Fria Ligans forum

Has anyone considered using miniatures in combat?

Has anyone considered using miniatures in combat?

People do use miniatures, and battle maps, etc.,
There's pictures of it in the Discord channels.

I have tried and I find it better because its easier to describe the combat, as everyone can see it unfolding before their eyes.

I've considered it. Given how abstract the combat rules are and how undetailed they are...I'm not convinced they're going to contribute much to this game. I practically insist upon them in D&D because there's usually tons going on, the environments and how they interact with rules are complex and you are concerned about how close you are to within a couple of feet...you really need to know where things are.

In TOR, there is very little of that. Rough ranges suffice, and the rules themselves seem intended to avoid the benefits of minis (Eg, whether you can go to ranged or not depends on how many enemies each person have engaged rather than how far away people are in feet, etc). Perhaps I'm missing something, but I think the loss of engagement in imagination (because people are looking at minis to see where they are etc rather than having a mental image of the scene) outweighs the benefits.

That's just my viewpoint and opinion, though. If you think it helps your game, then that's brilliant.

I've been using miniatures for combat, however in a different way to how I would use them in D&D.

Instead of having all the mini's on a gridded combat/area map, I have a sheet with zones marked off for stance. The mini's sit in the correct stance zone to keep track of such things, and enemy miniatures are placed next to who they are engaged with. The only issue currently is if multiple characters in different stances face off against the same enemy it can get a bit weird and need some fudging.

I've been using miniatures for combat, however in a different way to how I would use them in D&D.

Instead of having all the mini's on a gridded combat/area map, I have a sheet with zones marked off for stance. The mini's sit in the correct stance zone to keep track of such things, and enemy miniatures are placed next to who they are engaged with. The only issue currently is if multiple characters in different stances face off against the same enemy it can get a bit weird and need some fudging.

That's and interesting method. I guess if you did it in concentric circles (Forward being the outer circle, then Open, Defensive, Skirmish (if applicable) and Rearward in the centre). You could then have directions where you place the enemies - for example, the Troll could be north, Orc 1 is west, Orc 2 is south, Goblin Archer is east. You then place the characters in the correct circle for their stance, and in the right direction for the enemy they're engaged with. For example, if Drogo is in the Forward stance engaged with the Goblin Archer, you'd place him on the east side of the Forward stance circle.

Just a musing.

I‘ve used maps and icons on roll20 and on the table just for visualization. Some players just handle it better. Though TOR combat isn’t that tactical, the surroundings of a combat can give advantages or disadvantages. On a map that’s often clearer that just to describe, where heroes and adversaries are.