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No.407927
I bullied some coworkers into dnd with me and they enjoyed the babies-first module. I want to ditch 1" square stuff printed onto paper and want to get a reusable mat instead. Or do I? Are the tilesets better? What do you guys recommend?
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No.407929
>>407927
Get one of those erasable vinyl maps and a non-permanent marker.
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No.407934
>>407927
I'd say battlemat is better. Though, I would recommend putting acrylic panel (plexiglas) on top of it.
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No.407935
>>407927
They make laminated dry-erase battle mats that are usually pretty cheap.
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No.408997
I'd say drop grids and play with FATE style zones.
Or even better drop dnd altogether.
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No.408998
>>408997
this. really what do you need maps for? they are lots for preparation for meager effect. all you really need is to know what is there and if you can use it to kill, its not really important how far it is as it would be better to just handwave it, it makes for a more fun experience to kick orc into a spiky pit then run for 4 turns to it and then do it
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No.409000
I literally cannot comprehend why you would use tiles over a battlemat. Maybe you want to waste money?
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No.409001
>>408997
>using FATE anything
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No.409014
Go full theatre of the mind instead. It's more fun and nigh impossible to replicate on shiternet programs like (((roll20))).
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No.409016
>>409014
STORYGAME NIGGERS GET OFF MY BOARD!
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No.409020
>>409016
>wargame fags
Go paint your plastic crack or something.
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No.409029
>>409001
>>409016
It's OK if you rollplay my dude, no need to feel ashamed
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No.409036
>>409029
>tactical combat is synonymous with rollplaying
I fucking hate you people, half of you chucklefucks just say whatever you want with no regard for context or the fucking post you're responding to, and the other half say nothing and lurk.
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No.409059
>>409016
Yeah, we don't want any more white guys here. This post was sponsored by Roll20.
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No.409065
>>409059
What the fuck are you even talking about?
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No.409072
>>409016
to be fair theater of the mind isn't a story game as they are commonly know now, perhaps would be better to say
FORGEFAGGOTS STAY OFF MY BOARD
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No.409077
>>409072
Who the fuck uses Google+?
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No.409082
>>409065
Miniatures, maps and battlemats are the first step to video game-ifying tabletop roleplaying games. Roll20 is the logical next step.
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No.409108
>>409082
Fuck you, those have all been around for 40+ years and you know it. Disingenuous faggot.
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No.409119
>>409036
With zones you can use your surroundings for tactical advantage, but being a dndrone obsessed with showing movement in 5 foot segments because hasbro jews want to sell their overpriced minis, you wouldn't know that.
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No.409243
>>409119
Dungeons and Dweebs is for shitters. Combat on a map is inherently more tactical than theatre of the mind, unless you can somehow convey objective distances without reminding your players every round.
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No.409246
>>409243
If you want tactics, why not just go and play a video game? Video games can do dungeon crawling, combat, min/maxing, tactics and strategy better than any tabletop game on the market.
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No.409248
>>409246
What's attractive about RPGs that have a strong tactical element to them is the chance to build and develop a character with all kinds of different abilities and then learn how best to use and exploit them under all kinds of different conditions and on different kinds of terrain, alongside a team of human controlled characters who are doing the same thing. Plus you've got the rule bending and the ability to work outside of the hard mechanics as written and you have the social element of gathering around with some other people. Vidya can't offer that.
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No.409253
>>409246
Because I like roleplaying.
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No.409257
>>409248
>needing feats and subclasses and bullshit abilities to differentiate my character from others
Sounds like you're just shit at RP, anon-kun.
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No.409259
>>409257
Sounds like you're a troglodyte who insists on a false dichotomy.
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No.409264
>>409259
please don't tell me you speak like this in real life
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No.409288
oh look, the Stormwind Fallacy, game system edition.
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No.409292
>hey guys what kind of map should I use?
<fuck maps and fuck your game
>fuck off retard
>shitflinging ensues
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No.409330
>>407927
>What do you guys recommend?
In general? I would recommend a sand-table. Being able to mould terrain on the spot, draw lines to mark non-standard boundaries, and embed props into place are all advantages - hence why most of ye olden D&D players made use of them. Of course, the caveat is this - the rest ye olden D&D players considered using them, was because they had them for war-gaming. Getting a solid table and a bunch of sand is a steep investment, and not a very portable one. So while the best, it's not the most practical.
Getting a cheap roll-up mat is a solid solution, but keep in mind that even the best ones are not the most durable. They are, however, the most portable solution, and let you do things like marking and erasing relatively easily.
For a middle-ground, I'm going to suggest a very non-standard option - plastic cutting boards for sewing. If you can get a translucent one, the black marks on the "main" side can be seen on the reverse. Flip it over, and make use of some wet-erase markers, and you have a much more durable board. However, durability is proportional to rigidness, meaning that the tougher you want it, the harder it is to consider it "portable". That said, the key difference is that while a game mat is a mat for gaming, a cutting board is a board for cutting, and the gaming use is just a plus. If you do any crafts or hobby-making for the games, or even sew to repair your stuff, the sewing mat is a useful investment in its own right.
