KanedaX321
I've only been in the D&D world for about a year now as a PC, and am now starting my first campaign as a DM. Because I'm so new, I still don't have very much of the gear needed.
Right now I'm comparing erasable battle grids. Chessex seems to be the standard, but eBay also has a listing for a grid from a website called roll4initiative.
Has anyone ever made any comparisons between the two styles of mats? Chessex is a vinyl grid, while roll4initiative is laminated. Is one better or worse than the other? I picture a laminated grid as stiff, difficult to roll up for storage and even more difficult to flatten out again later, but I might be off the mark on that. It is more cost-efficient, especially as part of r4i's "gamer's kit", but I also know Chessex is the tried and true model, since it's the mat my DM uses in my current campaign.
Opinions?
Comments
For me? It was horrible. Leave the marker on longer than a few hours? Welcome to hours of trying to clean it... Use red? Stains. And woe be to you if you use the wrong type of marker - permanent.
I've used a few other products that also required the "wet" markers like the Chessex mats. All have the same issue. Especially the "if you don't clean it quick, it stains" problem. Usually I'd get three games in before someone would use the wrong marker or something else happened to ruin the thing.
Early this year, a player bought me as a "DM Gift" the "FlipMat" sold by GameMastery (you can find it easy on Pazio). It is the laminated style, instead of vinyl. Yes, it folds - but frankly, I've left things on it for days and had no issues. Dry erase markers, easy to clean. And as a joke, we left a doodle on the edge for a month - it wiped right off with one swipe of a paper towel.
Personally? I love the laminated maps - and they are cheaper. But, hey, tis a personal thing ;)
2 cents,
JTV
Most office supply stores offer a wet erase cleaner (it's probably just water with a little soap in it), and that works like a dream; but water in a spray bottle gets the job done admirably.
As far as cost is concerned, if you can get a Chessex "irregular" print, it cuts the cost in half. They only sell them at cons (and some games stores will stock up on them there to resell). What constitutes an irregular print? On mine the only difference is that the mat has half inch squares around the edge instead of full squares. I've seen a few that have small blemishes on one side (pretty minor discolorations), but since the mats are 2-sided, I wouldn't call that much of a problem.
I've never used the GameMastery maps, but I don't like trying to balance models on creases on a map. There are some cool designs on those though.