Are Minatures or maps required for gurps?

[Captain Joy]

Originally Posted by GURPS Basic Set: Campaigns, p. 362

The complete combat system occupies three chapters. [Chapter 11] contains the core combat rules. Chapter 12 adds rules for playing out combat using counters or figures on a hexagonal grid. Chapter 13 provides rules for a number of special combat situations.

GURPS does not require you to use miniatures and hex maps for combat. Doing so is optional; chapter 12 is for those who choose to use them.

Welcome to GURPS.

Btw, the incredible support you're currently enjoying from these forums is not unusual.

[trechriron]

I think you can speed up play AND use minis and maps.

Look at Cardboard Heroes here at W23 or Pathfinder Pawns (I really like these because they are flat, colored and ready to roll. Also easy to store/carry).

Look at Crystal Caste BattleTop to get your minis off the table and free up room (it's super amazing!).

Why use minis? I believe it helps keep everyone on the same page as far as range and location. It helps show who is standing where and eliminates the confusion of placement I've encountered with Theater-of-the-mind style play.

I don't use a lot of drawn maps! I just note obstacles and maybe corners. I want imagination to rule! I just use the mat and minis to show placement of combatants. It sets up quickly, breaks back down quickly, and helps clarify what is going on. I also tend to note an exit or mark the end of the map as an "exit". If someone runs for it and hits an exit, it becomes a chase until the fleeing side gets away or gets caught. Then you can setup another "crib layout" and start real time combat again.

Minis do not have to involve elaborate layouts or drawings to be useful!

[BraselC5048]

Most of my personal combat is in starship boarding actions. As such, deckplans are pretty much a requirement. The deckplans are a ~ 5ft grid, so we just treat that as a space. Generally a few quick marks (use a photocopy!)as to who is where, and perhaps a lightly drawn arrow to indicate movement. Generally a little circle for enemies, and an 'x' over them if they become casualties. We don't generally keep track of facing in a tactical sense, and in "who shoots first" situations I've never used Basic Speed, usually it's a roll, or a simple "you went into the room with two enemies. When you come out, of course the other soldier in the hall shoots second. He's deciding whether you're friend or foe, and you know already." (I fired, rolled up hitting him in the hand, he had a rifle, I shoot him again, rolled skull. Couldn't have planned it that way). Plus, in conjunction with wounds jotted down on a piece of paper, provides a complete record of events. (Along with a recap of events typed into a text edit file I often make a couple of hours later while my memory is fresh

Also, is there any interest on this forum for recaps of your greatest gaming sessions? If so, I might start a thread on that.

[Buzzardo]

I've done it both ways hundreds of times (maybe a thousand times for without miniatures and maps). It works fine both ways, provided both players and GM are comfortable with or without, as the case may be, miniatures and maps. I have a small preference for doing without miniatures and maps, but the other way is fine, too.

[sjard]

Like the others have said, you don't need minis to run GURPS combat. I've been GMing GURPS now since I first picked up 3rd edition in 88. Maybe, one of these years I'll try the miniatures combat rules to see how they compare to other games that are heavily based on them.

Like you, I also feel that they do tend to slow the game down.

[PK]

No, miniatures are NOT required.

The basic combat system is abstract.

And because we know some people like maps and minis, the combat system is followed by a separate, tactical "add-on" chapter that offers a few additional rules for people who do want to use them.

[Shieldbunny]

My group plays over irc, and we never use miniatures. A simple clear explanation of position and range is all we've ever required. Only thing slowing us down us dodgey internet. :P

[Gef]

Seriously, the tactical combat system is worth a try. No reason why you can't use it in the same campaign with narrative combat, depending on circumstances. My present campaign is supers, all narrative combat becuase I have crazy powers in use, like a Speedster with many levels of Altered Time Rate. But my previous campaign was gladiators, lots of combat on a hex grid, specifically to explore the finer points of the system. I had players working out to use the Reach of their weapons to best effect, making run-around attacks to the non-shield side, seeking the high ground. Using the options cleverly is as good as having 4 more levels of skill, in my opinion, and a lot of fun in its own way. More importantly, my narrative combats in the present game are better, because of our experience in the gladiator game. Even without a map on the table, we can see it in our heads because of that training.

[Buzzardo]

Originally Posted by Shieldbunny

Only thing slowing us down us dodgey internet. :P

I hear ya. I play via Google Hangout these days, and flaky Internet is our biggest issue, especially since my friends live in Wyoming.

We do use miniatures, though. The GM (with whom I've been playing RPGs since 1979) likes minis and loves to make maps (he's an artist). The two of us who play remotely (the group varies between eight and twelve) each ask someone to put our miniature in a different hex, and it all works out fine.

[Bruno]

Everyone's already well answered the "Are miniatures necessary or not" question so I won't bore you with the same answer again :D

I'll just chime in as a tiny voice in the wilderness noting that I'm one of those people who gets lost driving around my home neighborhood or in the mall, unless I have a compass I can see the entire time I'm wandering about. Since my character sheet doesn't come with a compass to keep me oriented with my character, I get so VERY lost in games, and some kind of tokens down on the table helps me a lot with that. I can get left behind even in combat-less roleplaying scenes because I've lost track of who's nearby who and what's where in the environment.

But a battle map and hex by hex movement isn't necessary to fix that for me. I like to do tactical combat because I find it fun in just about every system I play in. As a GM, I like making environment maps and combat maps because I know I'm not flubbing communicating the scene to my players - I know my skills at drawing a map are better than describing things verbally.