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Pen & Paper Roleplaying Central => Pen and Paper Roleplaying Games (RPGs) Discussion => Topic started by: Greentongue on January 27, 2021, 01:25:06 PM

Title: To Use Or Not To Use, That Is The Question
Post by: Greentongue on January 27, 2021, 01:25:06 PM
If you had an unlimited supply of 3D terrain and props, would you use them?

Do you think the time spent setting up a table is time well spent or that it detracts from the game?

Would it matter if they were physical or virtual?
Title: Re: To Use Or Not To Use, That Is The Question
Post by: Chris24601 on January 27, 2021, 01:50:46 PM
Depends greatly upon the system and particulars of the adventure. Mostly I'd use it only for big set pieces rather than laying out entire dungeons and the like.

Even 4E didn't require a grid for every fight (approximately 3/4 of all my 4E play was done Theatre of the Mind-style).
Title: Re: To Use Or Not To Use, That Is The Question
Post by: Ratman_tf on January 27, 2021, 02:00:03 PM
4th edition got me into using miniatures for RPGs, and I like it a lot. I continued with Starfinder/Pathfinder, and even used miniatures for my WEG Star Wars game I GMed a bit ago.

When DMing 4th, I used a lot of papercraft terrain, but the time and effort to construct it burned me out. I wouldn't go that far again. I'm good with scribbling terrain on a dry erase grid.

If I had the terrain provided for me? There's still the issue of transportation and setup. Maybe occasionally for particularly cool encounters. But not all the time.
Title: Re: To Use Or Not To Use, That Is The Question
Post by: Opaopajr on January 27, 2021, 03:04:34 PM
Depends on the game for me. I love tactics video games so things like WH 40k or Necromunda, Iron Kingdoms or L5R Clan War, or even 13th Age or 4e D&D could be a lot of fun! BUT, I know it takes a lot of setup for adventures AND setup for terrained tables... and it is hard to get enough players as similarly dedicated. And then there is the clean up.

Like any party you gotta gauge your target audience. And regardless of intent some casuals will saunter on in like buffalo and move on leaving a mess after crowding out the desired experience. If you could filter committed people better that'd be worth more than the potentiality of other supplemental things.
Title: Re: To Use Or Not To Use, That Is The Question
Post by: Philotomy Jurament on January 27, 2021, 03:59:59 PM
Quote from: Greentongue on January 27, 2021, 01:25:06 PM
If you had an unlimited supply of 3D terrain and props, would you use them?

Depends on the game. For most of the RPGs I play, I would not use them. But I'd definitely use them for wargaming.

QuoteDo you think the time spent setting up a table is time well spent or that it detracts from the game?

Depends on the game. For the RPGs I play I don't find terrain and such helpful, so I'd say it's time wasted and ill-spent. For other games (e.g., wargames), it's a definite enhancement and worthwhile.

QuoteWould it matter if they were physical or virtual?

Absolutely. I'd have zero use for virtual terrain and props. My gaming is around a tabletop.
Title: Re: To Use Or Not To Use, That Is The Question
Post by: Steven Mitchell on January 27, 2021, 04:01:55 PM
No.  I only use any kind of miniature representation when it adds more to the experience than it detracts.  Virtual doesn't change this point, only shifts the grounds a little. 

To give some context, there are gamers for whom you could set up a large screen TV with the most useful game aids, maps, etc. at a physical table, use it perfectly, and--when it was on they wouldn't hear 1 word in 3 the GM said.  Props are only good to the extent that they make things run faster or they tie back into the players imaginations.  Preferably both at the same time.
Title: Re: To Use Or Not To Use, That Is The Question
Post by: robh on January 27, 2021, 05:53:41 PM
Quote from: Greentongue on January 27, 2021, 01:25:06 PM
If you had an unlimited supply of 3D terrain and props, would you use them?

Would and do, whenever possible.

QuoteDo you think the time spent setting up a table is time well spent or that it detracts from the game?

Always time well spent. I think the look and feel of models and terrain on the table adds a huge amount to a game session.

QuoteWould it matter if they were physical or virtual?

Very much so, has to be actual physical pieces. No interest in VTT until it becomes perfect 360degree 3D hologram.
Title: Re: To Use Or Not To Use, That Is The Question
Post by: Two Crows on January 27, 2021, 09:23:48 PM
Crunchy, combat-heavy stuff?
All the time.

Lighter, story-style stuff?
Never.
Title: Re: To Use Or Not To Use, That Is The Question
Post by: Altheus on February 01, 2021, 11:40:22 AM
Hell, yes, its great for keeping track of complicated fights.
Title: Re: To Use Or Not To Use, That Is The Question
Post by: Lurkndog on February 01, 2021, 08:55:25 PM
Quote from: Greentongue on January 27, 2021, 01:25:06 PM
If you had an unlimited supply of 3D terrain and props, would you use them?

Do you think the time spent setting up a table is time well spent or that it detracts from the game?

Would it matter if they were physical or virtual?

Maps can be useful for fights, but that depends on system and genre.

