TTRPGs: Movement and AOEs on Hex Grids

This is written by someone who knows nothing of hex grids.

If you're using a square grid, then your range of movement resembles a square. This has the disadvantage of giving diagonal movement more value than horizontal movement alone or vertical movement alone.

The reality is that your range of movement should rather resemble a circle. This would give you an even distance in all directions.  If you can image, lay down a pencil and place one end against the base of your mini, then move your mini to the end of the pencil.

One compromise with a square grid is to treat diagonal movement with a different rule, but that's less intuitive, and who can really visualize what that might look like?

?

I think the hexagon is the best compromise. Note that a hex or square are just ways of dividing up a map into shapes with equal length sides so they can interlock. With a hex grid, you technically have fewer divisions (spaces) than a square map.

I think the hex has the unfortunate problem of making some concessions with how to intuitively draw the area of an area of effect or a line.  I don't know how you can you now portray a 10 x 10 area, which is what you're used to on a square grid, which was nice and easy. If every hex resembles a 5 square foot area, then perhaps you would want to describe the area of effect as a 15 square foot area, or a 20ft square area? Alternatively, you could still describe things in a radius just fine. But here's another concession you would have to make with radius or diameter areas. There are fewer hexes in a radius than hexes in a square, so a game indented for a square grid game makes the areas less potent because potentially fewer spaces can be targeted.

If you wanted to think about the areas as steps, then you would have:

5 sq ft: One square 

10 sq ft: Two squares

15 sq ft: Three squares (triangle)

20 sq ft: Four squares (diamond)

30 sq ft: six squares (triangle)

35 sq ft: Seven squares (hex or circle shape)

60 sq ft: Twelve squares (triangle, no points)

etc.

I would suggest that you would simplify AOW by suggesting that such effects can affect an area of X adjacent hexes. The word adjacent means that the hexes must be touching other hexes, and that the area must resemble an approximate shape.