Useful Play Aids

[fisherro]

Originally Posted by ecz

nice.
but nowadays is it easy build a "virtual" board with many free programs and print it at any scale. See for example
http://hextml.playest.net/tutorial2.html
but I think better resources exist

or just buy one more professional program at a lower price than the cost of the real tiles offered.

I understand that such a board can be built step by step during the adventure, and this is fun, but I still think the GM can just limit to tell to the players what they see during exploration (checking his private map), and let the group to map the terrain by themselves

Well, I’m in the market for products like this because I’ve done enough printing things out in 8.5 by 11 inch rectangles, mounting them on some sort of backing, and then covering them with a dry-erase surface. Even if it is easy, it is time consuming.

Or am I missing some way to make this quicker?

[JLV]

I'm kind of with fisherro on this one; I'm pretty much done with hand-making things if I can avoid it. One, while I've had some amazing results, it takes a lot of TIME; and two, most of the time, a professional art/printing job gives better results anyway.

And at my age, my eyesight is weak enough now that it's a major pain to do fine work and detail, and time is a lot more important to me now that I have less of it to waste! ;-)

[ecz]

Originally Posted by fisherro

Well, I’m in the market for products like this because I’ve done enough printing things out in 8.5 by 11 inch rectangles, mounting them on some sort of backing, and then covering them with a dry-erase surface. Even if it is easy, it is time consuming.

Or am I missing some way to make this quicker?

all depends on the GMing style.

I never suggested to manifacture by yourself the sigle tiles if you need them, of course it's very time consuming and, more in general, it's a waste or time given the high quality products available on the market like the one showed in the OP.

I'm saying that if a GM needs to put on the table an "homemade" full map he can easily virtually create and print it. In squares or hexes.

The hex by hex exploration, with the terrain appearing as a new tile when the party moves, while it may add fun during a RPG, does not "require" individual tiles since a good description of the terrain made by the GM, and a classic map drawn by one player on a blank paper with all relevant infos, possibily drawn by one with the literacy talent, are generally good enough.

But of course it depends on the GMing style.
I have nothing against these fine products, simply I do not see how and why use them in a RPG game like TFT.

[zot]

Projection mapping is also an option, if you have a fancy game-cave...

[fisherro]

Originally Posted by ecz

I never suggested to manifacture by yourself the sigle tiles if you need them, of course it's very time consuming and, more in general, it's a waste or time given the high quality products available on the market like the one showed in the OP.

I'm saying that if a GM needs to put on the table an "homemade" full map he can easily virtually create and print it. In squares or hexes.

Yes, it was clear that you weren’t talking about single tiles. But my printer still can only print 8.5 by 11 inches at once. And it can’t print on anything heavier than light card stock. And it can’t print on a dry-erase surface. So even if I’m not creating individual tiles, I still don’t see how I can avoid mounting & some sort of lamination.

OK, so let’s say I skip the lamination and live without that feature. Am I going to try to play on several letter sized pieces of light card stock just laid out? I’ve tried that, and that doesn’t work. The pages don’t stay aligned and—even if they did—they’re too easily displaced.

So how do you make this work?

[Shadekeep]

Originally Posted by fisherro

So how do you make this work?

I suppose you could print onto adhesive-backed paper, like uncut office label stock or similar, and then stick those to whatever mounting medium you use. Still means a lot of crafty work, but does let you use your own printer. And it's easy to reuse the mounts with new label-based terrain, if you want to change up your hex mixture.

[ecz]

Originally Posted by fisherro

Yes, it was clear that you weren’t talking about single tiles. But my printer still can only print 8.5 by 11 inches at once. And it can’t print on anything heavier than light card stock. And it can’t print on a dry-erase surface. So even if I’m not creating individual tiles, I still don’t see how I can avoid mounting & some sort of lamination.

OK, so let’s say I skip the lamination and live without that feature. Am I going to try to play on several letter sized pieces of light card stock just laid out? I’ve tried that, and that doesn’t work. The pages don’t stay aligned and—even if they did—they’re too easily displaced.

So how do you make this work?

I use homemade boards light-card printed in colors for several different uses:

1) small boards with small hexes printed in colour on light card using an ordinary printer. These cards represent the map of the region where to record using a pencil the "tactical/operational" movement of the party (one hex generally = 100 meters or 1 km, it depends) .
They are for GM's eyes only and contains all the infos the players should not see. The GM just describes the terrain the party encounter when they move.



2) Sometime - when the players will surely enter a key area during the adventure, for example the throne hall of the castle for the final encounter, or the market in the village, the common room of a inn - I prepare in advance a big map with large hexes to arrange miniatures and combat with the right elements at their places ( the road, the stream, the rock, the tower, the fence, the big table in the middle and so on...). In this case the print can be of four or even six pages that I link accordingly. Yes, the link is not perfect, hexes do not overlap exactly at the edges and I must use plexiglass to hold the pages but it's good enough for us.
I show the board to players and put it on the table over the battlemap just when they enter the area.

3) Plus I have prepared a lot of "melee-sized" boards (all one-page prints) with all possible generic terrain (forest, swamp, desert, clear, city, rough, brush...) to use for combat. They are useful when players are in "generic terrain".

when no homemade board is available or necessary, I use a common battlemap for miniatures (actually cardboards) where I hand- draw what the PCs sees. Combats happen there.


The only use of the fine tiles I can think is "strategic" to create the board when the players explore a new area; for example if the party decides to go to north the GM says: you continue for 3 km (putting three new tiles on the table) with the river along your left and the hills on your right... but it's not essential since the GM could just describe the terrain and let the players draw their map on paper.

Or they could be used to arrange combat on a finely detailed terrain. Put enough tiles together (at least the equivalent of 4X6 megahexes) to have a decent area for combat, with trees, rocks or other tactical elements. Seven tiles = 1 MGH.
They look beatiful, stay at their places and enhace the estethic part of the game. But, if it's a key area for the adventure, they could be exchanged with a (even much larger) board prepared in advance and printed in four or six pages.
If it is not a key area, then a generic "melee sized one-page board" (#3 above) with the appropriate type of terrain is a fair substitute IMO.

Thus I do not see the utility of the tiles.

[fisherro]

Cool. Thanks for the response.

Originally Posted by ecz

2) Sometime - when the players will surely enter a key area during the adventure, for example the throne hall of the castle for the final encounter, or the market in the village, the common room of a inn - I prepare in advance a big map with large hexes to arrange miniatures and combat with the right elements at their places ( the road, the stream, the rock, the tower, the fence, the big table in the middle and so on...). In this case the print can be of four or even six pages that I link accordingly. Yes, the link is not perfect, hexes do not overlap exactly at the edges and I must use plexiglass to hold the pages but it's good enough for us.

So, you use a large sheet of plexiglass over the pages to keep them in place? That’s not a bad idea.

[Skarg]

I use hexgrid transparencies, laid over maps of the tactical area drawn on plain paper.