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As a note, reeses pieces is something you probably want to talk to your players about...peanut allergies or intolerances are a sure fire way to have a session add badly for everyone
The best way is the way that brings your group the most enjoyment. There are so many pros and cons to each one. At one end TotM is great because it can be played anywhere. Minis and Terrain (&VTT) is great because it is so immersive and just looks cool. Over my many years of play, a blend of them has worked best for me.
For my last session in a sci-fi-ish game, the party is looking to loot a bombed-out spaceport. I was looking online for pictures of ruined spaceports to "set the visual tone" and stumbled on the perfect images. Sadly, the perfect "ruined spaceport" is Donetsk International Airport in Ukraine.
I dug into my off-off Broadway theater experience and made what's essentially a black box theater on a 14-inch disk. I glued some black foam sheet to a round cake board and added a thin wooden board on the back for support. Then I painted some fake Jenga blocks and some wooden cubes of various sizes. The abstraction gives me a lot of flexibility, so I only need one set of blocks to represent just about any kind of structure or terrain. The visual element helps players quickly get on the same page, but everything being black cubes means that I still get to use the narrative parts of Theatre of the Mind, which I deeply enjoy. My players also like having something tangible they can set up and move around as the scenes change.
I think thats the best use of (online) battle maps. I think theater of the mind, for example, has other areas of play where it shines. I'm running the carnival of Wild Beyond the Witchlight and bought the map set, but am likely only to use a map for the last boss fight. The carnival has a bunch of small interactions and activities, and i think I'd be spending a ton of time if I used a map for each scenario.
I love using FoundryVtt for my in person sessions. I use it for my players to explore the the map, I always put a pile of loot in every map, if they find it they get things. Also So much fun for TotM I load a black screen, put some light music. # things to know, I don't care about movement specifics. If my players are obviously moving to far, I will ask, but beyond that, as long as it is close enough I'm good with it. Automation is my friend as well.
I have a projector pointed at my table that throws animated battlemaps from my laptop onto the table. Combine that with minis and a couple pieces of terrain and key components and it feels just as good as big modular pieces
I feel D&D really is a tactical combat game. If you play theatre of the mind an awful lot of the abilities just become unusuable because it's really hard to check ranges, flanking etc
It's only been more of a tactical battle game since 3rd edition. I remember how those I played with back when 3rd edition came out were hesitant to switch from 2nd edition to 3rd edition because it seemed like Wizards of the Coast were trying to make D&D into a wargame what with all the grids in the combat rules. Previously combat rules had been much more abstract. That's not to say many didn't use minis. But then many of us didn't.
Old DnD fans be like: "Back on the playground, we could do whatever we want" there were plenty of early edition players who added their own rules for combat. 3rd edition just standardized it
A major factor for AD&D 1E and 2E is that they were using a "declare first" combat system. In other words you said you were going to cast fireball, then you rolled initiative, and when the init got to you, your dwarven fighter could have already charged into the orcs or the orcs could have acted and were upon you. You never really knew when you'd act, which significantly reduced the amount of intricate targeting you could do compared to 3E+ where when your turn comes up you can survey the map, move and cast your spell and it all happens instantly.
As a 5e DM of several years i've tried them all and i agree 100% with OP: Terrain and Minis Rule when it comes to combat. But only then. As soon as we are out of combat the terrain goes away. This is the ultimate way to play a combat oriented TTRPGs like D&D.
You also have modular dungeon tiles. They're the best of both worlds between full dungeon terrain and the more portable mats. You can use a few 3d elements, or keep it 2d. They take up less space and are much easier to rig up on the fly. Definitely my top pick!
@@PerfectionHunterFor me, that honor goes to RP Archive's magnetic tile system, which allows you to use any floor with any wall, and top it off with any roof.
Using Battle mats with universal Dungeon terrain is what i use and its amazing. We use the mat as a sort of "Heads up display" map and the players can mark off where they have been and the UDT used for combat and rooms they are entering and is pretty fast to set up. We tried using a full blown terrain map and it took so long tk set up and take down, let alone the weeks it takes to visually set up. Telling you, using both battle mats as a sort if "location spotter" and UTD is way easier to do does the job super well
Yeah cost and setup/takedown time for 3D terrain is a show stopper for me. I just don't have the time for that, even though it looks cool. And I'd rather spend my gaming money on miniatures. :D
@@theDMLair I could see the "Full terrain" map as a culmination of the final "boss fight" where you have to enter their lair and weasel your way through and end it in a giant map, but for most games ... Players can be stuck in a puzzle room for around an hour or two, and then to have to only get through 1/4 of the dungeon since the puzzle room took so long and have to tear the map down is what killed it for me. Then you have that awkward tear down and the players kinda looking at each other like "yo. Why was it so hard to figure out?!" ... So the mats and UDT just makes it easier since players are also less likely to be ... Distracted with a book room or a armory. 😅
Honestly this is brilliant! I have a dungeon I'm running now and I was doing TotM to explain to them where they were going and then the UDT for the encounters, but printing or drawing a general map is a great idea on the side!
as soon as i learned of the existance of UDTs, my first thought was to do exactly that, also i improvise my UDT using a chess board, i mean, who said it cant have a square shape?
I just thought of this. 1-2 monsters, theater of the mind. 3-4 monsters, UDT drawn on a battle mat. 4+ / a full dungeon, a battle mat. Easy and hits the benefits of each style of play.
This is similar to what I do now. I make my maps on Inkarnate or pull one from the internet for specific set pieces, but otherwise it's theater/zones for the tweener fights
@@Doodle1776 My players and I enjoy the visual representation and tactical nature of combat with minis, grids, and terrain. This isn't to say that we can't run combat in TotM, but we prefer not to in some situations. For instance, guarding a wall against a horde of zombies/skeletons/goblins/etc. TotM would likely benefit us, as the time to maneuver and manage such a large sum would be cumbersome. In the same vein, the speed of a small random encounter in a dungeon hallway with 2 rust monsters is better in TotM. Running a boss fight with a mad alchemist, tables of unstable reagents, cages of experimental beasts, and the like lends to a map. We can drop or draw lines of fire that need to be navigated, have chemical explosions that may hit/miss multiple combatants, and the map itself becomes a character to help the story become more colorful. It's not to say we can't use TotM, just that sometimes we like what a map and terrain can afford us: adding chaos without confusion.
@@Doodle1776 Including flying PC's and NPC's, parts of difficult terrain, moving vehicles and traps? I've been using TOTM for over 15 years but my combat scenario's have become way more tactic and interesting at the point where we started to use terrain.
I’ve only been playing for about 4 months, DMing for two, so I got involved at a time when online play was normal, especially after Covid. However, my groups prefer in person play. I have access to a high quality plotter, so I create maps in Dungeondraft or Dungeon Alchemy and print them. My friend has a high grade 3D printer, so we design all our minis on Eldritch Foundry or Hero Forge, and he prints them out. That works great for us and feels really immersive for our sessions. We even use Zoom and an overhead camera to accommodate people traveling for work. Finally, we are a couple weeks away from finishing a game table with an embedded tv screen to project our maps onto with Foundry VTT. We still use the physical minis on the surface of the display, but we run one digital player token inside Foundry to allow for digital fog of war/Line-of-sight functions. That also allows for special effects and animations on the screen, and the fog of war feature encourages our party to stay together where they can all see.
I have a Chessex hex map from the 80's. Love it. It's larger, sure, but still portable since I'm not riding my bicycle to my friends' houses for games these days. I've used minis, dice, tokens, glass beads, coins, etc., as well as Cardboard Heroes, which were really cool and cheaper than minis. But to date, a VTT is my favourite for tactical use, flexibility, and speed.
