Looking for Combat Mat advice

[B4cchus]

I have two chessex flipmats, a battlemat and a megamat. I tend to use the smaller battlemat to prepare maps that are complex to save time during combat set-up.
I also had a crystal caste map but I found that the ink is a lot harder to remove from that one than from the chessex mats.

The biggest drawback with using minins and mats is, in my experience,is the extra time it costs to start combats.
Just as you announce some exciting combat you start drawing the encounter on the map and digging though your minis. Five minutes later the rush of excitement is already gone before the first die is even thrown.
Two ways to reduce the time needed for setting it up it preparing complex maps (big rooms, odd shapes, etc) and I always pre-pick minis for encounters that I expect the players will run in to.

Finally: use the wet erase pens (and also mentioned: no red colors!) as suggested earlier. These are very easy to remove if you don't wait until your next session (and even thenm a decent cleaning product will get it off most of the time).

 

[Jeff Wilder]

I own three different kinds of battlemats, and have tried a fourth. My comments on each below.

(1) Chessex (I own both a megamat and the smaller version) -- This is, IMO, the classic.

PROS -- Big, nice to write on (good tactile feel), holds wet-erase ink well, doesn't smudge too much.

CONS -- Not particularly portable (although not hurt by rolling and/or folding), projector pens with red ink (including mixed color pens) stain pretty easily, wet erase is a little messy to clean.

(2) Flip-Mats -- I own literally all of these that have been released, and will continue to buy them.

PROS -- Amazing portability, use any kind of marker, pre-drawn locations on reverse, pretty cheap (~$14 each).

CONS -- Not perfectly flat (counter-folding, which should be done with these, helps, but it's still not ideal), not very large, pre-drawn locations can be a little too specific.

(3) Homemade vinyl mat -- A friend just gave me this 40" x 72" mat for my birthday. He made it at the graphics joint where he works.

PROS -- Huge and long, fits my poker/game table perfectly; use both wet- and dry-erase.

CONS -- Very expensive ($200 or so), least portable of all options, probably too big for most gamers' tables.

(4) Crystal Caste mat -- A friend tried this after getting one cheap at GenCon and gave it away after one use, buying a Chessex mat.

PROS -- Pretty much the same as the Chessex mat, except less tactile feel when drawing.

CONS -- Ink beads and lines are thus faint; this was a deal-breaker.

I can also reiterate the recommendation for 1"-gridded easel pads. I haven't used mine as much as I'd like, but on those occasions when I have, it's worked great. If you've got a location that will see repeated use, drawing it on a sheet of this -- in color or black-and-white -- will really add to your game.

The paper is, well, paper, so I recommend laminating your work. And check the width of your laminator before drawing ... I have to trim three inches from the sheets to fit the laminator, and you don't want to find that out after drawing your masterpiece.

 

[Kheti sa-Menik]

No, I don't think so. Where have you gotten that idea?
<snip>

Oh, I don't know. Maybe he got it from here:

4e DMG p. 6:
"What You Need to Play
A place to play
Rulebooks
Dice
Paper and pencils
Battle grid or D&D Dungeon Tiles
Dungeon Master’s Screen
D&D Miniatures

Useful Additions
Character sheets
Snacks
Laptop computer, PDA, smart phone, or digital camera
D&D Insider"

Bolding mine.
Yeah, DMG says these are necessary items.
Now, sure, any old hand can ignore this, but for the "new players" that 4th edition hopes to rope in, this advice may be taken as gospel.

I feel dirty for just looking at the 4e stuff so I am going to dry heave and wash my hands.


At any rate, as far as "battle mats" go, I must second (third?) the big easel type pads of paper with 1 inch grids on them. They're fairly inexpensive. I don't use them all the time, but we game at my pal's house, and if I need an extensive set piece for a game that I don't want to draw on the spot because it's too coomplex or will slow the game down, I draw it out on the easel paper. It's handy for stuff you will reuse..like a ship the PCs are on for a long time where combat may take place. But after their time on ship is over, I can toss out the ship and not feel guilty cause it's paper.

Oh, the pal whose house we game at...he has created a battle surface of sorts: he took one of the gray grid maps that came with the DDM Starter Kit a while ago, and taped it down to his conference table where we play and taped all across it with packing tape. We can draw and erase on it. I map on this when I don't care about mapping in the middle of game.