Ok, this is my 3rd attempt to start this thread. Paizo apparently doesn't like it because it keeps getting eaten.
For several years now I have been using wet erase square grid mats. I'm thinking about upgrading to something new. The thing is, I'm really not all that sure what is out there; so I'm asking for suggestions. Here's what I would like....
1. Something that is adaptable from encounter to encounter. No preset can't change pictures. Something I can make my own map on.
2. Something that isn't messy.
3. Provides a playing surface about 4' x 6' in size. Currently I use 2 very large mats pushed together to achieve this area.
4. Something that works good for superheroes.
5. Cost....optional but I would be reluctant to spend over $75-100 on something.
I've seen some things such as dungeon tiles from WOTC and they are prepainted and very limited to what's on them. I've also seen the plastic pieces you can get to make a 3d dungeon (they have a floor and 2 walls) and you can link pieces together. Nice to look at but bad for superheroes and they don't seem very adaptable to me...you pretty much play what you have for pieces. I need something very flexible.
If you have any suggestions, please tell me about it, describe what you can and cannot do, and if you can provide a link so I can see a picture of it that would be great. Also if you know where I can go to shop for such items online or if they are available through gaming stores.
I know this is a bit of a stretch, but I'll ask anyway.....Does anybody have a good idea how to deal with measuring and keeping track of miniature location when it comes to having people flying. For example, character #1 is flying through the air at 100' up. Character #2 is 75' in the air and 25' to character #1 right side. Spaceship battles, same issue...trying to deal with not just across the surface but also up in the air as well. Any ideas?
For the battlemats, I don't have an answer for you. However, I have a recommendation for the elevation problem. Go to Emerald's Emporium, here is the website URL, http://www.emeraldsemporium.com/ and look at Dr Wizard's Patented Elevation Indicator. I have one and it is pretty good. It is 3" tall, 1" in diameter, and calibrated in marking from 10 to 100. At the top are three markings denoting x.10, x1.0, and x10. There are two bands that are used to indicate the level of the character. They are $10 USD each. I hope this helps.
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Hey Eileen! Happy Greyhawk to ya!
I use a mixed variety of items in the games I DM. Please keep in mind these are things I've just recently developed (in the past 2 years or so) and that most of my life I've DM with just pencils, paper, and imagination....
I use a 4x5 gaming mat from Chessex. Pretty affordable... $45 I think, and a set of colored German wet-erase markers (most game stores have these).
I also have 15 sets of dungeon tiles from wotc and keep them in a sorted plastic drawer system by style and size so I have both variety and quick easy access. I use these on top of the game mat (when I am not writing with markers) because they can sometimes slip, and it is easier to line them up when there's a parchment colored mat and grid underneath them.
I recently purchased a bunch of grey pitted walls from the company WAR TORN WORLDS. These look great and are awesome for use as low cover, or if you buy enough of these, you can instantly map out a whole 3-d dungeon right on top of your game mat!
For a long time, until I completed my vast collection of minis, I was purchasing 1" magnets with a sticky side, and using photoshop to craft circular picture excerpts from wotc's graphics library from the FF, LoM, Frostburn, Sandstorm, MM1 through MMV, etc. These looked great if I wanted to have a 2-dimensional game mat. This was by far the most inexpensive approach! Magnet backings added just enough wieight to the pictures to make them work well as moveable game pieces.
1" circular mirrors can be purchased form any craft store, along with 2" mirrors. I write the creature name on the mirror (and of course it wipes off easily) when its something strange, whos picture I don't have like from Tome of Horrors 1-3.
As for height and flight. I use 1" wooden blocks (also obtainable from a craft store for 99 cents) to simulate height. These fit right on the grid with each block representing roughly 10 feet (or more if you wish). You can mess with metal base rod extenders but its not really worth it. During flight battles, I usually try to keep the battles to within 30 feet of height of each other if possible, otherwise I start jotting height down on the mat and updating it each round.
I keep a case of circular wooden 1" circles in case I want to simulate a height of 5 feet, or I sometimes use the wooden circles to mark condition summaries beneath the circular magnet charater markers or miniatures. I also got hold of some wooden and iron doors (made of plastic, but they actually open and close in their frame) from wizkids for around 99 cents on sale at a gaming convention... part of some old system I think.
Creating large monster magnets is something I did that was a lot of fun. Its easy to set up photoshop to make 2" circles, or larger and then import the creature picture from a scan or from the wotc Web site, or from a Pathfinder .pdf for that matter.
I use the spell template wires from Steel Squire - they are completely awesome and effective, along with PAIZO's Combat Tracker magnetic board.
At the table, I started passing the EPIC Eldritch Giant around for inititative. Each player is passing it around as we work through the initiative count, this has taken some work off my plate to keep things moving.
