest a hybrid approach. Lots of theatre of the mind, but for combat I use a dry erase grid and each person uses one die (usually a d4) to represent themselves. Each of my baddies is a separate die colour as well, so I can roll for all monsters at the same time. The d20 is the same die as the monster. I can roll like.... A ton of d20s and their corresponding damage dice at one time. So easy. And saves room for snacks.
I had a DM that made, before his 3D printer, a custom 10cm tall minotaur.
We didn't even fight it. It has been reused, hea. But... ¿The look on his face? Priceless.
Note: we were a WARMONGERING party. We just... had the same idea at once.
Honestly less is more when it comes to this. you PC will look INFINIETLY cooler when you just visualize them (or have a drawing of them) than a static -silly, let's be real- miniature. a VERY minimal map for combat is all I want and not a touch more. Of course this means that the DM needs to do a stellar job at setting the scene.
One underrated thing to set the scene are "mood boards", if we're walking down a path in a forest, just show us a single really good picture of a path in a forest, this will VERY quickly engage the imagination. My favourite is seeing one very cool art piece of the BBEG for example, the imagination will do the rest and imagine them talking, moving, attacking, I find plopping a miniature of them on the table a little immersion breaking.
Our group lives in different states, so totm just works for us playing over zoom. When i dm i sometimes use a sketch for tracking locations during encounters, but only when theres more going on than i can keep track of easily
I played in a game that was kind of a hybrid... we each had a mini, and we just layed them out on the blank table in approximate locations, so we could visualize how far away we were from targets.
Also, moving figures around is fun :)
Theater of the mind is also good for playing anywhere at any time. For example, I'm hosting a D&D that is being held around an actual campfire. So theater of the mind. Will work great for that
looking forward to the upcoming video about theater of the mind combat!
in the meantime, here are my personal top 3 recommendations for theater of the mind combat:
- as explained in many other videos: try to describe the actions in a cinematic way and encourage players to do the same, even if it is just a simple attack (ofc this is also nice with terrain and minis but even more important here)
- if there are multiple enemies of the same type (say 3 goblins) make sure that they are easily distinguishable for the players in order to avoid "i'll attack the one that looks the most injured" etc.; i mean of course anything that improves immersion is great for theater of the mind, but if you have to make something up on the spot (e.g. random encounter) a small detail might already do the trick; even if it is as cliché as the big scar on the face its good enough to tell them apart. remember it could also be a personality trait (taunting a player often works quite well to get them invested) or some unusual equipment that doesn't even have to be combat related
- consider adding special terrain features without being too specific about their location (e.g. dense fog or rubble in the area) to set the scene and provide tactical diversity. if it suits you, explain that they can always ask if specific terrain details exist to interact with in combat. try to say yes if they do, or roll a dice to see if they are lucky enough
i'm curious if anyone can share their experience with the area of effect adjudication table (dmg p.249) e.g. for cone: size divided by 10 rounded up = nr. of targets covered by the cone. i suppose it will feel less arbitrary to the players but doesn't factor in the general situation (cramped hallway vs surrounding ambush in the woods) and i'm concerned going that route might end up in a discussion about hitting specific targets at the same time
Definitely agree, I generally like to use terrain and minis for most combats as I'm running a group of 6, but theatre of the mind still has a strong presence in my game. Personally I have a tv that's wrapped in a wood frame, with dynamic dungeons playing on it and some paper minis to play with. Keeps my costs relatively low!
I want to learn how to do theatre of mind better because I think it would be more convenient and natural for some situations. Unfortunately, I am not good enough at it yet, and several of my players lose engagement when they don't have a map and minis or pogs to see the terrain. I need to figure out how to run it in a way that doesn't depend as much on their own spacial imagination skills.
Try out a couple battles with theatre of the mind but keep your minis. This is just who you are as players and DM and that’s okay! Luke’s advice is try out TofM when it suits the situation. Everything takes practice! Keep exercising that mind and keep those minis out and your players engaged!
if i play 1 on 1, most of the battles are in our mind, important ones are sure on a mat using meeples or chess figures. If i run for a group we have printable cardboard minis and printed terrain.
As much as I want the dungeon forge terrain tiles, I know it'll be more annoying than practical. But I use a tv for maps and miniatures (which aren't painted). My players love it and I love making them.
*If you want something other then Roll20 .*
*Try out Fantasy Grounds or Foundry VTT ( the preferred VTT of pathfinder 2e players ) .*
The RUclips algorithm loves theatre of the mind!
*Absolutely agree .*
*The really elaborate terrain & minis is no where as cool to play a game on then to play with ( like a toy ) , & look at .*
*The best set up is a simple grid map or tiles ( think Paizo flip map & tiles which are some of the best ) .*
*I use a lot of Paizo Stuff ( Flip-maps , Flip-tiles , pawns & tokens ) .*
*If i'm going to paint something .*
*It will be Warhammer 40k & Warhammer Age of sigmar modals & terrain .*
Good stuff, sir. Needed this video.
