Charwoman Gene
Adventurer
YOU shOuLd tRy a ToBiuLD iT!
Looking for advice on logistical aspects of running/hosting games.
- Thread starter firesnakearies
- Start date
Zaruthustran
The tingling means it’s working!
Congrats on jumping into hosting games! You'll have a great time.
1. Miniatures
Think like a casting director, and sort your minis by role/type. Why? You'll very rarely have the *perfect* mini in inventory, and this system helps you find a suitable stand-in for your particular encounter.
Store your minis by the group in big plastic zip-lock bags (the kind with writable labels). They're easy to store, you can look inside them without opening them, and they're cheap.
I have a couple hundred WotC minis, and I sort them like so:
PC RACES (go through categories in order, putting the mini in whatever category first applies)
Monstrous PC races (Dragonborn and tieflings, currently)
Little guys (gnomes and halflings; can also be used for kids)
Cloth casters (human-ish; casters and scholars)
Dwarves
Elves
Archers (human-ish)
Melee guys in heavy armor (human-ish; can also be used for soldiers/guards)
Melee guys in light armor (human-ish; can also be used for thugs/bandits/townsfolk)
MONSTERS (again, go in order, and put the mini in the first category that applies. If you have a LOT of minis in a particular category, sub-divide by melee/ranged/caster)
Fleshy undead
Skeletal & insubstantial undead
Goblins & Hobgoblins
Bugbears, Gnolls, & other beastmen (including minotaurs)
Orcs & halforcs (and orc lookalikes: brutish armed Medium humanoids)
Animals (including things like hellhounds, displacer beasts, and owlbears)
Insectoids (including spiders & such)
Small monsters
Dragons
Things with Wings (Vrocks, gargoyles, harpies, sphinxes, etc.)
Humanoid extraplanars (azers, devils, archons, etc.)
Nonhumanoid extraplanars (elementals, etc.)
Large humanoid monsters (trolls, orgres, etc)
Abberations / oozes / weird monsters
Bigger-than-Large monsters
2. Dungeon Tiles
I don't use tiles; I use a grid. Still, it seems like you could group them by size. Organize them like paint chips: drill a hole in the corner of each tile, about 1" in. Thread a large, thin metal shower ring (something like this) through the holes. Bam. Now when you need a 5x5 room or 2x8 hallway, you can grab the whole bunch and quickly sort through them.
3. Sounds like the ideal solution is something you can put up when needed, and store away when not needed. Folding card tables are your friends. They're cheap, easy to get into a condo, and won't get in the way. 34" x 34" tables are available for $35 at Target.
Forget about a whiteboard top. Just buy a big Chessex mat instead. Ideally, buy two, so you can pre-prep two encounters. These things take wet-erase markers, and they get dirty after use--make sure no one leans their elbows on the table while wearing white shirts.
Also: don't use red wet-erase markers. They tend not to really erase.
That should do it. Start simple, start cheap. You can always upgrade your gear later, after you've a better idea of your needs.
1. Miniatures
Think like a casting director, and sort your minis by role/type. Why? You'll very rarely have the *perfect* mini in inventory, and this system helps you find a suitable stand-in for your particular encounter.
Store your minis by the group in big plastic zip-lock bags (the kind with writable labels). They're easy to store, you can look inside them without opening them, and they're cheap.
I have a couple hundred WotC minis, and I sort them like so:
PC RACES (go through categories in order, putting the mini in whatever category first applies)
Monstrous PC races (Dragonborn and tieflings, currently)
Little guys (gnomes and halflings; can also be used for kids)
Cloth casters (human-ish; casters and scholars)
Dwarves
Elves
Archers (human-ish)
Melee guys in heavy armor (human-ish; can also be used for soldiers/guards)
Melee guys in light armor (human-ish; can also be used for thugs/bandits/townsfolk)
MONSTERS (again, go in order, and put the mini in the first category that applies. If you have a LOT of minis in a particular category, sub-divide by melee/ranged/caster)
Fleshy undead
Skeletal & insubstantial undead
Goblins & Hobgoblins
Bugbears, Gnolls, & other beastmen (including minotaurs)
Orcs & halforcs (and orc lookalikes: brutish armed Medium humanoids)
Animals (including things like hellhounds, displacer beasts, and owlbears)
Insectoids (including spiders & such)
Small monsters
Dragons
Things with Wings (Vrocks, gargoyles, harpies, sphinxes, etc.)
