Do I need minis and a map to run 5e? Never DMed before

Sure, you can make it work. Grid is nice to have to avoid having to constantly ask/answer questions like "Are they in range? Can I hit both of those guys with an AoE?" though.

Tilesets are a nice way of adding flavor to an encounter cheaply, so your tavern fight feels more like a tavern fight, etc. For some groups it helps encourage improvisation thanks to visual cues.

No

>implying they haven't influenced each other
>implying 4e wasn't a prime example of videogamey tactical combat
>implying theater of the mind isn't superior for immersion
>le secret club
Stop being autistic.

I was thinking I might keep a grid for myself to keep track of and just use theatre of mind to explain things to the players, so I could maximize their immersion. Is that something done?

Not necessary but I enjoy using them

It works up until the point there's a misunderstanding, e.g. there's two orcs, "I attack the orc next to me!", player wasn't listening when one of the orcs had moved.

If you're playing using Roll20 I'd say share the map with your players because you're going to have a hard time keeping track of who's paying attention. You don't want to have to summarize the entire situation every turn.

Okay.

That would likely just be frustrating for the players: they're either burdened with making narrativisitic assumptions that prove to be inaccurate because it secretly is grid-based in a way they can't access, or they'll be burdened with having to maintain their own grid in their head (or on paper).

If you're going to be using a grid at all, make it visible to the players. If you're going to try for theater of the mind, you need to be able to do so without a grid. The two aren't very compatible.

No you're thinking of 4E.

5E runs fine in theatre of mind and is recommended over video game mode.

What is up with all this videogame trolling?

Is chess a videogame now?

Never played Battle Chess?

The videogame battlechess came before the board game variant.

Consider using a white board, dry erase markers, and magnets for combat mapping/positioning.

Nope, but a square grid and some markers/coins/teeth help a lot.

Almost got me.

I mean, I don't disagree that he's autistic, but theatre of the mind isn't always more immersive. It helps to have a visual representation of where you are and what's in the room to imagine it correctly, and it can be very jarring if you get or give a subpar description and try to do something only to be told you were imagining it wrong

>It helps to have a visual representation of where you are and what's in the room to imagine it correctly
To be honest, as a DM, I find it incredibly helpful to not have that precisely because it gives my players more options. If I have to draw out a map of where they are, I'm probably not going to be inventive enough.

Take, for example, the case of a player asking if there's a pillar that they can hide behind. If I've drawn out the map in advance, it's pretty clear what is and isn't there, and I probably forgot to account for that kind of thing. But, if it's theatre of the mind, I can give them the pillar. It lets the players be truly creative with their tactics, and gives them more agency in defining the scene.

You just need to make more complex maps. I like, when I'm a player, having some limiting factors to what I'm able to do so I can get creative and feel clever. Asking if there's a pillar and then there magically being a pillar doesn't force me to get creative.

This is why I recommend rough sketches and listing out like 3 other things about the place instead.

Like, you draw a mostly rectangular room and say
- 2 chandeliers hanging above are illuminating the loom
- there's chairs and a few tables strewn about
- the south wall is burning

Then arrange enemies and the players and have a go at it. Only think about relative distances and don't sweat the details. Feel free to hand out AoOs for/against the players, everyone only gets 1 anyway.

I usually use minimalist scribbles on Roll20, that way the players can tell where things are relative to each other, but they're still doing more imagining than looking.

AoOs?

Attack of Opportunity.

I don't remember what term 5e is actually using to describe them, but it's the reaction attack you get if somebody moves away from you without using the Disengage action.

Thanks.

Not at all. It can all be completely "theater of the mind" if you want (meaning that you actually just play pretend instead of trying to make it more gamey).

That being said, the core mechanics of the game have sort of been designed with some kind of tokens/play surface in mind. It is a game, after all. The entire idea behind DnD was about turning your daydream fantasies and pretend playing into something you could play with friends under a codified set of rules.

That's kind of the strongest argument against people who argue that these kinds of games should be less about roll- and more about role-playing. The role is important, but without the roll you're just playing pretend and not a game.

Different strokes for different folks, though. If you want to play pretend using DnD's narrative fluff and flavor, have at it.

That's ultimately the thing to take away. Do whatever you and your group have fun doing, and anyone who says it's wrong can go fuck themselves.

I fully agree. But I do use miniatures/maps.

What I do is theatre of the mind for nearly everything. But I try to prepare the main battle of the session (if there is one) and use miniatures for that.

To be honest this is mostly because I have a ridiculous collection of miniatures and I just gotta use them or I will be forced to recognize that I threw away XXX money.

But honestly, if the session goes in a different direction and the map/miniatures don't get used it is not a big deal and I don't bother for the secondary battles at all (if there are any).

I actually find that this technique gives some variety of to the session as it isn't 'always' X or Y.

You responded, which means he got you

Piggybacking this to ask a question im sure has been asked before many times.

Need cost effective mini solution that arent paper based. Lots on ebay are somewhere around $1/mini for mage night and higher for other solutions and im really not trying to spend too much. Not to mention several lots dont have much variety, which has benefits and drawbacks. Looked at some of those buckets of skeletons and monsters and whatnot but not sure if theyre too big for battlemat.

Any suggestions or have i pretty much considered my options?

Piece of paper/white board and narrow wooden pawns. I would also recommend 'papercraft' minis.

The best, most immersive game of D&D I've ever been in was in voice chat with a few friends. We didn't have Roll20 or anything set up by this point but we still went through two combat scenes. Now I love the crunch of maneuvering and positioning and basically playing a tactics game. But having to describe my actions in non-mechanical terms, trusting the DM to lay things out fairly, and painting the picture of the whole scene in my mind was just great. The group kinda fell apart a bit later and I disagreed somewhat with the DM's style and decisions but really if I could play a long campaign like that it would be pretty fun I think.

This. I bought a blank folding board and tape a grid onto it. I use numbered dice for players and monopoly houses for bad guys. Works beautifully.

Buy a 3d printer.

No.

Since you are new, it might be easier to use them anyway. Most experienced players have moved on to theater of the mind because positioning is not that important in this edition unless you use optional rules.