I used a gridded board I can mark on (until I moved). So I would just draw the layout in front of the players when they reached something. Also, for minis, I printed out images on card stock.
Yes, Luke doesn't suck and his observation skills for fashion sense are incredible. Mullet wearers need to rejoice at this news.
You mentioned Tricks along the way for making TOTM easier. Please make a video expanding on these if you haven’t already
Coming soon! :D
Another reason to use Theater of the Mind is when the map would just be too big for your table.
I mean, I have a limited amount of space to actually place a map. Then, I get these modules with encounters that happen in a pile of ruins, and they are HUGE, and I can't possibly create the map on fewer than 10 sheets of paper, and no, I'm not even going to try. Gonna go Theater of the Mind on that.
And, of course, when your players say, "Yeah, I know the hook says to go there, but we want to check out this other place, first," and you have to do a map on the fly? Or just TotM it.
But for me, mostly it's just "That map would be tooooooo big, so it's TotM time. But when they get indoors, I will break out the map."
Dry wipe eraser mats, and paper miniatures printed onto cardboard. You can still do minis but it doesn't have to be expensive.
I see some guys on Reddit building whole dioramas for a single encounter they are planning in a few months... But the party might go in a totally different direction
Now when I finish the garage I'm going to be investing in Hirst Art molds and making modular pieces so that we can have sets with nice terrain without having to break the bank.
Love the rugged face... Almost more than the video. For the algorithm!
I just hand draw dungeons with a huge sketchbook from hobby lobby. Like 18"x24" and make my own paper minis and use a base ordered off Amazon. $5 for like 12 bases.
I've felt a little pressured in one of the games I run to use vtts instead of TotM because there's an eagle Barb Forest Elf with a halbard whose build is about exploiting range and superior movement.
Skipping maps, terrain, and minis is great for short fights, like a crossbow sniper firing down at the adventurers from a high vantage. (Once they spotted him and start shooting back, he fled.) Very short, and kept the tension up.
That million dollar makeover gets the official stamp of "That doesn't suck."
I’ve nearly always used *nothing*, which is now called Theater of the Mind for some stupid reason. Isn’t the entire game TotM? Anyway, for years I’ve done this thing where players describe their attacks, and how they react to enemy attacks, and this leads to relatively quick and enjoyable combat where rolling a crit or fumble is easy to describe because you know what the player was trying to do, and the DM can give advantage and disadvantage for good/bad moves.
Bit late, but... That kind of combat can work well when everyone is basically in a big mess around w/e theyre fighting, or if the location is simple and theres just a handful of combatants to track. But larger battles with diverse locations? It only works by bending things around. And thats valid! But you do lose out on a lot of the tactical aspects.
Just watched the BTS interviews of "Escape from the Bloodkeep". They talked about how this specific epic moment never would have happened if there hadn't been a model of the environment. One of the players decided to use a piece of chain that was just there for decor, but she grabbed it and used it to grapple an enemy, which led to a crazy move that basically ended the battle & saved the party. Which wouldn't have happened if she hadn't seen that chain laying there on the terrain.
Fixed the title for you:
"Theatre of the Mind is better than Terrain & Miniatures, in D&D."
You said you are planning on doing a video on using "Theatre of the Mind". I think we are in greater need of videos talking about "Effective Use of Terrain & Miniatures in D&D".
I have invested heavily in WarLockTiles and both me and my players love it. It took our games to another level. However i have tried several different styles of using it and there is one in my group who rarely liked how it was used. Until i designed and built a specific terrain furniture with several shelves, letting me pre-build several different types of terrains. So i could start using it like Mercer in CRole: Only put forth the specific terrain for the environment they're in and when its time for lager combat. Now everyone loves it even more. Even the complainer. Who doesn't even watch critical role, so he doesn't know i use it like they do. So this is obviously the best way to use it imo.
I would still love to see a video of how you use terrain and minis.
Now my QUESTION: what are your trickts for theater of the mind, Mr. DM, Sir?
Can't wait for that video :3
Please do a follow up focusing on Theater of the Mind.
Now is the question, how to handle distances in theatre of the mind, since it seems to be one part of the core rules.
Honestly, this is one of the things I like most about online play. Websites like Inkarnate make it reasy to have maps that are on par with things like dwarvenforge or other expensive props, and for a fairly minimal cost overall.
Talespire is best
i just bought the Into to thr Fey pack and its the best purchase I have bouhgt for d&d. Thank you for making such an amazing adventure. I also love your videos. Funniest youtuber of all time.
Awesome! Happy to hear you like it! 😀 Thank you!
I'm getting into using a map with no grid. It gives you a sense of placement, but the flexibility of Theater of the Mind.
Hello RUclips, Luke's million dollar makeover doesn't completely suck.
Oh roll20... My main group and I started using Talsespire and think it's amazing. Although I need to get on that theatre of the mind business because it's not a fast building system, at least not for me.
Number 5 is my favourite reason to use theatre of the mind.
