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View Full Version : How do I make my own battlemaps and miniatures?



Ceres
2008-06-05, 10:22 AM
Greetings playgrounders! I'm starting up a 4th edition mini-campaign in a few weeks. I've been GM'ing in roleplay and story intensive campaigns for years now, but I've wanted to go "back to the dungeon" for a while, and the launch of 4th edition seems like the perfect time for doing this.

My problem is that I have never played roleplaying games using a proper battle grid, and I'd like to get a few pointers about how to introduce one in my campaign.

Unless anyone here have strong enough arguments to persuade me otherwise, I've decided to create all the individual rooms for my dungeon on my computer, and print them out to use as battlemaps. I've decided not to use dungeon tiles, because I want to only be restricted by my imagination when designing a dungeon, and not by what tiles I have available.

I understand that some people use a vinyl battle map and wet erase markers to draw up rooms on the fly, but I'm not sure where I can get any of that in Oslo, and having to constantly draw rooms could slow down play and make it harder for me to concentrate on other parts of the game.

Having concluded that creating the dungeon on my computer, I wonder if anyone on the boards have any tips as to what applications I can use to create dungeons (Everything from Excel to photoshop has been considered).

I'm also uncertain as to what I should use for miniatures. I have a limited budget, so I'd prefer not having to buy any. My current solution is creating small wooden bases and painting them in different colours. I'll then modify pictures from the web resembling the creatures my players will fight, and create stickers to paste on the wooden bases from printouts of the pictures. Now this method might work, but it is hard work, and takes a lot of time. If anyone knows of any better ways to do this, I'm open for advice. Please note that I live in Norway, so if you suggest any specific stores where I can buy multicoloured bases, we probably don't have those here.

All help is appreciated, as well as any general tips about how to run my first adventure using battlemaps

weezuhl
2008-06-05, 10:38 AM
I use http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/ to create blank grids, which I draw on with marker and reuse. You can cut them out and combine them to make your own "tile sets". I cut a bunch of different size squares out of colored index cards and numbered them to use as markers for enemies.

batsofchaos
2008-06-05, 10:51 AM
Poker chips make good generic tokens, and they are cheap and probably easily obtained in Norway (not sure on that since I've never been, but I'd imagine you'd have an easier time of it). You could probably even get away with just labeling them instead of making monster stickers. Cheaper that way, since you just need to make up labels prior to game night and reuse the chips. Biggest problem with doing this is it does not account for size differences (after all, a dragon is not the same size as a halfling), but that can be worked around without too much of a headache.

Thiel
2008-06-05, 11:05 AM
While premade vinyl mats are nice, you can make your own. You'll need a 1x1m piece of vinyl. It should be available from a flooring specialist. (I think that's what it called. It's a guy who sells carpets and such.)
Once you have that you'll need a long ruler and a water resistant pen. Use those to draw the grid and voilą, one home-made battlegrid.

And instead of using wooden bases, you can buy plastic bases in any decently stocked model/gaming store.

Ceres
2008-06-05, 11:18 AM
I use http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/ to create blank grids, which I draw on with marker and reuse. You can cut them out and combine them to make your own "tile sets". I cut a bunch of different size squares out of colored index cards and numbered them to use as markers for enemies.

Thanks for the site! Do you use cardboard to stiffen up the paper when you make tiles, or do you have any better ways? I guess using index cards as miniatures could be a quick, cheap and easy solution. I'll consider it.


Poker chips make good generic tokens, and they are cheap and probably easily obtained in Norway (not sure on that since I've never been, but I'd imagine you'd have an easier time of it). You could probably even get away with just labeling them instead of making monster stickers. Cheaper that way, since you just need to make up labels prior to game night and reuse the chips. Biggest problem with doing this is it does not account for size differences (after all, a dragon is not the same size as a halfling), but that can be worked around without too much of a headache.

Using poker chips is probably a better solution than making my own. I'd still make printout stickers to differentiate the monsters, though, but if I don't have much time to prepare just labelling them is a good idea.


While premade vinyl mats are nice, you can make your own. You'll need a 1x1m piece of vinyl. It should be available from a flooring specialist. (I think that's what it called. It's a guy who sells carpets and such.)
Once you have that you'll need a long ruler and a water resistant pen. Use those to draw the grid and voilą, one home-made battlegrid.

And instead of using wooden bases, you can buy plastic bases in any decently stocked model/gaming store.

