Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Basic

Kata. the ..... wrote:

Kata. the ..... wrote:

jkpsmp1 wrote:

Kata. the ..... wrote:

contraserrene wrote:

I got three of these recently and love them so much that I got another today. I'm going to give some to friends who DM.

I am thinking of cutting one into a 24"x20" piece, an 8"x10" piece and a 16"x10" piece. Since you can pre-draw a layout with Sharpie and it won't rub off while the mat is folded up, this would add utility.

My concern is the lamination. Will doing this cause it to peel? Is there something I can do to prevent such a thing from happening- a hot implement to seal up the edge, maybe? Or should I abandon this plan as insanity?

Did you ever try this? Anyone else? I only have one right now so I fear experimenting on my only copy?

Has anyone tried cutting one up and seeing if it stands up? I would be worried about the "lamination" being unconnected at those points. I was close to ordering one for surgical purposes, but they have cut off OT at work.

I took one of the original mats and cut it without problems. The sides are not sealed when the mat is whole. I have only every seen one mat that the laminate failed - the customer left it in a hot car and it stuck to a binder.

As a side note, the mat I tested on had Sharpie on it from Gen Con 2006 or 2005, and it came off with a dry erase marker as was advertised.

Jeff

Well, due to a slight mistake I have ordered a third one of these. This weekend, my group should finish D0 or die trying and I should be able to answer this question from a second opinion.

Yeah, this works surprisingly well, I now have 2 full mats and a 24x20 a 16x10 and and 8x10 piece

There is no initial delamination.

I will now be adding a fourth to cut up. The only complaint I had was from the wife of one of the players who said I should have used a box cutter rather than scissors.

I recently remembered this set of posts. Cutting them up does give you largely what you want. However, we are playing Dungeons and Dragons on a tabletop. Someone will eventually spill something. If this does not happen, you are playing wrong. The liquid will find the map between the laminates. The cuts on these do obviously break the lamination into top and bottom. Liquid will find the middle. Also, you will get some continual delamination at the edges.

For most situations, it is probably worth the negatives, I have received over 18 months of satisfactory work with these cut up maps.

FLIP-MAT SUGGESTION: Plain Grassy Field.

The reverse side of other flip-mats give us useful terrain such as city streets, stone floors, and open ocean.
However, none of the flip-mats thus far have an empty green field.

+1

It would be a #1 selling item for sure!

Adding my 2 cents as I have been a user of these mats since the Steel Sqwire days - love them. I own 12 different ones now and plan to get multiples of specific styles soon.

I have an original grid/hex flip mat and it is well used and still in good shape. All markers will wash off ... Sharpie is the hardest though and I will dip a paper towel in acetone and wipe with that first before cleaning/scrubbing it off. Best to just not use Sharpie... but if you do...
. What also works is drawing over your Sharpie lines with another felt tip pen (wet or dry erase) and then erasing that.

Just for general cleaning and up keep give them a good wipe-down with paper towels and wome water once per year; maybe some soap too. Take care of your gear and it'll take care of you.

My mat has lasted me since I got it and that was... the year Steel Sqwire first put these things out? 2007?? I forgot.

Other pros? Portability and storage. I have some of the vinyl mats, I have kept them but they sit in a corner all rolled up as they have not been used. There is no other place to put them really. About time I put it up on craigslist or something.

Re portability: I can grab 2-3 of these for my specific use that game day and shove them in my bag. They take up very little space.

Yeah.. the folds do suck and ... oh wait, I have a solution. Reverse fold them after you unfold it to lay it out. Problem solved, flattens them right out. Been doing this for years, after which they lay flat anyways due to use and "seasoning".

Great product.

All markers will wash off ... Sharpie is the hardest though and I will dip a paper towel in acetone and wipe with that first before cleaning/scrubbing it off. Best to just not use Sharpie... but if you do...

. What also works is drawing over your Sharpie lines with another felt tip pen (wet or dry erase) and then erasing that.

