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4 years ago ::
Oct 04, 2009 - 8:44PM
#1
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Date Joined:
Jun 24, 2007
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Initiative: wipe-off board for me. Players (on-table) have a line of clay that we stick colored craft sticks (real cheap) that have their Char Class written on (each of our players has a "color" associated with them - they use that color for their Marks, area effects, etc). Easy to shuffle order around. Bad Guys are always red and numbered 1, 2, 3, etc. Area Effects: pipe cleaners are awesome. Bendable, color-coded by character, etc. We use magnetic base markers from alea tools for bloodied, marks, conditions, etc. They are awesome. Before that (when we were all poor) used the little colored rubber-bands used for hair-tying (color-coded too!), colored paperclips, etc... Fiddly, but cheap and effective. Dungeon Tiles, battlemats, and HeroScape tiles (for outdoor maps), the usual... Action Points: bought some cheap plastic "pirate booty" gold coins at a Party store (like 50 for a buck!) and we keep them in a little piratey Treasure Chest I got at Hobby Lobby for like $4. We use Style/Karma Points, too (House Rule): White poker chips. Players love throwing them at me when they "spend" them.. Red & Blue poker chips for Successes and Failures during Skill Challenges (we have a "scorecard" that sits on the table - I throw these back at them...) Well, we ARE Gamers after all...
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4 years ago ::
Oct 11, 2009 - 10:17AM
#2
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Date Joined:
Aug 30, 2009
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Markers: I used to use squares cut from colored 3x5 cards, but moved-up into the markers made by Litko Aerosystems. They are more expensive, but it makes for a cleaner table...and facilitates messier combat sequences! Initiative: Dry-erase board most times, but if I have the time to prep the adventure session, I really like using Chris Heard's free download "Fightcard" on his Icosahedrophilia site (d20.heardworld.com). Action points: Tried poker chips for a while, but wanted something smaller and went to custom hex tokens that are smaller than the battlemat grids yet large enough to work with and not get confused with other markers. Dungeon Tiles: Really like Skeletonkey Games tiles, but I am still looking for good jungle terrain. I'll likely will end-up going custom with Campaign Cartographer 3...or default to randomly placing cardstock cut-outs on a wet or dry erase blank battlemat. Skill Challenges: I used to use old fashioned paper-and-pencil tally-mark system behind the DM screen. I've since started drafting skill challenges as flow charts letting "failures" lead to a different path towards the same end-state goal (so "failure" doesn't become "defeat"). I have had cases where the PCs drifted "off the chart," but that's when it gets fun for the DM and makes me think on my feet (and often leads to some rather unusual and entertaining end-states). Area Effects: Never used before, but I do like the pipe cleaners idea. I think I'll try that next time!
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4 years ago ::
Oct 15, 2009 - 8:16PM
#3
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Initiative: Used a big dry erase board in the past, but switched to a Combat Pad, and really like it. We have all of the PCs names written in one color (blue) and all the monsters in another (orange). One player takes everyone's initiative rolls at the beginning of each encounter and sets up the board. Really easy to do, and since the little boxes are magnetic, it's really easy to adjust the order if a character decides to "hold" or something. The Combat Pad also has a nice little round tracker at the top. Conditions: Using little red mini poker-style chips next to the mini for "bloodied", and regular sized poker chips of other colors placed under the mini for other conitions. I think I'll try using colored rubber bands or something to signify when someone is marked... Mapping: We have a HUGE 4' x 8' Chessex Battlemat that we use for most of our encounters. Also have 2 or 3 smaller Battlemats that I sometimes pre-draw an encounter area on with erasable colored markers as I'm prepping for a game. Area of effect: picked up some simple thin-plastic templates that we've been using, but I REALLY like the pipe-cleaner idea! Lots of miniatures and scaled accessories (buildings, doors, tables and chairs, traps, treasure hoards, etc.) We've got two homemade dice rolling boxes. One is really simple, 12" x 12" with 3" sides, wood with plywood bottom. The other is larger, 14" x 20", and we cut a World of Warcraft rubber "Dark Portal" playmat to fit the bottom as a rolling surface, and it works REALLY well. Also got a big old slat-wall shelving display with some wire racks that we post important information on. If someone buffs the party (+2 to AC for the duration of the encounter, for example), we write that down with marker in big letters on some cardboard (comic-backing boards work well) and place it on the shelf. We also put stuff that we frequently find ourselves referring to from the core books (order of actions in battle was one of the first things we put up...) CD player with lots of Nox Arcana and Midnight Syndicate CDs! I highly recommend this! The music on these CDs is really great to help set a "generic" D&D mood that keeps everyone focused, but isn't intrusive. Every player (and the DM) has a clipboard, pencil, stack of 3" x 5" note cards, full size pad of paper and a coaster (don't want beverage rings on the Battlemats!) And we keep two big box of extra pencils around as well.
