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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."
1) Cost. The equipment and software necessary for this setup are beyond many gamers' means.
The software isn't so bad, if it's the mentioned dunjinni package @ ~$40, but that projector is the backbreaker. Even lores projectors are a chunk of change. I know, as I've looked at them for a variety of causes, but just can't muster the green, yet.
2) The task of scanning and editing printed maps is labor and skill intensive.
My hope is that you could help me and any others that wish to use this technique by publishing this letter or similar instructions and by making high-resolution maps, which do not contain DM-only information, available for download.
Ok, the map drawing/editing thingie doesn't strike me as bad, so long as you're a coder like me. I've already done a few simple applications which can paint hexes (so cartesian should be less difficult) any color and anywhere I like, I could even map brushes to create furniture or terrain. (the worst part would be shelling for the package I delveloped it in, which I have no intention of leaving it in, for what should be obvious reason.)
Back in the day, though, for RPG's we didn't even use maps, but had the DM describe where we were and what we were to see. Kept it simple, so long as you remembered.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Wouldn't it just be easier to run a multiplayer neverwinter nights session and project THAT on a table?
TODO: Something witty here...
A few years ago, I attempted to construct a landscape for Warhammer/Warhammer 40,000 games, and it was a lot easier than I thought it would be....my plan was to make a large field, split in the centre by a river (two fords for armies to cross) and some buildings here and there, aswell as rocks.
Generally for water, dried Poly Vinyl Acetate (PVA) adhevise serves well for water, obviously rocks and pebbles, aswell as grit can be used for its banks.
I had two buildings, ruined cottages beside my river, largely these were cardboard, I also used some black painted straws as chimneys, I applied yet more grit/soil to the base to make it look derelict, and painted the entire structure a sort of industrial brick work colouration.
Countryside was fairly easy, I actually used cotton soaked in dark green paint for bushes/shrubs, and simply used a combination of the gravel Games Workshop had and paint for the ground.
All this was done on a 6 x 6 foot cardboard slab , so a fairly small gaming surface overall, and it took me just under a month of evenings after college to accomplish, huzzah.
Voila! You've got a rear-projection system you can set things on.
If the grease is light enough, your gameboard will also be projected onto the ceiling.
Variations on a theme:
tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
...a Smart Tech Smart Boardrotated 90 degrees. Not only can you write on them, but it will digitize the writing into the computer.
I was thinking of something similar, but using wifi enabled PDAs. Trouble is I quit playing RPGs more than 15 years ago... doh!
Whenever I learn to program in a new language or on a new device, first thing I think of is RPGs. I've written character generators for everything from the Commodore Vic 20 up through Java.
Most fun thing I ever made for RPGs was on the Commodore 64. Basically I took the randomization tables from the back of the AD&D (1st edition) DM's Guide and made a program that would spit out random dungeon crawl's. No fancy graphics or what not. Just stuff like "You are in a 60' corridor that runs north/south and ends in a door." North. "You are standing before a door." Open. "You are looking into a 30' diameter, circular room. There are 15 kobolds here." It would step you through combat making all the rolls for the various characters.
It was pure text, but my friends and I had a blast sitting around the warm glow of the monitor hacking apart great hordes of beasties and carting off a virtual mountain of goodies with nary a DM in sight to rain on our parade of XP and excessive loot.
Then I started dating and eventually failed my saving throw vs. matrimony. I tried a couple times as an adult to play, but each time we managed to get together no more than twice before conflicting schedules broke up the game... And of course it was no where near as much fun as I remembered it...
Well, this is cool in the same way that various hardware hacks and case mods are cool. It's interesting that someone went and did this, and it's admirable that they came up with a pretty sweet solution.
.I don't know, breathless? Quote: 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. . .gamemaster labor is reduced. . . Oh the horror! Finally, a solution to all that drudgery GMs have had to put up with for thirty years! It's a wonder no one did this sooner. No longer will the GM have to put up with getting dry-erase smudges on his hands. No more back breaking labor as he leans over the table to draw a straight line. This is at least as revolutionary as refrigeration.
But the summary is a little. . .
