What’s the Crock Pot? Just a simmering bowl of lentils and herbs, with a dash of DMing observations. Don’t be afraid to dip in your ladle and stir, or throw in something from your own spice rack.
Hip to be squares
Flip Mat brand footmaps are cool. And they work with permanent and dry-erase markers (kinda … there’s a trick to removing the permanent markings) . They’re re-useable, and come in a variety of terrain. And they fit into my backpack – and that’s the best part.
Save on printer ink
I used to draw my tactical encounter maps with crayon. No fuss, no muss, everything was the color it was supposed to be, and snack spillage wasn’t a big deal. I can’t recall why I quit doing them that way.
Now that’s a stretch
I just picked up a tape measure at Menard’s that is thin and fits on my keychain. Ohhhhh, the possibilities for gridless tactical combat are flooding my brain. Muhahahahaha.
Greywulf has a great post called Goodbye to the Grid that exults in free measuring distances and doing without the grid. It’s an interesting consequence that I hadn’t even considered. I don’t know what I’ll do with it, but it’s very interesting. You can just swing a compass for radii…
So…what’s the trick to removing permanent marker from flip mats?
PS: You’re the only person I’ve ever heard use the term “footmap.” Where did you pick it up?
The trick is to write over the permanent lines with dry-erase markers, wait about 10 mins, and wipe ’em off… I’ve had some success with this, hasn’t always worked for me 🙂
Frostryder knows the trick — hasn’t failed me yet — though it’s not like I go around ALWAYS using thick, black permanent marker. It’s usually applied as an accident, you know.
Footmap? Gosh, I don’t know. I Googled the term, and I came up with two hits — both Treasure Tables entries I’d made, which is kinda weird when you think about it. You don’t think I made it up?
I suspect, though, it has roots in wargaming, which has always been big in central Illinois. The term probably drifted in from there.