If you're still running super-budget, you can use books to make cliffs, canyons and hills. We've done that for decades. - edit: Oh! forgot to add that for Chessex (or any) wet-erase mats, Crayola washable markers work great and stain a lot less than the Vis-a-Vis wet erase markers. And they're a LOT cheaper.
Making your own ultimate dungeon terrain is a great way to start down the slippery slope of dnd crafting. You can easily make them double sided too: one side zoned, the other side fully gridded. Or you can make one side with a dungeon grid and the other side wilderness.
Fantastic video. Great list of pros and cons for each method, they'll all good. I will add that terrain gives the advantage of 3d combat, such as stairs, bridges, and other elevations.
Luke great video showing most of the options and of course leading us the the conclusion to use what works best for each person. I for one use a TV to display maps that I either get on Patreon or make myself using a map program made for VTT type use. And that’s of course more expensive but it is an option you left out. My problem is living in an area with very few players for an in person game. I’m a subscriber of yours and as always you deliver great content. Thank you for all you do for this hobby
My group has been online for a while now, and, while I would love to run in person again at some point, the mapping and tokens and such on a VTT make things much easier.
For the Chessex roll mats if you have World Market nearby they sell popcorn in tubes that can be repurposed for the battle mat. With the dungeon tiles they sell vinyl terrain markers that you stick and peel off later as many times as you need. They take up less space in your back pack if you don't play from home.
We use two that are not listed here 1. Virtual Table Top on a TV on a wall (not on the table) it's more like a presentation. 2. Gridless Maps - it's a map for visuals but it's not super specific on distances.
I usually draw on a wet erase battle map, but every 5 or 6 sessions I or one of my players builds a sweet full-contact battlemap diorama. It's always epic when one comes out, and as a DM, I love it
I go with ungridded terrain most of the time. If I'm in a building, I can throw some Picasso tiles down, or just put in random scatter terrain. It's easier and fsster than grids because if someone's dashing, they don't have to count however many squares, they just have to take a quick measurement and then know all of the options for where they can reach. For shorter distances people usually can intuit where they're able to move, since most people aren't going their full movement anyways.
I actually use battle mats along with Jenga pieces to represent walls and such. I've even used my MTG boxes to represent walls for castles a few times. It gets the job done well enough.
I grew up playing B, X, 1e, & 2e. We played TotM & with minis on battlemats, but the minis were just for visualizing spaces & relationships. We _never_ counted squares or used a straightedge to determine if you could shoot someone. That’s partly because the game before 3e used movement almost entirely to measure progress down a corridor. You could move 120 feet in 1 round-which was 1 minute-while checking for traps & secret doors. Think about it: you can rush anywhere you want in a dungeon chamber in a few seconds. There’s no point counting squares.
My group uses digital maps through a tv built into the table with miniatures on top. Sometimes we swap to VTT maps as well even though we have the tv as we use Fantasy Grounds to track the characters in PF2e
For in person games, I often draw out elaborate maps on the back of wrapping paper. I buy the stuff with the 1"grid on the back, on clearance after holidays.
Full blown 3d all the way. I build what i need and use them at the table, and paint them and detail them when the inspiration hits me. The 3d pieces that i make are my inspiration for the battlemaps, if you planning on making some , the 3d element of modular mountain pieces opened the floodgates for me.
I have personally done all three. Starting off D&D many years ago with just Theatre of the mind, because I was broke (ha ha), eventually moving into making my own tile sets (YAY!). I do love the look on my players faces when I bring out this huge 3D battle map. They're like a bunch of kids on Christmas morning and that makes me feel good (Validation is a real thing. LOL). Another good thing about making my own tiles is the fact that if I don't have a specific locale, or scatter terrain, or that blue, glowing crystal they're looking for, I can just make it. :) Yes, it has to be done pregame session but I don't mind the extra work. I know this isn't an option for everyone and some people couldn't craft their way out of a paper bag but for me, this is by far my favorite way to play out encounters. :) Happy adventuring all!
As a DM, I often use paper battle maps that can be cut up into individual rooms/areas. I can draw areas before or during the game, and they remain super portable, since they're just sheets of paper that can fit into a folder. That said, I sometimes prefer theater of the mind, mostly because it's way simpler, both to prep and to run.
The most popular of those big rolling mats generally come packaged in a “scroll” type of container, and don’t feel unwieldy if you have a decent sized table
I use a TV laying down on the table in a box with a plexiglass screen protecting it. I have 3D printed minis, but lately we’ve used mostly 3D printed bases with clips you can fit a 2D printed picture in as we’ve had a much easier time creating characters and monsters using Ai art to generate them and then print them out on some cardstock. Even if I don’t have a fully fleshed out battle map, I find that a picture to set the scene can help players remember where they’re at while using theater of mind. That way they don’t forget that they’re still in the mines instead of back in town by the saloon.
For small encounters I use TOTM or B.M. but since we play at my house and I have a large table, I use dungeon pieces for Boss Battles and such. A tip I found is that, if you don't need anything too specific, let your players build the rooms!! I did this once when they went a direction I hadn't expected. I gave them cavern pieces and mushrooms and said, "build a large cavern " not only did they have it done in 5 minutes! They also LOVED IT! It was so much fun for them!
For running at a convention, I use really cheap welcome mats that are a solid color (green or brown, usually, but I have red and blue for lava and water), add minis, and put representative terrain elements that don't take up much space (a set of wooden blocks, cylinders, and arches does wonders). Then I take a 6" ruler, and measure wargamer--style for movement and distance. Clear plastic dice boxes (like Chessex) as a support for flying creatures, and you're good to go.
In the group I am a player in, we use the Chesex grid battle maps and markers. We like that they allow us to make maps on the fly, but the game does slow down during dungeon exploration while the DM draws out the map. But we quite like it. For the party I DM, I made a TV case that can be placed on my table. I like it because I can use the digital maps of quality I doubt I can ever reach, and the players love how detailed it is and allows for them to use the terrain during combat. It does require me to have maps pre prepared, but I just have a bunch of generic ones on standby. In both, we occasionally use theatre of the mind in certain situations, like dinosaur racing in tomb of annihilation.
Personally, online battlemaps really are the best for all the groups I've played in. Even with in-person games, we always resort to using Roll20 maps for combat due to how fluid and convenient everything is.
UDT PLUS terrain features is my go to. His latest on DM screens that mesh with UDT has been a great plus for me as I am making those to give my UDT flavor AND levels.
I enjoy D100 Dungeon Mapping Game tiles that differentiate the areas. Plus the game system uses the minis to mark areas or rooms they're in for 1. And 2 with to hit different body locations where different types of armor is placed it allows combat to be theater of the mind and quick as the rolls occur. D100 Dungeon has great weapon and armor tables along with room and area search tables.
Dungeon Craft, the person (that I think) came up with the UDT, said in one of his videos that putting tiles on his earlier version was a mistake, it was so it looked like it was a dungeon floor, but people used it as a grid. That the intention was to NOT use it as a grid, so he corrected it later by purposely avoiding making it look grid-like.
That. I have everything you can imagine when it comes to terrain (except Dwarven Forge, too hard to obtain in my country) and what we use depends on the kind of game we doing. Terrain building, painting and crafting is a separate hobby, but for intense dungeon crawls, heists or huge battlefields with strategic positioning it is nice to combine it with DM-ing. Dungeon terrain can be 100% portable by the way, it's a great way to set something up at an event and immediately attract and immerse players, you just need to think about the table design and pack it in a logical way. Crooked Staff has a great system for portable 2/3 d terrain by the way, cheap and easy to craft with pretty impressive results.