>>409016
Don't be a faggot. Most old-school games, and frankly, every good game, is designed to permit play with or without a game-mat. Tracking distances and other details can easily be maintained with index cards and a triple-digit IQ, and frankly, I think the former is altogether optional if you have a sufficient quantity of the latter.
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No.409331
>>409330
Way ahead of you, wargamers have been using the classic "string with marks" on it for centuries and it's still just as valuable as ever.
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No.409345
>>407927
>Paper
Easily accessible and disposable. Not going to be pretty or exact, but that's fine. Using most basic free image editing software, you can knock together some really basic maps without a ton of effort.
>Reusable mat
Tried and true, but it does have the problem of requiring you to stop the flow of the game while you draw out your maps as they are needed, and then having to erase them every time you want to use a different map. Also, some of them just don't wipe clean as easily as they are advertised to.
A large white board seems like it would be the obvious alternative, but those wipe clean too easily, and with everyone's hands moving across it, you're going to be redrawing your map constantly during a fight.
>tilesets and terrain pieces
Pricey and they come with the extra trouble of needing lots of storage space and a means to tote them to and from game, in addition to needing a large and clear table space to use them. They can definitely be an impressive step up from scribbling on a mat, but they also have a fairly limited usability, unless you're just going to constantly rearrange the same few cobblestone hallways over and over again. The fact that they can be rearranged and reused is a benefit. Plus, there's also the option of simply making your own tiles out of cardboard, which lowers the cost and modularity options. In either case, tilesets are cool and impressive, but they aren't without their own troubles.
>projector and digital map
Pain in the ass to set up, not made for most tables, but they give you a huge variety of maps to use with very little effort. It's also a ton of effort, requires a darkened room, and is slightly inconvenienced whenever players want to move their minis, because the projection will be blocked and the minis will be covered in the light of the image... Unless you do digital markers, in which case the GM is stuck moving everything for everyone.
>digital screen on table
Pricey and requires a bit of work to create a safe and sturdy shell to use what will just be a TV with a sheet of acrylic over the top, connected to a nearby laptop, so people aren't poking the direct screen. Gives you all the digital map options of a projector, without some of the lighting and interactivity problems. Plus you can pump sound through most flatscreen monitors and TVs, for that's cool. Pricey, perhaps a bit more work than it's worth, but it's an option.
>gridless diorama-style terrain
Pretty much going full wargame if you do this. Can be a very rewarding and challenging hobby to learn how to git gud at making such things, but these kind of big table battle arenas are for wargaming. They exist to play out skirmishes between a few players, not for running campaigns where a story will unfold more and more overtime.
>full-blown theater of the mind
Depends on the system you're running. D&D isn't great for this because it thrives on shit like line of sight, specific ranges, attacks of opportunity, flanking, and so on. I think they removed some of that shit in 5e, but the problem remains the same: The game needs you to know where everyone and everything is. In other systems, fully narrative-driven combat can work just fine, but only because there is less to keep track of and remember. When using a battle mat and someone says they move 10 feet away, you have a constant reminder of where they are. In theater of the mind combat, someone says they move away and everyone just kind of forgets about it and the GM arbitrarily decides if there's something close enough to hit that player, regardless of the tactical decisions they've attempted to make.
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No.416922
>>407927
I use pic related and love them. Don't get the brick ones because they're a little hard to keep track of the squares.
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No.416926
>unfinished dry-erase board, <$10 from any hardware store
>cutout character tokens on cardstock or just fuckin' paper (let your players doodle on or print out their own, they love it)
Grids are video gamey bullshit for women and children.
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No.416928
>>416926
>gridded tabletop combat doesn't predate video games
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No.416934
>>407927
Washable markers and a wipeable hex/grid mat is the best man.
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No.416978
>>416926
If grids came from video games how do you explain war games that use grids that predates Gygax?
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No.417267
>>416978
Perhaps I should have said grids are video gamey bullshit for women and children in the context of tabletop RPGs.
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No.417278
>>417267
Do you measure distance with a ruler, or something?
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No.417286
>>417278
Some folks in the 70s used rulers and marked strings. My group used a gridded modelling board.
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No.417446
As someone who's played with almost all the options brought up here, I'd have to say i find the best method is roughly drawn layouts on scrap paper or white board with simple abstract tokens for characters and terrain, and no grids. This let's you keep track of relative positioning and movement without being as fiddly as a grid.
Using printed maps or tiles and miniatures is visually the best, but requires a lot of time and money which will go to waste if your players skip the whole encounter you spent weeks buying and painting, or you force then into a certain situation just to show off your toys which is frustrating.
On the other hand full theater of the mind can be irritating in how arbitrary it is, and the GM just sort of decides who can hit who, which negates any tactical element of combat and just turns it into rolling dice to see if you can jerk yourself off to how high your characters combat skills are. It's also a bit frustrating when someone forgets who's where and and your carefully thought out attack plan gets shit on because the GM forgot to tell you there was one orc standing in your way
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No.417456
>>417267
DnD was originally a war game with a grid modified to be an RPG, Warhammer 40k doesn't use a grid and caters specifically to teenagers with Space Marines to get them hooked to the game.
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