In theory, a pbf battle can be entirely managed by just describing where everyone stands. While that works, and some ways can make the game run smoother, D20 combat assumes there will be miniatures available. Where does that leave PBFs?
Well, the pbf I'm using as a basis for this article, Shining Lights in the Darkness has just entered its first combat, technically, it started in combat.
As Sheemzur holds out his mug and Nash pours at the last of the ale, Sshar holds up a hand for silence, then motions out towards the beach. Sheemzur and Sshar can barely make out several hulking forms moving out of the waves and towards old Jasper’s house. They can make out at least five creatures, perhaps a bit smaller than human sized, with large, oddly shaped heads that seem to protrude directly from their shoulders without any indication of a neck.
The game was on, Sheemzur quickly moved in to scout and start off the battle with a sleep spell, Alain the swashbuckler moved in to defend Sheemzur, and the other two archer characters prepared to pick off the remaining creatures.
But how do we know what creatures can bypass Alain, and which will they go after first? Well, luckily, I'm a programmer so I whipped up what I call the Dndorks Campaign Manager. Utilizing the campaign manager, a DM can create a place to store information about an ongoing campaign, including characters, generating random skill checks, managing combat (currently in real time, it doesn't save to a database), and now, managing combat. A combat map image can be uploaded, tokens can be uploaded, then the players can be assigned control of one or more tokens.
Eventually history functions will be built in, and a movement by movement review of the combat will be able to be reviewed. Until then, the combat can be more easily imagined, and everyone can move their characters as appropriate, and we get the full use out of the d20 rules.
The battle on the beach I described above can be viewed here (though unless you're a player you can't move the pieces around): http://dndorks.com/cg/5/1/battlemap.aspx