First of all, let me say that I *love* the GameMastery Flip-Mats. I recently received the Flip-Mat Keep and Cathedral that I ordered, bringing my total up to six. I hope to get them all, because when I DM they are one the few accessories I use *every* game. I do find that I use the generic fields (like the reverse of the Tavern or the reverse of the Dungeon and City Market) more than the specific maps, but when you do need that map--WOW!!!.
Anyway, I was thinking earlier of some other Flip-Mats I'd like to see made. Here are some I thought might be useful:
“Dwarven Mine” with tracks for carts; flip side has a large area with…piles of ore or refuse, maybe indicating different elevations?
“Warehouse”: a large room with boxes, barrels and crates, an office and a room for valuables; maybe a room where a guard sleeps. The flip side either depicts catwalks over the warehouse (with the area below kind of blurry or dim) *or* it could feature a large section of just wooden flooring so the DM can depict the inside of virtually any urban building. (I definitely think a Flip-Mat with wooden floors to represent a generic urban indoor map would be useful).
“Dwellings”: one side has an affluent house with the upstairs and downstairs. Flip side has two or three common houses, with two to three rooms each; this side might have a dirt or cobblestone path between the houses, maybe a well, a haystack, etc.
“Farmstead”: one side has a farmhouse and a barn/stable. The flip side is one half cornfield and one half is a field with haystacks.
“Orc Fort”: a fort with wooden palisades and crude tents inside, with a fire pit and a stockade; the flip side has a scraggy “badlands” area.
“Arctic Caves”: a network of icy caves and tunnels. The flip side has a large, icy cavern.
“Volcanic Caves”: a network of caves and tunnels with bridges over streams of molten lava. The flip side has a large cavern with a stone bridge over a river of molten lava.
“Thieves Guild": Foyer, training room, armory, bedrooms, treasure room, guildmaster’s suite. The flip side could feature…?
“Wizard School”: Inspired by the Academae in Korvosa, though smaller by necessity. It could feature a library, a laboratory (complete with summoning circle), student rooms, dining hall & kitchen. The flip side could be maybe a large library room or a walled, grassy courtyard (where else should they practice the new "fly" skill?).
Does anyone like any of these? Anyone have any other ideas for Flip-Mats? Anyone think these ideas are terrible? Anyone think of better ways these ideas could be executed?
Ok pardon my ignorance, but i am a little confused. Can someone explain to me the benefits/differences of using flip mats vs dungeon tiles vs map packs?
I believe flip mats are bigger (looking at their descriptions) but apart from that, when would I use one over the other? And why would I use one over the other. Or are they actually the same thing just created by different companies so have a different name?
And lastly if they are different products can you use them together?
plus any other info about them would be great. I have been looking at both but there are sooooooo many of them i am not sure what i want to do.
Cheers!
Ok pardon my ignorance, but i am a little confused. Can someone explain to me the benefits/differences of using flip mats vs dungeon tiles vs map packs?
I can try to answer this. Let me start by saying that I have bought every set of Dungeon Tiles that have been made, so I'm pretty familiar with the differences between the products. So far, I have yet to use my Dungeon Tiles for anything other than to look at them and admire the artwork that went into them. I'll probably keep buying them because I like to collect things, but I doubt I'll ever use them to play D&D.
For me, the Dungeon Tiles are too limited, due to their pre-set sizes and shapes, and the fact that they tend to slide around a lot. If you were going to use them to try to duplicate a dungeon from a pre-written module, you would have to spend a lot of time planning ahead and selecting all the different pieces you need. And if you're doing a decent sized dungeon, you're going to need a lot of them.
Dungeon Tiles are smaller, cut out pieces of cardboard that (theoretically) you piece together as needed. Flip-Mats are larger, single piece mats that you can draw on with dry erase or even "permanent" markers (and the permanent marker will come off). So, take, say, the flip side of the city market. It looks like grey flagstones...like say...you might find in a dungeon. As the characters explore the dungeon you can draw in rooms and doors, and it looks cool because of the grey flagstones. If your group of players has to leave before they finish the dungeon, no problem--just carefully fold up the mat and it will be there next time. When you are done, it all wipes off, no mess.
Map Packs are good, but I find them less useful because you can't draw on them. (Well, you can, but they don't wipe off). Map packs tend to be more useful to me than Dungeon Tiles, but I still generally prefer the Flip-Mats, because they are much easier to use.
All of these products can be used together if you want. And if you want ultimate flexibility, you might want to get some of each.
If you are just starting out with this sort of product, though, and if you want your dollar to stretch as far as possible, I'd recommend you purchase exactly *two* Flip-Mats: City Market and Tavern. Here's why:
The City Market is nice, and can be good for some encounters in town, but the best part is the flip side that you can use for virtually any dungeon encounter or any encounter on a "paved" or stone surface. The Tavern is great, because adventurers spend a lot of time in taverns, but mainly because the flip side is basically a grassy area--which is perfect for almost any sort of outside encounter. So with two Flip-Mats, you can cover 80% of the encounters you need, whether dungeon crawling or in the wilderness. I would certainly recommend adding some others later for even more flexibility, but those two can serve well in many scenarios.
