Sunday, August 28, 2011

Mobile DM'ing Equipment - Combat Mat

Now that I have DM'ed my first Con game, I find myself thinking about my equipment needs a bit differently. For example, in the olden days (the 1990s), I used to use a huge, classroom-sized white board for drawing maps and diagramming complex tactical encounters for my home RPG'ing group. Now that I DM exclusively from Skype, I don't do that anymore -- my big whiteboard is down in the garage.


For OSRCon, I acquired a mini-whiteboard, and it worked really well during Con play for quickly drawing a room layout or diagramming a combat scenario.


But then I got back from Toronto and saw the above picture of James Maliszeski's Crystal Caste "combat mat" and then read this comment where he tells exactly where to buy it [and more recently, some other folks have jumped on the trend].  I got really inspired by this, for I realized that a flexible mat like that would be great for on-the-road DM'ing, and it even has gridlines and hexes on alternate sides to boot.  So now, thirty bucks (with shipping) later, I have a flexible combat mat on its way to my house.  

Oddly, at the time I ordered the mat, the revelation I share in the next paragraph literally did not occur to me at all.  It was not until after I ordered the mat and reflected upon my consumerist victory that this related idea emerged and I realized (too late!) that I may have inadvertently taken a step toward creating a huge monster.

For the purchase of this combat mat inevitably leads me to the topic of miniatures, an aspect of our beloved hobby with which I have never directly engaged.  Yes, you read that right, I have never owned nor painted a single miniature.  I have gamed a small handful of times using them, but only when someone else brought them along.  I don't dislike using them if they're on hand; I have just never felt the need to actively seek them out.  I have an ambivalent relationship with fantasy miniatures.

But now I have that damn battle mat coming, and there's also this recent news about a line of miniatures being released specifically to complement Labyrinth Lord. I have to admit, that second set of soon-to-be-released minis shown here, the "Level Two Monsters" box, looks kind of badassed:

Includes 3 Gnolls, 3 Ghouls, 3 Zombies, 4 Troglodytes, 2 Shadows, 3 Large Crab Spiders, 3 Berserkers, 1 Green Slime, 1 Yellow Mold and an Evil Magic-User.

So should I invest in a few minis (for practical purposes if nothing else) since I have already thrown down for the combat mat?  Or is this how a horrible obsession starts?  It just seems like having a few minis to accompany the mat would make a smart combination of practical materials for quickly sorting out combat situations at Cons and the like, when (real-world) time is a factor. 

I think the biggest down side to my collecting any minis at all is that I have no interest in painting them.  Sitting around painting minis does not (at this juncture) strike me as much of a good time.  But then again, once you buy them, have you not taken that critical first step toward the dark side? 

11 comments:

  1. If you want miniatures but not the hassle of carrying them around, there are a number of paper or card tokens you can use. The D&D4 monster boxed sets contain some decent tokens, and I have some here for download.

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  2. "...I have never owned nor painted a single miniature. "

    BLAS-PHEEEEEE-MER!

    ;)

    I am such a minis junkie. Fortunately, the pre-painted plastic minis from WotC provide a cheap fix for talentless people like myself. Paizo is also coming out with a new line. There should be plenty of single available on EBay after the release.

    I dog those vinyl battlemats. Very handy indeed!

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  3. @Kelvin: Thanks for the suggestion and the downloads!

    @Christian: I know you love them, as do so many others. THANKS for the leads for talentless folks like myself though, I will look at those pre-painted options for sure.

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  4. I have a mini confession as well - all my warhammer miniatures I bought pre-painted from eBay. I have neither the time nor the artistic skill to paint.

    My recent use of miniatures with Keep on the Borderlands was a mixed bag experience. I used some warhammer and dragonlance miniatures. At it's worst miniatures were fiddly and reduced roleplaying. At it's best great for a chase sequence.

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  5. The best thing to do is to take a minis grid map, get it laminated, and then use dry erase markers and brushes. Works like a charm and highly mobile.

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  6. Seems like the wet-erase aspect of the combat mat would be a bit of a drawback, as you'd need a couple of towels handy if you were making changes as you went. Other wise, pretty cool!

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  7. @kiltedyaksman: I like the dry-erase concept a lot.

    @Spawn: Yes, I think Maliszewski used his pens to draw corridors and dungeon features, but used miniatures as well. He must have had some wet-erase materials on hand.

    I'm starting to think Kelvin's card tokens may be the way to go. Easy to travel with and far cheaper than minis. Hmm.

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  8. I got a paizo mat that is foldable and works with wet/ dry markers. Works pretty well; fits in my bag, double sided, got dry erase markers from work.

    I use scrabble tiles for named individuals but that takes some setup work. I use glass beads from the dollar store for bugaboos, sometimes poker chips if they're notable/ big.

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  9. @ Telecanter: I think I've seen a picture of you with your mobile DM gear. Was that on Zak's blog or ... where?

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  10. Ah hah. The Mule Adibes:
    https://muleabides.wordpress.com/2010/12/21/casino-dice-regional-variations-in-old-schoolers/

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  11. And here's the link to Paizo's mats:

    http://paizo.com/store/gameAids/gamingMats/steelSqwire/v5748btpy7l5e

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