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4 years ago ::
Oct 29, 2009 - 3:10PM
#4
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Date Joined:
Jun 12, 2009
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I really like the Gamemastery Map Packs and Flip Mats for battlemaps. Used in conjunction with Dungeon Tiles, I find I can make nearly any battlemap I need. Here is my blog post about other items we use in our games: community.wizards.com/grimmshade/blog/20...
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3 years ago ::
Dec 04, 2009 - 10:37PM
#5
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Date Joined:
Apr 16, 2009
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I have a Chessex wet erase battlemat that we play on, but it takes way too long to erase one setting and draw another that it gets to be a distraction while playing. What is the best way to draw and erase on it without disrupting gameplay?
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3 years ago ::
Dec 05, 2009 - 9:04PM
#6
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I have a Chessex wet erase battlemat that we play on, but it takes way too long to erase one setting and draw another that it gets to be a distraction while playing. What is the best way to draw and erase on it without disrupting gameplay?
Well, I personally use 2 battlemats in the campaigns I run and either have 2 different settings ready to go, or leave one blank and switch over to it when appropriate... Although in the other campaigns that I play in, we just erase as we go. Yeah, it can be a hassle, but if you can work it so that the erasing and re-drawing coincide with a natural "break" point, it's not as much of a distraction.
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3 years ago ::
Dec 05, 2009 - 9:29PM
#7
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Date Joined:
Apr 16, 2009
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I was think that maybe a damp paper towel to take the marker off and then a sponge or towel to take the water off. There is no avoiding the time it takes to draw out the various scenes.
I do have some tile sets coming, but they won't make it this week.
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3 years ago ::
Dec 09, 2009 - 10:25AM
#8
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New to DMing and got a couple chessex battlemats to start with. Wouldn't tile sets be slower (not to mention more expensive). Seems like it'd take more time to get all the tiles for an encounter put down and then some risk of getting knocked about and out of line. I've never used or seen them used. Just wondering.
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3 years ago ::
Dec 09, 2009 - 10:44AM
#9
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Date Joined:
Apr 16, 2009
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New to DMing and got a couple chessex battlemats to start with. Wouldn't tile sets be slower (not to mention more expensive). Seems like it'd take more time to get all the tiles for an encounter put down and then some risk of getting knocked about and out of line. I've never used or seen them used. Just wondering.
The thing about the tiles that I like over the battlemat is that I can pick a certain amount of tiles that fit my encounter, put them on the table and go from there. With the battlemats you have to take the time in the game to actually draw and erase the scene. It is very time consuming, especially if you are trying to move along from scene to scene.
Placing a tile is a lot easier than drawing a scene in.
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3 years ago ::
Dec 10, 2009 - 11:05PM
#10
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Date Joined:
Sep 29, 2007
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Been using Chessex's Battlemats (2x2), Megamats(3x4) and now Mondomats(4x8!) for over 20 years. I find it way quicker than fussing with tiles personally and I prefer to be able to customize things more than what the tiles allow for. Here's some basics: - Get a washcloth.
- Get a small spray bottle. Generally they're a buck from the store or you can use an old Windex (water is better for the mat, but Windex actually works for tough spots!) bottle or something...
- Have a Battlemat and a Megamat.
- Plan ahead, if you know what you're drawing it doesn't take long. If you're not worried about exact dimensions it's even quicker.
- If you have something intricate that needs drawn do it before the game on the Battlemat. You can use the Megamat for the rest of the game and then toss out the Battlemat when it comes into play, pre-drawn!
- Enlist the aid of a player. Hand them the rag and the spray bottle and tell them to erase the map when you're done with it. This is hard to screw up and there is absolutely no reason you should be working when you're supposed to be running a game.
- If you have a talented player, let them draw the map too, if it's simple. It's not too hard to draw a 20x30' room or a "somewhat oval cavern 50' at the widest". My players like drawing tables and chairs, bodies, etc. Why not let them? You could draw the outline and let the players draw in the details...
That's it. Don't use red if you can help it and definitely don't leave marker on overnight... I find that while tiles are often prettier, they really don't add that much and I get frustrated with the odd looking rooms people try to force or how they bust apart constantly. Plus, if you're good with a pen, it's just plain slower!
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