Overall, I still think the Dwarven Forge stuff is way too expensive for the amount of material I'd like to have. I've recently experimented with drawing my own grid on sheets of used wallpaper that have a texture and color like dungeon floors; this worked excellently with some of the stuff I have from War Torn Worlds.
Overall, I've determined that I would train my group to accept all three styles in my game (Narrativist, Simulationist, and Gamist). So sometimes I run combat without a grid, sometimes with markers and mat, sometimes full-blown elaborate walls and miniatures right down to the details. So far, we've enjoyed the variety, but I recommend having a talk with your players first to explain all of the styles first to get their buy-in. I know some groups have members who have not been exposed to certain styles before...
To summarize:
>CHEAPEST YET FUNCTIONAL: pictures on magnets on mat
>MOST EXPENSIVE: Minis with 3d walls and dungeon detail.
I'm probably forgetting something like using PAIZO's magic item cards slipped into individual hard plastic cardholders (only $2.50 for 25 card holders) - - - let me know if I even answered any of your questions....
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There was a company that made a product called Tact-tiles which were interlocking dry/wet-erase tiles that were around 9" square with a grid on it. The theory was to assemble them, draw out the dungeon/building, take them apart and reassemble as the party explores and can see the newer areas. I never could buy them because people were always out of them when I tried to order and now I can't find the company that made them on the net.
I did however find a site on how to make your own set out of Foamboard and I am going to try that soon. Here is the instructional site for making your own version.
How to make your own Tact-tiles.
Hope this helps.
They work great in real life. I can see the idea of using 1" diameter dowels has occurred to someone else. That would be a cheaper alternative to spending $10 for the factory made one. Either way they would work.
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I use Paizo's gamemastery mats x 2 for dungeon tiles, though we happen to have a piece of perspex the exact size of our gaming table that we place over the top....which works well.
For flying creatures...about a year ago I discovered Litko Aero (they make cool perspex tokens). They custom made me a set of 10 x 1 inch flight bases with another base on the top that the mini can stand on, I then use a wet erase marker to write the height on, which you can change easily. It cost me $11.46 for the 10. Happy to send you the details if you are interested at all.
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Blimey, those are all expensive options.
We use a roll of self-adhesive plastic film, the sort used to back books with, which has a grid marked on the paper backing.
It's a faint grid, and it's 20mm, but that's fine for most figures, which are either DDM or on Warhammer bases (humansize are 20mm, bulky humanoids (orcs, chaos warriors) are 25mm, large creatures (eg ogres) are 40mm, huge monsters are 50mm).
The old Dungeon Flooorplans and Heroquest board pieces from GW, (and many other older UK suppliers) are also on a 20mm grid, so they mix easily, if you want a 'special.
Finish a map section, just roll it up and carry on drawing. We looked for a clean section a few weeks ago, and found Drakthar's Way, which we cleared out over 2 years ago.
Total cost of film (5 metres by 0.5) a couple of quid.
Pack of Flash Orange Action wipes to shift old, stubborn marks, a couple of quid.
I use Paizo's gamemastery mats x 2 for dungeon tiles, though we happen to have a piece of perspex the exact size of our gaming table that we place over the top....which works well.
For flying creatures...about a year ago I discovered Litko Aero (they make cool perspex tokens). They custom made me a set of 10 x 1 inch flight bases with another base on the top that the mini can stand on, I then use a wet erase marker to write the height on, which you can change easily. It cost me $11.46 for the 10. Happy to send you the details if you are interested at all.
I'd like to hear about the Litko Aero pieces in which you speak of. Would you email me at......so I can see if it is something I would like to consider. The price is not to bad. How attractive are they?
Eileen.Prophet.of.Istus@gmail.com
Hey Eileen! Happy Greyhawk to ya!
Thanks Pax Veritas, tell your monsters I'm going to offer them all free healing whenever the PCs are getting the best of them. Just have the monsters stop by my temple in Greyhawk City.
I use a 4x5 gaming mat from Chessex. Pretty affordable... $45 I think, and a set of colored German wet-erase markers (most game stores have these).
You have 1 mat that is 4 feet by 5 feet in size? I have 2 mats that cover about this space. Where did you get such a large map. I looked at Chessex but didn't see anything that big. Can you link it for me. Is your mat squares, hexes, or double sided. Mine is squares only. I bought them a long time before hexes came out.
I recently purchased a bunch of grey pitted walls from the company WAR TORN WORLDS. These look great and are awesome for use as low cover, or if you buy enough of these, you can instantly map out a whole 3-d dungeon right on top of your game mat!
Can you link these for me so I may see them? I'm not into dungeons as much with a superhero game but perhaps the company offers similar items that would be of interest. Either way I'd like to see what they look like and check out cost.