I keep two clear top cases that were supposed to be used for paints (I think) and they hold my indoor/outdoor terrain. It's super easy to see what you need and go get it
I love my Dwarven Forge and 3D printed terrain, but I have a hard time recommending it due to the cost. I will say though that Dwarven Forge actually transports fairly easily to my friends house where I often DM. The pieces are magnetic and they have terrain trays which are thin sheets of metal covered with a fabric pattern. They fit nicely into my storage bins and then can drop it onto the table easily. But Dwarven Forge is easily the mist expensive option and it's not even close.
I got an "infinity" battlemat. It comes as a 3 foot wide scroll that unrolls to about 25 feet long, so you can put an entire adventure on it and just roll from location to location as you go. I like it.
I’ve used battle mats for the last 3 years, and love it and continue to use it. But now I have gotten in the weeds with terrain, and use it in conjunction with the mats to a great degree. Expensive, absolutely. But i really have been digging it.
Ran the first 3 levels of Dungeon of the Mad Mage on a Chessex mat. I drew every room and hallway the players explored, often having to erase and start anew multiple times a session. It would be really hard to run just theatre of the mind and get the full effect of the dungeon.
This was a great summary, thanks for posting. I personally have been going more to theater of the mind. It works really well for the random encounter heavy game I'm running.
I have a couple Big Books of Battlemats from Loke and that's all I've ever needed. Saves a huge amount of time and has the benefits of UDT and battlemats
We use a mix of theater of the mind and battle mats, often using 2D terrain tiles to denote walls, hedges/trees or other types of cover or notable features. I've found in the past the 3D terrain pieces can course line of sight issues for the players and the DM and can sometimes turn into a bit of a troublesome dexterity challenge when someone, like myself, is note quite as gracefully gifted.
During lockdown i built a bunch of cardboard tiles like Scotty and Gm info use,i also use loke battlemaps and i combine both by putting the loke maps on top of a 12 x 12 inch piece of cardboard to bring it up to height of my homemade tiles.
A friend ran a fight where the PCs were swinging on vines while them and the enemies took shots at each other while trying not to fall. This would have been hard (and probably looked lame as heck) on a battle map, but using the Imagination it turned out pretty cool. I personally run games that aren't grid based, but zone based (not like the UDT with the 3 generic zones, but separate zones that could represent a hallway, room, behind some crates, etc). So I usually switch between TotM and doodling things on a piece of paper - although I lately bought some erasable index cards and I plop them next to each other with some hand-drawn icons on them to represent the features of the zone.
I play on roll20 most of the time even though we meet in person. Basically turns into a dnd lan party. Using dynamic lighting and various APIs just make keeping track of stuff so much easier.
The best way to play is however you are able to play. Some of my most memorable games were entirely pen and paper. We even ran some amazing sessions on the hiking trail w/o pens, paper, books, or even dice.
I have always held that the best way to run D&D is the way that is immersive enough for your group, easiest enough for you to use, and least expensive for everyone involved.
I use approximation, eventual quick sketches (on paper or i advice a big board you draw on and put figurine on, best of most worlds) and rule of cool. So we don't nipic for half a meter. But i get the tactical and immersion values a precise and/or nice battlemap bring too.
For my games I tend to use Theater of the Mind for quick Random encounters and or if I am not explaining things correctly I will use a battle mate. For Boss fights or a location I know they will most likely go to, I use Dungeon tiles.
My group first tried DND in empty college classrooms using whiteboards and magnets. It seemed like the only viable way to play 5e given that the ranges were all in feet and the aeo's had all curved shapes, so using a grid seemed like obviously NOT the correct way to play XD. Like, we knew the history and we saw the variant rule that described grids, but when we read the handbook it seemed very clear to us that DND 5e was deliberately moving away from the grid. It wasn't until we saw that published content included grid maps everywhere that we finally admitted that we had the wrong read on their design intent.
What is best? To crush your enemies, to see them driven… Oh wait. That depends on the specific situation in the game and the tastes of you and your game group.
For years the group I played with, because of financial consideration only played theater of the mind, occasionally someone had a mini for their characters. Recently I made a couple of those udt things and we are going to invest in miniatures and perhaps some like battle mats as well. It makes visualization easier in the middle of battle.
I use theater of the mind when the encounter is small or the terrain isn't import, like one monster in an open field or a couple bandits along a road. I use mats for generic encounters or when there is a terrian obstacle that is important (like a broken bridge or a ravine.) I use tiles Dungeon crawls (building the combat rooms as we go). I use 3d modules for dramatic fights. Boss battles or a big set piece. If I'm going to do something showmanshipy like mess with the lighting I'll use full terrain models.
I use TOTM for a lot of exploration, and impromptu small skirmishes, and for chases. Preconceived battles, showdowns, or battles in confined areas or wit several combatants I do battle mats
We used buttle mat and abstract tokens (or chess, depending on what DM brought that day) when playing in person, and now use an online variation. I consider using a theater of the mind or universal terrain, but I'm looking to run ICRPG, which seems more narrative than D&D 5e (while racing mechanics sounds pretty confusing). I also have a pretty shitty experience with navigating a complicated structure with a theater of the mind, but it was more about the GM's attitude than about the approach itself.
For maps, your point regarding not drawing the dungeon is precise. Only draw a room if there is combat. If you are exploring a dungeon and you would like to use a map, print it on regular A4 paper then use a meeple or a pencil eraser to represent where the party is. You can use sticky notes to hide unexplored areas. But leave battlemats for combat situations only.
The thing about Dungeon Terrain, you can make it youself. There are a lot of D&D craft channels that focus on making affordable D&D terrain that looks good, is playable, and easy to use. My favorite is RP Archive, who uses a modular system for his builds, which is designed to be reused over, and over, and over again. He also makes terrain that's more realistic, such as water that's below the bank line, and rolling hills that are actually realistically sized.
The dnd I've played we used a Go board as a battlemap, the stones for walls etc. and then random game pieces (iirc some mahjong tiles) for different characters. Had them at the place we went to play at already available so didn't need anything more transportable (although, I do have a leather Go mat)
Downside of 'erasable' battle mats - If the ink stays on them for a while (such as when you go a month between sessions) - sometimes they won't erase right. I've got one mat still stained from 'saving the map' for the next session, when that session got delayed for a few weeks.
Why not combine the best of both worlds? Use a TV or monitor flat on a table as a VTT only for displaying the terrain. If it's on scale you can even use real minis on top of it. This is what I usually do when DMing.
You're correct that 3d terrain and 2d maps are similar in what tactical options they are offering, but only if you keep the 3d terrain relatively flat. If you add verticality to it, that would add a big tactical layer to the game. Verticality was actually one of the many cool things in BG3.
We do a few different style of games. For mutant and master minds we use battle mats and draw the modern areas out. For pathfinder we use home made mats and terrain pieces. I ve been doing arts and crafts since I was 8 yrs old, so making these is a cheap option for us. I also enjoy making them. I actually use canvas, chaulk, paint, and dirt to make my own terrain mats to fit on our table play space. And you would be surprised how much terrain you can make from recyclables, glue, card board and paint. We dont have the money for fancy things like flocking, grass, and etc. But some oregano and mod podge makes some nice looking grass or forest bed. Ive even used tea for paths. Cut open a tea bag, unused of course, and drizzle over glue or mod podge and you have a dirt path. And you tube has tons of video's on how to make stuff using things you have around your house. Its fun for me but it can be time consuming. It looks great all done. And being Im making them, I only make universal pieces to use over and over again so they get plenty of uses. And pur friends love using them with the mini s, it makes the games more real and immersive to them.
