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Hi Folks, not sure I pick the right place to post but I'm really enthusiastic about this upcoming product: www.e-pawn.fr. Coupled with the pdf version of the flip-mats/map packs, it could be an amazing gaming experience ! Cannot wait to know more...
Interesting device. Now if only the price is right...
Epawn Arena <--- Linkified.
I'll remain skeptical as my experience is with things like this that they are seldom as easy to use as the demonstrations display. There's usually a steep learning curve to integrating whatever accompanying software goes with things like this.
That said, if it really does end up being as easy to use as the demonstration makes it look like. I'll be purchasing one as soon as I can afford to. This is exactly the kind of device/software I've been looking for to fully integrate great maps into my Pathfinder games.
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Seems like a solution in search of a problem. My group uses paper mats covered with a large sheet of plexiglass. Dry-erase markers are used to draw environments and area effects. Simple, cheap, and the software hasn't crashed once.
Seems like a solution in search of a problem. My group uses paper mats covered with a large sheet of plexiglass. Dry-erase markers are used to draw environments and area effects. Simple, cheap, and the software hasn't crashed once.
Very true. Right now we use the Gamemaster Flip-Mat Basic with dry erase markers and it works like a charm. However, these maps are sketchy (get it, they're sketched) at best. Since a lot of Paizo's products come with great PDF maps, I'd love to be able to use them at the table, but printing them out to scale in full color isn't really feasible at this point (for me anyway). So a product like this, where I could just screenatize (I made that word up) their PDF on the table for the players to see and interact with, would be great. Again, if it works the way they are demonstrating it.
I'm a bit skeptical because it looks to me that there are some added items underneath all the miniatures, perhaps a magnetic add-on that stores the creatures information. If that's the case I can see a LOT of up front work for the GM (that's me) inputting all the data for the PCs and the enemies. That would not be fun.
Still, as I just told one of my players. I'll remain hopefully skeptical.
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I've been a big proponent of projector gaming for a long time. About a year ago, it became clear that flat panel technology had overtaken projector tech and I stopped recommending projectors in favor of Samsung's 6000 series ultra-slim flat panels.
I've also done a fair bit of work with virtual tabletop software for use at the table (not just online). Yes, the VTT options get the initial oohs and aaahs, but in actual use, I hate these features. The awesome property of horizontal flat panels and projected maps when used with minis is that they totally focus the gammers around the game, while uniting the players with technology, instead of dividing them. the spawn does not appear to do that - it's a video game by other kea sinker current demo form.
The other problem which is evident especially when using a VTT online is that the RPG experience devolves into a video game experience quickly.
This ePawn stuff seems to be highlighting the video game experience with all of it's touch table widgets. It's not a good game experience and does not improve matters at all.
I was interested in the interface with iPad and the non flat panel arena. Especially if made into a rollable physical product, I can see how the arena sans flat panel could be a very cool product for RPG use. Looks like it still needs work though.
I've also done a fair bit of work with virtual tabletop software for use at the table (not just online).
If you were going to recommend a particular VTT for use at the table, what would it be?
The problem I've always had with VTT at the table is that not every one in my gaming groups has a device that can interact with them. Which then makes me the "mover" of PC tokens for them. That really takes away a certain feeling of ownership for the PCs. Which is why something like this intrigues me. I've been giving some thought to this kind of technology. This way it is a shared screen that everyone can interact with. I've played around with various VTTs over the years, and just never found one that was easy enough to use, that still handled all of the features I wanted.
Interesting device. Now if only the price is right...
In the press article where I found this (in French) they were mentioning $400... quite affordable.
It's a neat gadget and $400 is reasonable if you have the cabbage ... but a 26-inch screen is just waaaaay too small. We use a 6 ft by 4 ft wet-erase battlemat, and I couldn't imagine using anything smaller.
It's a neat gadget and $400 is reasonable if you have the cabbage ... but a 26-inch screen is just waaaaay too small. We use a 6 ft by 4 ft wet-erase battlemat, and I couldn't imagine using anything smaller.
+1
It's a neat gadget and $400 is reasonable if you have the cabbage ... but a 26-inch screen is just waaaaay too small. We use a 6 ft by 4 ft wet-erase battlemat, and I couldn't imagine using anything smaller.+1
+2 -- 26 inches is nowhere near enough surface to be able to fully flesh out even one combat encounter, let alone a smooth dungeon crawl. I'm sure this company is looking to make affordable and portable a tool like Surfacescapes, but 26 inches is not enough to work effectively. At least not for any game I'm running.
