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Having just come back from GenCon (my first time attending) I've since been inspired by the various options I have available for... lets face it... toys at the game table. But I've had a hard time deciding what I should use.
Currently I use a good old fashioned Battlemat and Wet-Erase markers. While there is very little 'Wow' factor to the battle-mats, it provides me with the most freedom, obviously.
I also have several Flip-Mats that I use, and enjoy. I supplement them with Campaign Cartogropher 3 maps that I make myself and print on 1" scale. Using these are nice, but its often hard to find one that matches some of my more unique locations. Making maps in CC3 is something I'm getting better at, but I've not mastered it yet.
I have a complete collection of Dungeon Tiles from Wizards of the Coast, as well. At least 1 of each set, most 2. I like the product, but I have a hard time organizing it or using it during play.
While I was at GenCon I picked up some of the products from Fat Dragon Games. I've built a few of their EZ-Dungeon pieces, and this certainly has the 'Wow' factor to it! I like that it integrates well with all of my above options, and that I can customize it as much as I want. It is taking me a long time to construct though... and in the end it doesn't look quite as good as...
Dwarven Forge. The Cadalac of gaming supplies, I would wager. This stuff looks amazing... but comes with an amazing price tag. It isn't out of my reach, however, but I'm worried that it would be hard to customize it or create custom items that worked well with it. My other big worry is that I travel to most of the games I run... and it might be a tad hard to transport regularly.
Anyone have any insights or opinions?
I've drooled over DF stuff for a couple of years. I've played in a game with it. For me, it's really cool to look at, but actually playing with it leaves something to be desired. Setting up can be a pain, and "hiding" areas of the map can be a pain (instead of drawing them on the fly).
The other problem I have is my Collector and Completest personalities. I would want enough pieces to make whatever my brain can come up with (or that I might encounter in a published adventure). I think I would probably over-buy the stuff, and not get a ton of use out of it. There's also the storage issue too.
I'm all about the wow factor too though, but for now I settle for wowing my (non-existent) players with Campaign Coins, Item Cards, Hand-written Notes on Parchment, and hand-out-able maps.
If you spend some time before the game with your roll-up maps or flip-mats and use colors and shade stuff in, that will add to the wow factor.
I also like using "toys" at the game table, and I agree that Dwarven Forge makes some nice terrain. I also think it would get really expensive if you wanted to be complete. I think it also suffers from some of the same problems as Dungeon Tiles--you have to carefully place everything together and *hope* it stays that way while it is in use. My preference is to use Flip Mats. I have almost all of them, and there is usually one that will work well for any scenario. I think having the right color and texture for the ground is what is most important. Then you can just draw in walls, cliffs, etc. I sometimes like to supplement that with 3-D props like crates, doorways, etc. Dragon Tiles by Fat Dragon Games have some pretty good props and they are fairly inexpensive.
I also have a few map packs, and I think those are good for simulating more specific environments for which there isn't a dedicated Flip Mat. They are bigger than Dungeon Tiles and therefore it is a bit easier to keep them from sliding around.