Tools of the Trade Part 2

Sorry about the massive delay in posting. My vacation has turned into full blown moving after receiving a job offer up in South Dakota. But enough about my personal life, on to what you people come here for.

Terrain (continued)
So last time, I praised the Heroscape terrain. Now, as I said, Heroscape terrain works best for outdoor environments, so what to use for the great indoors? Well, there's a few options, all of them good. You could just use the Heroscape terrain, like I usually do.
Option 2 is Gaming Paper. Gaming paper is essentially a non-laminated non-erasable battlemat. It comes in rolls that are 12' by 30". And here's the big selling point. It's only 4 bucks a roll. Pretty good deal. Yes, it could be a bit of a pain that you can't erase it. But on the other hand, you can save any map you draw on it. Perhaps you may revisit that location.

Moving on, we have the traditional gaming mat. Easy to use, wet-erase, reusable, they have become a must-have for many DMs. Don't think there's much to say here. Be sure to shop around to find 1 for your needs and price range.
Finally, we have dungeon tiles and poster maps. Dungeon tiles are a pretty neat concept. A bunch of tiles you can put together to build your own dungeon. However, I find them to be more trouble than they are worth. They slide around and they are never punched out exactly right. Poster maps are great. They always have great art, and you never have to worry about the scale being off. However, the 3rd or 4rth time you use the same one, it kinda breaks immersion.

Dice
Ah, dice. They can be an addiction. I've even heard them referred to as gamer crack. The set of dice I've used for the past 3 years are Crystal Caste Dwarven Metal dice. They're pricey and I probably spent way to much on them, but I love them. Crystal Caste also has their unique Crystal Dice. Most of my players use Chessex dice. Gamescience has the technically best dice you will find anywhere ever. And Q-Workshop has the coolest looking dice I've ever seen.

Coming soon: the introduction to the Walmart inspired dungeon!