D&D DMs and GMs, have a question for you.

[gradyhawks]

Hi Fellow GM's and DM's,

Just a quick question, I am in the process of designing a portable, modular dungeon system that you can carry around with you to your DnD games (or just store away neatly) that will let you very quickly generate random dungeons and such for your games. One of the problems I have as a DM with a play group that likes everything very visual is getting maps made... Usually for dungeons I generate one off of http://donjon.bin.sh/d20/dungeon/ but that means that I have a map that has to be printed off onto several A4 sheets as well as have it all in black and white. It leaves much to the imagination. I have recently tried to use tiles that I have bought online at DrivethroughRPG but you have to print them all off, stick them to foamboard and have an entire box dedicated to these tiles for storage.

Now, without boring you with the details and specifics, I am just wondering what would be high on your list for something like this? Very well priced? Spill resistant? Double sided? A way for them to "stick" together (knocks to maps DESTROY adventures....)? Extra portable? Top of the line art work? Anything else?

You can expect 3x3 tiles that can be arranged multiple ways to fit with each other and let you build up different dungeons in the space of a few minutes. You're able to store it all away in the box it comes in which takes up around the same space as a Jenga box. I am currently making the art work for it and I have a brother who lives in China who is starting to sort out ways of production, so its underway, but just wondering what you DMs would think of it.

Cheers,

Grady

 

[suenstar]

As our main roleplay of choice at the moment is Pathfinder, our groups have grown rather fond of using the GameMasterty map packs & flip mats. They're a decent quality of card stock and most of them have a laminate finish so you can scribble on them with dry-wipe markers for easy cleaning.

The map packs & flip mats tend to work out at roughly £8-10. The map packs have 18 in a pack and are 5x8-inch in size, and the flip mats are 24x30-inch.
I'd say I limit my price on maps and other visual aids to no more than £12 per item.

If I was going to try another product, I'd want it to be roughly the same size as the GameMastery map packs (5x8") and preferably double-sided... maybe a daytime side and night side would be pretty useful.
Lamination for drawing on them isn't an absolute need as you can buy cheap wallets for cards of that size.

As for storage, I'd prefer something around the lines of a folder similar to the type used for collectable card games (but with larger pouches). It'd make flicking through the various dungeon tiles easier and I find sliding a folder into a messenger bag much easier than a box when travelling to and from games.

 

[Bickaxe]

^ This

But we don't use them that often as the table gets cluttered. I personally prefer the narrative storytelling to looking at squares.

Our stuff is carried in 2 canvas shopping bags which are conveniently just the right size for a manual (or 7) in each.

I use that donjon site too, very handy for prep.

The one thing our group could really benefit from would be an Android character sheet that can be updated with buffs/conditions and levelled up. Not found one yet that does that as a standalone app which contains all the books (we use Unchained rules).