Dry Erase Game Mat

[Chalkarts]

I hope this is the right place to ask this.

I’m about to start DMing a game and I want to get a dry erase mat to draw out the maps on.

I was hoping the community could suggest a good brand to get.

What kind do you use? Does it do the job well?

[Mutazoia]

A quick round of google-fu will yield a ton of results. Personally, I use a 24 x 36 drafting grid that I've laminated with Dry Erase lamination. I got a stack of the paper at Hobby Lobby ages ago, fairly cheap, and the Dry Erase lamination was about $15 at FedEx (actually a little less for me since I work there lol).

This is ends up being cheaper than most battlemats on the market, and is a thinner material that not only rolls up tighter, but sheds spilled drinks like nobody's business (your standard battlemats just soak them up like a sponge).

The engineering grids have once inch squares, with 10 x 10 smaller squares inside, so it's easier to map out narrow passages more precisely. Plus, you can get a few of those sheets on the cheap, so even if you do manage to destroy one, you just get another off the stack and your good go go, whether you laminate it or not.

[CharonsHelper]

I would suggest using wet erase rather than dry erase. The dry erase smears when moving around minis/tokens.

Chessex is a solid brand - I have their massive 4'x8' one - though it's not cheap.

The quality isn't QUITE as good, but you can get a grid printed onto a banner online at some place like bannersonthecheap.com. I believe that they actually have grids in their database to use, though you could upload a pdf if you want a different one. It's a cheaper option, and it works great with wet erase markers.

[Coventry]

I hope this is the right place to ask this.

I’m about to start DMing a game and I want to get a dry erase mat to draw out the maps on.

I was hoping the community could suggest a good brand to get.

What kind do you use? Does it do the job well?

I have owned two of them over the last 30 years, both from the Battle Mat line from Chessex.

The first was ruined by someone using a permanent marker instead of a wet erase marker on it about three years after I bought it. The second stood up VERY well, until the time I forgot to clean it after use and left it rolled up in the closet for six months. Most of the black topological lines I had drawn came off, but there was a very clear red afterimage that I could never get loose.

So, the only reason I am thinking about buying a third one is that I made mistakes - the boards themselves were fine.

The current lineup for Chessex has three sizes - small, tabletop, and larger than a standard pool table. I went with the middle size both times, but I had a large enough space for them.

Advice? Okay:

• Go smaller than the available space, because otherwise it bunches up and gets in the way.
• corollary: For your first purchase, buy the smallest one. It is cheaper and easier to maneuver.
• Go to the local office supply store and get a tube for holding blueprints or similar-size documents in rolled up form. Folding these boards flat will cause the boards to fail early.
• corollary: A rolled up board that does not want to lay flat can usually be flattened out by placing your favorite RPG books on the corners or edges.
• Be sure to clean them after every use. Leaving a map drawn on the board because you plan on using it "next session" leads to permanent red topological lines. Re-drawing the board should not be that hard.
• Test any new markers that you use on the board (even the ones sold by Chessex) on the edge of the board ... wipe part of it off after 30 seconds, more after 5 minutes, more after 30 minutes, and the rest after a few hours. This will simulate the normal usage pattern at a game ... and if you do this on the edge of the board, you will know which colors will be problems, and which will not, without rendering the entire board unusable.
• Clean up spills of Big Red immediately ... immediately! ... yes, that soft drink leaves stains.

[CharonsHelper]

[LIST][*]Go smaller than the available space, because otherwise it bunches up and gets in the way.

While I generally agree - I will say that if you go with the huge one, it doesn't get in the way because you can just use it like a tablecloth.

It's actually pretty handy since you can make initiative notes and whatnot right on the mat outside of where you're actually playing.

[Reversefigure4]

I've found the Pathfinder Gamesmastery Flip Mats to be great. I've owned 2 of them, never needed anything except some basic cleaner to get off really old marker stains. The folds make them easy to carry around (the size of an A4 sheet of paper), and they aren't over expensive for the amount of use you get out them.

But if you need hexes rather than squares for a particular reason, Gamesmastery is of no value to you.

[VoxRationis]

Alternative suggestion: a sheet of glass. Cheap, easy to pick up, and you can put whatever maps or references you like under it at a moment's notice. It worked wonders when my group tried it.

[Tipsy_Pooka]

Space was always a premium for most of my adult life so I've always used dry-erase boards that I etch 1 cm squares into. For minis, I use figurines from the Risk board-game. For opponents larger than 1 5-ft square, I simply draw their "space" on the board.

It's also pretty satisfying to see the look on my players faces when I dump a container of minis on the table in preparation for a mass-combat situation.

The 1-cm scale also allows me to have a much larger battle map in a much smaller space. Overall, I've never had a complaint from any of my players.

[Jay R]

These give you a lot of flexibility, and they store easily.

[RazorChain]

I have used the ones from Chessex the last 25 years and am quite happy with them.

Just remember to clean them after use. If I need to put things up back the way they were for next session I just take pics with my phone.

[Telonius]

I've found the Pathfinder Gamesmastery Flip Mats to be great. I've owned 2 of them, never needed anything except some basic cleaner to get off really old marker stains. The folds make them easy to carry around (the size of an A4 sheet of paper), and they aren't over expensive for the amount of use you get out them.

But if you need hexes rather than squares for a particular reason, Gamesmastery is of no value to you.

Seconding this, I've used the Pathfinder Flip Mats for several years now and have been very happy with them.

[Grod_The_Giant]

I've found the Pathfinder Gamesmastery Flip Mats to be great. I've owned 2 of them, never needed anything except some basic cleaner to get off really old marker stains. The folds make them easy to carry around (the size of an A4 sheet of paper), and they aren't over expensive for the amount of use you get out them.

Seconding this, I've used the Pathfinder Flip Mats for several years now and have been very happy with them.

Thirded. The quality is good, the size is good, the portability is second to none, and-- unlike the chessex boards-- you can use dry erase markers on them, which is a nice quality-of-life improvement.

[Orc_Lord]

Chessex battlemat is what I use. I bought the smaller one and moved to the larger one after a couple of months. They both have their uses.

You have to use wet erase markers. I noticed that some colors work better than other. For some reason orange sucks on my mat. Black is the safest, I had aap drawn on the mat for a whole month and it still erased just fine.

Finally for the whole the map won't stay flat problem. When you roll it, roll it with your preferred map surface on the outside. This way when you unroll it the map wants to roll into the table so it essentially stays flat.

[SodaQueen]

Another vote for the Paizo battlemap. It's really good quality, can use wet erase, dry erase, or even sharpie and wipes off easily. The fold makes it easy to transport and it's quite durable. It's also double sided with different designs so you can use one for two maps or switch between, say, outside and a dungeon.

I've also used the chessex roll up map and absolutely hated it. It's harder to transport, if you don't wipe it off every half hour the markers stain and, since it doesn't fold you can't alter the battlemap's size (outside of cutting it up, which you should do, then toss the pieces in the trash where it belongs). I guess it's main benefit is that the backside is a hex grid? But I don't use those so it's just wasted space.