Reddit reviews School Smart Chart Table Pad, 24 x 32 Inches, 1 Inch Grids, 25 Sheets

Paper options:

Gaming Paper has a lot of good options that are pretty affordable. I prefer their rolls that look like wrapping paper but they also have tiles, though I've never used them.

Easel Pads are more expensive but might fit your needs.

Other options:

Chessex Battlemaps are great. The maps are made of vinyl so they're portable. I bring one to game nights with water-soluble markers.

If you don't mind a project and don't plan on transporting your surface, dry erase wall paneling can be wonderful. If you trust yourself with a straight-edge and a box cutter, you can carve a 1 inch grid on the surface. I did this once before and it worked fine; I stored the board behind the couch and set it atop the coffee table for games.

I steal 24 x 32 inch grided meeting pads from work like this

https://www.amazon.com/School-Smart-Chart-Inches-Sheets/dp/B003U6KWAY/ref=pd_cp_328_2?pd_rd_w=9dPz4&pf_rd_p=ef4dc990-a9ca-4945-ae0b-f8d549198ed6&pf_rd_r=MHP1S83ABTYRVRKCVCD6&pd_rd_r=2cdaec87-82e4-11e9-b4c5-ef907af3647f&pd_rd_wg=z5UG2&pd_rd_i=B003U6KWAY&psc=1&refRID=MHP1S83ABTYRVRKCVCD6

I make use of the Chessex Wet-Erase battlemat (comes in 2 sizes and is reversible for hexes vs squares) which works well for my games.

Alternatively you can buy some large 1" grid paper. Which is great if you want to do prep work for your dungeon and draw out nice looking maps ahead of time. Typically this allows you to have more detailed maps because you're not under the pressure of doing it at the table before combat starts. I want to start doing this more often, but even more so I want to get some props and do more elaborate battle sets.

$20 map making
Map - draw them yourselves on graph paper

https://www.amazon.com/School-Smart-Grid-Chart-Tablet/dp/B003U6KWAY

Get pencil crayons from the dollar store. For color, use the black to deepen outlines.

Roll them up with an elastic or two for storage.

Tilesets are very limited for the cost and premade maps tend to focus on dungeons.

$80 miniatures or tokens.

Tokens for monster n enemies with pcs being minis is a cheaper way to start.

Token sets are not my thing, but you can find some on ebay or usually with starting box sets.

As for minis my average price is $5 a mini. With 2-3 being a good price (CAD) some stores have buck a mini bins where you can get peoples old minis or armies for cheeper.

Bones minis fall into that grouping

http://www.reapermini.com/Miniatures/Bones

Some of games workshop troops fall into that as well

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-CA/Goblin-Warriors

Even board games can sometimes have have decent cost per units.

https://www.amazon.com/Wizards-Coast-Dungeons-Dragons-Ashardalon/dp/0786955708/ref=pd_aw_fbt_21_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=W96KFH6R06XCE19JE79S

And the dnd HD collection by wizkids (unpainted) though a bit small are around 2 minis for $6.

As for paint, if your worried about cost you can go to your local dollar store and get acrylic painta for $1 each. Water them down and layer them when painting for best use.

To better keep the paintjob if you want a primer will do the trick. Or fuck it for your first batch. And use all purpose cleaner to rip the paint off them later.

Protip if your going in the more expensive direction or future use. A black primer hides your mistakes a white lets colors show. Use both to create shadows n color pops.

----- so now we're 100 in and have our minis where do we store the 30ish guys we got?

Usually on a shelf. You cannput them in a display case or cabnet if you have one but shoving them in a box for the time being wont hurt much.

My DMing system:

Step 1) Download GIMP (free)

Step 2) Make a grid of 1-inch circles that you can print out with pictures in them (I can send you the file I use)

Step 3) Buy one of these 1-inch hole punches (or use scissors), super glue, and 1-inch washers (grand total of maybe 15-30 bucks?)

Step 4) Print out tokens, cut them out, and superglue them to washers. You can also add numbers, and make the tokens double sided for a "bloodied" condition for monsters. Works out to like 5 cents per token, and a bit of time.

Step 5) Buy one of these pads of grid paper. Can shop around for a good price, can draw multiple maps on one sheet if they're small, use pencil so you can get multiple uses out of it, or just play on a grid. Also lets you draw on the fly, or take a piece of paper and pre-prepare a map before the session.

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Total cost should be less than 50$ for months of play. You can also buy different sized washers for small, large, or huge tokens, and they make hex grid paper as well. For fancy tokens (I do it for players and recurring NPCs) you can print on high quality photo paper, or laminate the page before cutting, or just put packing tape over the token.

I just DM'd my first session of the starter adventure on Saturday. I ended up using this graph paper pad to draw out battle maps, and I got these blank dice to use for minis.

First combat, I had everyone choose a color, then gave them an extra to keep in front of them so I could easily see who was who. There are 9 total colors, so depending on how many players you have, that gives you some wiggle room for your own NPC's and monsters.

You can get bulk dice pretty cheap on Amazon as well (I think I paid around $11 for 6 sets), and pencils are a good idea.

I use easel pads with 1” grids. I think I pay like $8.00 for them on amazon. They work great for me. here

I had a game mat, still do somewhere, but I'll be honest there is a better alternative. Game mats will get dingy over time. I switched over to flip board size chart paper and never looked back, super cheap online.

https://www.amazon.com/School-Smart-Chart-Inches-Sheets/dp/B003U6KWAY/ref=pd_rhf_ee_s_cr_simh_0_3/142-9065087-6464236?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B003U6KWAY&pd_rd_r=c39acb58-c8ee-45a4-b765-a762fb121ec2&pd_rd_w=zeRIr&pd_rd_wg=GCRER&pf_rd_p=67aa5820-8762-4202-90ba-881bb99c913c&pf_rd_r=DH2Z3R24PFF8S7STR42T&psc=1&refRID=DH2Z3R24PFF8S7STR42T

Less than 10 bux. 25 huge sheets. I use it for mine and it gets the job done