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"How close are the gnolls?"
"25 feet."
Understanding distance when running combat in the theater of the mind can be tricky if players have their heads still wired around 5-foot-per-square distances in gridded combat. It's hard to break this focus on spatial representation, so GMs often find themselves answering a lot of questions about distance.
How close or how far a creature is from a character isn't the real question they're asking.
"Can I get up the gnoll and hit it with my hammer?"
That's the question they're asking.
"Can I blast it with eldritch blast?"
Players want to know if they can do stuff. The distances don't really matter. 25 And we want* the characters to do stuff. So we have an easy default answer.
25 feet.
25 feet is a perfect distance for lots of things. It's within range of just about every ranged attack. It's within the distance of any character's move.
It's also not yet in melee. So characters can move without taking opportunity attacks. 25 feet is the perfect distance to give characters options for just about anything.
Next time you're running combat in the theater of the mind and a player asks you how close or far something is. Instead, think about the real question they're asking – can they do the thing they want to do?
Yes.
How close are they?
25 feet.
For our Metric-Using Friends
If you're using the metric system for your game, treat 5 feet as 2 meters. It's close enough and as long as you're consistent across the rest of the game, the extra meter won't matter. Most characters, for example, move 12 meters in turn.
How close are the gnolls? 10 meters.
More Sly Flourish Stuff
Last week I posted the following YouTube videos:
- City of Arches – The Obsidian Skull
- Let's Make a Character with Level Up Advanced 5e
- Unblurred 2024 D&D Player's Handbook Deep Dive
Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics
Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs. Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video:
- Amazing Encounters and Dungeons
- The Perilous Void
- Follow-Up on Blurring 2024 D&D PHB Videos
- Mike on Morrus's Unofficial Tabletop Podcast on Blurgate and Project Sigil - the D&D 3D VTT
- More Character Builds with Tales of the Valiant and Shadowdark
- WOTC Designers on Eldritch Lorecast
- Tales of the Valiant on Herolab and Shard
- Biomes of the City of Arches
Patreon Questions and Answers
Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patrons. Here are last week's questions and answers:
- Bifurcation of the Hobby Between 3d Online and Tabletop Play
- Handling Simultaneous Events
- Is a D&D Beyond Content Subscription Service Acceptable?
- Which To Buy – D&D 2024 PHB or Shadowdark?
RPG Tips
Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as RPG tips. Here are this week's tips:
- Give the characters and players clear goals and meaningful options in open-ended situation-based adventures.
- Gauge the types of interactions players are interested in while running situation-based adventures.
- Work with players to coordinate their activities in larger open situations.
- Prep a handful of solid NPCs the characters can meet in social interactions.
- Steer players towards the fun even if you have to just tell them where it is.
- Write notes during your game. Keep track of what's important to the players.
- After your game, evaluate what worked well and what could be improved.
Related Articles
Get More from Sly Flourish
Buy Sly Flourish's Books
- The City of Arches
- Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master
- Lazy DM's Companion
- Lazy DM's Workbook
- Forge of Foes
- Fantastic Lairs
- Ruins of the Grendleroot
- Fantastic Adventures
- Fantastic Locations
Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.