DIAGRAM 2.5 : CONE S USING TOKENSDIAGRAM 2.G: LINES USING TOKENSWhen you place a te m plate, follow all the ru les in the
Play e r 's Handbook for placing the associated a re a of
effect. If an a rea of effect, s uc h as a cone or a line, o r igi-
nates from a spellcaste r, t he template s ho uld extend out
fro m th e caste r a nd be positioned however the caste r
likes within t he bounds of the rules.
Diagrams 2. 1 and 2.2 s how the tem pla te method
in action.
TOKE N METHOD
The toke n method is meant to m a ke areas of effect
tactile and fun. To use t his method, gra b some dice or
othe r toke ns, w hich you're going to use to represent your
a reas of effect.
Rath e r than faithfully representing the sha pes of the
differe nt areas o f effect, t his method gives you a way to
c reate square-edged ve rs ion s of the m on a grid easily, as
describe d in the following subsectio ns.
Using Tok e n s. Every 5-foot squa re of a n area of effect
becomes a die or othe r token that you place on t he grid.
Each to ke n goes inside a square, not a t a n intersectio n
of lines. If a n area's token is in a square, that square is
included in the area of effect. It's that s imple.
Diagram s 2.3 t hrough 2.6 show this method in action,
us ing dice as the toke ns.
Circles. This method depicts everything using
squa res, and a circ ul a r a rea of effect becomes squa r e in
it, whethe r the area is a sphere, cylinde r, or radius. For
ins ta nce, t he^10 -foot ra dius of flame strike, whic h bas a
dia meter of 20 feet, is expressed as a square t hat is^20
feet o n a s ide, as s hown in diagram 2.3. Diagram 2 .4
s hows that a rea w ith tota l cover inside it.
Cones. A cone is represented by rows of tokens on t he
grid, extending fro m t he cone's point of o rigin. In the
rows, the squares a re adjoining s ide by side o r corner to
corner, a s shown in diagra m 2.5. To determine the num-CHAPTER 2 I DUNGEON MASTER'S TOOLS