You might also take a look at the Flip-Mat Basic, which I don't have (yet), but which looks pretty versatile.
I hope this was helpful. If not, I'd be happy to clarify if you have any other questions.
Thanks Kelvar!
That's exactly the information I was looking for. I actually had already ordered the Flip-Mat Basic, So when it arrives I will start with that, See how I go and then look at the other Flip Mats before I venture into the tiles. The Map packs also look useful and I can always cover them with contact/laminate them so I can write on them!
Again Thanks!
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I agree some of these ideas are fantastic. I also have all of the Dungeon tiles and have never used them. I use flip-mats sometimes and love them but I found some Tact-tiles on ebay about a year ago and those I use most of the time. I love flip-mats when it is a forest path - I used one for the goblin attack in Burnt Offerings and Mountain Pass for the entrance to Jorgenfist. They are great especially the themed ones when the right situation comes up.
I use them when I can and tact-tile the rest of the time. I have a bunch of the dwarvenforge pieces and used them once for the second time my group was in the lowest level of Jorgenfist - they are great if you can set up ahead of time but on the fly they are worse than dungeon tiles. I will probably sell my dwarvenforge maze pieces.
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I am pretty big on Dungeon Tiles, Flip Mats and Map Packs.
First off, I think Dungeon Tiles require "pre-thought" and then again, they don't. I think they would work best using a rubber slip resistant mat you can buy at any Walmart in their bulk material (cloth) section. I agree that sliding tiles bumped by character sheets, bombastic players with hands flailing about as well as scooting DM screens increases the chances of a major shift. If you go here you will find Dungeon Mapper version 1.2.0. The link is good, but presently WotC is exterminating gleemax so their servers are touch and go. With this thing you can create the Dungeon Tiles in the program and print it out as a guide. The program was made in the day before "Digital Initiative" and ""4th Edition" became the buzz words. WotC thought this mapping program would boost printed paper sales. There is only the first 4 Dungeon Tiles uploaded into the program. WotC could easily have added them all, but rather that "printed paper" become the reason you "pay" to use this very same program (with all the Dungeon Tiles included). You can still download this mapper program for your "private use" for the first four sets. If you like Dungeon Tiles and not the idea of paying for it, I suggest you download it before you have to pay for the right to use it (when it becomes online only).
I must also say that some of the Map Packs would work well with the Dungeon Tiles. Dungeon Chambers would work extremely well. I can also say that Ruins of the Wild would facilitate Tournament Map Pack as well as Camp Sites and Ruins.
As for Flipmats, they are truly their own beast. I would only use them on very rare events (as to not wear out their "awe" factor. They are large, they are beautiful, and they are portable. They really can't blend with Dungeon Tiles nor the Map Packs.
As a side note, I have recently put all my Dungeon Tiles in one of those portable office paper/utility storage drawers. They have like 6 drawers and wheels on the bottom. I roll it out during games. I have 3 sets of every Dungeon Tile, so I have endless combos to work from.
I consider all three of these products as pinnacle to spicing up my games. I keep the Dungeon Tile sets contained by using a Sharpie marker on the exposed edges of the set's tiles. Each set has a different color, so when I put them away I just look at the side edges and I know where they go, If I mixed regular Dungeon Tiles, Arcane Corridors and Catacombs and Crypts...without this identifying system, I would be lost to build anything from a particular set or even know where to find pieces of that set (especially since I have 3 times the Tiles for each set). The colors keep the sets together as they otherwise wouldn't be workable.
I believe that many Game Masters who "wing it" and create adventures as they go (as in shooting from the hip, playing by ear) will benefit most from Dungeon Tiles. I think if a GM had a loose outline, they could create quite credible eye candy and realistic play areas with Dungeon Tiles (and Map Packs). As long as your notes say, "Small room leads to hallway, hallway has traps, hallway leads to big room", than Dungeon Tiles are going to do a lot for your game. It creates parameters that bring your "mushy vision" into areas of defined space and reality. Using exact measured areas would hamper the speed of use for Dungeon Tiles. I believe I would forgoe spacial measurements in order to quickly lay out tiles (such as the kind you find in modules).
I might also recommend buying a large presentation board (such as the black ones at Office Max) of which you can save your D&D game on. The presentation board would go under your play area of Dungeon Tiles so you can transport the unfinished adventure you have laid out to a place where you can store it (under your bed for instance).
Lastly, I would not rule out Dundjinni. It is a powerful program that can make homemade maps. You can take these maps to Kinkos and print them out so you can better augment your Map Packs and Dungeon Tiles.
Well, that's my 2 cents worth. I won't even get into overhead projectors bouncing off mirrors over a table to a white presentation board.
Cheers,
Zuxius