My group is in love with the Star Wars games by FFG (me included). We have started to implement tokens from the start game and use grid-based maps. We keep it loose though. I was wondering if anyone else used tokens in their games or if maybe you brought in SW minis from other lines for the FFG line.

I have gone back and forth between using tokens/minis and not using them.

In theory, I like the more abstract way of running the game, where you don't need maps or minis and people just imagine and narrate their position relative to the world.

Sometimes that works for us. However I've noticed some confusion in some of my games, just trying to keep it straight who is located where. So I switched back to using tokens.

And for our game last night I ordered a bunch of Star Wars minis from Miniature Market, and we used those during the game. We used minis for PCs and significant enemies, and tokens for less-important NPCs.

I think it added a lot to the game. We used a couple of Christopher West's Maps of Mastery maps, and the players loved using the minis. I'm actually thinking about working minis/tokens into my running of Rescue at Glare Peak for Rebellion Day this weekend.

Truthfully? I use Lego if we need a visual representation I have a collection of Star Wars minifigs, and while we've not had to use them, my crew likes the fact that they could build their own character from the Lego pieces I have.

As for a "map" I have two large grey lego bases that we generally make use of.

Yes I've used mini's and tokens for my games and occasionally maps.
Typcally what I do when running the game is in more notable encounters (ie something beyond a bland hallway or bar fight), I draw out (on an erasable map with dry erase markers) a map ignoring the hex or squares (depending on the side I use).
Then we have tokens I've printed for enemies and players (small circles with their images), and tokens I use to reperesent range distances (small triangles that came from Warhammer 3rd edition).
Then I place the player and enemy tokens in their repsective places upon the map and set out range tokens around the map to kind of represent relative distances and use that instead of a grid. This way we get a bit more space between each movement and more room to draw the map on (as only 6 squares wouldn't do well to represent "extreme" range let alone all the details that could fit in such a distance on a normal sized map). Each token distance represents a single manuever and range is tracked as normal, ie 0 between for engaged, 1 token between being short, 2 between being medium, 3-4 between being long, and 5-6 between being extreme.

Uploaded an example of a character/npc token sheet I made (one of many). They're a bit bigger than I wanted but I've done so many I just stuck with it.

Truthfully? I use Lego if we need a visual representation I have a collection of Star Wars minifigs, and while we've not had to use them, my crew likes the fact that they could build their own character from the Lego pieces I have.

As for a "map" I have two large grey lego bases that we generally make use of.

Where's the "Love:" button?

I find that people get distracted by Lego if it's around.

I have hundreds of WotC's miniatures. I generally use then when I need to. Ive made some corridoors out of old shrink wrap tubes.

I've been collecting poppy seed pods to make some alien terrain.

I use mini from time to time. For normal battle and encounters I don't use them, and just might sketch out a quick map on my white board, and use green markers for the good guys and red ones for the baddies. For bigger battles I do like to use minis. Saturday we are doing BtR Ep II, so there will be no need for big maps or minis. Two weeks after that we will finish up BtR, and after we wrap up BtR I have a big fight planned out that will use minis and my terrain that I build. So that should be a good time. I will have to remember to have a bunch of tech crap laying around that the Techie can use in the fight as well.

I bought 3 booster boxes of WotC star wars Mini's at rock bottom clearance prices. gives me a bunch of figures to place on the table for a visual aid.

Also have A Chessex battlemat. It is still abstract, but the figures add enough visual aid for the players to understand what is going on. I had enough legos to build 3 Cargo Lifters for the chase scene on the Wheel (It happened at Ringside on Cartols Emporium). I just drew Range bands and moved the lifters with the figures on it as the scene progressed

I gave everyone their own token made by printing up 1"x1" (actually, 1.1" to give it some room) portraits, then punching them out with a 1" round hole punch, then sticking them on a magnetic round disc that I bought from Alea Tools. Did the same for their ship, only it was 2". We don't use them all the time, since half of our encounters are abstract and we don't need them. But for bigger or complex combats, they can be useful.

I do the same thing for adversaries. I find decent portraits for whatever they're going to be facing, print them up, and punch them out. I don't waste the magnetic rounds on them, however. I just use a glue stick and stick them on my numbered Alea discs (I think I have four sets of 10 with the number stickers on the edge). For the next encounter, if I need another group, I just take the old ones off and stick on others.

If anyone wants some of the WotC miniatures I have a ton of them. I'm looking to swap them for some high fantasy minis instead.

Yes I've used mini's and tokens for my games and occasionally maps.

Typcally what I do when running the game is in more notable encounters (ie something beyond a bland hallway or bar fight), I draw out (on an erasable map with dry erase markers) a map ignoring the hex or squares (depending on the side I use).

Then we have tokens I've printed for enemies and players (small circles with their images), and tokens I use to reperesent range distances (small triangles that came from Warhammer 3rd edition).