For fantasy dungeon crawls, yes, you need maps, and minis of the party are very nice to have. Or, for online, standard sized icons.

For superheroes, I find only Champions/Hero really needs a map, and I don't play Hero any more.

For games like Feng Shui, where the players are supposed to be improvising and coming up with cool action movie stuff, maps would actually be an impediment.

When I ran my D6 pirates game, I put a lot of effort into making maps of the carribbean, and city maps sometimes, but I didn't map out buildings. Action was more cinematic than tactical.

At this point, all my gaming is online, so physical terrain and props would be irrelevant. Once we're out of quarantine, we'll see if the face to face games come back. :(

Title: Re: To Use Or Not To Use, That Is The Question
Post by: Greentongue on February 02, 2021, 01:33:56 PM
With Tabletop Simulator you can use virtual versions if you find them useful.
Title: Re: To Use Or Not To Use, That Is The Question
Post by: danskmacabre on February 02, 2021, 08:55:00 PM
When I ran DnD 5e, I'd occasionally use terrain if I knew a specific battle was coming up and it was important etc.
When I DID use it, it was always appreciated and it sped up combat immensely. It also gave a lot of depth to combat and even RP, as it was much easier to visualise what was going on, the scale of things etc.
Title: Re: To Use Or Not To Use, That Is The Question
Post by: Shawn Driscoll on February 03, 2021, 08:57:08 PM
Quote from: Greentongue on January 27, 2021, 01:25:06 PM
If you had an unlimited supply of 3D terrain and props, would you use them?

Do you think the time spent setting up a table is time well spent or that it detracts from the game?

Would it matter if they were physical or virtual?
I like setting up both physical and virtual model railroad sets.
Title: Re: To Use Or Not To Use, That Is The Question
Post by: Brad on February 03, 2021, 09:11:48 PM
Quote from: Greentongue on January 27, 2021, 01:25:06 PM
If you had an unlimited supply of 3D terrain and props, would you use them?

Do you think the time spent setting up a table is time well spent or that it detracts from the game?

Would it matter if they were physical or virtual?

Yes, no, I don't know. Serious response.

In THEORY minis and terrain are such an awesome idea and I fondly reminisce about using them all the time, but in practice I dunno...there's just something about "theater of the mind" that makes the game more fantastical. I do like my dry erase board with minis for important battles when I run D&D, but otherwise I don't use them.

Hmmm...I think this is one of those situations where we've all been. Grandiose ideas for running this campaign and in your head it's so awesome, but when you actually play it, things don't turn out quite like you planned.
Title: Re: To Use Or Not To Use, That Is The Question
Post by: spon on February 04, 2021, 05:13:04 AM
For wargames, yes - for RPGs, not so much. I used TotM when running ftf gaming, with hand-drawn maps. Some of my friends used figures and hand-drawn battlemaps which I enjoyed, but didn't feel it was worth it for me. After running online with discord/Roll20 I see the attraction of terrain/figures but when I finally get some ftf games in they will be at the club/pub so the problem would be logistical. 
Title: Re: To Use Or Not To Use, That Is The Question
Post by: Conanist on February 04, 2021, 08:27:01 AM
I heavily use maps and minis for every game. For the lighter combat, investigative style games like CoC and DG, I still like the granularity that the maps and minis provide when there is an intricate investigative scenario to play out. In my view for maps, minis, and VTT the time is definitely well spent.

I tried the 3D terrain once as I play some wargames and already had it. They got used to using tape measures instead of a grid pretty quickly. But although the players liked it they didn't rave about it like they did for other adventures just using the dry erase. I might do it again sometime but would not go out of my way to.
Title: Re: To Use Or Not To Use, That Is The Question
Post by: zircher on February 04, 2021, 10:33:56 AM
I've been theater of the mind for too many decades to get into minis except for some skirmish games back when my son was into WH40K.  If I needed to use them, I would opt for virtual since all my online friends use Tabletop Simulator for board games.

Working on a starship combat game and I plan on using virtual minis for that as well.
Title: Re: To Use Or Not To Use, That Is The Question
Post by: Spinachcat on February 04, 2021, 07:02:40 PM
Quote from: Greentongue on January 27, 2021, 01:25:06 PM
If you had an unlimited supply of 3D terrain and props, would you use them?

Yes, but only to alter the Earth's rotational spin to knock it out of orbit and spin us into the sun. Fortunately, the unlimited supply will be enough to achieve this goal.

I like RPGs and RPG boardgames (aka 4e) - and I consider them different genres of RPGing. When the table is piled with terrain and minis, it becomes a RPG boardgame so everyone needs to adjust their expectations to that playstyle.


Title: Re: To Use Or Not To Use, That Is The Question
Post by: Cloyer Bulse on February 06, 2021, 10:59:55 PM
Since I do renovations, I have a large supply of materials on hand. Bricks are great for making dungeons and rocks are great for caverns, especially if they're flat on one side. Setup is trivial since I always have them laying around. I never use grids and only use a ruler, the same ruler I've been using since 1980 in fact.