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Guinea Anubis
2009-10-27, 11:11 AM
Right now my friends and I are gaming on an old dining room table thats just about ready to fall a part. We are planing to make are own new gaming table.

The idea is this Take a 4x8 half inch sheet plywood, add some folding legs to it to make the table its self. Then painting the top of it white and putting a 1 inch grid on it. After that putting a 4x8 sheet of plexiglass on top to act as are wet erase board. The last thing will be a piece of trim around the edge to keep the dice from rolling off the edge and to give us something to bolt together with the plywood that will not brake the plexiglass.

So What are you gaming on?

t_catt11
2009-10-27, 11:16 AM
Sounds like an excellent plan!

These days, I game on computers almost exclusively. Real life has reduced me to play by post games.

Crimson Avenger
2009-10-27, 11:20 AM
You also need a frame to put the plywood on and a 4x8 sheet of modeling grass so that you can unroll a surface fit to Warhammer on.

bosssmiley
2009-10-27, 11:48 AM
Right now my friends and I are gaming on an old dining room table thats just about ready to fall a part. We are planing to make are own new gaming table.

The idea is this Take a 4x8 half inch sheet plywood, add some folding legs to it to make the table its self. Then painting the top of it white and putting a 1 inch grid on it. After that putting a 4x8 sheet of plexiglass on top to act as are wet erase board. The last thing will be a piece of trim around the edge to keep the dice from rolling off the edge and to give us something to bolt together with the plywood that will not brake the plexiglass.

4x8 might be a little too large for comfortable reaching. Ergonomically 3x6 or 3.5x7 is better for regular use (especially if seated).


So What are you gaming on?

An old drop leaf dining table. Surface is about 3x6. Construction is solid wood (dark tone, not sure what). Well-joinered w. heavy legs. I think it was made in the 30s, but it's modelled on a Victorian pattern. It's on permanent loan from a good friend - my future best man - who, in turn, inherited it.

(we like teh old stuff)

Ozreth
2009-10-27, 11:51 AM
Sounds like an excellent plan!

These days, I game on computers almost exclusively. Real life has reduced me to play by post games.

have you ever looked into playing via gametable or operpg?

t_catt11
2009-10-27, 11:54 AM
have you ever looked into playing via gametable or operpg?

I have not. The issue comes down to time - I have four kids, two of which are very young, and I do a lot of web development from home as a second job. I have gaming buddies and could certainly meet up with them, but I don't really have the time to devote to a regular game, so I make do with play by post stuff (it's the whole reason I started my website years ago).

Every once in a blue moon, I get to do some tabletop.

Altair_the_Vexed
2009-10-27, 11:57 AM
At home, I DM from my bureau with the PC in place of all the books, and the players use the dining room table - about 4' x 4' - with a Chessex battlemat and/or Games Vault dungeon tiles (http://www.thegamesvault.co.uk/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=36&Itemid=46).

At the club I DM at, I've been running games on seven 2' x 5' tables, with the same kit, plus a load of big scenery. For the last four sessions, I built a castle 6' on a side.

t_catt11
2009-10-27, 12:03 PM
At home, I DM from my bureau with the PC in place of all the books, and the players use the dining room table - about 4' x 4' - with a Chessex battlemat and/or Games Vault dungeon tiles (http://www.thegamesvault.co.uk/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=36&Itemid=46).

At the club I DM at, I've been running games on seven 2' x 5' tables, with the same kit, plus a load of big scenery. For the last four sessions, I built a castle 6' on a side.

Six FEET?!? :smalleek:

**worshipful bow**

PinkysBrain
2009-10-27, 12:03 PM
A digital tabletop with bottom projection would be nice ... this would also be easily upgradeable to a multitouch screen.

Lycan 01
2009-10-27, 12:47 PM
Dang, dude, that sounds like an awesome idea! :smallbiggrin:


I play on three surfaces, depending on the game and number of players.

If its just 2-3 people, we play at a 3x3 card table.

If its 3-4 people, we play at my dining room table, with a diameter of about 4 feet.

If its more than that, or we're doing Warhammer 40K, everyone grabs a sofa cushion and sits on the living room floor. :smallcool:

Ozreth
2009-10-27, 02:00 PM
I have not. The issue comes down to time - I have four kids, two of which are very young, and I do a lot of web development from home as a second job. I have gaming buddies and could certainly meet up with them, but I don't really have the time to devote to a regular game, so I make do with play by post stuff (it's the whole reason I started my website years ago).

