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Post by DMDojoMaster on Jan 28, 2014 0:31:52 GMT
We have gone gridless in both games I'm running right now. Its goin great. So much better. One of the best things is AoE. Players seem to be more comfortable with the true 3d area and have started to be smarter about aiming blasts over the heads of allies when attacking large or bigger creatures. We have happier and less well-done tanks in the parties.
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Post by DMScotty on Jan 28, 2014 6:37:17 GMT
Glad the players are enjoying it and not rolling around on the floor screaming.
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Post by wardenhammer on Jan 28, 2014 7:19:51 GMT
Wait.. aren't the players supposed to be rolling around on the floor screaming?
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Post by DMDojoMaster on Jan 28, 2014 12:42:10 GMT
Glad the players are enjoying it and not rolling around on the floor screaming. Yea we set the bar pretty low on Sundays. Maybe it's the beer
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Post by yebittendog on May 31, 2014 18:55:22 GMT
Awesome. I still prefer a "loose" grid for some of my players, but the freedom makes the game much more fun.
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Post by earlteagrey on May 31, 2014 21:44:31 GMT
First time going grid less with my players: Complaints = ZERO
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Post by Pagemistress on Jun 9, 2014 21:05:15 GMT
I figure that once my daughters get used to how far a character can move (using Heroquest and Descent as learning tools), gridless won't be a problem. I'm the one that probably has to get used to it more than they will since I've used grids all my DMing life.
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Mortal Knight
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Current Game: Return to Serenity (Custom Campaign)
Posts: 194
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Post by Mortal Knight on Jul 20, 2014 19:59:07 GMT
Wait.. aren't the players supposed to be rolling around on the floor screaming? Yes yes they are. I have been grid-less for about 3 or 4 months now and my players still have trouble just being free with it. They still move like we are on a grid so I have began to do a few random encounters on both hex and 1" gird to kind of get them used to a large range of movement. As a DM I think grid-less is the way to go now.
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dmzane
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Post by dmzane on Aug 9, 2014 16:06:13 GMT
My groups first gridless game is in two weeks, they all seem to be accepting of the 'idea' but I'm worried about stuff like aoo.
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Post by Cyan Wisp on Aug 9, 2014 18:40:57 GMT
My groups first gridless game is in two weeks, they all seem to be accepting of the 'idea' but I'm worried about stuff like aoo. You could ease them into it. I started by using measuring sticks for movement, ranges and area effects while still using a grid for comfort - so they didn't count squares, they just lay down the stick to move, for example. This eliminated the 1square-2square counting confusion for diagonals (I play D&D) as well. Taking the grid away was then almost a non-event! Once the spellcasters start being able to angle a cone or line in any direction, or plonk a fireball exactly where they choose, they'll love it. The immersion is much greater too, with a less chess-like feel. If you are worried about AoO - don't! Just make the call by sight. I would even say give the person moving benefit of the doubt because they have more freedom of movement to avoid angry people with weapons - unless they are committed to straight lines, such as during a charge.
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Post by gnomezrule on Aug 10, 2014 14:55:59 GMT
I have yet to really try gridless. Though before I do I am going to make a string of 1-inch beads. It would be flexible easy to measure with but for AOO it would answer the question if I stay far enough away from the fight at this point and that point can I still get all the way over here and still act.
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Post by dungeonmistress on Aug 10, 2014 16:31:39 GMT
My players don't know it yet, but we're going gridless for the first time today! gnomezrule, that's a great idea! I think I'll try that today. I think I have some big beads around here somewhere...
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Post by adamantinedragon on Aug 10, 2014 23:49:09 GMT
I used my 2.5D terrain I built after coming to this forum in my last campaign. That was a three year campaign that had been fully grid-based the entire time. When I put my gridless terrain on the table for that encounter, the reaction at first was "wth? How do we know how to move?" But I said "just eyeball it, and if there is any confusion, I'll figure it out as the GM, just be willing to accept my rulings and we'll be fine.
And we were fine. There were some things that were easier with gridless, and some things that were harder for us because of our years (decades!) of using a grid.
But in the end grid or gridless had no real difference in terms of fun or challenge. We just played.
We are still primarily grid-based. And we probably always will be. But I'll throw more gridless things at them too, when I feel like it will work. It's just details to me. It all works.
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Post by gnomezrule on Aug 11, 2014 0:31:34 GMT
I used my 2.5D terrain I built after coming to this forum in my last campaign. That was a three year campaign that had been fully grid-based the entire time. When I put my gridless terrain on the table for that encounter, the reaction at first was "wth? How do we know how to move?" But I said "just eyeball it, and if there is any confusion, I'll figure it out as the GM, just be willing to accept my rulings and we'll be fine. And we were fine. There were some things that were easier with gridless, and some things that were harder for us because of our years (decades!) of using a grid. But in the end grid or gridless had no real difference in terms of fun or challenge. We just played. We are still primarily grid-based. And we probably always will be. But I'll throw more gridless things at them too, when I feel like it will work. It's just details to me. It all works. Yeah I figured that was the way to deal with it. Letting them know I will be the great decider. I have a group of 7 sometimes and usually a group of 6 so. A tool like the beaded cord will let some judgement happen without needing me every time.
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Post by DnDPaladin on Aug 12, 2014 8:20:34 GMT
playing with a grid for years or even for a few months is making it very easy because you are used to see your squares. sow ehn you go gridless, you end up still seeing them and as such can easily make the jump.
unfortunately, even though i wanna try it... i have 2 new kids thsat still have trouble grapsing the concept of DND. so its a no go for me to go gridless. another thing that doesn'T help. i showed them my little home made rooms that i use for combat, and they started wanting them even when off combat. so i'm pretty much stuck creating more rooms to make an actual dungeons.
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Post by voduchyld on Aug 12, 2014 14:41:32 GMT
I was playing with grids for a decade or so, and i decided when i found DMScotty's channel that i would go grid less. My players were just like Adamantinedragon's: "WTH? How do we know how to move"... My response was to hand them a measuring stick and say: "Like in Real Life... However you want to!" It took a while to get used to, but within the same game session they were already more at ease. And now, all of them don't wanna play with grids anymore. My Brother, who DM's from time to time, loved it so much that he has gone gridless too.
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Post by Tattered King on Apr 19, 2016 17:18:13 GMT
I started going gridless this year. Up until last session we were going great. Last session, they were in a large cavern, and I didn't have a gridless floor. So we just used our old grid board. Well...three months of using no grid...and them everything went back to using the grid. GRRR.... Need to fix that...
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Post by DnDPaladin on Apr 20, 2016 0:31:28 GMT
Grid or Gridless desn't matter really. I noticed after playing gridless for 2 years now that my head always seems to see the grid anyway. i dont even need sticks to move players around either. somehow my head decided to play gridded all the time reguardless. players using sticks still though. at least some of them. but reality is that when moving, we still all counts our squares even though were playing gridless.
does make AoE much better though and much less calculation involved. in the end i would go as far as saying that playing theater of the mind is even less trouble then playing with minis.
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