Reddit reviews GameMastery Flip-Mat: Basic
We found 10 Reddit comments about GameMastery Flip-Mat: Basic. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Folds down to fit in an 8 x 10 binder for portabilityYou can use wet erase, dry erase, and even permanent markerGreat accessory for any DM!
The Paizo basic flip-mat is cheaper, two-sided, has fewer folds, so that it lays flatter at the table, has no gaps in the grid, and is better shaped for traditional tables (not so elongated).
roll20.net is a place you can play online, but I would suggest trying to get something together offline. With video game RPGs becoming more and more popular, it should be easy enough to get together a group that's interested in playing, whether or not anybody has any past experience.
The next step is choosing an edition of D&D. You can find a guide on /r/DnD. First and second editions are a bit old and not played as much anymore. My personal favorite is 3.5e, but it's got a lot of rules and can have a pretty steep learning curve. 4e is easier to get into, but lacks out of combat mechanisms. Next or 5e hasn't been released yet, but will be later this year. I haven't played any of the earlier playtest things they released, so I don't really have an opinion on it.
Learning to play comes next, and once again /r/DnD has a guide. Play differs with every edition, so I can't get too specific here, but the general idea is that you decide what you want to do, roll a d20 and add relevant modifiers to see if you succeed, then maybe roll other dice, then the DM tells you the outcome. Either learning the rules or actually writing the campaign is going to be the hardest part.
Next you need to get resources. You can make this as cheap or expensive as you'd like. You can get a set of dice for $5-$10 on Amazon, or you can get an app to roll dice on your phone for free. If you decide to play 3.5e, the core rules, treasure, and monsters are available for free on d20srd.org. You can probably find all the books for any edition by pirating them, but I'd encourage you to support Wizards of the Coast by actually purchasing them.
You'll need a grid. You can print out sheets of paper with 1 inch squares or buy a mat that you can draw on (and erase). Or you can get dungeon tiles which are probably the coolest but most expensive option.
You need something to represent your characters and NPCs. Miniatures are once again the coolest but most expensive option. You can use bottle caps or coins too.
There's lots of different resources out there, and you can choose whether to play D&D for almost completely free or for several hundred (or even thousand) dollars, or anywhere in between.
Finally, there's writing a campaign. Every DM does this differently, so nobody's advice is going to be perfect. You'll have to figure out what works for you. For me, I get an idea or character that I think would be cool and build out from there by asking questions like why is the big bad evil guy (BBEG) doing this? What does he hope to gain? How would a king respond to this? How would ordinary people? How can I get my players from level 1 to a point where they can make a difference? What sort of introduction do I need to get the story to this point?
I like to write out a few important plot points at the beginning of the campaign and fill in the details between sessions. A campaign can be a one-shot, that is, finish in a single session, or go on for session after session after session (I'm currently in week 12 of an approximately 30 session campaign). I think my method works well with longer campaigns (planning out 30 sessions would be way too much ahead of time).
Preparing for a session is also going to be hard at first because you won't find any perfect solution--it's more art than science. It's also going to be hard because players will do things that you don't expect and aren't prepared for, you could just declare what they do ineffective, but it's less fun for the players that way. They also won't find the solution that you think is completely obvious, so get ready to improv.
When preparing, I like to write a short description/history for important places or people and incorporate this into the game. I have a few bullet points on the hook for the session (if one is needed) and some notes on upcoming encounters or puzzles.
Finally, here's some other things that I haven't linked to yet:
/r/DnD
/r/Loremasters
New DM guide on /r/DnD
We use this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1601251556
Much cheaper and gets the job done. It's far from perfect (and if I had access to a lamination machine I would make a better version), but it's enough for us poor folks :-)
This is $9, looks much nicer, and will hold up much better, plus, it's portable.
GameMastery Flip-Mat: Basic
http://www.amazon.com/GameMastery-Flip-Mat-Basic-Paizo-Staff/dp/1601251556/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1421776638&sr=8-3&keywords=Pathfinder+Flip-Mat%3A+Basic
I use this one.
Well, one way to cut back on how much you spend is to not buy mini's in the first place. I tried to go that route a while back, even found a fairly decent size grab bag of Wizards of the Coast minis on Amazon for an okay price. The problem is, if you want to use them, you're stuck with the limited amount you have on hand. Which means you tend to re-use the same types of monsters over and over again and that just gets stale after a while.
I have had tremendous success using dice for my monsters. You clearly have enough. And quite frankly, it makes it SO much easier to DM. d6's for Minions, then choose a different sided die for each additional type of monster. It really helps you keep track of combat by numbering each bad guy by dice value. "Okay, I'm going to attack that elf. Yeah, number 7."
Really, there's no shame in using things like dice containers to simulate monsters. Hell, the other day we used an Oreo cookie for a Large Orrium Dragon. Added bonus? Whoever got the final hit got to eat the cookie.
Personally, I suggest this mat. It's 720 square inches and double sided. It has its problems but it's a dry/wet erase board that folds up to about the size of a single sheet of paper. That's the main problem, though. When you unfold it, you have to set some books or something on it for a few minutes to flatten it out. But for $10, it's not a bad price when you get some spare cash.
Just build up to buying stuff slowly.
chessex has cheap factory 2nd mats available - usually they have some wobbly lines in the corner or slight discoloration, not a big problem if you are trying to get the most for your money.
those arent dry-erase but are made of vinyl and meant for water-soluble pens. on the plus side a vinyl map will stay in good condition for a long time. on the negative side, if you are clumsy like me using a wet sponge to clear the map at your gaming table might get messy.
i use the [paizo basic mat](http://www.amazon.com/GameMastery-Flip- Mat-Basic-Paizo-Staff/dp/1601251556/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1319810922&sr=8-5) myself. it is basically laminated thick paper (so if you have someone who works at a place that does lamination for example, you might be able to make your own for even less money), works great using dry-erase markers to write and paper towels to remove writing. i love that its double-sided; on one side i draw the battlefield for the big setpiece fight of the adventure (usually those awesome fights involve more interesting terrain features etc so its good to take my time with it) and use the other side for all the other maps we might need during the session.
The last time I did this, I drew the entire map out ahead of time on one of the Paizo flip maps (linked below). Then, for the entire dungeon, I places pieces of printer paper over it and used a little scotch tape to keep it taped down to the mat. This required cutting a lot of the pieces of paper to different sizes to be the exact size of each specific room. It didn't take very long though.
http://www.amazon.com/GameMastery-Flip-Mat-Basic-Paizo-Staff/dp/1601251556/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1371140848&sr=8-2&keywords=gamemastery+flip+map
Ahhhhhhh. Right, gotcha. No idea myself. Some pre-made ones out there though.
Not to knock your chalkboard one. You did a great job and there's something to be said for non-conventional.
GameMastery Flip-Mat is a great solution, and they have themed mats as well.
If you want to go a little more sturdy, I went to OfficeMax, got an 18x24 large format print of a 1" grid, then had it mounted on foam board and then laminated. You could potentially get prints on vinyl too.