I think it depends a lot on what is best depends on what exactly is going on. You really should be doing all 4 at various points, like out of combat vs random encounters, vs boss battles, etc.
Loved the video! -- If I had a suggestion, it would be to perhaps timestamp the different sections (e.g. one section each for totm, battle mats, UDT, and 3D dungeon terrain)
One correction about the dungeon terrain. Just like battle mats you do theater of the mind until you get to combat and that’s the actual room you center. One other big advantage especially for tactical is I have elevation all over the map because of the terrain.
I use a battle mat for the same reason as you. I love tactical combat and it doesn't prevent me from using combat zones or theater of the mind for minor encounters or unexpected fights. When I prep, I usually use a smaller scale version of the map on graph paper with occasional measurements written out so that I can quickly draw it on the big map. As someone who plays both online and in person, I enjoy making detailed battle maps like the czepeku ones, but there's something to be said about the less detailed maps that I draw during in-person games. Sometimes too much detail can make players less imaginative and less creative since they will assume that anything that isn't explicitly drawn on the map isn't there. With a less detailed map, players will ask more questions about the room and the DM can spontaneously add those things. There's also the benefit of the DM being able to move rooms around to adjust things on the fly.
I have always used battlemats because I like crunchy, tactical combat. But there is something to be said for a mix of methods. Theater of the mind is great for those spontaneous, low stakes bar brawls you didn't plan for. You can run the fight with minimal overhead. Just assume everyone is close enough to do what they want, roll the dice, and move on. Battlemats are for moments you plan ahead of time with enemies who set up fortified defenses like in a dungeon or castle.
My personal tip for dungeon terrain is to make it yourself. It takes a while but it saves a lot of money, and the terrain can be exactly perfect for your specific needs.
I am almost entirely "Theater of the Mind", learned from starting into RPGs that way and playing highly tactical games like Twilight 2000 using Theater of the Mind. Having said that, I also have battle mats, all three styles mentioned, and have used them very sparingly. I don't have more than a dozen minis, but I DO make paper minis and tokens for use with battle mats when I have used them (for Savage Rifts and Star Trek Adventures). I can appreciate those who go all in on minis and play sets, but that's not for me.
I'm a pretty good artist, and the type of GM with lots of free time and prep work; so we have an overhead projector above the table for which I make digital battle mats and use a combination of custom and purchased Pathfinder Pawns (an excellent, cheap alternative to minis, the official ones are pretty good; and for custom ones, you print out an image, glue it either side of some Chipboard, and it fits pretty much perfectly into the little bases you can get). because of how cheap it is I can do fun stuff like make enlarged or invisible (just a dotted outline works well) versions of players, alternate states for their characters like a separate pawn for a Barbarian in Rage, or just update them periodically as they get new equipment and stuff. And for digital battle mats, you get all the advantages of scrolling and layers and even lighting effects that you might have in most VTTs, but with physical people and pawns to help everything feel more tactile. And I can always go Theater of the Mind or mapless if it's a surprise random encounter or something. Overall, it's a setup I would HIGHLY recommend.
i am currently running a mind theater campaign, and so far players are enjoying it. Big issue I've noticed though, a gameplay habit nurtured by the 21st century of ttrpg design, is that everyone's methodology of exploring an environment is asking for highlly specific dimensions. e.g. "how wide is the stone column", and "what is the precise distance between us and the goblins?", and so on.
My group has taken to printing out a colour topographical map from a program where you build the dungeon, and then we use 3d printed scatter terrain. It ends up being a better middle ground from standard battlemat to dungeon terrain.
I used to play a lot of Vampire the Masquerade and Werewolf Apocalypse. There we always played with theatre of the mind. However when I got to play DnD for the first time, I got killed almost instantly by a fireball from a friend, because he had no idea, that I would be in the blast radius. I'm convinced, that wouldn't have happend, if we had a map at our disposal. Ever since then I'm a strong proponent of using at least a battlemat. That kinda resulted in me going, ... a bit overboard, when I started to dm myself. My players enjoy the 3d terrain, that I print/build for them and I tremendously enjoy to do so myself. Since I made it modular, we ended up using it in other campaigns as well.
My group just uses a ridiculous amount of Lego for our battle mats that our host already had making our cost nothing and characters and battle maps extremely customizable with a whiteboard underneath it for drawing things we don’t have in Lego or spell effects
I have 14 boxes of those Dungeon Tiles, as well as a 24 pack of the original, irreplaceable Tac-tiles, and a 24 pack of the second gen Tac-tiles. I usually wind up with 6 piles of tiles with pre-drawn maps for the various places my party might go. and I usually run out before a single dungeon is finished. We're doing Giantslayer right now, so the maps are huge. my Starfinder Dead Suns campaign had so many beautifully drawn maps. my docking bay 94 was a work of art. my players are way too mobile in combat to not have the maps already drawn, because we only have 3.5 hours to play for the session. they end up all over the map, often scattered over parts that won't all fit on the table.
I am mainly a online GM (I havnt played in person since pre COVID), so with I at in mind I mainly use VTT maps cause I’m defiantly a sucker for showing people what’s there and I love making the maps. Does that take time (and money), yes but i like it and still have players so yay.
Our group has an especially strong hatred of theatre of the mind. It slows down combat so much for us. We are mostly wargamers, every turn we are asking clarification on where our allies are, how close the enemy is in relation, if we can move backwards, if we move back how many enemies will be within 30 feet of us, if we can move diagonally to prevent one or more of the enemies from being able to reach us this round. This happens at least once a turn maybe more, and miscommunication between players and DM has led to a lot of frustration. And the last 4 times the DM used theatre of the mind one of us grabbed some scratch paper and started drawing the map on the paper to everyone including the DMs relief
I'd say Mix and match.... Theater of the mind for stuff like shopping, and of course a mix of Battle Mats and dungeon terrain works pretty good for the dungeons....
My group uses a VTT called Game Master Engine. I really like it because I can build the map I need exactly how I need it. More generic maps could even be reused for future combats so I don't have to create a whole new map necessarily.
Something like an architect scroll case isn't that hard to find. Any decent convention will have poster dealers that sell them to protect your posters. Also, pretty much every shipping store has various round shipping tubes that can be purchased.
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As a note, reeses pieces is something you probably want to talk to your players about...peanut allergies or intolerances are a sure fire way to have a session add badly for everyone
We need bacon flavored pieces lol
Thank you for the shout-out!
Super helpful breakdown of the options, and it was great to see the recommendation for Professor DM’s UDT!
I have watched a couple of videos on the UDT, and I am not at all a fan.
But if it works for other groups, more power to them.
The best way is the way that brings your group the most enjoyment. There are so many pros and cons to each one. At one end TotM is great because it can be played anywhere. Minis and Terrain (&VTT) is great because it is so immersive and just looks cool. Over my many years of play, a blend of them has worked best for me.
For my last session in a sci-fi-ish game, the party is looking to loot a bombed-out spaceport.
I was looking online for pictures of ruined spaceports to "set the visual tone" and stumbled on the perfect images.
Sadly, the perfect "ruined spaceport" is Donetsk International Airport in Ukraine.
I dug into my off-off Broadway theater experience and made what's essentially a black box theater on a 14-inch disk. I glued some black foam sheet to a round cake board and added a thin wooden board on the back for support. Then I painted some fake Jenga blocks and some wooden cubes of various sizes. The abstraction gives me a lot of flexibility, so I only need one set of blocks to represent just about any kind of structure or terrain. The visual element helps players quickly get on the same page, but everything being black cubes means that I still get to use the narrative parts of Theatre of the Mind, which I deeply enjoy. My players also like having something tangible they can set up and move around as the scenes change.