We recommend writing over them with a dry-erase marker. I definitely wouldn't recommend acetone.

Any chance on getting one that isn't folded? I don't like creases in my maps.

Any chance on getting one that isn't folded? I don't like creases in my maps.

They're folded at the printer.

Ninja-elbow wrote:

All markers will wash off ... Sharpie is the hardest though and I will dip a paper towel in acetone and wipe with that first before cleaning/scrubbing it off. Best to just not use Sharpie... but if you do...

. What also works is drawing over your Sharpie lines with another felt tip pen (wet or dry erase) and then erasing that.

We recommend writing over them with a dry-erase marker. I definitely wouldn't recommend acetone.

I covered a whole flipmat with wide tipped Sharpie for walls. It was getting really hard to clean so I busted out the old can of acetone I have in the storage shed and it only took a little bit on a paper towel to clean it off.I then wiped it down with soap and water and dried it off. The lamination is fine as of yet.

I'll agree with you as I know how "active" acetone can be.

LOOOOVVE Flipmats though. Really glad you guys picked this up from Steel Sqwire, one of my favorite game aid companies that ever existed BTW, and I think y'all are doing a great job. Thanks.

I actually made a big goof with my flip mat this weekend. I drew on it with a regular, permanent sharpie...

Thankfully, one of those white "magic eraser" sponges took it right off without harming the mat. Could have kicked myself!

I actually made a big goof with my flip mat this weekend. I drew on it with a regular, permanent sharpie...

Thankfully, one of those white "magic eraser" sponges took it right off without harming the mat. Could have kicked myself!

They're designed to do that!

Both these have been mentioned above, but it has been a few years so I hope you don't mind me requesting them again. :-)

1. A rolled version of the Basic Flip-Mat. This is the only one I draw on much so it doesn't matter with the other Flip-Mats, but the seams on the Basic mat are problematic to draw on and clean up. My Chessex mat has its own set of problems. I'd pay $19.99 for a rolled Basic mat to cover the increased costs due to size and packaging!

2. A blank grassy mat. Only "Tavern" has a featureless grassy side and it is long out of print.

Don't buy the PDF, guys... You can make grid paper yourself online...

Don't buy the PDF, guys... You can make grid paper yourself online...

+1

Why is there a PDF for this product anyway? I own one and it's a great product for tabletop, but that's the only use I can think of for it.

Leperic wrote:

Don't buy the PDF, guys... You can make grid paper yourself online...

+1

Why is there a PDF for this product anyway? I own one and it's a great product for tabletop, but that's the only use I can think of for it.

There are now PDFs of all of the Paizo Flip-Mats, and if we'd left this one out, you'd bet there would be posts in this thread asking why.

Some folks are completists. And maybe some folks just like the pretty textures!

Question about the .pdf version of these various maps. If the physical mailed product is 24" by 30" is the .pdf product also 24" by 30"?

I ask because I have access to a 48" plotter and I could do some handy stuff for my sessions if the .pdfs are 24" by 30".

Thanks.

Question about the .pdf version of these various maps. If the physical mailed product is 24" by 30" is the .pdf product also 24" by 30"?

I ask because I have access to a 48" plotter and I could do some handy stuff for my sessions if the .pdfs are 24" by 30".

Thanks.

The flip-mats are exported at the same dimensions that we use for printing (so 24"x30"). However, they are not exported at the same DPI.

So am I to understand that your basic Sharpie fine point permanent marker is a bad idea with this map?

If you use any permanent marker you can get the marks erased by going over the marks with a dry erase marker then wiping with a paper towel or rag. That is one way I have found, I am sure there are others.

If you use any permanent marker you can get the marks erased by going over the marks with a dry erase marker then wiping with a paper towel or rag. That is one way I have found, I am sure there are others.

Interesting! And thanks!

This is something I don't understand; why don't Paizo keep a plain Green map in print, instead of the Stone/Sand one. I've been looking for a plain green map everywhere and so far the cheapest i can find is around $31.

