In your RPGs, do you prefer systems with definite measures of range, distance and movement? Ones that encourage the use of Maps and Minis? Examples being D&D/Pathfinder, the Warhammer 40k RPGs or Savage Worlds?
Or do you prefer systems that abstract measures and discourage the use of minis or remove support for that style of play entirely? Examples being FATE, the new FFG Star Wars or the Modiphius system?
Do you feel that maps and miniatures add to a game's atmosphere or detract from it?
>>44569194
Maybe not minis, but definitely tokens
I much prefer the specific measurements. In terms of "atmosphere", I think miniatures and maps are neutral: you are still picturing the battle in your imagination. However, miniatures and maps clarify things quickly without having to pester the DM about how many are in the blast radius, and who is standing beside what.
You don't need fancy minis, a few coins will do, but it is SO MUCH BETTER with a visual way of tracking where everyone is. I do use minis sometimes, but it is hard to get minis for all the monsters and NPCs that might show up.
>>44569194
depends on what I'm running, a couple of the best systems as written I've seen might be either the one done up for Nechronicha(Japanese Tabletop RPG, good system, less than optimal premise.) combat consists of 5 "zones" everyone in the same zone is in melee combat with each other. reach weapons can reach across from one zone to another, an explosion damages everything in any given zone. etc.
the other that melds abstraction with the definite would be the system for Legend of the Wulin, you're either close enough or you aren't at the GM's discretion. it's a very fast effective system that doesn't stress too hard on precise placements.
It's hard to say. Overall, I care far more about the quality of the GM and the group that even really the rules I'm working with.
But I've had a lot of fun with Shadowrun, which has no real definite system of distance or movement, but the DM still draws a rough diagram of the building we're in and uses labeled dots to represent our characters.
On some level, I'd enjoy actual maps and miniatures, but the groups I've been in have rarely used such things. And one time that someone used Heroscape miniatures and tiles for a 4th ed game, I was just annoyed.
And in the future, it's going to be far more likely I'll be playing games online in the future, not physically. So at that point such distinctions don't really matter.
>>44569194
>Warhammer 40k RPGs
Honestly, I've never played or ran a 40k RPG with minis and the thought had never crossed my mind until your post.
Well, that's not strictly true--I've done it for positioning in ship-to-ship combat once or twice.
I always go for the abstract route. I'm not a fan of having to set down maps and miniatures for anything beyond illustrative purposes.
But I'm just lazy
I think maps and definite measurements help players who struggle to concentrate on or remember positioning, or if there are too many elements in the scene for the DM to handle in their mind.
I found a small whiteboard to be a nice compromise between setup speed and visual representation - it takes maybe 2-5 minutes to draw a map and tracking player/NPC movement is super easy. Using fine tipped markers is the best unless your group has bad eyesight
That being said, I do crave a bit of simplification and abstraction after redrawing enough maps. Too bad I'm not very good at holding a complete scene in my mind's eye
>>44569194
Every game I've played has used minis and maps, but I'm really interested in something like WHFRP3rd's system.
For Shadowrun, it depends the mission. As a DM I make maps/floorplans of the place the players are supposed to break into/out, and I always have on hand a map of the city they are operating in. It's mostly to keep track of security measures and such, and the players know where they are as if they had a HUD. But most of the scenes don't require such a map.
It helps for combat
>>44569194
I have DM maps for combat otherwise it's up to the player to draw their own
>>44569194
Generally speaking, I like to keep role-playing games and war games separate. For RPGs, I prefer theater of the mind, where things are described in more general terms. I find that the instant you start using miniatures, people are overly influenced by the board, restricting their imaginations. It becomes a board game first, where you are calculating distances as if moving pawns on a grid, with the picture of the world being derivative and secondary. If the battlefield gets complicated, a quick sketch with pencil and paper should suffice, or "dice graphics" where I use the dice on the table to stand in for people's relative positions. But I consider the very sketchiness of either of those systems to be an advantage. There isn't enough there to really hang your hat on, so you have to keep picturing things in your head.
Depends on the system
With Maid RPG and Shadowrun you can abstract everything. IE notate distances as far, close, or right next to each other. With Pathfinder then you need to have a board. I am too cheap to buy minis for absolutely everything in real life, so I usually play D&D online.
>>44569194
It really depends on the game and what you're going for.
Abstraction is great for making your game feel less like a game by making players not think about the meta (because there isn't that much meta, if any at all).
At the same time, some players really like the meta. Some players really love the game within the game. Some players want strategic battles, and you can't get that with abstraction.
>3.5 DM
I usually just have maps for combat, honestly. As far as cost goes, I just get ahold of a pad of quadrille graph paper, some insect pins, some regular tape, and some double-stick tape. Cheap stuff.
I make markers for creatures bigger than Medium that include their reach on a page from the back, tape the marker to a double layer of 3x5 notecard, stick a pin through the middle, and put some double-stick tape on the bottom so it stays on the map. The pin's not just to make it easier to move, but also to measure out distance; I make a measuring stick, with distances measured out on it, typically in ten foot increments, in the same way. You can also make what 40k players call, "pie plates," like this, to mark out AoE spell areas.
>>44571947
I just improvise minis for most things. I have sets of those flat glass beads in a few different colors, a bucket of little dinosaur toys my brothers and I used to play with when we were little, and I'll just grab random objects in the room if I need something bigger, or that stands out from the rest. I've used, bottle caps, the little boxes dice sets come in, tokens from board games that happen to be handy, various small office supplies, a mini-slinky, etc. Once I was playing Pokemon Tabletop Adventures and made crude representations of my pokemon out of paper (a little origami bird for my Pidgey, a paper wad around a longer strip sticking out both ends for Geodude, a long twisted-up bit for Seviper, etc).
When I do use more specific minis, I can often put them together on the cheap. After the first couple sessions of that Pokemon game, I made a bunch of paper tokens I printed out on cardstock so I could fold them up into a triangle that would stand upright when I stuck a couple pennies on the bottom. On Christmas this year, I ran a one-shot for my dad and brothers and they all used Lego men for their characters.
I usually only buy a mini when I'm starting a new character for a given campaign and don't feel like reusing something I already have or making something simple from scratch, or I'm running something with a cool iconic monster that I really want a proper mini for. I've only bought minis three times over 6 years of gaming; one of those was a set of 3 at a pretty cheap price, another time was a set of 4 that I split with one of the guys in my group, and the third time was a jabberwock mini because I've always loved jabberwocky. I've acquired a few other minis that others in my group bought and just let me hang onto, but by and large it's a lot of abstract or only-kinda-sorta accurate stuff. Using a map hardly means you need to buy a bunch of minis.