Then I place the player and enemy tokens in their repsective places upon the map and set out range tokens around the map to kind of represent relative distances and use that instead of a grid. This way we get a bit more space between each movement and more room to draw the map on (as only 6 squares wouldn't do well to represent "extreme" range let alone all the details that could fit in such a distance on a normal sized map). Each token distance represents a single manuever and range is tracked as normal, ie 0 between for engaged, 1 token between being short, 2 between being medium, 3-4 between being long, and 5-6 between being extreme.

Uploaded an example of a character/npc token sheet I made (one of many). They're a bit bigger than I wanted but I've done so many I just stuck with it.

I would love to see a lot more of these

I would love to see a lot more of these

Gladly, I'll message them to you so I don't spam the thread with large images if you'd like.

I use maps and tokens all the time.

I typically use Roll20 these days, and have abused Chris West's offerings from Maps of Mastery for years. Sure, it's 1" gridded, but that just helps give me a visual cue about approximate ranges. Range is still eyeballed, I don't say "Okay 5 squares is short range, 15 is Medium, 28 is long, etc." It helps for placement, PCs seeing the same thing I'm envisioning, and it's visually exciting when I start dropping large amounts of enemy tokens on the maps.

Even for live-play when almost all my PCs are in the same room, I'll still toss Roll20 up on some giant TV and run off that. If I have a game where none of my PCs need to remote-in (one of my regulars lives in GA currently), I may go back to maps on a table. Not sure.

did someone say tokens?

http://thruxus.shadows-angels.com/1SW/SWTokens/

Here are the tokens and cut-outs that I used when I ran Beyond the Rim. Use a 1" or 2" round paper punch on the tokens (you can find them at arts and crafts stores like Michael's), and for the cut-outs... well, cut them out

Beyond the Rim Tokens and Cut-Outs

They're not organized in any particular way, and one page has PC tokens on it, but if you're familiar with the adventure, you'll get the gist of what they're all for.

Would you send these to me as well?

Do I use the WotC minis? Occasionally - when the mood strikes me or when I think of it or when I'm setting out to build an epic battle. Do I sweat over "Well, this guy is X range bands from that guy, plus cover and he can move exactly Y squares away" details? Naw - I just eyeball it and move the figures around higgledy-piggledy.

Another Lego user here - I just GMed the climactic battle at the end of Operation Shadowpoint using Lego and my friend's gaming table - think 42" LCD TV in a giant table and you're 99% of the way there.

I created a jungle map with Shadow Base in the center, and divided the area into a rough rectangular grid. Cylinders for individual troops (the little 1x1 ones, white with circular cap pieces for Imperials, grey with square caps for Rebels/allies), I built a small Whisper Base, four mini AT-STs, an AT-AT (which I couldn't use because my players outmaneuvered me the previous session), a pair of Lambda-class shuttles, a TIE Bomber, a pair of TIE Fighters (again, unused), a few speeder bikes, two landspeeders, a few "Rupings", two generic "light freighters" and a pair of E-Web HRBs. The look on my group's faces when I lifted the GM screen to start setting up was worth it. :-)

No, it was not an just excuse to sit around and play with Lego, honest. :-)

Would you send these to me as well?

I gave up using tokens and maps as much as I could. Because my players are steeped in d20 gameplay and have a very difficult time with the narration of this system. I noticed that as soon as a map is down they conform to the specifics of the map and do not utilize the narrative nature of the dice to alter the setting or situations. Which effectively turns the game into a round by round slug fest similar to d20 and is far less enjoyable for me and becomes monotonous and boring. Instead of thinking up fun and exciting actions they want to try they stick to the mechanics on their character sheet. It is quite frustrating. Especially when their opponents are more exciting and making things much more difficult for them simply by being more creative and taking chances with the narrative dice. So I fight putting down a map as much as I can but sometimes it is just exacerbating having to describe the same thing over and over to each player. At that point I break down and throw up a map. [/end rant]

I gave up using tokens and maps as much as I could. Because my players are steeped in d20 gameplay and have a very difficult time with the narration of this system. I noticed that as soon as a map is down they conform to the specifics of the map and do not utilize the narrative nature of the dice to alter the setting or situations. Which effectively turns the game into a round by round slug fest similar to d20 and is far less enjoyable for me and becomes monotonous and boring. Instead of thinking up fun and exciting actions they want to try they stick to the mechanics on their character sheet. It is quite frustrating. Especially when their opponents are more exciting and making things much more difficult for them simply by being more creative and taking chances with the narrative dice. So I fight putting down a map as much as I can but sometimes it is just exacerbating having to describe the same thing over and over to each player. At that point I break down and throw up a map. [/end rant]

Try this: instead of a battle map, buy a clear vinyl mat and use it to draw the scene. If you really want to get exact lines and all that, just lay it on top of your grid battle map to do your drawing. Then, remove the grid map.

One of the main psychological barriers that d20 people have with counters and battle maps and all that is that they immediately conform to using the grids. When they place their counters, it will always be within a grid box. When they move, they'll probably even count out the distance to themselves The grid is so ingrained in d20 play that they'll just devolve into playing D&D in space when the battle map comes out.

