[Neongelion]

I'm certain this has been asked before, but would there be any resources out there that deal with using a map and miniatures for Shadowrun?  The group I play with is visual-centered and enjoys tactical combat, but not to the point of turning a roleplaying game into a miniatures wargame.

In addition, would anyone recommend miniatures to use? I saw that there are Shadowrun miniatures but they're pretty hard to nab these days. Of course I could very well be wrong...

[PeterSmith]

We use wipe-erase maps with grid lines, the scale changes as our needs change. Our GM has a good selection of minis, you can pretty much use anything as long as you remember what it is.

[_Pax_]

I just bought some wet-eras markers, and a double-sided "battlemat" from Chessex with a 1" square grid on one side, and a 1" hex grid on the other.

As for miniatures ... eh, we haven't got any.  We'll just use game pieces, spare dice, whatever. 

[Neongelion]

I just bought some wet-eras markers, and a double-sided "battlemat" from Chessex with a 1" square grid on one side, and a 1" hex grid on the other.

As for miniatures ... eh, we haven't got any.  We'll just use game pieces, spare dice, whatever. 

That's exactly what I have! What I'm trying to figure out is what each 1 inch square represents in terms of meters. I hear that some people have a static number (1.5m) for most encounters, but for pure vehicle encounters or anything else they vary anything from 10m per square to 20m.

[PeterSmith]

I just bought some wet-eras markers, and a double-sided "battlemat" from Chessex with a 1" square grid on one side, and a 1" hex grid on the other.

Same company and mats we use, the difference is ours are one-sided.

What I'm trying to figure out is what each 1 inch square represents in terms of meters. I hear that some people have a static number (1.5m) for most encounters, but for pure vehicle encounters or anything else they vary anything from 10m per square to 20m.

We'll go one square is one meter for close-combat, to...I can't remember the last time we had pure vehicle combat played out on the map. So I guess we're just 1 square=1 meter.

[_Pax_]

What I'm trying to figure out is what each 1 inch square represents in terms of meters.

  "Whatever is the most useful for that particular situation".

  I might default to 2.5m (I want to say 3m, but that wouldn't always work out so well for movement rates, which tend to be in multiples of 5m) for character-scale maps.

  For vehicle-scale maps, 5m might work.  Or, if every vehicle's speed relates neatly to each other, a size based on that relation so that they all move in exact numbers of spaces.

[TheNarrator]

1 square = 1 meter is what's usually done for SR in my experience, and it makes sense to me. Most people will occupy about a square meter of space, and area effects (like grenade blast and spells) are determined in meters.

If the size of the combat is too big to fit on the map at that scale, then go ahead and chance the scale as needed.

1 square = 1.5 meters is what we do for D20 games, because that's explicitly the size of a "square" in those systems (5 feet or 1.5 meters), but Shadowrun's rules are generally set up around distances of an integer number of meters.

[Glorthoron]

1 square = 1 meter is what's usually done for SR in my experience, and it makes sense to me. Most people will occupy about a square meter of space, and area effects (like grenade blast and spells) are determined in meters.

If the size of the combat is too big to fit on the map at that scale, then go ahead and chance the scale as needed.

1 square = 1.5 meters is what we do for D20 games, because that's explicitly the size of a "square" in those systems (5 feet or 1.5 meters), but Shadowrun's rules are generally set up around distances of an integer number of meters.

Yes, 1 meter is the norm.  Unless things have changed, and I wasn't looking.  It works well, IMHO.  What I used to do for SR was take a dry erase board and, using an exacto knife, scratch the grid in that way.  Then you can use dry erase markers, and the marker wipe off will darken the grid.

There used to be shadowrun figures out there when it was owned by FASA.  You could always try and track some down, but that may not be easy.

[TheNarrator]

Honestly, it's not like you need specific gaming miniatures. Or that the miniatures (even the Shadowrun ones) will look like the particular characters in your game anyway. You can use anything to mark the position of the players: other games' miniatures, chess pieces, spare dice, coins, cardboard scraps, paper clips, random odds and ends... whatever's handy.

[Glorthoron]

Honestly, it's not like you need specific gaming miniatures. Or that the miniatures (even the Shadowrun ones) will look like the particular characters in your game anyway. You can use anything to mark the position of the players: other games' miniatures, chess pieces, spare dice, coins, cardboard scraps, paper clips, random odds and ends... whatever's handy.

Initials written in dry erase marker.

[ArkangelWinter]

I've still got tons of blank hex-grids from my Battletech days that we use when a map is a must, but we try to avoid maps as much as possible.

[PeterSmith]

...but we try to avoid maps as much as possible.

Once upon a time, our GM left the room with a blank map in front of us.

"Make me an ambush."

We all had fun with that one...up until the GM came back to the room. Instead of leaving our minis where we had set them up, he moved us into the area the target was coming in from.

I haven't liked maps quite as much since then, but they really are invaluable for combat taking place in tight, busy areas.

[Tsuzua]

For Shadowrun, my group doesn't use a map.

For my Urban Fantasy HERO game, we use a wet-erase playmat.  For minis, we mainly use my bag of Mage Knight and HorrorClix figures I got super cheap at a con once.  I've found the HorrorClix ones especially useful for many games though the figures's bases are slightly larger than my playmat's 1" hexes.  You might be able to buy them cheap online.

[_Pax_]

Honestly, it's not like you need specific gaming miniatures. Or that the miniatures (even the Shadowrun ones) will look like the particular characters in your game anyway. You can use anything to mark the position of the players: other games' miniatures, chess pieces, spare dice, coins, cardboard scraps, paper clips, random odds and ends... whatever's handy.

Initials written in appropriate markers.

Fixed that for you.    Most battle-mats are wet-erase, and a dry erase marker may leave a permanent mark on them.

[Ronin]

we use a multitude of miniatures ive accumulated over the years, many of which are suitable for shadowrun. I would suggest looking at miniatures from Future Wars (street thugs, police, swat, punks), Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (KGB, spies, people in suits with guns) and Mercs (military, paramilitary and ragtag mercenaries). These are usually easier to find and might be cheaper than most official shadowrun miniatures (better quality too). humans orks and elves are easy to find models for since a mulcular guy can represent an ork and a skinny one can be an elf. Trolls and dwarves are a little more difficult. Try converting miniatures. Go to Games Workshop (despite the fact i hate the place) and get some dwarves and orks, then use green stuff and other bits and pieces to change them. Give a warhammer 40,000 ork horns and a long coat and hes suddenly a shadowrunner. give a dwarf a gun and some goggles and he's also ready to run the shadows. Can't find decent near future military figures? Buy a squad of Cadian shock troops. Need some gangers? Buy a gang of Orlocks from the Necromunda range.

I have also collected a lot of maps, some from the star wars video game, some from AT43 and some from Pathfinder. If none of them seem to satisfy my needs I'll sketch a map on some paper. I need to invest in some wipe-erase maps