Battle Map Comparisons

by Mike Shea on 3 August 2009

Which option we use for our battle maps can drastically change the type of D&D 4e game we run. The options range everywhere from simple to complex, light enough to carry in a poster tube to heavy enough to require a U-Haul, as cheap as a Starbucks coffee to as expensive as a car. Today we will compare and contrast the most popular options for your D&D 4e battle maps.

Wet Erase Mats

Designed by a few different companies and running about $20, the wet-erase battle mat has been a staple in tabletop RPG games for years. Given the number of them I've seen at conventions, they would also appear to be the most popular. They offer a flatter surface than the fold-up dry-erase mats described below but require the use of wet-erase pens. Any other marker will permanently stain the mat. Also, if you leave even the wet-erase marker on too long, it can stain the mat. This mat, along with the dry-erase mat and the poster-sized 1" graph paper offers the most flexibility, greatest portability, but the least immersion of all of the options. All in all, I feel the laminated dry-erase mat is the better way to go.

Durability: Good Price: Excellent Flexibility: Excellent Immersion: Poor Portability: Excellent

Published Maps

For the past few years Wizards of the Coast has published large poster-sized battle maps with pre-printed and full color encounter layouts. These maps work very well as long as that layout is exactly what you wanted. For custom games, they can be reused again and again. The generic grave-yard, King's Road, and evil temple maps included with the Keep on the Shadowfell adventure can be a staple in many games. These offer poor flexibility compared to the maps you draw yourselves and moderate pricing considering you need a lot of them to be useful. They are very portable, however, and offer a greater immersion than hand-drawn maps. The thin paper is prone to tears, however, giving them poor durability. Paizo also produces laminated pre-drawn "Flip-mats" for $12 that offer some excellent layouts in a portable, inexpensive, and durable format.

Durability: Poor (Excellent for the Paizo maps) Price: Excellent Flexibility: Poor Immersion: Excellent Portability: Excellent

Dry Erase Mats

Paizo also publishes high quality, durable, flexible, and cost-effective laminated mats that accept wet or dry erase markers. These are the best option for custom drawing your own maps. They are easy to carry around and cost about $12. I recommend these more than the wet-erase mats and the 1" grid paper options. Like those options, this product sacrifices immersion for flexibility. For the DM on a budget, this is your absolute best option.

Durability: Excellent Price: Excellent Flexibility: Excellent Immersion: Poor Portability: Excellent

Grid paper

At about $30 for 100 sheets, these large white gridded sheets give you a lot of flexibility and decent portability if you stick them in poster tubes or roll them up. For sand-box games where you need a lot of maps on-hand at any given game, these are a great option. They will speed things up quite a bit since you don't have to draw your layouts out at the game itself. They are very poor for recyclability. Once you've used a map, you're likely to just throw it out. Except in very specific situations, I recommend almost all the other options first.

Durability: Poor Price: Fair Flexibility: Excellent Immersion: Poor Portability: Good

Dungeon Tiles

Wizards started publishing $10 sets of D&D Dungeon Tiles a couple of years ago and now there is quite a collection of them available. They lack the flexibility of the hand-drawn tools, making it difficult to set up a layout from published adventures that don't specifically use dungeon tiles. For those that do, however, the tiles offer much greater immersion than hand-drawn options. They also offer greater flexibility than published maps. The price can get expensive since you need about two copies of each set to really use them and sets come out about four times a year. I think Dungeon Tiles work very well in tandem with other options. When you have the option to use them, you should, but keep a dry-erase mat handy. Read my tips for using D&D Dungeon Tiles to use these even more effectively.

Durability: Excellent Price: Good Flexibility: Good Immersion: Excellent Portability: Good

Dwarven Forge

This is where the scale breaks down. It is nearly impossible to justify the cost of Dwarven Forge except to say that it is the best, most immersive dungeon map accessory you can buy. I've always felt a pang of regret when I order a Dwarven Forge set - each set can cost 10 to 12 times more than a set of D&D Dungeon Tiles or a flip-mat. Every time I put them out, however, the regret leaves. These are the best dungeon accessories available. The cost isn't the only disadvantage, however. They are not very portable and offer limited flexibility when compared to pre-drawn maps. There are many other options available for battle maps, but Dwarven Forge sets are, by far, the coolest. I will warn you, however. There is a reason they refer to the Dwarven Forge hobby as "the addiction". You cannot stop with only one set. You'll have a dozen sets before you know it and realize you've got a D&D accessory that costs as much and weighs as much as your first car.

Durability: Excellent Price: Poor Flexibility: Good Immersion: Excellent Portability: Poor

Final Thoughts

Overall it is easy to eliminate many of the options above and focus on three. For the greatest flexibility, portability, and cost, choose the Paizo dry-erase laminated battle mat. For more immersion in traditional dungeon environments, choose D&D Dungeon Tiles and use them right. For the ultimate in extravagance, splurge and start sending your paychecks for Dwarven Forge sets. Your wife will forgive you...eventually.

Like this article? Please consider using these links to purchase flip mats or dungeon tiles or use this link to purchase anything from Amazon.com.

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