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Post by HawkGirl50 on Jan 20, 2014 14:24:15 GMT
Hello everyone! I have been lurking about the forum for awhile now and crafting a few things based on DM Scotty's methods a well as TheDMG's. Thanks to both of you for sharing and everyone else that has posted their work here. I am very much inspired by all of you.
It has been many years since I DM'd a game and this last Friday saw my return to that role. I told my players right up front that we would be playing gridless and instead of the resistance I thought I might be met with everyone was very open to the idea. After a quick demo of what exactly that meant we dived right into the first encounter of our campaign. Never have I played an encounter as large as the one I threw at them so quickly. The grid is officially dead and there was much rejoicing, no minstrels were injuried or eaten...ok our Bard did take a small amount of damage.
I did not have all of the things I would have liked crafted for this 1st session.
I will be posting some pics sometime soon.
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Post by DMScotty on Jan 20, 2014 16:00:35 GMT
Awesome...welcome to the freedom of gridless.
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Post by monkeywithtacos on Jan 20, 2014 17:22:24 GMT
Awesome! Glad you all enjoyed it! It is quite freeing... kinda like going commando.... or regimental.... depending on your preference lol...
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Post by voduchyld on Feb 5, 2014 16:00:44 GMT
It's been 10 years now that i'm DMing with grids and now that I saw what DMScotty does with his gridless tiles, I told my players that they wouldn't see anymore grids. Much of a surprise to me, everybody is being very enthusiastic. Even my brother, that has been playing with me all along, and that hates when I change something to the game, can't wait to play gridless. In fact, he is so enthusiastic that he began crafting 2.5D and 3D tiles for me to paint.
I'll be posting pictures of my stuff soon.
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Post by thedmg on Feb 6, 2014 12:11:37 GMT
Enjoy.
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Post by sgtslag on Feb 6, 2014 19:02:02 GMT
I've never played 4E D&D: started by playing Basic, jumped to 1st Ed. AD&D when we reached 3rd Level (the Basic boxed set only covered up to Level 3), then jumped to 2nd Ed. AD&D when it came out (9 years later), but I've never played any newer version (never saw a need to). It took me a long while to understand what this anti-grid attitude was all about (I never really used a grid, per se', even when using mini's on a Chessex Battlemat, we never used the grid system, as detailed in 4E -- finally learned about it after doing some reading in the 4E DMG, borrowed from the local library). I've also played historical, and fantasy mini's mass battles games -- never a grid in any of them. I've always used tape measures, rulers, or measuring rods (pre-marked with movement increments on a dowel, lay it down by the figures, count off the number of units of movement, and resolve any combat).
One of the best things I ever came across, though, were spell effect templates I found in the back of the BattleSystem Skirmish book (has templates for various spells, breath weapons, and other things which have a fixed A of E). I scanned them, printed them on a transparency and then cut them out. They are super fast, easy to use, and they save a lot of time being able to just hold them over the tabletop, and mini's, to see who is affected, and who is not. They do nothing to determine the full volume of a Fireball spells, or gas breath weapons, within a confined space (calculating total volume, for a more accurate A of E, is still a b*tch!).
The whole grid A of E thing, left me cold. I see its advantages in speeding up combat resolution, but it made 4E seem so much like a board game, or a WoW game, minus the computer. It seems like gridless players abandoning the grid, have come full-circle, back to the gridless origins of D&D. It is humorous to see D&D go full-circle, returning to its mini's game origins, particularly in 4E. In an interview Gygax gave, he was quoted as saying, "If I wanted role-playing, I'd join the local theater group." The 4E game seems to have returned to that style of D&D which Gygax preferred; Arneson, however, was all about role-playing, having developed his Blackmoor game from the Braunstein historical games put on by a friend of his, in the Twin Cities. Cheers!
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Post by grym247 on Feb 15, 2014 15:32:48 GMT
Great post sgtslag. I still play ad&d 1st ed contemplated going to pathfinder then a friend on Facebook posted a math equation for movement for it I was like $#@& that im sticking with my rp heavy style
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Post by monkeywithtacos on Feb 16, 2014 6:43:06 GMT
The whole board game feel is what going gridless eliminates. Also, depending on gaming style/dm style, the bulk of the Math headaches are eliminated. My players haven't used a measuring stick or ruler for months. We all know that 1 move = 1 inch = 5ft in game and can guesstimate whether or not we are over or under. It can be as basic or as convoluted as you or your dm want. That's this games beauty...