For me it's a combination of battle mats and 3D terrain, of course using minis. Needless to say, a 3D printer is a life saver in this scenario ^_^
We've made cliffs, canyons and rising hills with simple stacks of books.
For our group, we cannot switch from online battle maps. Players love it especially in large boss battles.
I think thats the best use of (online) battle maps. I think theater of the mind, for example, has other areas of play where it shines. I'm running the carnival of Wild Beyond the Witchlight and bought the map set, but am likely only to use a map for the last boss fight. The carnival has a bunch of small interactions and activities, and i think I'd be spending a ton of time if I used a map for each scenario.
I love using FoundryVtt for my in person sessions.
I use it for my players to explore the the map, I always put a pile of loot in every map, if they find it they get things.
Also So much fun for TotM I load a black screen, put some light music.
# things to know, I don't care about movement specifics. If my players are obviously moving to far, I will ask, but beyond that, as long as it is close enough I'm good with it.
Automation is my friend as well.
Theatre of the mind works great for smaller battles, boss battles should always be maps
I have a projector pointed at my table that throws animated battlemaps from my laptop onto the table.
Combine that with minis and a couple pieces of terrain and key components and it feels just as good as big modular pieces
What projector do you use? As in: Brand and Model?
That's an awesome idea !
I would like to know this as well
I feel D&D really is a tactical combat game. If you play theatre of the mind an awful lot of the abilities just become unusuable because it's really hard to check ranges, flanking etc
It's only been more of a tactical battle game since 3rd edition. I remember how those I played with back when 3rd edition came out were hesitant to switch from 2nd edition to 3rd edition because it seemed like Wizards of the Coast were trying to make D&D into a wargame what with all the grids in the combat rules. Previously combat rules had been much more abstract. That's not to say many didn't use minis. But then many of us didn't.
tactical combat does get more challenging with TotM. I love tactical combat, which is why we use battle mat and minis.
Old DnD fans be like: "Back on the playground, we could do whatever we want" there were plenty of early edition players who added their own rules for combat. 3rd edition just standardized it
A major factor for AD&D 1E and 2E is that they were using a "declare first" combat system. In other words you said you were going to cast fireball, then you rolled initiative, and when the init got to you, your dwarven fighter could have already charged into the orcs or the orcs could have acted and were upon you. You never really knew when you'd act, which significantly reduced the amount of intricate targeting you could do compared to 3E+ where when your turn comes up you can survey the map, move and cast your spell and it all happens instantly.
As a 5e DM of several years i've tried them all and i agree 100% with OP: Terrain and Minis Rule when it comes to combat. But only then. As soon as we are out of combat the terrain goes away. This is the ultimate way to play a combat oriented TTRPGs like D&D.
You also have modular dungeon tiles. They're the best of both worlds between full dungeon terrain and the more portable mats. You can use a few 3d elements, or keep it 2d. They take up less space and are much easier to rig up on the fly. Definitely my top pick!
Agree. WarLock Tiles is the ultimate terrain in my opinion.
@@PerfectionHunterFor me, that honor goes to RP Archive's magnetic tile system, which allows you to use any floor with any wall, and top it off with any roof.
Great info.
I've been playing since before you were born, and half of the styles you discussed are new to me.
Using Battle mats with universal Dungeon terrain is what i use and its amazing. We use the mat as a sort of "Heads up display" map and the players can mark off where they have been and the UDT used for combat and rooms they are entering and is pretty fast to set up. We tried using a full blown terrain map and it took so long tk set up and take down, let alone the weeks it takes to visually set up. Telling you, using both battle mats as a sort if "location spotter" and UTD is way easier to do does the job super well
Yeah cost and setup/takedown time for 3D terrain is a show stopper for me. I just don't have the time for that, even though it looks cool. And I'd rather spend my gaming money on miniatures. :D
@@theDMLair
I could see the "Full terrain" map as a culmination of the final "boss fight" where you have to enter their lair and weasel your way through and end it in a giant map, but for most games ... Players can be stuck in a puzzle room for around an hour or two, and then to have to only get through 1/4 of the dungeon since the puzzle room took so long and have to tear the map down is what killed it for me. Then you have that awkward tear down and the players kinda looking at each other like "yo. Why was it so hard to figure out?!" ... So the mats and UDT just makes it easier since players are also less likely to be ... Distracted with a book room or a armory. 😅
Honestly this is brilliant! I have a dungeon I'm running now and I was doing TotM to explain to them where they were going and then the UDT for the encounters, but printing or drawing a general map is a great idea on the side!
as soon as i learned of the existance of UDTs, my first thought was to do exactly that, also i improvise my UDT using a chess board, i mean, who said it cant have a square shape?
I just thought of this. 1-2 monsters, theater of the mind. 3-4 monsters, UDT drawn on a battle mat. 4+ / a full dungeon, a battle mat. Easy and hits the benefits of each style of play.
This is similar to what I do now. I make my maps on Inkarnate or pull one from the internet for specific set pieces, but otherwise it's theater/zones for the tweener fights
I never understood this as I have and do run up to five or six monsters, and combats with dozens of creatures in TOTM. It simply takes practice.
@@Doodle1776 My players and I enjoy the visual representation and tactical nature of combat with minis, grids, and terrain. This isn't to say that we can't run combat in TotM, but we prefer not to in some situations. For instance, guarding a wall against a horde of zombies/skeletons/goblins/etc. TotM would likely benefit us, as the time to maneuver and manage such a large sum would be cumbersome. In the same vein, the speed of a small random encounter in a dungeon hallway with 2 rust monsters is better in TotM. Running a boss fight with a mad alchemist, tables of unstable reagents, cages of experimental beasts, and the like lends to a map. We can drop or draw lines of fire that need to be navigated, have chemical explosions that may hit/miss multiple combatants, and the map itself becomes a character to help the story become more colorful. It's not to say we can't use TotM, just that sometimes we like what a map and terrain can afford us: adding chaos without confusion.
@@Renglish92 "adding chaos without confusion"
@@Doodle1776 Including flying PC's and NPC's, parts of difficult terrain, moving vehicles and traps? I've been using TOTM for over 15 years but my combat scenario's have become way more tactic and interesting at the point where we started to use terrain.
I’ve only been playing for about 4 months, DMing for two, so I got involved at a time when online play was normal, especially after Covid. However, my groups prefer in person play. I have access to a high quality plotter, so I create maps in Dungeondraft or Dungeon Alchemy and print them. My friend has a high grade 3D printer, so we design all our minis on Eldritch Foundry or Hero Forge, and he prints them out. That works great for us and feels really immersive for our sessions. We even use Zoom and an overhead camera to accommodate people traveling for work. Finally, we are a couple weeks away from finishing a game table with an embedded tv screen to project our maps onto with Foundry VTT. We still use the physical minis on the surface of the display, but we run one digital player token inside Foundry to allow for digital fog of war/Line-of-sight functions. That also allows for special effects and animations on the screen, and the fog of war feature encourages our party to stay together where they can all see.
11:12 in my last in person sesssion the person who usually provided miniatures forgot them so we used monopoly houses
I have a Chessex hex map from the 80's. Love it. It's larger, sure, but still portable since I'm not riding my bicycle to my friends' houses for games these days. I've used minis, dice, tokens, glass beads, coins, etc., as well as Cardboard Heroes, which were really cool and cheaper than minis. But to date, a VTT is my favourite for tactical use, flexibility, and speed.
If you're still running super-budget, you can use books to make cliffs, canyons and hills. We've done that for decades.