Every once in a blue moon, I get to do some tabletop.

Oh awesome. What do you play by post with? Im starting a gametable campaign with some people but am interested in a way to play by post in private.

Tyndmyr
2009-10-27, 02:18 PM
If any of ya'll are handy, I suggest using lexan. Not the cheapest material, but it allows you to see through it, so you can slide maps under it, and still write on it. It's easily workable if you're any good with a dremel, and it's nice and hard, unlike crappier plastics.

arguskos
2009-10-27, 02:43 PM
Wow. I, uh, I feel like a failure. I play in a lecture hall on a college campus. There's a nice horseshoe shaped room we try and get pretty frequently. it works out pretty well. The players sit around the horseshoe, and I sit in the middle of it at a separate table. Being a lecture hall, the acoustics are nice and loud, there's easy hook-ins for tech displays, there are SIX whiteboards (several of which are sliding), and there's like a bazillion chairs. Hell, I could teach a class about D&D in that room and have the perfect set up for life demonstrations.

Temet Nosce
2009-10-27, 02:45 PM
So What are you gaming on?

My PC. Generally IRC, but occasionally various MUDs, Skype, OpenRPG, and maptools.

JonestheSpy
2009-10-27, 02:46 PM
So What are you gaming on?

An old dining room table.

Aron Times
2009-10-27, 02:49 PM
I play on MapTool.

Best. Virtual tabletop. EVAR.

PinkysBrain
2009-10-27, 03:12 PM
If any of ya'll are handy, I suggest using lexan. Not the cheapest material, but it allows you to see through it, so you can slide maps under it, and still write on it. It's easily workable if you're any good with a dremel, and it's nice and hard, unlike crappier plastics.
Plexiglas is also optically clear and isn't necessary crappier ... unless his players are prone to violently bashing it :) Either way you are better off searching for the names of the basic material rather than the specific brand (just google for "sheet acrylic OR polycarbonate").

Barmacral
2009-10-27, 03:18 PM
A friend of mine too a piece of bristol board, made it into 1 inch grid (fits perfectly), created some scenery to fit in (trees, bushes, etc) and I brought my Jenga blocks, very effective system.

valadil
2009-10-27, 03:27 PM
We use kitchen tables with chessex mats. Pretty standard.

The one thing we do that I haven't seen mentioned is we use pipe cleaners for AoE spells. My last 3.5 character was a sorc with sculpt spell. I made templates for each of the possible areas I could cast in and we used those. Much more convenient for lining up your shots or leaving persistant AoEs (grease, solid fog, stinking cloud, etc) without putting a ton of ink on the map.

Hawriel
2009-10-27, 03:52 PM
If you want to build your own table I recomend; 1/2 - 3/4 inch plywood, Cut 4 by 6 foot, trim with 1 by 2 for catching dice, 2 by 4 legs. You can go to lows or home depo and get this easily. Also recomend white board. Its great for dry erase. Its bathroom wall board that is white and smooth. Just ask the home depo guy he'll know.

Having a dry erase table will be great for drawing ad hock maps, character notes, combat notes and so forth. We always forget some of are buffs, but when its written in big blue letters BLESS on the table it's hard to forget.

I also recomend making a blue insilation fome bord to fit in the table for wargaming.

Rixx
2009-10-28, 05:39 PM
Have you had a look at The Avenger?

http://www.ultimategamingtable.org/

Indon
2009-10-28, 05:44 PM
I'm a fan of fold-out card tables, myself. Cheap, light, high portability and deployability.

AslanCross
2009-10-28, 05:51 PM
I use a low glass coffee table that would be somewhere around 3'x5'. My players range in size from a rather petite girl to a guy who's around 5'9", so I avoid playing on dining tables. Everyone can reach across the table this way. It's also easier to pick up dice that fall.

It's big enough to fit the battle grid and have enough space left over on the side for my laptop and other paraphernalia.

Dice are rolled in the Player's Starter Set cardboard box lid, but sometimes people are a bit too excited and the dice end up bouncing out and falling anyway.

For the battle grid I have four laminated A3 sheets with an inch grid drawn on them. I also sometimes use the premade miniature maps from Wizards.

The players sit on sofas, while I prefer piling pillows on the carpet and sitting there.

The Mute Bard
2009-10-28, 08:57 PM
W play on a pin dining table now, but the group i ply with has gon through so many different tables. Including three plastic folding tables pushed together.:smallbiggrin: