theatre of the mind style

[Rookie555]

Been busy in the 21st century and haven't thought of basic fantasy for a while. So I've dug into a bit of info learning about what a mapper and caller was in B/X. The jist of it is that using miniatures can be a pain in my part. Plus both the player (one mapper) and the gamemaster have ready graph (hex) paper. Except the gamemaster has his/her map premade while the player draws has he/she listens to the GM; would I just forego distances and describe the rooms that the players would understand? I wouldn't say I'm great at saying things cause I'm shy.

[Metroknight]

Theatre of the mind style of play is how most of my IRL games were ran. The GM would give the description of the scene and the players would respond back. Minis were not broken out unless there was complicated combat. Just describe the scene to the best of your ability and answer any questions your players would have.

The GM could say "As you are moving slow and careful down the stone tunnel, the small cobwebs in the corner of the walls have grown in size and amount to span the entire tunnel width. With each passing step they grow thicker and thicker as dust and dirt hang on them to block your view down the tunnel. What do you do?".

Minis are not needed for that scene so theatre of the mind is just fine.

[teaman]

Another option is a hybrid model:
- Use minis and maybe little blocks for walls (Jenga blocks work well), little trees, etc...
- Don't sweat distances and feet etc... If it seems like medium range, it is.

I've used this for some Con games. For some of us, drawing maps can sometimes be a pain.