But seriously, in the one long term campaign I was involved with for several years, the GM used little generic game pieces (from a Sorry or Parchesi board game) while each of the players used their own figurine to represent their character. We really only used this for marching order and combat. Combat was actually not that common. We spent entire afternoons role playing, rather than roll playing, especially when we needed to gather information.
It helped a great deal that the GM was an actor, and acted out the parts of the NPCs and monsters believably. The interaction really was the best part.
To be honest, this campaign really spoiled me. I haven't been seriously into RPGs since, because they're always slightly disappointing and lackluster. Modules are boring, hack and slash gets boring quickly, leveling gets boring. Maybe I've been unlucky, and I've encountered only one truly imaginative GM in my life.
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
With todays exchange rates for the GBP i have about 50-60k in warhammer and warhammer 40k miniatures.
at the time i could field a 100k army in each dwarf, empire, skaven, skeles and nurgle, for regular warhammer and squat, slann, imperial, and space wolves.
Its all sitting in my old room at my parents house 1500 miles away, because it all toooo heavy to ship, (these were the lead ones) I recently got into painting diaoramas and I went and showed the guys at the local GWstore and thier jaws dropped at sing pictures of what I had, I swear I had more than they did, and no one could believe that i could field 100k armies, with todays 10k armies, and 2500 pt skirmishes that they have.
Yes I am a geek, and DAMN proud of it.
moo.
Picture this - put a web cam RIGHT next to the projector, aimed down at the table.
Now, on each of your miniatures (the characters, the monsters, etc.) you put a tiny set of LEDs, blinking in a certain pattern.
The webcam can recognize each object by seeing the LEDs blinking in a certain order, and can even figure out which way they are facing.
Now, all of a sudden, you've got your physical objects mapped back into your virtual space. What's the point?
Ragnar (played by Dave) wants to cast a fireball spell. So Dave pulls out the "Spell" miniature, and the DM punches up "Fireball" on a list. Now, as Dave drags the spell miniature around on the board, a little (projected, virtual) dashed line stretches from the Ragnar miniature to the spell miniature. Around the spell miniature is an animation of a fireball exploding, set to the appropriate radius (20' in virtual space.) Dave can easily see if Ragnar's spell can go far enough, and how many people (good guys and bad) would be affected by different placements of the spell.
You also get to immediately measure how many distance increments your character is from the bad guy he's throwing a dagger at.
All sorts of things start turning out to be easy and cool.
Why bother with the physical objects? Because nothing's as cool as reaching out and grabbing something real and moving it interactively (which begs the question of why people play D&D instead of rugby). It's like a mouse to the power of 5. Plus, all the players can fiddle with measurements and stuff simultaneously.
Yes, you could also just pass around a wireless mouse, and move around virtual miniatures, instead. Probably pretty close to the same experience.
Instead of the "look-away" part of what these guys have to do, I think it would be awesome to have a dual-monitor set-up - but not many laptops let you drive two independent monitors. One monitor the players can see, one the DM can see. Drop in a wireless PDA or two for passing messages back and forth between players and DM (Rogue: "I steal the amulet!"), and you're cooking. *grin*
I didn't come up with this webcam + LEDs idea - I just have thought about how it would apply to Dungeons and Dragons. I first saw this kind of set up on a SIGGRAPH DVD, back in 2001. They were using it to play with how buildings would cast shadows and warp wind patterns. They also simulated a virtual holograph-making system. It was amazing to watch this video go. I can't remember the name of the group for the life of me. Can someone post a link? I gotta dig up that DVD!
Education is the silver bullet.
I waited until the traffic died down, to say that while I appreciate the ingenuity with the use of a projector (and there's lots of others cool things this approach could take), this is hardly the "Ultimate RPG Table".
No, my friends, this is the ultimate RPG table.
I am taken with how much effort and thought the creator of that table put together in planning, executing, and documenting his work. Truly, it's a work of art and quality far beyond a simple application of an LCD projector.
Best of all, it's a version 1.0 and additional refinements are to come.
Disclaimer: I don't play any of this stuff, but I know quality when I see it.
Couple of guys came up with some different approaches using different software and cheaper projectors - including using Neverwinter Nights to generate the background.
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=122099