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While 26" IS a little small, you need to remember than an electonic mat "scrolls", such that the action is focussed on the part of the map where the PCs are fighting at that time. The electonic part of the mat which scrolls and which you do **not see** on the screen all at once (at leasty in battmemap scale, you can zoom out) is, indeed, a 4x6 -- or a 5x10, for that matter.
If you stop and tink about most of your combats in a dungeon area and how close the PCs are to the monsters in a given encounter, in the large majority of cases, 26" actually *does* provide ample room to show that all at once in battlemap scale. Not all fights, no -- but most? Yes.
Still, all things being equal, you would prefer 38" to 46" on the diagonal when you can get it. At that size, however, portability is an issue: 26" is portable whereas 40" inch plus with current flat-screen technology -- even a Samsung 6000 series .80" thick unit -- simply isn't.
Still, all things being equal, you would prefer 38" to 46" on the diagonal when you can get it. At that size, however, portability is an issue: 26" is portable whereas 40" inch plus with current flat-screen technology -- even a Samsung 6000 series .80" thick unit -- simply isn't.
I'll give you that 26" is adequate, and that's as far as I'll go. In the example video they showed though, their game software had addendums on all sides of the screen, so the actual map was taking up even less of the screen. If you were just using the screen as nothing more than a projection of the map, and not worrying about all the fancy interactive elements, there are some (somewhat) cheaper ways to do that already.
Right now, as I mentioned, I use the Gamemastery Flip-Mat Basic, which is 38" at the diagonal, and we frequently use the entire surface during the course of a combat encounter. We [b]don't[b] use the map surface for travel, even in a dungeon unless there are particularly tricky elements or spacing is an issue for traps. Most of what occurs outside of the combat is just a discussion. So the scrolling part of the map wouldn't necessarily be a great benefit, especially if you're scrolling in the middle of a combat encounter and having to remove/replace miniatures on the board as you do.
Would 26" be sufficient for a smaller group of PCs who only interact with monsters/npcs in close proximity? Yes of course, but, if you are running a sweeping outdoors kind of a campaign, that surface would barely scratch, well, the surface, of what was necessary for the players and GM to get a full scope of the battle scene. IMHO anyway.
I wanted to pop back in here because this thread got me thinking, a lot, lately about what would really be the cheapest way to use the nice PDF maps at the gaming table. I looked around at a lot of different peoples hand-built tables, and mounted projectors, even looked at the idea of using a flat-screen tv covered in plexiglass as a tabletop. It took me a brief moment of great clarity to realize there is a much cheaper way.
I have a link to a Google Docs Image here that shows the setup.
It is nothing more than an overhead projector used typically for classroom use (though nowadays everybody uses whiteboards and smartboards) sitting on top of a tall cabinet with a box for added height. I taped a map that I printed out onto a transparency sheet from an adventure PDF (of a free map, so I hope there aren't any copyright infringement things happening with me posting it online--if there are paizo just let me know and I'll take it down ASAP). As you can see in the second picture the map projects perfectly onto the table below. I didn't have any miniatures handy to put onto it to show that it is almost exactly projecting at a 1 square = 1 inch scale.
Total price for this? If you shop around about $200 dollars.
A quick search of Amazon.com shows that you can get a decent used projector for under $100 with shipping let's say you spend about $125.
Transparency paper can be found for as cheap as $30 for a pack of 50. I've seen them even cheaper, but as a teacher I'm in Staples quite a little bit. :)
The only other thing you need is a little transparent tape to tape the printed transparency to the projector.
Now, to be sure, the setup in my picture above is precarious at best, and you might want to design something to make sure the unit doesn't come crashing down and breaking glass and expensive bulbs. But if you just want to use those nice PDF maps that Paizo includes in their adventures at the table. This is going to be, by my research, the cheapest way to do it. Short of just asking Kinkos or somebody to print the map out on a scale of 1 square = 1 inch.
Oh, yeah, if you're really worried about not revealing too much of the map to the players there's a simple solution. Just take a piece of thick paper and tape that to the portions of the map the PCs have yet to discover. Then you can remove those sections of paper as things get revealed.
Is it easy and ideal? Maybe not, but it is a lot cheaper than other versions of maps at the table top I've seen.