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Playing Without Grid
Topic Started: Mar 9 2016, 07:01 AM (757 Views)
Kaede11
Unlucky GM
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Hi guys!

We plan on starting a new PTU game. We would like to avoid using a grid because it really slows down the game but the game seems made basically to be played on a grid. Any tips suggestions? is it even possible?
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BatiroAtrain
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Pyramid King
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Page 233 in the Core book has a pretty good example of abstracting combat. Though honestly if you've got a large party and you're not using a grid, you're missing out on half the fun of PTU, which is pretty much built around grid-based tactical combat. You can make it work for 1v1s and maybe 2v2s, but abstracting with a group of 3-4 is gonna be much more of a hassle when you're trying to remember everyone's positions.
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Kaede11
Unlucky GM
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That is why I'm asking here... I would like to know if anybody has done a gridless campaign or if there are alternative rules for the most grid depending moves like rollout or spikes...
Alternatively, any tips to make encounter faster?
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Birdy51
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Pokémon Trainer
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Well. There is precedent for throwing out the dice and working purely on averages. It might make things a bit easier math wise and cuts down the actual tossing of dice aside the D20.

As for actually managing distance... It's gotten tougher with the AoO addition. My only recommendation would be to design a space. Think about what you want on a horizontal plane.

Let's say it's a stadium or something. Stairs on either side. Spaces 1-10 are on stands which are hard to maneuver on. 11-30 is the actual field. 31-40 are more stands. You don't need a grid this way at the very least, granted you have a plain from there, just keep track of where they are on this flat grid. Within a square, you can trigger AoOs. But otherwise it allows for some kiting if you players decide they would like to.

At least, that might be how I do it if I didn't want to give definite distances if I don't have to.
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BeCeejed
Pokémon Trainer
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As a GM, I would use graph paper to maintain my own grid. lots of pencil notes and the like as play progressed, a spiral graph paper notebook with some pre-sketched designs for basic encounter zones like a league-legal battlefield and some of the gym challenges I know are coming up. It would help me abstract distances for the player, and I would be more flexible on movement capabilities and certain attack ranges since they can't see the same discreet distances I do. But it would negate the need to pre-plan your battlefields, you could add rooms and the like on the fly while you needed them, less time drawing things to the grid with markers or worrying about the limits of a tabletop style grid which usually are really long one way and sometimes too short another.

The point is to reduce what you hold in your head. you already have to hold onto a lot. 'download' it onto the paper so your brain can be focused on how you present the information and not retaining the information.

Consider carefully how you present the information. Really polish up your descriptive and narrative chops. The benefits of a grid are that all the discreet measurements are available for the players as well as the GM so they have a lot more information easily accessible to them to make decisions. Your descriptions need to provide all the necessary details so they can build a picture in their heads of the scene, and need to use descriptions that don't allow confusion amongst players where two players have very different perceptions of the room. Avoid abstractions like 'a few paces away' and 'wide.' Always choose to provide detailed references whenever possible. 'the Rattata 3 yards away' and 'The tree trunk about as wide as your waist.'

You also need to encourage your players to ask OOC questions about their environment and to do so often. 'Can I see this receptionist clearly?' 'How wide is this hallway?' 'Does Pikachu have a clear shot at the Rattata?' If they have gaps in their mental image of the Scene, they will feel like their options are limited and it can feel very rail-roady. You will never be able to present the players with as much information as a grid set up can do, but you can get them to try to build the information they need to make decisions about what to do by asking questions to fill in the gaps your abstractions don't cover. Keep the dialogue flowing! 'Yes, you can see her clearly. She hasn't noticed you yet.' 'The hallway is 2 meters wide. There is a T intersection about 20 meters ahead. You cannot see down either branch.' Always try to provide more information than they specifically ask for, it encourages them to ask again. Make sure to jot down these details on your graph paper as you describe them! Don't hold it in your head, you WILL regret it if you try. Remember, 'download' it to the paper so you can access it later. Don't try to hold it in RAM!
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The Sneaky Prinny
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Optional Bonus Boss
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Well, for ranges and distances, you can go the Warhammer route and measure everything in inches. Melee attacks require model/base contact, everything else needs to be within 'X' inches of a vital part of the model. This is nice because it lets you make more crazy battlefields that might not have a nice flat plane on them. On the other hand, it will probably require a good deal more personal bookkeeping on your part, really needs actual models for your Pokemon, and is probably unfeasible for an online game. Make sure to have a few rulers, and a protractor or two!
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moorg
Poképirate
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The Sneaky Prinny
Mar 9 2016, 10:37 PM
Well, for ranges and distances, you can go the Warhammer route and measure everything in inches. Melee attacks require model/base contact, everything else needs to be within 'X' inches of a vital part of the model. This is nice because it lets you make more crazy battlefields that might not have a nice flat plane on them. On the other hand, it will probably require a good deal more personal bookkeeping on your part, really needs actual models for your Pokemon, and is probably unfeasible for an online game. Make sure to have a few rulers, and a protractor or two!
They could do this idea on the cheap with a "whiteboard", so they don't have to invest in bases.

I put "whiteboard" in commas because I've seen other people do this with large rolled up sheets of plastic, which they just use whiteboard markers on.

Same principals as the wargame approach though.
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tasmir
Pokémon Trainer
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The Sneaky Prinny
Mar 9 2016, 10:37 PM
Well, for ranges and distances, you can go the Warhammer route and measure everything in inches. Melee attacks require model/base contact, everything else needs to be within 'X' inches of a vital part of the model. This is nice because it lets you make more crazy battlefields that might not have a nice flat plane on them. On the other hand, it will probably require a good deal more personal bookkeeping on your part, really needs actual models for your Pokemon, and is probably unfeasible for an online game. Make sure to have a few rulers, and a protractor or two!
In my first PTU campaign we use a loose version of this type of gridless system. We use coins and other markers instead of fancy models and the measurements are done quickly instead of accurately. It's been running very smoothly. I haven't used any large or bigger pokemon so far as the campaign only recently started, but I'll just find other random objects to represent those when the time comes. I like how this style replaces "square counting" with quick estimates of distances and moves the attention more towards the actual roleplay aspect of pokemon battles.
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