by seaniusmaximus 2010-03-13, 13:04
I actually currently use a monitor as a game table for my weekly 4e game. I do this because I always have spare electronics sitting around, and having an extra monitor, I thought, why not?
I basically removed the backing and stand, and lay it flat on the table, and use a program called MapTool (which is free) to display a full screen map on that monitor, that I control from my laptop. This also allows me to have a digital version of everything I need, thus reducing paper usage and whatnot. I allow players to have actual minis, that they place on the monitor surface (I use a protective sheet of plastic, so the monitor doesn't get fudged) and they roll physical dice, but the map, and monsters, are all represented digitally. This also allows me to put little digital markers on the corners of the monsters on the screen to signify different status effects and marking and whatnot. It's worked pretty great so far. Saves me a lot of money on maps and tiles and minis and allows me to lay out dungeons waaaay in advance, and I can easily switch between maps quickly during the game.
The only drawback is the monitor is only a 20-incher (maybe 21, I can't remember) so the maps can't get SUPER huge, without having to scroll around on it, but I haven't found that to be a big limitation as of yet.
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