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Ultimate RPG Gaming Table
Nyrath the nearly wise writes "RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons are traditionally played on a tabletop using miniatures. The problem is that the players are only supposed to see those parts of the map that they have explored. Gamemasters are reduced to drawing explored sections of the map on the playing surface with dry-erase markers or using cardboard tiles representing stretches of corridor. Some fellows have an expensive but elegant solution. They map out the playing area in a laptop using software such as Tabletop Mapper, which allows to game master to dynamically hide and reveal sections of the map. The laptop is attached to a 1600 lumen DLP projector mounted on the ceiling and projecting an image of the visible map onto the tabletop. The miniatures can then be moved on a dynamic map. The eye candy factor is vastly increased, gamemaster labor is reduced, and the players have more fun. The elegance is that this is an intuitive enhancement of the traditional gaming experience, instead of an unfamiliar new user interface to be mastered."
We played on the floor.
Bring on the 3d googles!
Visit Tim's Journal, yes?
magnetic pieces that move themselves to voice commands - like Jumanji!
You are confusing me with someone who cares.
Your parents sure let you do a number on your basement. It'll be a shame when they kick you out.
My cardboard cut out dragon and magic tin-foil Helmet of Smiting.
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The last time I played D&D we didn't need no stinking miniatures, just some paper, dice and a shit load of caffinated beverages.
Imagination is a wonderful thing.
"Your party has left the linoleum plains and come to an area of deep pile shag ..."
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Any news on how much it'll cost to clean cheetoh goo off the lens?
Cool... so with the projector you also get realtime shadows!
And the DM can have the Dragon's shadow show up via hand puppet gestures!
Of course the Raging One Finger of Darnisus will probably be the most popular creature shadowed on the board.
Otherwise the Israeli Intelligence Services might be able to track your purchase and then you won't get a high-paying position with them!
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Who plays D&D with a table? What's wrong with the woods behind my parent's house?
LIGHTNING BOLT! LIGHTNING BOLT! LIGHTNING BOLT!
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
My DM made us draw a map, but first he made sure someone bought paper and had a feather quill and ink, then we looked for someone with mapping skill. :-)
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The Israeli army would not approve of your ingenuity.
The hidden area of the map contained scenes from what it would look like if u actually went outside.
Good lord. 30 years ago the military would have spent several (hundred?) million dollars on something like this.
And people are using this for Dungeons and Dragons?
Christ, we used to sprawl out in my friend's rec-room.
God I'm old.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
In fact, it's very hard to justify the "R" in the acronym in dungeon crawls.
Not at all. In dungeon crawls, the "R" just stands for "Roll" instead of "Role".
Tarsnap: Online backups for the truly paranoid
Now maybe they can project a map of how to get out of their parents' basement!
The kicking feet might damage the projector under the table. Like when someone decides to die a dramatic death and act it out because they are being "in-character". Or all the boys are playing footsie with the one girl they managed to con into playing with them. Or the fans in the projector get gunked up with all the Cheetos that fall on the floor.
Oooh! You rolled a critical miss on your saving throw against staying a virgin into your eighties.
Why not return to Bigby's Bed of Eternal Solitude and cast grasping fist repeatedly and often!
--- Jump!! Fire!! Bullet time!! - Lego version of the Matrix
Take it a step further.
.(wait for it). . . you network them! Why, everyone could keep their table at home, and play across the internet. No need to even leave your house to go and play in someone's mom's basement.
Everyone has their own table, and. .
This is the future! (I think I better patent this idea.)
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
Chessex Battlemat: $13.95
Vis-a-vis Markers (4 pack): $4.69
DLP Projector: $1,479.00
Leaving every game-geek on Slashdot with no better retort than "it-costs-too-much": priceless.
"We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals." --The American President (20.1.2009)
Seems to be a good idea.
"Screw Unix, I'm going to smoke pot, eat Cheetos and play D&D for the rest of my life!"
Finally, a D&D product I really would sacrafice my firstborn for! Bring out the goats and let the orgy begin!
I'm confused... Why are those old guys wearing suits to play D&D?
The Philosophy of Liberty | lewrockwell.com
My brother had a run-in with a gaming "Cat of Doom". Our Maine Coon Cat, that we had as teens, liked to come in through our bedroom window. After doing whatever cats do it would then head for his Avalon Hill "Barbarossa" game board and proceed to jump on it and make himself at home. His bottle brush tail was not only excellent at sweeping whole Soviet and German corps off the table but the occasional armored division would cling to his fur. He eventually gave up trying to keep him off the board and ended up using that blue sticky putty to hold the counters in place.
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning