Do you use miniatures and hex/gridmaps?

[Kaftan Barlast]

Comming from Swede games like Mutant and Drakar&Demoner which dont even hint at using miniatures when you play PnP, Ive never actually played a single game where it was used. On occasion when things got confusing wed use a piece of paper and some never-used D12's to mark up a battle but nothing fancier than that and we didnt measure distances either when we did that

 

I dont like using miniatures either, then the whole charm of pretend goes away and it feels like youre playing a boardgame.

 

 

Ive understood that all you people that come from an D&D background more or less always use miniatures, if you so play GURPS or Call of Cthulhu, is that correct?

[Dark_Raven]

When I used to play PnP games we never used miniatures in our games. I never saw any reason for it, these are games to use your imagination after all.

[Volourn]

Very rarely. We do at times because some of our players like them. It doesn't bother me eitehr way though miniatures, and hex/gridmaps do help in keeping combat movement/aoo more exact though; but they really slow down the game at times.

[GhostofAnakin]

At one time we (me and my friends) did when we played PnP Star Wars. It was more a case of collecting all the "cool" figurines and wanting to show them off. After we got into the games, we stopped using the figurines.

[Lancer]

Although I am far too poor (or cheap) to get metal miniatures, I do usually rely on some sort of physical representation of the PCs/NPCs via tokens or cardboard heroes. Having minis is very helpful in running strategic combat and keeping track of combat minutiae.. Not to mention that combat is much more fun with them.

 

That said, minis are not meant to duplicate the characters down to the underwear they used, but are only meant to approximate general characteristics (i.e. class). Because the minis are more or less undefined, they have never replaced the players'/DM's imagination. On the contrary, they help enhance it by giving the parties involved a vivid picture of the local environment.

Edited July 7, 2006 by Lancer

[Cantousent]

We sometimes use miniatures, although I tend to use dice more than anything else unless the battle includes more than 15 or so enemies. The players like to use minis, but I like having dice because it makes it easier for the players to see the field. Twelve siders for 12 small guys or less. Then I use tens, eights, sixes, or fours for different types of monsters. I find it works really well and it's cheaper than trying to have minis that fit all the monster varieties I put in a game.

[Darque]

None here.

 

What a novel concept.