Comments on: Hand-Held Dry-Erase Boards : A Versatile GMing Tool

By: Martin

Martin — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 03:00:56 +0000

(Bryan) You can also get magnetic dry erase sheets for about $7 that you can cut to your desired shape.

Neat! I’ve never heard of these, but they sound like a lot of fun.

Kestral: I’ll have to check out US Toy — thanks for the info.

By: Kestral

Kestral — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 21:15:48 +0000

Martin, I have only really shopped at a company called US Toy. Don’t be fooled by their name; they are an educational supply store as much as they are a party supply/toy store. They primarily specialize in the younger crowd, though. They’re a national company, but most of their business is mail-order/online I believe. The reason I shop with them occasionally is that their warehouse is in town and has a small store with sections that appeal to me. I haven’t shopped there in years though.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 09:21:57 +0000

24″x36″ *magnetic* dry erase boards can be had on eBay for around $50 including shipping. Add paper stuck to magnetic sheets and you have maps you can stand up on end that you don’t have to draw and can rearrange at will. You can also get magnetic dry erase sheets for about $7 that you can cut to your desired shape. Or, get magnetic bases for cardboard heroes-type miniatures.

By: Martin

Martin — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 02:55:16 +0000

FlukeMaster: Thanks for the link. (Take a look at Tools of the Trade: Laminated Maps for another good use for lamination, too.)

Troy: Amen to that. This idea has legs, and yet it’s so simple.

Kestral: Some of the items you mentioned sound great — are there any educational supply stores online that you’ve had good luck with? Or do you just shop at the ones in your area?

By: Kestral

Kestral — Sat, 04 Mar 2006 23:28:48 +0000

If you are looking for one of these things, there are tons of varieties to get at an office supply/department store, especially ones such as Wal-Mart and it’s ilk. You can find ones with cork parts too, (useful for pinning stuff such as notes to the board for use) and some of the boards can be quite large. (2′ by 18″ is common, and can be found for less than 15 dollars US)

The graph paper also appeals to me too, although you can find boards that have grids pre-made on them, I think, through educational supply stores. Some of these stores carry a wide variety of potentially useful things for RPGs, so check some out if you can find them. (Some of these companies even have other divisions that carry useful things, such as books on the art of sleight-of-hand, which is good for adding that little extra bit of realism/creativity to your standard Rogue-type of character, since it explains how common stunts such as palming items works, and thus makes players more capable of role-playing their uses of such skills) Since this type of board would most commonly be used in a mathematics class, it’s not surprising for them to have some blank sections in addition to the graph sections. Granted, you are less likely to have grids such as hex-grids, but the size, versatility, and durability factors definitely make up for that, since these boards will last one years. Dice, dry-erase boards/markers, props… you can find a lot of things if you look right.

By: Troy Taylor aka Carolina

Troy Taylor aka Carolina — Sat, 04 Mar 2006 21:05:14 +0000

I really think this was the most intriguing of the entries — no wonder it was the winner. I think the potential uses of the tool are almost limitless; so many, in fact, I’m wondering why I never thought of using such a board before. We use white-erase boards at my workplace for a variety of tasks all the time. It stands to reason they would have a place at the gaming table.

By: FlukeMaster

FlukeMaster — Sat, 04 Mar 2006 14:41:35 +0000

Hand held whiteboards are a good idea, but there is a cheap alternative. I recently printed out some hex paper on A4 sheets and then had them laminated. The glossy finish works just as well as a whiteboard and you have the added benefit of your desired grid pattern as well. I haven’t had the chance to use them yet, I’ve only just recently got back into pen and paper gaming, but I can tell they’re going to be bloody useful. Should cut down on my paper usage as well.
You can find multiple grid patterns in pdf format here http://www.incompetech.com/beta/plainGraphPaper/

Hope someone finds that useful.

By: March Fo(u)rth for GM’s Day 2006! - Treasure Tables

March Fo(u)rth for GM’s Day 2006! - Treasure Tables — Sat, 04 Mar 2006 10:13:34 +0000

[...] Kestral’s winning entry in the Treasure Tables GMing Tools Contest has been turned into a guest post today here on TT: Hand-Held Dry-Erase Boards: A Versatile GMing Tool. It’s a great idea, and one I suspect you’ll enjoy. [...]