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Morning #TTRPG musings: I prefer TotM in my RPGs until it's time to roll initiative. Then I want a battlemap, baby. I want combat to be crunchy and tactical and tense, and actions described with narrative flair.
#dnd
#dnd
Grid play outside of combat drags.
Combat on a grid as a number-crunching exercise, bleh.
Combat without a grid as a narrative exercise, meh.
The sweet spot is TACTICAL COMBAT WITH NARRATIVE FLAIR.
Combat on a grid as a number-crunching exercise, bleh.
Combat without a grid as a narrative exercise, meh.
The sweet spot is TACTICAL COMBAT WITH NARRATIVE FLAIR.
My problem with purely TotM combat is that it is impossible to make tactical errors that disadvantage your side. No matter how you dress it up, you're essentially playing rock-em-sock-em robots - you're just beating on each other until one side runs out of health.
When using the grid, though, actions need to be described and reasoned narratively, and the special sauce sits in that place where the best tactical option is not always what your character would do.
Also - and this is key to my enjoyment - when using grid combat, you can fuck up. Being able to make tactical mistakes is key. Fucking up can change a campaign in dramatic ways. Players need space to fuck up, so that when they make smart choices that swing the fight, it matters.
So the sweet spot for me is being narrative in your approach to tactical play on the battlemap. Describing and rationalizing your moves within the narrative construct of your character & the campaign. Doing the smartest thing in combat your PC would know to do.
Players will describe their PCs doing this no matter what, grid or no grid. But without the grid, there's less of an impact when the big dumb barbarian leaps into a pile of 20 orcs. With the grid, the pain coming his way exists. It's right there for all to see. No cheating.
Without the grid, the DM can - and in my experience, often does - handwave the pain away.
No. He made a choice, and the consequences of that choice are now the story, whether he ends the fight atop - or underneath - a pile of bodies. The grid forces the DM to honor that.
No. He made a choice, and the consequences of that choice are now the story, whether he ends the fight atop - or underneath - a pile of bodies. The grid forces the DM to honor that.
And that - a shared understanding of exactly what is happening round by round - and a shared understanding of the consequences, is key to excellent tactical combat on a battlemap, as well as truly genius campaigns.