Thanks for the tip on vinyl mats. It would be nice to have one as a backup battlemap when the players decide to go along a path I hadn't anticipated, or for dark rooms where I don't want to reveal all at once. Plastic bases are also a good idea, but I prefer batsofchaos' idea of using poker chips, as they are thicker and come in a variety of colours.

valadil
2008-06-05, 11:20 AM
I highly recommend using a vinyl map rather than printouts. Drawing it out by hand makes it much easier to reveal the dungeon to players one passage way at a time. Also, drawing only what they see will definitely cut down on time spent waiting for the map to load. I like chessex brand maps (which you can order online, but I don't know if they'll ship to you). I know some people who have gotten misprinted maps (with no discernible flaws) for much cheaper if money is a concern. Alternatively you can use a whiteboard with a grid drawn on or even large graph paper. I like the graph paper since you get to keep all your old dungeons.

Use anything that fits in a grid for minis. Dice work. Coins do too. My group has some cardboard cutouts floating around too. Oh and if you want those little glass beads some gamers use, try an arts and crafts store rather than a gaming store.

Minis themselves are not that expensive. You can get a learn to paint kit for $15 or so that includes several minis and enough basic colors. You players might even volunteer to chip in or buy their own minis.

Duke of URL
2008-06-05, 11:25 AM
Quick comment on the poker chips -- you'll want to make the size of each grid square large enough to fit an entire chip, otherwise you'll have problems if/when multiple players/creatures get into close proximity.

Ceres
2008-06-05, 11:30 AM
I highly recommend using a vinyl map rather than printouts. Drawing it out by hand makes it much easier to reveal the dungeon to players one passage way at a time. Also, drawing only what they see will definitely cut down on time spent waiting for the map to load. I like chessex brand maps (which you can order online, but I don't know if they'll ship to you). I know some people who have gotten misprinted maps (with no discernible flaws) for much cheaper if money is a concern. Alternatively you can use a whiteboard with a grid drawn on or even large graph paper. I like the graph paper since you get to keep all your old dungeons.

Use anything that fits in a grid for minis. Dice work. Coins do too. My group has some cardboard cutouts floating around too. Oh and if you want those little glass beads some gamers use, try an arts and crafts store rather than a gaming store.

Minis themselves are not that expensive. You can get a learn to paint kit for $15 or so that includes several minis and enough basic colors. You players might even volunteer to chip in or buy their own minis.

People seem to have a lot of different ways to do this, and I also like this one a lot. Using whatever you have handy is certainly a real time saver, though it might look a little less professional. I'll probably have to search around town for a while, and see what I can find. Maybe I'll try different methods for each adventure until I find out which I like the best.

Totally Guy
2008-06-05, 11:32 AM
I've been to a website called World Works Games Which I can't link to right now as I'm at work, well at the end of the day.

They have some free PDFs of miniatures that you can print to card and cut out. Then there's a bit of glueing to do and you've got some 2D miniatures that stand up. Of course being free they are more suited to NPCs.

That website also has lots of settings such as dungeons that you can download and cut and glue toghether to make a variety of customisable play-areas. This is their product and as such you have to pay for it. Big costs come in the constant printing and card materials and a hefty amount of time so it's probably not for your needs.

batsofchaos
2008-06-05, 11:34 AM
Quick comment on the poker chips -- you'll want to make the size of each grid square large enough to fit an entire chip, otherwise you'll have problems if/when multiple players/creatures get into close proximity.

Very, very true.

weezuhl
2008-06-05, 12:17 PM
Thanks for the site! Do you use cardboard to stiffen up the paper when you make tiles, or do you have any better ways? I guess using index cards as miniatures could be a quick, cheap and easy solution. I'll consider it.

I just print it out on regular paper, but one could use card stock or something if they were so inclined. If I only want to reveal portions at a time, I either place one piece of paper down at a time, or cover the portions with a piece of paper. I've also used the grids to print out the common area effect spells and those with long durations (like entangle/black tentacles).

CaptainSam
2008-06-05, 12:44 PM
For miniatures, we used Heromachine to make pictures of the characters, shrunk them down using a graphics package and the stuck them onto wargaming bases. Cheap, effective, and you get a more-or-less true representation of the character.

If you have the time and inclination, you can also make monsters.

Dark Heresy advises GMs to give XP bonuses for players who provide their own painted miniatures. That's always an option. Good luck on trying to find a decent bard, though.

valadil
2008-06-05, 01:08 PM
Another options for minis is eBay. I bought a lot of 100+ Mage Knight figures for $16. I have no intention to play Mage Knight, but now I have an a huge menagerie of minis. I mostly plan on using them as NPCs and monsters, but there's no reason your PCs can't use them too.

Epinephrine
2008-06-05, 01:27 PM
You can find paper miniatures free via the web, but you do have to print them. I remember using paper figures for GURPS way back in the day, and I saw that wizards.com had a set of terrain/buildings you can download and print up.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fpm/archive