My Vinyl Collection

I’ve found a unique way to model outside terrain in my RPG games that I would like to share with you.

Although some players like to use rulers or measuring sticks to measure distances when gaming, I personally like to use grids. Playing on a grid makes it easy to determine movement and range of spells and effects.

Rather than using a commercial vinyl mat with a pre-printed grid, I created my own clear vinyl mat. By marking a grid on this mat, I can lay it over a variety of materials for some quick and easy scenes.

Let me give you some tips I discovered on the easiest way to make this mat.

Materials

• clear vinyl from fabric store
• iron and pressing cloth
• paper template
• permanent black marker
• rubbing alcohol
• scissors

Directions

You can put many types of materials under the mat for interesting looks. I have a green tablecloth that I usually use under it for forest terrain. You can also cut out blue posterboard for water and brown paper for muddy banks and courtyards. I’ve used a gray tablecloth for parts of a dungeon, and white posterboard for snow.

Keep in mind that this is still a vinyl mat so you can also use wet erase markers to draw on it! This gives you a lot of flexibility for drawing tunnels and other features. You also have the option of improvising if something unexpected comes up.

Be careful to clean the mat right after the game session, so the mat doesn’t get stained. Make sure to keep the side you drew on with marker on the bottom side to protect it from any cleaners you use. I roll mine up on a cardboard tube between sessions so that it doesn’t get wrinkled again.

Usually before the game session, I put posterboard on the table for the scenes that I am expecting that night. Then I cover them up with posterboard and put the vinyl mat on the top. When it is time to reveal the new scene to the players, I pull out the posterboard. Ta Da!

If you have any questions, ask them in the comment field below.