For a long time, until I completed my vast collection of minis, I was purchasing 1" magnets with a sticky side, and using photoshop to craft circular picture excerpts from wotc's graphics library from the FF, LoM, Frostburn, Sandstorm, MM1 through MMV, etc. These looked great if I wanted to have a 2-dimensional game mat. This was by far the most inexpensive approach! Magnet backings added just enough wieight to the pictures to make them work well as moveable game pieces.
This is a good idea. I was going to use thick foam board and print out pictures of spaceships, robots, etc. and glue them on but I think the magnets would be nicer. Where do you find them..Walmart craft section? Somewhere else?
As for height and flight. I use 1" wooden blocks (also obtainable from a craft store for 99 cents) to simulate height. These fit right on the grid with each block representing roughly 10 feet (or more if you wish). You can mess with metal base rod extenders but its not really worth it. During...
I was thinking about this as well but thought it wouldn't look very nice on the table. Am I wrong? Am I being to picky about appearance?
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For flying creatures...about a year ago I discovered Litko Aero (they make cool perspex tokens). They custom made me a set of 10 x 1 inch flight bases with another base on the top that the mini can stand on, I then use a wet erase marker to write the height on, which you can change easily. It cost me $11.46 for the 10. Happy to send you the details if you are interested at all.
I'd like to hear about the Litko Aero pieces in which you speak of. Would you email me at......so I can see if it is something I would like to consider. The price is not to bad. How attractive are they?
A email should be in your inbox soon, but to answer your question, they are made of clear perspex, so they have very little visual impact on the gaming table
A email should be in your inbox soon, but to answer your question, they are made of clear perspex, so they have very little visual impact on the gaming tableI
For flying creatures...about a year ago I discovered Litko Aero (they make cool perspex tokens). They custom made me a set of 10 x 1 inch flight bases with another base on the top that the mini can stand on, I then use a wet erase marker to write the height on, which you can change easily. It cost me $11.46 for the 10. Happy to send you the details if you are interested at all.
I'd like to hear about the Litko Aero pieces in which you speak of. Would you email me at......so I can see if it is something I would like to consider. The price is not to bad. How attractive are they?
Ok, great, thank you!
I just checked out the email and I liked what I saw. My gaming mat has really small squares 3/4 inch so I'd have to get smaller ones made. I wouldn't think that would be a problem though. Looked like it would work well for larger objects as well, such as spaceships. Thanks so much. I'm going to be contacting the company.
I have a Reversible Megamat from Chessex, and I like it. It's 34 1/2" x 48". They also have the Mondomat, which is 54"x102" and special markers (though other markers will work as well, Chessex recommends Staedtler, though that might be just from the European Catalogue, as that's a German company).
They also have them as "2nd Factory", which are mats with slightly skewed printing or with some stain on the backside, so they can't sell them as "1st Choice". Mine's one of those, and I didn't see anything wrong with it. I did see the price difference quite clearly, though.
Mondomats are only available as double sided (squares on one side, hexes on the other), but the smaller are available as single-sided, too.
The irregular mondomats cost $72, the megamats $24. There's even ones with hexes/squares of sizes other than 1" (though I got one with 1" squares-/hexes, since that's most useful for D&D).
I got mine at a trade fair once, but you can also get them on their website (chessex.com), though they say that they're not always available.
They say that you can return them if the flaw they have is too much for you, but that they only regularly get that, since they sell the worst of them at conventions where people can have a look first, and those with less notable flaws are sold on the site.
I'm quite happy with my mat - it covers most of the table and saves as tablecloth for my gaming table. Just add minis and, if necessary, rooms and such (usually with markers - I found dungeon tiles ultimately not worth the time it takes assembling them, since you usually have to do that during the game. Painting in the contraints is faster)
I have a Reversible Megamat from Chessex, and I like it. It's 34 1/2" x 48". They also have the Mondomat, which is 54"x102" and special markers (though other markers will work as well, Chessex recommends Staedtler, though that might be just from the European Catalogue, as that's a German company).
They also have them as "2nd Factory", which are mats with slightly skewed printing or with some stain on the backside, so they can't sell them as "1st Choice". Mine's one of those, and I didn't see anything wrong with it. I did see the price difference quite clearly, though.
Mondomats are only available as double sided (squares on one side, hexes on the other), but the smaller are available as single-sided, too.
The irregular mondomats cost $72, the megamats $24. There's even ones with hexes/squares of sizes other than 1" (though I got one with 1" squares-/hexes, since that's most useful for D&D).
I got mine at a trade fair once, but you can also get them on their website (chessex.com), though they say that they're not always available.
They say that you can return them if the flaw they have is too much for you, but that they only regularly get that, since they sell the worst of them at conventions where people can have a look first, and those with less notable flaws are sold on the site.
