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3 years ago ::
Dec 11, 2009 - 6:51AM
#11
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Date Joined:
Apr 16, 2009
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Good ideas, i shall try them.
I don't have a megamat, but I shall look to get one in the near future.
One of my players is building some props for the campaign. Things like walls, pillars, platforms, and stairs. I don't know what the materials will be, but it will be pretty cool to have multi-level battles.
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3 years ago ::
Dec 11, 2009 - 5:55PM
#12
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Date Joined:
Sep 29, 2007
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I also miniature game and I can tell you from experience that if you're going for intricate props, the one thing you want to make sure of is that they're HEAVY.
Paper walls and stuff are cool until someone gives a good laugh or cough and knocks the whole thing out! It's best to only go for a few props also. Having full walls and stuff can make it hard to play with. A few pillars or table are generally enough to give the dimension of things without getting in the way of movement and people's view of the action.
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3 years ago ::
Jan 05, 2010 - 4:12PM
#13
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I run most of the stuff on my laptop, including intiative and monster HP and status. I may change that. I use a 2'x2' Chessex Battlemat and its served me well. Between my and my friend we have a small assortment of Warcraft and DnD minis, although I am famous for using 1"x1" chess pieces in place of minis. Checkers are always minions, and you can trust anyone who is a white piece (believe me, this has lead to some bad jokes). I also have a personal "DM's assistant" in the form of a one-foot tall winlgess Horrorclix Cthulu mini I keep at my side when I DM. He guards my screen and I informed my players he will consume their souls if they cheat. Some, particularly my little brother, haven begun to develope dice superstitions surrounding Cthulu. My little brother likes to sit extra d20's at Cthulu's feet so they can charge on a 20. I think I may take some of these suggestions though.
I am a: Lawful Good Dragonborn Paladin
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3 years ago ::
Feb 10, 2010 - 7:11PM
#14
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I've got the large laminated grid/maps from paizo. Dungeon Tiles were also a huge hit with my group, so I'm continually looking for more of those. For extravagent adventure sites I usually use a large white board, or print out 1" grid paper and fit to size. I have 2 boxes filled with minis collected over the years..Ral Partha, Games Workshop, D&D, and others, so that my players, and monsters, are never lacking for variety.
For initiative I'm a bit old-fashioned. I keep it written down on my paper (behind the scene)..it's not a secret, but normally the players get the hang of the initiative without problems. It also help me keep down the people acting too early, or out of turn, I dictate when the characters go.
As far as tracking status, I use whatever I have available...bloodied? that's what the red chips from yahtzee are for. Challenged? Gold / bright-colored 4 sided die (they're small so fit easier into the mass of combat). Area effect spells are indicated by my warhammer ordinance templates. I know it's a bit guerrilla style, but hey...I don't need to be fancy.
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3 years ago ::
Mar 14, 2010 - 7:47PM
#15
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Date Joined:
Oct 16, 2007
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I use a combination of the tiles and the dry erase mat. The tiles are used for preplanned encounters and the mat for large or ad hoc encounters.
While playing on the tiles, I lay them on top of a non-skid shelf liner. Keeps them from drifting apart.
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3 years ago ::
Mar 22, 2010 - 3:51AM
#16
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Date Joined:
Jan 11, 2009
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Being a total cheapskate i downloaded 1" square paper in a4 sheets and prit sticked it together and fabloned it. I made various size sheets and use various colour dry wipe markers.
I also created 1" square effect paper markers to go under minis.
We use dice for most enemies and minis for harder opponents.
I love the dungeon tiles but they do take time to sort and lay out so I select a couple of encounters in advance and place all tiles in a ziplock bag so i have a couple of encounters per session that look a bit more pleasing to the eye.
I will be using the pipe cleaner idea now when using tiles. Simple and effective ( and brilliant! why did i not think of that! ) Excellent!
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3 years ago ::
Apr 08, 2010 - 5:08AM
#17
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Date Joined:
May 21, 2008
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Although I don't have a job, my friends are really into D&D. I find out things, like the D&D insider and without me asking it, they get some to share with me.
If you like the visuals, and if you have spare money, Dwarven Forge is brilliant. It's detailed and very weighty. I'm not sure how he found it, but my friend found Dwarven Forge much cheaper because he found the raw-made pieces that weren't trimmed down or painting. Since I'm having my first 4th edition DMing tonight (I used slightly customised 3rd edition rules before) I'm going to see how well it goes down.
Also again, miniatures are nice. Either the official ones, or ones from the D&D board game (These are slightly worse, but they work) or from popular modelling games. It's all fun.
Although beforehand I usually use just paper, I'm starting to use my laptop to store all the details on. It makes it easier to manage by having the monster's statistics there, so all you really need to write down (Because it's faster) is the monster's health.
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3 years ago ::
Apr 09, 2010 - 2:30PM
#18
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Date Joined:
Feb 13, 2010
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Similar to DarthBaggins (love the name lol). I acquired a set of tiles via ebay from the D&D minatures starter set which when they arrived came with a battlemat. I have since covered this with a product similar to Fablon (though less than a third the price - Thanks Wilko's) and use a set of dry wipe markers. It was big enough that I could draw on the first three encounters and through folding keep them secret until needed. For mini's I have a combination of some D&D, Games Workshop and good old Heroquest figures, and add a little detail with the scenery pieces from the advanced Heroquest set. As the beginning of my campaign involves a lot of goblins I am considering investing in some of GW's Goblins of Moria - also because they are awesome miniatures  . If your having trouble funding miniatures, a good source for some printable counters can be found here www.filefront.com/14750977/pogunderlay.r...I have played in a game with the DM using the magnetic wipeboard (from Piazo I think) for tracking initiative etc and it was quite good, but so far I have stuck with pencil and paper for myself. Good gaming to all.
"Well that encounter was easy....er, guys, why is the DM grinning?" (party members last words) It's not a party till the screaming starts!
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3 years ago ::
Sep 04, 2010 - 7:08AM
#19
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Date Joined:
Mar 29, 2010
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I took the miniatures battle mat paper that came in the D&D 3.5 Miniatures Starter Kit (you can probably still find it on eBay), made eight double-sided 11x17 copies (1/4 of the full mat to give me four mats total), laminated them, and I draw maps on the fly or prep them in advance. I have dry erase markers as well in multiple colors in order to signify when something is goo or water or ice, etc. That way it's not all "you see black walls, black doors, black stairs, black water..."
I use multi-colored chenilles (what a pipe cleaner is called in the crafting world. Why they had to change the name, I don't know.) as condition markers. Rather than purchasing an insane amount of minis (sorry Wizards & other retailers, they're just too expensive), I bought some 25mm wooden bases from Litko, downloaded appropriate images from the Internet, created some circular images that will fit onto the bases, printed those out. Then I glued them onto the bases and now I have my own token miniatures.
I also use my laptop with a spreadsheet open that has my encounters saved in it so I can keep track of my monster's HP.
I think my most favorite toy I have though is my zocchihedron. I've never had to use it, but it's fun to play with and is a great conversation piece.
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3 years ago ::
Sep 05, 2010 - 6:06AM
#20
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Date Joined:
Feb 13, 2010
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In our recent game session, in lieu of panther miniatures we used a rather unusual substitute - mini daim bars!!!  We stuck to our environmentally friendly ethos - "eat what you kill" LMAO
"Well that encounter was easy....er, guys, why is the DM grinning?" (party members last words) It's not a party till the screaming starts!
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