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Post by sgtslag on Feb 16, 2014 14:55:42 GMT
I'm on the outside looking in, when it comes to 4E/Next D&D -- I don't know enough about them to criticize anything, I can only make generalizations about what I see, and those can be a bit dangerous. I understand the Version Wars concept, but I am just really happy with my 2nd Ed. game. I'd still be playing 1st Ed. if I hadn't looked at the new-then, 2nd Ed. books. I really liked what they did with it, particularly with the Clerics (making them customizable, based on their deity), and the Non-Weapon Proficiency system. Bottom line is that you enjoy the version you are playing. I have no issue with folks playing something different than what I prefer. Having fun is all that matters. There is enough similarity, and cross-over, between the various versions. This forum is a testament to that. I love seeing all the stuff folks are crafting, whether it is something I can directly use, or not, is irrelevant. I just love the creativity -- and I steal what I can use, without a moment's hesitation. Cheers!
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Post by monkeywithtacos on Feb 16, 2014 16:37:26 GMT
Personally I love playing any edition..... 1st is where I cut my teeth, 2nd where I discovered the Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance and battled with memorizing quick Thac0 calculations, 3rd/3.5 where I learned to love feats, Pathfinder where it took 3.5 and made it a bit better and introduced me to a new world called Golarion, 4th (which I didn't think I'd enjoy) where I learned a new way to play an old favorite. Next, I have dabbled in but not enough to form a solid opinion yet. I liked some of the early rules iterations, but so much was changing through the playtest that I decided to wait until they finished with it, knowing that we will do what we always do and tweeak the rules and homebrew the parts we don't like anyway....
I wholeheartedly agree that the game is there to enjoy in any iteration, and that you steal what you like and utilize it where you love it. That's probably why we (my gaming group) all took to gridless so easily. We were already doing it back when we all started in 1st/2nd anyhow, and it carried over into 3.5/4e the same way. We have always loved using miniatures in gameplay, so the proliferation of them in production over the last couple decades has continued to be, and expanded upon, our enjoyment of the hobby experience. Just as 2.5 and 3d crafting has done!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2014 10:31:40 GMT
Its good to sit around the DM's Craft camp fire and swap Old School stories of editions and play styles through the different eras of the game. A lot of systems and settings have come, gone, then risen again, and when I think of gridless, I often remember chaotic combat in Traveller RPG involving some Vargr, flak jackets and full auto, shotgun shoot outs in apartment blocks.. no grids there, and it was no holds barred mayhem. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ninjas and Superspies, Heroes Unlimited.. (forget the Rifts dreck), the Palladium RPG system did martial arts and fully articulated combat very well.. I mastered that system like you would not believe (and to this day, I could run an entire game without touching a rule book).. dodge, parry, roll with impacts, simultaneous attacks.. the things that system could do would often run rings around D&D. Say what you want about it, I loved that game and it did modern/supers really well, I ran big groups (up to 8 players, some of them complete noobs), online games, you name it, I did it with that system. But, there is no replacement for the grandaddy of RPGs. I'm moving on to D&D Next (already house ruled with old school Parry, Strike to Subdue and Intimidate/Surrender rules) and it looks good, a lot of the feel of 2nd edition, very quick, integrated mechanics that cover everything using simple ability checks.. I can just see my players being asked what they do next, glancing at the character sheet, seeing no daily, encounter or at will powers, and going "Oh yeah, I get to make stuff up now" I've made a forum for my campaign actually, it has a lot of D&D Next stuff on there if anyone is interested. AJ's Medusa Campaign for D&D Next.
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Post by sgtslag on Feb 18, 2014 14:27:55 GMT
There appears to be quite a difference in content, and style, between the various versions. One of my sons played at an FLGS, in a 3rd Ed. AD&D game. After combat was over, he asked the DM about gathering fluids, body parts, etc., for "spell components" (useful for making extra cash from local wizards, and alchemists, in my games). The DM had no idea what he was talking about, initially. I guess that sort of thing isn't in the rules for 3rd? It started out in 1st, and we carried it forward in our games. My style is more 'theater of the mind' role-playing, than mini's based (used for combat -- makes it much easier to resolve, with fewer arguments about who is where, and can do what), and that has affected my sons' RPG'ing, as they tend to avoid games which are more WoW-like, or more combat oriented, than collective story-telling (they also tend to draw the DM's out in that direction, if they get into a more mini's/combat oriented game, as that is how they think and play).
I think it is great when people mix from the different playing styles: each brings something to the game which the others might not be familiar with -- it opens new horizons for everyone. I've not used mini's, and terrain, so much, in the past. Since I joined this forum, I've gotten much more interested in crafting terrain, not just for my fantasy miniatures gaming with mass battles on a 9' x 5' table, but also for my RPG sessions. My game has benefited quite a bit from my involvement in this forum.
Thank you! Cheers!
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