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edit: Oh! forgot to add that for Chessex (or any) wet-erase mats, Crayola washable markers work great and stain a lot less than the Vis-a-Vis wet erase markers. And they're a LOT cheaper.
Making your own ultimate dungeon terrain is a great way to start down the slippery slope of dnd crafting. You can easily make them double sided too: one side zoned, the other side fully gridded. Or you can make one side with a dungeon grid and the other side wilderness.
Fantastic video. Great list of pros and cons for each method, they'll all good. I will add that terrain gives the advantage of 3d combat, such as stairs, bridges, and other elevations.
Luke great video showing most of the options and of course leading us the the conclusion to use what works best for each person. I for one use a TV to display maps that I either get on Patreon or make myself using a map program made for VTT type use. And that’s of course more expensive but it is an option you left out. My problem is living in an area with very few players for an in person game. I’m a subscriber of yours and as always you deliver great content. Thank you for all you do for this hobby
Yeah, funny he didn't mentioned the TV.
My group has been online for a while now, and, while I would love to run in person again at some point, the mapping and tokens and such on a VTT make things much easier.
My PREFERENCE is full blown 3D terrain...my BUDGET is for battle mats and a few minis...lol
For the Chessex roll mats if you have World Market nearby they sell popcorn in tubes that can be repurposed for the battle mat.
With the dungeon tiles they sell vinyl terrain markers that you stick and peel off later as many times as you need. They take up less space in your back pack if you don't play from home.
We use two that are not listed here
1. Virtual Table Top on a TV on a wall (not on the table) it's more like a presentation.
2. Gridless Maps - it's a map for visuals but it's not super specific on distances.
I usually draw on a wet erase battle map, but every 5 or 6 sessions I or one of my players builds a sweet full-contact battlemap diorama. It's always epic when one comes out, and as a DM, I love it
I go with ungridded terrain most of the time. If I'm in a building, I can throw some Picasso tiles down, or just put in random scatter terrain. It's easier and fsster than grids because if someone's dashing, they don't have to count however many squares, they just have to take a quick measurement and then know all of the options for where they can reach. For shorter distances people usually can intuit where they're able to move, since most people aren't going their full movement anyways.
I actually use battle mats along with Jenga pieces to represent walls and such. I've even used my MTG boxes to represent walls for castles a few times. It gets the job done well enough.
I printed 1” grids on a couple paper types/colors and laminated them to supplement my other battle mats
I grew up playing B, X, 1e, & 2e. We played TotM & with minis on battlemats, but the minis were just for visualizing spaces & relationships. We _never_ counted squares or used a straightedge to determine if you could shoot someone.
That’s partly because the game before 3e used movement almost entirely to measure progress down a corridor. You could move 120 feet in 1 round-which was 1 minute-while checking for traps & secret doors.
Think about it: you can rush anywhere you want in a dungeon chamber in a few seconds. There’s no point counting squares.
My group uses digital maps through a tv built into the table with miniatures on top. Sometimes we swap to VTT maps as well even though we have the tv as we use Fantasy Grounds to track the characters in PF2e
For in person games, I often draw out elaborate maps on the back of wrapping paper. I buy the stuff with the 1"grid on the back, on clearance after holidays.
Full blown 3d all the way. I build what i need and use them at the table, and paint them and detail them when the inspiration hits me.
The 3d pieces that i make are my inspiration for the battlemaps, if you planning on making some , the 3d element of modular mountain pieces opened the floodgates for me.
I have personally done all three. Starting off D&D many years ago with just Theatre of the mind, because I was broke (ha ha), eventually moving into making my own tile sets (YAY!). I do love the look on my players faces when I bring out this huge 3D battle map. They're like a bunch of kids on Christmas morning and that makes me feel good (Validation is a real thing. LOL).
Another good thing about making my own tiles is the fact that if I don't have a specific locale, or scatter terrain, or that blue, glowing crystal they're looking for, I can just make it. :) Yes, it has to be done pregame session but I don't mind the extra work.
I know this isn't an option for everyone and some people couldn't craft their way out of a paper bag but for me, this is by far my favorite way to play out encounters. :) Happy adventuring all!
As a DM, I often use paper battle maps that can be cut up into individual rooms/areas. I can draw areas before or during the game, and they remain super portable, since they're just sheets of paper that can fit into a folder.
That said, I sometimes prefer theater of the mind, mostly because it's way simpler, both to prep and to run.
The most popular of those big rolling mats generally come packaged in a “scroll” type of container, and don’t feel unwieldy if you have a decent sized table
I use a TV laying down on the table in a box with a plexiglass screen protecting it. I have 3D printed minis, but lately we’ve used mostly 3D printed bases with clips you can fit a 2D printed picture in as we’ve had a much easier time creating characters and monsters using Ai art to generate them and then print them out on some cardstock. Even if I don’t have a fully fleshed out battle map, I find that a picture to set the scene can help players remember where they’re at while using theater of mind. That way they don’t forget that they’re still in the mines instead of back in town by the saloon.
For small encounters I use TOTM or B.M. but since we play at my house and I have a large table, I use dungeon pieces for Boss Battles and such.
A tip I found is that, if you don't need anything too specific, let your players build the rooms!! I did this once when they went a direction I hadn't expected. I gave them cavern pieces and mushrooms and said, "build a large cavern " not only did they have it done in 5 minutes! They also LOVED IT! It was so much fun for them!
For running at a convention, I use really cheap welcome mats that are a solid color (green or brown, usually, but I have red and blue for lava and water), add minis, and put representative terrain elements that don't take up much space (a set of wooden blocks, cylinders, and arches does wonders). Then I take a 6" ruler, and measure wargamer--style for movement and distance. Clear plastic dice boxes (like Chessex) as a support for flying creatures, and you're good to go.
In the group I am a player in, we use the Chesex grid battle maps and markers. We like that they allow us to make maps on the fly, but the game does slow down during dungeon exploration while the DM draws out the map. But we quite like it.
For the party I DM, I made a TV case that can be placed on my table. I like it because I can use the digital maps of quality I doubt I can ever reach, and the players love how detailed it is and allows for them to use the terrain during combat. It does require me to have maps pre prepared, but I just have a bunch of generic ones on standby.
In both, we occasionally use theatre of the mind in certain situations, like dinosaur racing in tomb of annihilation.
"left their brain home - it does happen" 😅😂🤣
Made my day, thanks 😆😄😁
Personally, online battlemaps really are the best for all the groups I've played in. Even with in-person games, we always resort to using Roll20 maps for combat due to how fluid and convenient everything is.
UDT PLUS terrain features is my go to. His latest on DM screens that mesh with UDT has been a great plus for me as I am making those to give my UDT flavor AND levels.
I enjoy D100 Dungeon Mapping Game tiles that differentiate the areas. Plus the game system uses the minis to mark areas or rooms they're in for 1. And 2 with to hit different body locations where different types of armor is placed it allows combat to be theater of the mind and quick as the rolls occur. D100 Dungeon has great weapon and armor tables along with room and area search tables.
Dungeon Craft, the person (that I think) came up with the UDT, said in one of his videos that putting tiles on his earlier version was a mistake, it was so it looked like it was a dungeon floor, but people used it as a grid. That the intention was to NOT use it as a grid, so he corrected it later by purposely avoiding making it look grid-like.
Whatever works best for your table is the best.
I prefer a mixture of all
That. I have everything you can imagine when it comes to terrain (except Dwarven Forge, too hard to obtain in my country) and what we use depends on the kind of game we doing. Terrain building, painting and crafting is a separate hobby, but for intense dungeon crawls, heists or huge battlefields with strategic positioning it is nice to combine it with DM-ing. Dungeon terrain can be 100% portable by the way, it's a great way to set something up at an event and immediately attract and immerse players, you just need to think about the table design and pack it in a logical way. Crooked Staff has a great system for portable 2/3 d terrain by the way, cheap and easy to craft with pretty impressive results.