I'm quite happy with my mat - it covers most of the table and saves as tablecloth for my gaming table. Just add minis and, if necessary, rooms and such (usually with markers - I found dungeon tiles ultimately not worth the time it takes assembling them, since you usually have to do that during the game. Painting in the contraints is faster)
This what I was looking for in regards to upgrade on mats. Does it require wet erase or dry erase?
There was a company that made a product called Tact-tiles which were interlocking dry/wet-erase tiles that were around 9" square with a grid on it. The theory was to assemble them, draw out the dungeon/building, take them apart and reassemble as the party explores and can see the newer areas. I never could buy them because people were always out of them when I tried to order and now I can't find the company that made them on the net.
I did however find a site on how to make your own set out of Foamboard and I am going to try that soon. Here is the instructional site for making your own version.
How to make your own Tact-tiles.
Hope this helps.
I bought some Tact-tiles when I first saw their ad (in Dungeon Magazine, I think), way back when. They weren't cheap, but I felt they were pretty close to the perfect solution to this issue, and they'd be worth the investment. They've definitely proved their value in the years since then, and I would heartily recommend them, but sadly they're no longer available - so I'd be interested to hear Fakey's experience of making his own...
From the site:
"Never use dry erase, permanent, or grease-pencil markers. The vinyl is too porous for the lines created from them to be able to be removed. If you have any doubt of the suitability of any particular
marker, draw a small line on the border, let sit for awhile, and see how well it can be removed. Better to have a small permanent blemish on the edge of the mat than a permanent map drawn on the entirety of the mat!"
From the site:
"Never use dry erase, permanent, or grease-pencil markers. The vinyl is too porous for the lines created from them to be able to be removed. If you have any doubt of the suitability of any particular
marker, draw a small line on the border, let sit for awhile, and see how well it can be removed. Better to have a small permanent blemish on the edge of the mat than a permanent map drawn on the entirety of the mat!"
So are they wet erase then or what are you using?
We use a large white board laying flat with dry erase pens. This particular one has a grid on it. You can draw maps on colored paper and lay them out. It is also magnetic.
So are they wet erase then or what are you using?
Yes.
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We use a large white board laying flat with dry erase pens. This particular one has a grid on it. You can draw maps on colored paper and lay them out. It is also magnetic.
I did the same thing. I bought the board at officemax and laid out a 1" grid using auto pinstrip tape. It works great and if you get the largest sized white board (68"x48" or larger) you can mount folding legs to it and use it as the table.
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I bought some plexiglass at home depot and custom cut it to the perfect size of our table. Under this we can put any map at all. Wet or dry erase markers work great and never leave a footprint. It has been a fantastic and easy fix. It's so big I can put a full size map, smaller maps, and pics of npcs under it at the same time without any fear of everything getting blown away.
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I bought some plexiglass at home depot and custom cut it to the perfect size of our table. Under this we can put any map at all. Wet or dry erase markers work great and never leave a footprint. It has been a fantastic and easy fix. It's so big I can put a full size map, smaller maps, and pics of npcs under it at the same time without any fear of everything getting blown away.
Or wet, good idea.
If you like crafts and have some time on your hands I highly recommend Fat Dragon Games. They have a cityscape that should be perfect for most outdoor superhero encounters. You buy the PDF, print the structures out on heavy cardstock, and then assemble and glue everything together. The effect is quite impressive and, if you're the kind obsessed with looks, there's no better solution.
They also have some Sci-Fi stuff that could work well too depending on your superhero setting.
Their's are the easiest sets to assemble of all the cardstock models I've seen available.
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I really like the GameMastery Basic Flip-Mat, but it's small for your needs. It's nice that it takes dry erase, wet erase and permanent markers without issue, and it folds up very conveniently.
I don't like Chessex maps. They always end up retaining some ink and getting stained.
For elevation, I would look into Alea Tools. They make 1" and 2" magnetic markers that can be placed under miniatures to indicate various status conditions. They recommend their light blue and dark blue markers for use as flight indicators, with the light blue equaling 5' and the dark blue equaling 20'. I use them in my game, and flying creatures are no longer an issue.
I really like the GameMastery Basic Flip-Mat, but it's small for your needs. It's nice that it takes dry erase, wet erase and permanent markers without issue, and it folds up very conveniently.
I don't like Chessex maps. They always end up retaining some ink and getting stained.
For elevation, I would look into Alea Tools. They make 1" and 2" magnetic markers that can be placed under miniatures to indicate various status conditions. They recommend their light blue and dark blue markers for use as flight indicators, with the light blue equaling 5' and the dark blue equaling 20'. I use them in my game, and flying creatures are no longer an issue.
Ohh... That Alea Tools looks really good. I've been trying to find some colored indicators like that. *bookmarks*