Quote Originally Posted by Luccan View Post
I used to think grid combat was overly complicated and a pain to set up. I still think it's often a pain to set up but I prefer if to TotM now, at least for big/important combats, because you can point at a map or grid and say "that's where you are, that's where the bad guy is" without people having to correct their mental picture of everyone's position. Honestly, the main reason I haven't switched over to a VTT for live groups is because I don't know how to use any and not everyone in my group owns a tablet or small laptop that would make using those practical during an IRL game.
I think this is interesting, because I consider a very rough diagram to show general positioning indispensable for TotM. I can't imagine doing TotM without it, and I don't think it makes it suddenly map-based, because it's just a reference to keep people on the same page, rather than the actual "space" that's being played on.