I keep two clear top cases that were supposed to be used for paints (I think) and they hold my indoor/outdoor terrain. It's super easy to see what you need and go get it
I love my Dwarven Forge and 3D printed terrain, but I have a hard time recommending it due to the cost. I will say though that Dwarven Forge actually transports fairly easily to my friends house where I often DM. The pieces are magnetic and they have terrain trays which are thin sheets of metal covered with a fabric pattern. They fit nicely into my storage bins and then can drop it onto the table easily.
But Dwarven Forge is easily the mist expensive option and it's not even close.
I got an "infinity" battlemat. It comes as a 3 foot wide scroll that unrolls to about 25 feet long, so you can put an entire adventure on it and just roll from location to location as you go. I like it.
V cool video. I do love me a gridded battle mat with minis personally but I've had just as much fun playing other ways.
I’ve used battle mats for the last 3 years, and love it and continue to use it. But now I have gotten in the weeds with terrain, and use it in conjunction with the mats to a great degree. Expensive, absolutely. But i really have been digging it.
I’ve been using almost exclusively theater of the mind recently and it has been a blast for me and the players
Ran the first 3 levels of Dungeon of the Mad Mage on a Chessex mat. I drew every room and hallway the players explored, often having to erase and start anew multiple times a session. It would be really hard to run just theatre of the mind and get the full effect of the dungeon.
This was a great summary, thanks for posting.
I personally have been going more to theater of the mind. It works really well for the random encounter heavy game I'm running.
I have a couple Big Books of Battlemats from Loke and that's all I've ever needed. Saves a huge amount of time and has the benefits of UDT and battlemats
We use a mix of theater of the mind and battle mats, often using 2D terrain tiles to denote walls, hedges/trees or other types of cover or notable features. I've found in the past the 3D terrain pieces can course line of sight issues for the players and the DM and can sometimes turn into a bit of a troublesome dexterity challenge when someone, like myself, is note quite as gracefully gifted.
We use a tv for maps with lightweight scatter terrain, ie: barrels, crates, tree trunks with no tops, boulders.
I like the physical maps, but I find it much more practical to use digital maps with a TV on the table.
hellyeah its the best
During lockdown i built a bunch of cardboard tiles like Scotty and Gm info use,i also use loke battlemaps and i combine both by putting the loke maps on top of a 12 x 12 inch piece of cardboard to bring it up to height of my homemade tiles.
A friend ran a fight where the PCs were swinging on vines while them and the enemies took shots at each other while trying not to fall. This would have been hard (and probably looked lame as heck) on a battle map, but using the Imagination it turned out pretty cool.
I personally run games that aren't grid based, but zone based (not like the UDT with the 3 generic zones, but separate zones that could represent a hallway, room, behind some crates, etc). So I usually switch between TotM and doodling things on a piece of paper - although I lately bought some erasable index cards and I plop them next to each other with some hand-drawn icons on them to represent the features of the zone.
I play on roll20 most of the time even though we meet in person. Basically turns into a dnd lan party. Using dynamic lighting and various APIs just make keeping track of stuff so much easier.
The best way to play is however you are able to play. Some of my most memorable games were entirely pen and paper. We even ran some amazing sessions on the hiking trail w/o pens, paper, books, or even dice.
I have always held that the best way to run D&D is the way that is immersive enough for your group, easiest enough for you to use, and least expensive for everyone involved.
I use approximation, eventual quick sketches (on paper or i advice a big board you draw on and put figurine on, best of most worlds) and rule of cool. So we don't nipic for half a meter.
But i get the tactical and immersion values a precise and/or nice battlemap bring too.
For my games I tend to use Theater of the Mind for quick Random encounters and or if I am not explaining things correctly I will use a battle mate. For Boss fights or a location I know they will most likely go to, I use Dungeon tiles.
My group first tried DND in empty college classrooms using whiteboards and magnets. It seemed like the only viable way to play 5e given that the ranges were all in feet and the aeo's had all curved shapes, so using a grid seemed like obviously NOT the correct way to play XD.
Like, we knew the history and we saw the variant rule that described grids, but when we read the handbook it seemed very clear to us that DND 5e was deliberately moving away from the grid.
It wasn't until we saw that published content included grid maps everywhere that we finally admitted that we had the wrong read on their design intent.
What is best? To crush your enemies, to see them driven… Oh wait. That depends on the specific situation in the game and the tastes of you and your game group.
And to hear the lamentations of their women!!! Crom!
For years the group I played with, because of financial consideration only played theater of the mind, occasionally someone had a mini for their characters. Recently I made a couple of those udt things and we are going to invest in miniatures and perhaps some like battle mats as well. It makes visualization easier in the middle of battle.
I use theater of the mind when the encounter is small or the terrain isn't import, like one monster in an open field or a couple bandits along a road. I use mats for generic encounters or when there is a terrian obstacle that is important (like a broken bridge or a ravine.) I use tiles Dungeon crawls (building the combat rooms as we go). I use 3d modules for dramatic fights. Boss battles or a big set piece. If I'm going to do something showmanshipy like mess with the lighting I'll use full terrain models.
I use TOTM for a lot of exploration, and impromptu small skirmishes, and for chases. Preconceived battles, showdowns, or battles in confined areas or wit several combatants I do battle mats
We used buttle mat and abstract tokens (or chess, depending on what DM brought that day) when playing in person, and now use an online variation. I consider using a theater of the mind or universal terrain, but I'm looking to run ICRPG, which seems more narrative than D&D 5e (while racing mechanics sounds pretty confusing). I also have a pretty shitty experience with navigating a complicated structure with a theater of the mind, but it was more about the GM's attitude than about the approach itself.
For maps, your point regarding not drawing the dungeon is precise. Only draw a room if there is combat. If you are exploring a dungeon and you would like to use a map, print it on regular A4 paper then use a meeple or a pencil eraser to represent where the party is. You can use sticky notes to hide unexplored areas. But leave battlemats for combat situations only.
The thing about Dungeon Terrain, you can make it youself. There are a lot of D&D craft channels that focus on making affordable D&D terrain that looks good, is playable, and easy to use. My favorite is RP Archive, who uses a modular system for his builds, which is designed to be reused over, and over, and over again. He also makes terrain that's more realistic, such as water that's below the bank line, and rolling hills that are actually realistically sized.
3d terrain for boss battles or specific key battle scenes. Battle mats for everything else. Only play at my house.
The dnd I've played we used a Go board as a battlemap, the stones for walls etc. and then random game pieces (iirc some mahjong tiles) for different characters.
Had them at the place we went to play at already available so didn't need anything more transportable (although, I do have a leather Go mat)
Use each in escalation as the story goes. TotM for a burglary, Battle maps for group fights, 3D for BBEG fights
Downside of 'erasable' battle mats - If the ink stays on them for a while (such as when you go a month between sessions) - sometimes they won't erase right. I've got one mat still stained from 'saving the map' for the next session, when that session got delayed for a few weeks.
Why not combine the best of both worlds? Use a TV or monitor flat on a table as a VTT only for displaying the terrain. If it's on scale you can even use real minis on top of it. This is what I usually do when DMing.
I've seen setups like that. THey are sweet.
I combine these. Out of combat is theatre of the mind. With combat it's usually a battlemat and some terrain.