I am mostly a player, interested in DMing. But for me as a player I like theater of the mind, or crudely drawn maps over the fancy dwarven forge stuff. Now the DM has to still prepare and be on point, I don't want a lazy game, but often a great dm will spend more time on story, and depth instead of building a dungeon, which I would prefer.
It also makes me feel more in control. If we go some where, stumble on some random place, and the DM pulls out a large dungeon he spent hours on, it feels like I am just following the script, but if he starts shuffling through random maps he has on hand, or starts drawing a map at the table, it makes me wonder if we went off the path. I do favor open world games, so that is probably part of it, it often just feels like I am blindly following a premade story, instead of a player driven adventure, where the DM is there to show the content but not fully drive it all the time.
If I remember right I think Critical Roll even did more theater of the mind content before they got all the sponsored deals. But to me, it really does not add much to the show, nor a game, to have all the fancy premade maps, when you can have a stack of drawn maps on hand or even draw one as needed.
I like a map because it helps giving visual reference of the distance you are from everyone in Combat. But I do agree there is a pit trap if you don't know how to use it.
My social and exploration are all theater of the mind.
Are you a psionic? Because this has literally been floating around my brain this week. Whoa dude.
Yes. Yes I am. Just wait until next week's video...
If you *do* decide to run combat theater of the mind, may I suggest ripping off the distance rules from ICRPG? It's really easy to play with Close, Near, and Far and imagine it!
I use Fantasy grounds and theater of the mind. Most of the time I run combat in FG along with appropriate puzzles and whatnot. I do use theater of the mind as well. It really just depends on whats going on. Also my players prefer to have a visual reference when in combat but there are times where combat simply needs to be run theater of the mind. I keep a massive archive of maps on hand to drop into FG if and when needed. My players are very random and can be hard to figure out what they are going to do, and often times when I think I know they change direction. Its still within the course of the story however. I try to give my players as much freedom as possible. The last session I ran a combat that was both theater of the mind and on a map. This is nothing new to me. Started playing back in 85, most of it as a DM. Only played a few short sessions as a player 3 or 4 times. So yeah. Been doing this a while.
Great stuff friend 👏 👍
You need a battle gride and minis because everyone sees the scene differently in their mind. And players can be confused and arguments will happen. So battle gride and minis eliminate the confusion.
would love a video on theatre of the mind
It's coming!
Also for terrain that will span a large but barely described place like a long canyon or something that is in motion like a train or a diligence. Theater of the mind
I only use minis for encounters. Everything else can be Theater of the mind.
you've never had the enjoyment of moving a token down a hallway and letting the lighting/walls reveal the next room to you?
I'm sorry. It's an amazing experience to physically move your own character and reveal an actual image of what you see.
A picture is worth a 1000 words after all.
I like the video, good tips :D But is it only me or is there a mistake in the video? Everytime it seems you want to show images of terrain it ist just a blurry mess?!
I tend to blend between minis and theater, including zones.
Comment for the algorithm and to encourage more cat shirts on Luke.
It was definitely the ruggedly handsome face that made me click the like button. 👍
I don't understand why people make entire maps. I agree with theater of the mind, but I go all out of fights. It's the only time I break out minis, or terrain. Been doing it that way for 30 years, don't see that ever changing now.
Great video!!
IMHO it's worth considering the poor man's reusable battle grid with tokens with non dungeon/combat areas being theater of the mind. It's fast, still has some of the precision help from the grid and overall cheap. Much cheaper than real minis.
TOTM should only be used for easy/inconsequential combats, otherwise some players feel cheated because they can't take advantage of tactical positioning. Every time the DM says, 'no, you can't do that', it builds doubt. For important combats, use the Battle Board. Battle boards make planning my turn much easier (and keeps the DM honest). I can see what's going on and know where everyone is, so it's extremely fast for me. TOTM takes my turn much longer because I have to ask the DM how they envision the combat positions. I think it depends a lot on if you are a tactical player or not. I seriously enjoy combats that were designed to be challenging and only won if you play smart and take every advantage and win by a narrow margin. I really dislike inconsequential combats. I'd rather spend that combat time moving towards an important combat.
I haven't watched yet and i somewhat agree...personal experience. Nuff said
100 mini poker chips/ bingo chips are under $7 on Amazon. Also various color pawns from cheap chess sets.
I had one player WHO could Never Do Totm and were not hot at grids. They were horrible. So bad, one combat I drew the layout of my house on the grid. They had been in my house gaming for 8 years and did NOT recoginze the layout.
I agree, there’s a time and place for both.
I use minis because I love minis lol. Buying them , painting them , showing them off lol
Me, too. lol
D&D is an anomaly in the ttrpg world in that the vast majority of systems don't use maps. It does turn the fights into tactical combat simulations rather than narrative fights most of the time. That is fun and leads to some really interesting fights but for me I much prefer more descriptive combats. D&D is the complete opposite of the spectrum to i.e. Feng Shui, where the players can just add cool, fun scenery to fight with.
What a great anomaly! 😀
@@theDMLair yeah, it is great to have such games, that way everyone gets to play the type of game they prefer :)
Is that Lair magazine an actual magazine or just a pdf sent to your email?