In Print you have:

Your basic blank cobblestone / grey. The alternate side is a blank sand / light brown map

Out of Print you have:

-Blank water / (light and dark) blue map but both the Ship and Waterfront tavern are out of print.

-Tavern map which was plain green one side and a Tavern on the other but it's now out of print.

So my question is why don't you keep a plain grass / green map in print?
Forests / Woods and the Wilderness are a large area of the game where adventures happen. So i don't understand why you don't have a flexible map to support that.

You could make ones side blank green (short patchy grass) and its flip sdie blank white (snow effect).

Immediately with the Grass/Snow flip-map I've just explained plus your Stone/Sand flip-map you already produce, you have covered all your basic land types that most encounters will take place on.

With just 2 mats you've opened up a world for GM's (especially beginner GM's) to create everything they need. And best of all it's blank so they can draw on whatever they want onto it -

Green - Woods, Forest, Plains, hills, Village etc,
White - Tundra, Any area in Winter

Light Brown - Beach, Desert, Sandy Area
Grey stone - Urban, Dungeon

I just feel that some of your maps are a little to specific for "that one encounter".
I don't want every desert scene to have a tent or an oasis in it.

Please don't take this the wrong way,
i really enjoy your products but I don't want to keep using 'The deep Forest' as my generic forest setting and I don't want my players getting use to the same woodland view. I want to be able to pull out 'The deep Forest' or another one of your detailed maps and surprise my players with it, make the encounter memorable by keeping things fresh.

Have you checked out Gaming Paper's products, specifically the 1" Square Singles Pack?

I would love it if Paizo put out a series of these with just different plain textures on each side. I love the ones that have them because I use a lot of 3d terrain and these are PERFECT for putting under neath them to keep the look pure.

Question - I've noticed with other flip-mats recently that they seem to be thinner (which I like very much, incidentally) - I notice that the basic flip-mat is now pictured with the new packaging - does that mean the Basic mat is also of the newer/thinner material?

Thanks!

It turns out that our packaging change really played havoc with our paper stock. As a result, Watch Station, Thornkeep, Battlefield, and the revised Basic are all on slightly lighter stock than we really want, and Arcane Dungeons and Thieves' Guild are on slightly heavier stock than we really want. Basic Terrain, due in August, should be the first to use the stock we intend to use from then on.

Gotcha - thanks for the info!

It turns out that our packaging change really played havoc with our paper stock. As a result, Watch Station, Thornkeep, Battlefield, and the revised Basic are all on slightly lighter stock than we really want, and Arcane Dungeons and Thieves' Guild are on slightly heavier stock than we really want. Basic Terrain, due in August, should be the first to use the stock we intend to use from then on.

The heavier stock seems to have caused some issues with damage to the arcane dungeons map - large crescent shaped indentation in the fold and some bubbling of the lamination. Is this likely to be the same with the thieves guild? I'd assume all will return to normal by this set.

I suspect it will be the same with Thieves' Guild.

It turns out that our packaging change really played havoc with our paper stock. As a result, Watch Station, Thornkeep, Battlefield, and the revised Basic are all on slightly lighter stock than we really want, and Arcane Dungeons and Thieves' Guild are on slightly heavier stock than we really want. Basic Terrain, due in August, should be the first to use the stock we intend to use from then on.

I can confirm this. I recently picked up two copies of basic and both are extremely flimsy. However, a friend's Emerald Spire flip-mats are much sturdier.

P.S. In case it helps anyone, the "super-flimsy" maps I received have had a C-Fold, whereas all the "correct" ones that I have seen have all had Z-Folds.

Hi!.
Do you have plans of reprinting this? Two weeks ago it was available.

Hi!.

Do you have plans of reprinting this? Two weeks ago it was available.

Yes, we are currently in reprint now and it should be back in stock in a couple of months. Hang tight and check back.

It says "V1 print Out of print" but still gives the option to add print edition to cart. What does it mean?

Any chance we can get these light colored ones in a 1" hex grid style?