You're correct that 3d terrain and 2d maps are similar in what tactical options they are offering, but only if you keep the 3d terrain relatively flat. If you add verticality to it, that would add a big tactical layer to the game. Verticality was actually one of the many cool things in BG3.
I JUST ran your pleasentrey adventure.... the tabletop loved it!
We do a few different style of games. For mutant and master minds we use battle mats and draw the modern areas out. For pathfinder we use home made mats and terrain pieces. I ve been doing arts and crafts since I was 8 yrs old, so making these is a cheap option for us. I also enjoy making them. I actually use canvas, chaulk, paint, and dirt to make my own terrain mats to fit on our table play space. And you would be surprised how much terrain you can make from recyclables, glue, card board and paint. We dont have the money for fancy things like flocking, grass, and etc. But some oregano and mod podge makes some nice looking grass or forest bed. Ive even used tea for paths. Cut open a tea bag, unused of course, and drizzle over glue or mod podge and you have a dirt path. And you tube has tons of video's on how to make stuff using things you have around your house. Its fun for me but it can be time consuming. It looks great all done. And being Im making them, I only make universal pieces to use over and over again so they get plenty of uses. And pur friends love using them with the mini s, it makes the games more real and immersive to them.
I think it depends a lot on what is best depends on what exactly is going on. You really should be doing all 4 at various points, like out of combat vs random encounters, vs boss battles, etc.
Loved the video! -- If I had a suggestion, it would be to perhaps timestamp the different sections (e.g. one section each for totm, battle mats, UDT, and 3D dungeon terrain)
One correction about the dungeon terrain. Just like battle mats you do theater of the mind until you get to combat and that’s the actual room you center. One other big advantage especially for tactical is I have elevation all over the map because of the terrain.
I use a battle mat for the same reason as you. I love tactical combat and it doesn't prevent me from using combat zones or theater of the mind for minor encounters or unexpected fights. When I prep, I usually use a smaller scale version of the map on graph paper with occasional measurements written out so that I can quickly draw it on the big map.
As someone who plays both online and in person, I enjoy making detailed battle maps like the czepeku ones, but there's something to be said about the less detailed maps that I draw during in-person games. Sometimes too much detail can make players less imaginative and less creative since they will assume that anything that isn't explicitly drawn on the map isn't there. With a less detailed map, players will ask more questions about the room and the DM can spontaneously add those things. There's also the benefit of the DM being able to move rooms around to adjust things on the fly.
I have always used battlemats because I like crunchy, tactical combat.
But there is something to be said for a mix of methods. Theater of the mind is great for those spontaneous, low stakes bar brawls you didn't plan for. You can run the fight with minimal overhead. Just assume everyone is close enough to do what they want, roll the dice, and move on.
Battlemats are for moments you plan ahead of time with enemies who set up fortified defenses like in a dungeon or castle.
i found a 24" UDT made of a flexible grip mat in etsy for about $18 with shipping. very much worth the price
My personal tip for dungeon terrain is to make it yourself. It takes a while but it saves a lot of money, and the terrain can be exactly perfect for your specific needs.
I am almost entirely "Theater of the Mind", learned from starting into RPGs that way and playing highly tactical games like Twilight 2000 using Theater of the Mind. Having said that, I also have battle mats, all three styles mentioned, and have used them very sparingly. I don't have more than a dozen minis, but I DO make paper minis and tokens for use with battle mats when I have used them (for Savage Rifts and Star Trek Adventures). I can appreciate those who go all in on minis and play sets, but that's not for me.
I'm a pretty good artist, and the type of GM with lots of free time and prep work; so we have an overhead projector above the table for which I make digital battle mats and use a combination of custom and purchased Pathfinder Pawns (an excellent, cheap alternative to minis, the official ones are pretty good; and for custom ones, you print out an image, glue it either side of some Chipboard, and it fits pretty much perfectly into the little bases you can get). because of how cheap it is I can do fun stuff like make enlarged or invisible (just a dotted outline works well) versions of players, alternate states for their characters like a separate pawn for a Barbarian in Rage, or just update them periodically as they get new equipment and stuff. And for digital battle mats, you get all the advantages of scrolling and layers and even lighting effects that you might have in most VTTs, but with physical people and pawns to help everything feel more tactile. And I can always go Theater of the Mind or mapless if it's a surprise random encounter or something. Overall, it's a setup I would HIGHLY recommend.
i am currently running a mind theater campaign, and so far players are enjoying it. Big issue I've noticed though, a gameplay habit nurtured by the 21st century of ttrpg design, is that everyone's methodology of exploring an environment is asking for highlly specific dimensions. e.g. "how wide is the stone column", and "what is the precise distance between us and the goblins?", and so on.
My group has taken to printing out a colour topographical map from a program where you build the dungeon, and then we use 3d printed scatter terrain. It ends up being a better middle ground from standard battlemat to dungeon terrain.
I used to play a lot of Vampire the Masquerade and Werewolf Apocalypse. There we always played with theatre of the mind.
However when I got to play DnD for the first time, I got killed almost instantly by a fireball from a friend, because he had no idea, that I would be in the blast radius.
I'm convinced, that wouldn't have happend, if we had a map at our disposal.
Ever since then I'm a strong proponent of using at least a battlemat.
That kinda resulted in me going, ... a bit overboard, when I started to dm myself.
My players enjoy the 3d terrain, that I print/build for them and I tremendously enjoy to do so myself.
Since I made it modular, we ended up using it in other campaigns as well.
My group just uses a ridiculous amount of Lego for our battle mats that our host already had making our cost nothing and characters and battle maps extremely customizable with a whiteboard underneath it for drawing things we don’t have in Lego or spell effects
#5: Acting it out in a field outside.
I've only done this once... It was awful but incredibly fun. (:
I have 14 boxes of those Dungeon Tiles, as well as a 24 pack of the original, irreplaceable Tac-tiles, and a 24 pack of the second gen Tac-tiles. I usually wind up with 6 piles of tiles with pre-drawn maps for the various places my party might go. and I usually run out before a single dungeon is finished. We're doing Giantslayer right now, so the maps are huge. my Starfinder Dead Suns campaign had so many beautifully drawn maps. my docking bay 94 was a work of art.
my players are way too mobile in combat to not have the maps already drawn, because we only have 3.5 hours to play for the session. they end up all over the map, often scattered over parts that won't all fit on the table.
I am mainly a online GM (I havnt played in person since pre COVID), so with I at in mind I mainly use VTT maps cause I’m defiantly a sucker for showing people what’s there and I love making the maps. Does that take time (and money), yes but i like it and still have players so yay.
Our group has an especially strong hatred of theatre of the mind. It slows down combat so much for us. We are mostly wargamers, every turn we are asking clarification on where our allies are, how close the enemy is in relation, if we can move backwards, if we move back how many enemies will be within 30 feet of us, if we can move diagonally to prevent one or more of the enemies from being able to reach us this round. This happens at least once a turn maybe more, and miscommunication between players and DM has led to a lot of frustration. And the last 4 times the DM used theatre of the mind one of us grabbed some scratch paper and started drawing the map on the paper to everyone including the DMs relief
I'd say Mix and match.... Theater of the mind for stuff like shopping, and of course a mix of Battle Mats and dungeon terrain works pretty good for the dungeons....
My group uses a VTT called Game Master Engine. I really like it because I can build the map I need exactly how I need it. More generic maps could even be reused for future combats so I don't have to create a whole new map necessarily.
I am somewhere between TotM and battlemat. I like quick whiteboard diagrams as a TotM supplement.
Something like an architect scroll case isn't that hard to find. Any decent convention will have poster dealers that sell them to protect your posters. Also, pretty much every shipping store has various round shipping tubes that can be purchased.