Hardcore 5e mode - ZERO grid maps???

 https://www.5esrd.com/gamemastering/alternative-rules-other-publishers/5e-hardcore-mode/#The_Hardcore_Way

For 

GM Devon on start playing https://startplaying.games/gm/gm-devon

FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION IS- are their grid maps and tactical fights? I think not?? Or does a VTT make that work fine? Thinking… u roll 10 dmg on fireball, that kills 10/2=5 ghouls in a Horde… did I see that on a map? 

ANSWER - no grids? Says u use an even simpler version of close near far, as in Here or There. 

Woah. Roll 3d6 down the line, zero ability score placement. Hooowwww do you play a wizard then? Like dc 10 spells all the time? Oooohhh, it’s shadowdark… player rolls and has to beat a 10 or something (monsters have no saving throws). It is sort of at the very end of the article. 

Oh I see. It is like SHADOWDARK AND DCC. Level 1 or above, Roll to cast. Might get a crit spell, might get a disaster. Seems like they mostly want you to use cantrips all day. Do they allow cantrips actually, i doubt it. 

*** you get way more spell “slots” tho as u level as a wizard. Just one extra at low levels 1-5, but 2 extra at level 6.  It is equal to ir level x2. I guess it doesn’t matter though because disasters every time u roll a 1, youll never be high level. (How do spare characters work?)  

***youll have waaaaay less known Spells tho. Cannot put extras in ur book. 

Sorcerer n warlock is forced to pick spells each morning also. Only cleric n druids have freedeom to cast whatever. 

Ohh, but cleric druid paladin can only use way less spells per day. Equal to level+2. 

Oh aaaand wizards level up the slowest. 

So like Shadowdark or DCC without spellburn. Plus the negatives of adnd 1e slow leveling wizards. I have heard the OSR folks say, some say, there shouldn’t be many wizards in the world. They r always dying. 

-;-;-;-;-;-;-;

Maybe this is the nail in the coffin, bcuzy it so depends on other players:

Much of any game’s table time is spent with players working to gain the upper hand on a situation. This involves use of cover, distance, henchmen or surprise.

Means slower pace and arguing on how to do stuff. We NEED torxh timer to speed this up. 

Hordes of enemies 

Hordes

When battling large groups of monsters or foes, which should happen frequently considering the heroic ambitions of your players, avoid chewing up time with lots of rolls and HP tracking by applying a HARDCORE trick: For each enemy in the horde, add 1 to your d20 attack. For each enemy, also add 1 to your damage outcome. On the player side, simply divide player damage by a constant and fell that many enemies at once.

10 damage from a fireball? Divide by 2, 5 ghouls are burned to cinders! Adjust your constant for tougher hordes. And yes, a horde of 10 or more will be terribly deadly given equal footing with heroes. Use this knowledge.