New DM Tabletop Question

[Rechan]

If you're OK using counters (2D printouts on cardboard), you can make your own.

Check out this thread for instance - there are so many great images you can find. You take the image, resize it to 1" by 1" (or however large you need) and print it out. (You can likely do this on campus if necessary).

Once you have them printed off, you glue the sheet of paper to any piece of cardboard (I like using cereal boxes), then cut the pieces into 1" by 1" squares, and you're done.

Also, you might like gaming paper - sheets of sturdy, stain-proof waxpaper, a meter long and a third of that wide. I find this useful in case you want to prep special maps ahead of time. Best of all, you can clean and reuse the paper.

Finally, be a little creative with cheap stuff. You can use cardboard and a little glue to create 3D platforms. Use flexible pipe cleaners for marks or to represent area effects/zones.

 

[Grandpa]

For a good-looking, single-deposit solution that you can customize for your specific campaign / adventures, consider the below video. It's not a great suggestion for a student with a limited budget, but if Christmas is an option, I'd consider this a great gift for a D&D fan who loves stand-ups and hates proxies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga6uWDzKb1w

 

[chriton227]

Our GM uses RP Tool's TokenTool to make tokens from images he finds. He then prints them out on plain paper or cardstock and sticks the print out to a self adhesive foam sheet and uses a 1" circle punch to cut them out. I think the circle punch was under $10, and I've seen the foam sheets as low as $6 for 40 half-letter size sheets in various colors. He used the same technique to make status markers for all the common conditions that we run into (slow, immob, dazed, prone, fighter mark, paladin mark, bloodied, etc.)

 

[Hactarcomp]

I'd also recommend, if you have access to a laptop, or if you game in a place with a desktop computer with a screen you can hide from your players, getting some sort of battle management software. I'm partial towards 4e Turn Tracker, but there are lots of really good ones out there.

It makes keeping track of initiative, hit points and especially ongoing conditions a whole lot simpler.

 

[jimmifett]

Get yourself the E-Z Dungeons stuff from Fat Dragon Games, a stack of card stock, and a cheap source of ink.

My wife bought me the main thing a couple years ago and it's been fantastic! I can't recommend enough!

I draw on my wet/dry erase, then add 3D stuff where I need it.

Looking at the site now, there is a bunch of new stuff I need to look into getting when the wife allows me to spend my money again