What type of grid do you use?


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion


I have played under dms that did not use grids, used dry erase flip mats, custom made flips, and others. Most recently my group has been playing on large lego boards. We've drawn lines every 3 dots and the spacing works perfectly. It is also very fun to put together a lego mini of a character. What sort of different ways do you represent the battle scene?


Shizzle69 wrote:
I have played under dms that did not use grids, used dry erase flip mats, custom made flips, and others. Most recently my group has been playing on large lego boards. We've drawn lines every 3 dots and the spacing works perfectly. It is also very fun to put together a lego mini of a character. What sort of different ways do you represent the battle scene?

I haven't had to use my own battle mat in some time, but I own two non-flip battle mats with 1" squares on them, one large one small. Where I currently game frequently we have a mat completely covering a poker table that also uses 1" squares. It's also nice because the mat more than covers the entire table, so the whole thing can be used a writing surface for players and the DM.

I'd like to get a dry-erase system but I haven't found that I like just yet.


I have used large plexiglass with wet erase 1 inch grids, drawn over with dry erase markers, normal 1" grid battle mats, I've been wanting to try and use gridless with tape measures, paper circles, etc.


Paizo flip mats with wet erase at home, and borrowed dry erase whilst gaming in school. 3D terrain with painted on 1" square grid when appropriate.

Lego tabletop gaming is really more the domain of Brikwars, which is the awesomest thing ever for incredibly silly WH40k style battles.


We use a large, wet-erase, 1" hex map, these days, when we bother pulling out the map, which is becoming rarer as time goes on since our games are becoming increasingly sparse on combat encounters.

A few years back I played a few sessions of 2e AD&D with a DM who had a couple of massive game tables in his basement; one was covered in an 12' x 8' cavern system carved out of styrofoam and meticulously painted, the other covered in green, brown, and blue cloth (signifying grass, dirt, and water) on which he placed fake trees and buildings. We generally eyeballed things as opposed to doing accurate measurements, but that maps were awesome.

The only downside was that we only ever had 1 cave dungeon to ever run through, but luckily it was large enough that we could use different chunks of it on different sessions and it would never get old.


We use a wet erase mat for the one off encounters. Areas that have frequent events are drawn up on sheets of the 3M easel paper, large sheets you can get at office supply stores (I think I got the idea for this from these forums).

This way we don't have to redraw the tavern every time we return, etc.

The wet erase has been used much more than the pad, but we do have about 5-6 sheets of the pad drawn out that get a lot of play. Definitely worth it. We just roll them up and store with rubber bands in the corner. Sure, it isn't great decor for the dining room but oh well. that's the gamer's life.

We draw on the pad with a mix of media, crayon, pencils, markers, etc. I'm the terrain freak so usually I do it. :P

Sczarni

Ive had a lot of luck with graph paper. I use pen for the more permanent terrain features and pencil for more transient things. I draw up a few "sample terrains" that I can reuse, tailoring to various situations.

Shadow Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber; Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber

I use a combination of a blank dry-erase 1" grid vinyl, the vinyl themed play mats (jungle, kings road, caves, etc) that wotc put out for my random encounters, and for longer campaigns that I expect the players to backtrack on, I use 1" square grid flip chart from office max. The flip charts work great and there are 50 of them per with a size of roughly 28" by 40", I also allow the pc's to make minor notes on the flip chart for what they encountered in each room. Makes it easier then having to redraw sections all the time and also for them to review what they been through as adventure continues on. They even mark where they have died and have taken to pinning up finished sections on the wall as they go together.


i made my own cause i'm broke. some poster board, a couple sharpies, some clips and a 3 dollar clear shower curtain cut to fit. use dry erase markers and you're set. draw a 1 inch grid on the poster board, cover with the cut down curtain, and clip it down. works great

Liberty's Edge

I buy a sheet of white foam board and cut out 4 sections, each around 10x16 or so, maybe. I draw out a 1" grid with thick and thin alternating lines, then cover it with glossy (NOT MATTE!) contact paper.

Using it in sections lets you leave one or more sections stationary while you move other pieces and re-use them as the PCs advance.

It works plenty well but gets discolored after a lot of use.