Humanoid extraplanars (azers, devils, archons, etc.)
Nonhumanoid extraplanars (elementals, etc.)
Large humanoid monsters (trolls, orgres, etc)
Abberations / oozes / weird monsters
Bigger-than-Large monsters
2. Dungeon Tiles
I don't use tiles; I use a grid. Still, it seems like you could group them by size. Organize them like paint chips: drill a hole in the corner of each tile, about 1" in. Thread a large, thin metal shower ring (something like this) through the holes. Bam. Now when you need a 5x5 room or 2x8 hallway, you can grab the whole bunch and quickly sort through them.
3. Sounds like the ideal solution is something you can put up when needed, and store away when not needed. Folding card tables are your friends. They're cheap, easy to get into a condo, and won't get in the way. 34" x 34" tables are available for $35 at Target.
Forget about a whiteboard top. Just buy a big Chessex mat instead. Ideally, buy two, so you can pre-prep two encounters. These things take wet-erase markers, and they get dirty after use--make sure no one leans their elbows on the table while wearing white shirts.
Also: don't use red wet-erase markers. They tend not to really erase. That should do it. Start simple, start cheap. You can always upgrade your gear later, after you've a better idea of your needs.
Last edited:
Scribble
First Post
Home Depot has some of those folding table legs that al you have to do is screw them onto a board. Screw them onto whatever sized board you want your table to be.
When I was younger my parents demolished this old shelving unit. I took the shelf and screwed those legs on it, and we had our game table for years n years n years. It looked kind of ghetto, but it worked... The folding legs let me stash it under my bed when we weren't gaming. And since it wasn't an expensive table my parents owned we drew all over it and carved into it n stuff. It was cool.
When I was younger my parents demolished this old shelving unit. I took the shelf and screwed those legs on it, and we had our game table for years n years n years. It looked kind of ghetto, but it worked... The folding legs let me stash it under my bed when we weren't gaming. And since it wasn't an expensive table my parents owned we drew all over it and carved into it n stuff. It was cool.
I bought a very sturdy full-sized wooden dining table, along with 6 sturdy wooden chairs off of Craig's List for $70 or $75 - then, put in the eave, and I have a nice big table. I was looking for something where the table would not shimmy & shake every time a gamer nudged it - causing my miniatures to crash and fall. I have some D&D minis, but also some fairly valuable metal Warhammer ones, and they can chip & scratch if they fall too often. I added a piece of smooth finished plywood on top and I have a nice sized 8' x 4' table.
A lot of the time, I've found card tables - and even many good quality wooden dining tables - tend to shimmy & shake when nudged.
A lot of the time, I've found card tables - and even many good quality wooden dining tables - tend to shimmy & shake when nudged.
buzz
Adventurer
I've come to prefer the Flip-Mats you can buy from Paizo, as they work with dry-erase, and they fold down to roughly the dimension of a piece of paper. I never even touch my wet-erase Chessex mats any more.
firesnakearies
Explorer
Thanks for all of the suggestions, folks!
Rel
Liquid Awesome
I'll throw out one more suggestion for a table that our group used.
My friend needed a large space for playing Warhammer Fantasy Battles on. He had a decent sized coffee table, about 2.5 feet wide and 3.5 feet long. He bought a sheet of 3/4 inch thick plywood 4'x8' and simply set it on top of the coffee table when he needed it.
We used this setup for our RPG's and it worked great. See if you can find a cheap, used, sturdy coffee table somewhere and just put the big piece of plywood on it. When not in use the plywood can come off and go up against the wall, in the garage, under the bed, whatever.
If you want to make sure the plywood doesn't scratch the coffee table then just put a towel or piece of felt over it.
My friend needed a large space for playing Warhammer Fantasy Battles on. He had a decent sized coffee table, about 2.5 feet wide and 3.5 feet long. He bought a sheet of 3/4 inch thick plywood 4'x8' and simply set it on top of the coffee table when he needed it.
We used this setup for our RPG's and it worked great. See if you can find a cheap, used, sturdy coffee table somewhere and just put the big piece of plywood on it. When not in use the plywood can come off and go up against the wall, in the garage, under the bed, whatever.
If you want to make sure the plywood doesn't scratch the coffee table then just put a towel or piece of felt over it.
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