By not having grids, and having the freedom to just plop their token wherever they want, this won't happen. At first, it'll be fun to watch them twitch when they try to make the abstract battle into a tactical simulation and fail but after awhile, I think they'll change the way they're thinking about combats and, eventually, have a lot more fun with it.

Because my players are steeped in d20 gameplay and have a very difficult time with the narration of this system. I noticed that as soon as a map is down they conform to the specifics of the map and do not utilize the narrative nature of the dice to alter the setting or situations.

Man, that sucks! I find that the reverse is true for my table. Like last week, we had a fight in an alley and the GM threw some color in there like dumpsters and parked vehicles and the like - and I was all "Hey, what if we put someone in that truck there to block the end of the alley once the bad guys show up?" - a detail I (probably) wouldnt have thought of without a general layout of the area.

I have two groups running, separate campaigns...

Group one, we use the WotC minis for everything.

Group two, we use legos for the players (I have a rather extensive collection of star wars figures for lego), it just worked out because all the characters took species that I had legos for, in fact the players like it so much, they actually only take species that I have legos for (like Mon Cal, trando, etc..), now.... We've been able to make Chiss, and a few other species by swapping the pieces out with minifig parts from other lego lines, like for bothans we used the werewolf, or the Chima wolf/fox guys. It looks great, and is a ton of fun creating these dudes, plus we can swap out weapons and armor as needed. We still use the WotC minis for everyone not a PC, so it makes the PCs stand out more on the grid, and since it's a large group (7), that helps a grip.

Because my players are steeped in d20 gameplay and have a very difficult time with the narration of this system. I noticed that as soon as a map is down they conform to the specifics of the map and do not utilize the narrative nature of the dice to alter the setting or situations.

Man, that sucks! I find that the reverse is true for my table. Like last week, we had a fight in an alley and the GM threw some color in there like dumpsters and parked vehicles and the like - and I was all "Hey, what if we put someone in that truck there to block the end of the alley once the bad guys show up?" - a detail I (probably) wouldnt have thought of without a general layout of the area.

2 years into a campaign, and half the time we forget all about the destiny tokens being available. As the GM, I'm guilty of it as well. Not sure why, I(we) have no complaints about their use or mechanics, I think we just forget they are there.

That said, at first when we started playing, it was a rough start switching to narrative. I enjoy having the grid because it helps with visualization of where every one is. There isn't any "but I wasn't over there" chatter. What I did do however, is make the players interpret their own dice... provided I didn't have some "clue" to drop them or have them stumble upon, then they are in charge of telling me what advantage, disadvantage, triumphs, and despairs mean in the game. I just make sure they are being fair with them (not too hard or easy on themselves compared with the roll results). For instance if someone was running computer hacks and got several advantages and decided he wanted to know a bit more about the planet they were headed too, so I allowed him to "wookiepedia" the planet and handed him the book to read about the write up on it. Anyway, letting the players describe the details helped a great deal in getting them to become a part of the narration process. Was fun for me too, as a GM, because I stay out of the rut of complacency (X result always equals Y), and as I have no clue what is coming, it keeps me on my toes.

I gave up using tokens and maps as much as I could. Because my players are steeped in d20 gameplay and have a very difficult time with the narration of this system. I noticed that as soon as a map is down they conform to the specifics of the map and do not utilize the narrative nature of the dice to alter the setting or situations. Which effectively turns the game into a round by round slug fest similar to d20 and is far less enjoyable for me and becomes monotonous and boring. Instead of thinking up fun and exciting actions they want to try they stick to the mechanics on their character sheet. It is quite frustrating. Especially when their opponents are more exciting and making things much more difficult for them simply by being more creative and taking chances with the narrative dice. So I fight putting down a map as much as I can but sometimes it is just exacerbating having to describe the same thing over and over to each player. At that point I break down and throw up a map. [/end rant]

Try this: instead of a battle map, buy a clear vinyl mat and use it to draw the scene. If you really want to get exact lines and all that, just lay it on top of your grid battle map to do your drawing. Then, remove the grid map.

One of the main psychological barriers that d20 people have with counters and battle maps and all that is that they immediately conform to using the grids. When they place their counters, it will always be within a grid box. When they move, they'll probably even count out the distance to themselves The grid is so ingrained in d20 play that they'll just devolve into playing D&D in space when the battle map comes out.

By not having grids, and having the freedom to just plop their token wherever they want, this won't happen. At first, it'll be fun to watch them twitch when they try to make the abstract battle into a tactical simulation and fail but after awhile, I think they'll change the way they're thinking about combats and, eventually, have a lot more fun with it.

Sadly the grid is not the issue because we are an online group using maptools and you can turn the grid off. Most map images the grids are too faint to really be an issue. It is just the fact that they are used to detailed maps that I used to draw freehand or all the detail in Chris West's maps. Now they have to actually pay attention to the details of the narrative instead of a map. It's a pain but I am determined to break them!

I try to lead by example which means the bad guys are kicking ass and taking names!