Grand Lodge

Shizzle69 wrote:
I have played under dms that did not use grids, used dry erase flip mats, custom made flips, and others. Most recently my group has been playing on large lego boards. We've drawn lines every 3 dots and the spacing works perfectly. It is also very fun to put together a lego mini of a character. What sort of different ways do you represent the battle scene?

We stopped using grids/battle maps/minis a while back. If we need to we'll use a dry erase board to sketch out a general map, but otherwise the DM just describes the area and we go from there.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

My group has been using a standard 1" wet erase square flip mat for a while. We tried using the hex grid, and that's a lot more strategic for our group so we've been using that. The only issues we have with it is that we're not used to the grid shape so we're still figuring out the reach for weapons and what not.


Matt Stich wrote:
My group has been using a standard 1" wet erase square flip mat for a while. We tried using the hex grid, and that's a lot more strategic for our group so we've been using that. The only issues we have with it is that we're not used to the grid shape so we're still figuring out the reach for weapons and what not.

The reach for weapons is very easy, 5 ft is 1 hex in all directions, 10 ft is 2 hexes in all directions, etc. There is no counting 1.5 for diagonals, as there are no diagonals. Unearthed Arcana has a section devoted to hex grids.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
Kierato wrote:
Matt Stich wrote:
My group has been using a standard 1" wet erase square flip mat for a while. We tried using the hex grid, and that's a lot more strategic for our group so we've been using that. The only issues we have with it is that we're not used to the grid shape so we're still figuring out the reach for weapons and what not.
The reach for weapons is very easy, 5 ft is 1 hex in all directions, 10 ft is 2 hexes in all directions, etc. There is no counting 1.5 for diagonals, as there are no diagonals. Unearthed Arcana has a section devoted to hex grids.

Thank you, Kierato. I shall look that up immediately


I use 1" square Chessex gaming mats. You can get factory seconds [which are fine] for less cash. I have about 6 mats in all plus a bunch of the Paizo flip mats which are good for random encounters.

We use D&D [and soon Paizo/WizKids]miniatures. I turned a 7 year collection of cardboard [Magic the Gathering] into a whole load of plastic!

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

I want one like the gaming board used in "Live Chess". :)


OOOOOOH I wanna use legos as minis! I'm gonna talk to my friends and get them exited about it too!

Shadow Lodge

Recently, we've been playing mostly PFS and I've drawn the maps out on easel 1" graph paper. I run games at two different locations, one weekly one monthly. Different players, so I can run the same scenarios and having to draw out the maps while playing takes way too long. by drawing them out ahead of time, it lets me get some cool details on the map.

When we have to use a drawable battlemap, we use GameMastery's flip-mats. They are very handy things, and we love them. Two of the players have the basic maps, blank on both sides. I'm hoping to pick up one of those soon, as the one I have is a dark green/gray and can be hard to see, especially if I use colored markers/crayons.


I rarely use any form of map anymore... my group gets too caught up on them when they are out there, so I keep them off the table as much as possible.

When I do use a map, it is frequently just a Chessex wet-erase mat. I have a large collection of poster maps, map packs, and dungeon tiles that I get out when I have an hour or so to prep maps and know I will "need" them.

The most commonly used map type, though, is me digitally painting every map that will be needed for an adventure and then running them through Map Tool on an HDTV... this type of mapping requires lots of pre-planning, so I only do it for campaigns that I feel are special (and those are typically either short or light on combat situations)


1) preferred: Dwarven Forge 3D stuff. Can't be beat for crawls as it looks good, ties up idle hands in constructing the layout, encourages players to keep the table clear, etc. Too hard to transport and expensive. Currently in storage due to remodeling the domicile.

2) Chessix mats are second, though all 3 are in need of replacement due to heavy use and abuse over a dozen years.

3) plexiglass squares scribed with 1" lines by a long departed player. Next time, the panels need to be smaller, perhaps 8x8, and more plentiful(so to pre-draw on them).

4) a number of cardstock rooms, etc. such as those published in Dragon by the Golem, back in the day. These go UNDER the plexiglass and are easily changed out. Very vulnerable to liquid based disasters (water heater leaking, puppy training, 2 liter adventures, baby gumming, etc.). Strongly suggest high storage, both quality and altitude.

5) and after all that, we ran last night utterly without figures, maps, etc.! And for nigh 2 hours without a die roll!

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / General Discussion / What type of grid do you use? All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in General Discussion