NEW: Dry-Erase Map Tiles

At GenCon, I released a new product that has cross-system appeal: Dry-Erase Map Tiles. These 1-inch tiles come in packs of 12 (three each of red, yellow, green, and blue), and their glass surface makes them perfect for dry-erase markers.

I had only a limited stock of these available at GenCon, and they sold out in less than 2 hours!  Since so many out there didn’t get a chance to pick up a pack, I’ve made a point of getting them back in stock right away. Best of all, at $2.99 per pack you can afford to get extras if you need to run a particularly large battle!

Here’s the complete item description:

Dry-Erase Map Tiles – $2.99

These dry-erase map tiles come in 1-inch squares, perfect for any game that uses miniatures and battle maps. These smooth-edged tiles are made of glass and come in an assortment of colors. Their weight helps them to stay put on the battle map, and the possible applications are limited only by your imagination:

  • In a large group of similar miniatures, number the tiles to keep track of which is which.
  • Use tiles of different colors to represent different conditions (blinded, fatigued, bloodied, etc.) on individual figures. The tiles can stack on top of one another, so a single miniature could have multiple conditions. Alternatively, you can mark multiple conditions on a single tile, adding or erasing them as needed.
  • Use tiles to mark individual squares on a battle grid to represent miscellaneous items — such as containers, treasure chests, or traps — once the players discover them. (After they learn the contents, you can add a note to each tile to identify it.)
  • Use tiles to identify the target of an effect, such as a fighter’s mark in D&D 4th edition or the target of a mind trick in Star Wars Saga Edition.
  • Use tiles to represent the altitude of characters and items that are flying, levitating, or hovering.
  • Add tiles to an existing battle map to identify items and features that have changed, such as a broken-down door, a smashed wall, or a collapsed floor.

One pack will easily handle most battles, and even the biggest and most epic conflicts will rarely need more than two or three. Add one to your game master’s toolkit today!

Did you buy our dry-erase map tiles at GenCon? Have any other ideas on ways to use them during your game? Add your thoughts in the comments section!

New T-Shirt: The Spider Queen

This is another product we premiered at GenCon, but I didn’t get the final images in time to have this available for pre-sale.  Now, to give it the same attention the Redshirts and Table 6-9 t-shirts have had, here’s this item’s product description:

Spider QueenT-SHIRT: The Spider Queen – $15.99

Who’s the chick with all the spiders?
– last words of unidentified barbarian

Are you an old school gamer?

We don’t mean, “Did you play 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons?”* We mean, “Did you play back when Elf and Dwarf were character classes?”

If so, we have the shirt for you, with artwork inspired by the Queen of the Spiders supermodule** and the inevitable gap that can occur between veteran gamers (who immediately recognize Lolth, the goddess of the dark elves) and their less-experienced counterparts … perhaps someone’s little brother who just joined the campaign.

We’ve all been on both sides of that exchange. We all had that moment where we actually said, “All dice have six sides, don’t they?” We’ve all had the “facepalm” moments when new players join the fun, and we wouldn’t trade those memories for the world.

We are old-school gamers, and this shirt is our proof.

* True story: At GenCon, while showing someone this shirt, I asked, “What editions of D&D have you played?”

He answered, “Both.” (Really.)

** Queen of the Spiders is actually a sequence of seven adventures over three story arcs: G1 – Steading of the Hill Giant Chief, G2 – Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl, G3 – Hall of the Fire Giant King, D1 – Descent into the Depths of the Earth, D2 – Shrine of the Kuo-Toa, D3 – Vault of the Drow, and Q1 – Queen of the Demonweb Pits.

It is, without doubt, among the most iconic and recognizable module series from old-school gaming, joining the ranks of such famous adventures as Temple of Elemental Evil. Go ask an old-school gamer about the time they played one of these modules, and get ready for an overly enthusiastic synopsis, easily the equivalent of asking a Baby Boomer about Woodstock.

Stock updated, checkout re-enabled

I just finished counting and sorting the inventory I had left after GenCon … and, wow, I was really cleaned out of almost everything I brought to the convention.  Everything I still have on hand is now available in the online store, and checkout is available again. To everyone who has been waiting to make a purchase, thank you for your patience!

Finally, I will be restocking as much inventory as possible over the next month.  If the item you want is out of stock, you can click the “Email Me when back in stock” button to be notified about updates to that item, and you’ll be automatically notified as soon as it is available again.

Back from GenCon

We got back from GenCon very, very early this morning, and we’re still getting our inventory counted and organized.  We sold out of the vast majority of the products we brought to the convention (and the Redshirts were a particularly huge hit, reportedly drawing $50 for one at the GenCon charity auction), and we’ll have the store’s checkout active and all inventory updated by close of business tomorrow.

Thanks to everyone who came by our booth, including lots of people I’ve known online for years but had never met until this year. A special thanks goes out to GM Chris of the Order 66 Podcast on d20 Radio — I had a blast playing in his Star Wars RPG pickup game (even though my Rodian sniper rolled about 6 natural 1s, including 3 in a row in the same combat). He also interviewed me about our store’s newest releases, so look for it in an upcoming podcast.

And finally, thanks to everyone else for your patience while we were out of town. Things will be back to normal as soon as possible, and we’ll be replenishing our inventory over the next month.