How We Made Our Custom D&D Table
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- Опубліковано 29 сер 2024
- This one is a long time in the making, but it's here for your viewing pleasure! Our custom made table for Dungeons and Dragons and other table top games has improved our gameplay drastically.
Show us what you've made and we'll share them with the rest of our audience in the next video!
Link to Reddit post by u/JoeJohnHamilton:
/ my_dad_and_i_made_a_dn...
Link to the DM's Guild website:
www.dmsguild.com/
Twitter: / bardsinspire
Instagram: / bardicinspirationyt
Check out more videos like this on our channel at / @bardicinspirationyt
Music by Bensound.com
Thank you all for watching the video! The link below will take you to our playlist full of Tavern Style D&D Themed musical covers for you to enjoy and share with your players!
ua-cam.com/play/PLZhB56DlQzDMx5I_YBH5lgx4l5VwbAPJ-.html
For the next table you might consider using biscuits, dowels, or tongue-and-groove for your joints. They will greatly reduce the need for braces. For the finish, it looks like the whole thing is softwood which doesn't like to take stain evenly, so you might try a conditioner first to even out the absorption in the grain. Speaking of staining, remember that it's not paint and you have to wipe off the excess. Ideally you'd apply polyurethane in a relatively clean environment to avoid dust falling on the surface but you handled it well. You might want to use a coat with more of a matte finish to avoid glare from the spotlights, the player areas look really shiny. One last thing, the television is going to produce a lot of heat that will need to be dissipated to keep it from failing early, so it would be a good idea to put some vents in that cover or the general area, maybe even a PC fan to move the air without making too much noise.
You probably won't see this, but I think you should include a way for players to magnetize things to their section of the privacy screen, wireless chargers for phones, USB ports at every station just in case they use a tablet for D&DBeyond, and cup holders so no one accidentally knocks their beverage over! Great video, thoroughly injoyed, and you gained a new sub!
Inlayed cup holders would have been a great idea! We didn't feel we could afford to take up more space on each player's table so we bought some nice coasters. We've had a couple accidents with cups but it hasn't been terrible. Magnets would have been a great idea though! Thanks for the sub, we greatly appreciate you!
I worry about magnets interfering with computers, monitors & cell phones, PDA's etc. I'm not actually sure. I thought about magnets for my table, but have been reluctant to do that. Has anyone actually used them? I'm all in on USB chargers, and plugs for devices if possible.
From what I've looked at, as long as you aren't using specific high powered magnets, just keeping your device about a foot away from them should limit the risk. I'd suggest, if tweaking our build to include USB charging and magnets, that you use some light white board-type magnets to hold any reference sheets you need attached to the privacy guard, then try to run USB cables through the center of the table that would allow you to charge your phone or tablet near the edge of your player space. That would limit a lot of risk when it comes to the magnets. Or you could stick binder clips to the privacy guard for the same effect, and do away with magnets entirely!
@@rosascreativeworks5403 they make magnetic cell phone mounts for cars so I wouldn't worry about the cellphones. As far as the TV you shouldn't have a magnet powerful enough to effect it unless it's in direct contact with the screen. However given the area size I don't see anything magnetic being necessary.
@@RogueAero Good info. Though I'm more worried about hard disk drives in laptops. :)
Love the design of this table. The wide side fit the dm is genius. Instead of the 2x material, you could use a hardwood plywood for the surface. When trying to get those odd shapes figured out, use cardboard or poster board to get the shape right, then use that as your template for cutting the wood.
Lots of space in the TV area that could be used as cubbies to stash things.
Love the lights for the players area.
Overall, great job.
Thank you very much! We were hesitant to use any wood that may be less durable so we stuck with the 2x planks. The design would have been much easier - and lighter - if we used a heavy duty plywood. But the integrity of the surface may not have supported 7 people leaning on it at the same time. I could be mistaken about the strength of certain plywoods but that was the mindset behind the 2x!
i made my own dnd table in secret from my group (i'm not the DM). and i made a separate room for it too by using my basement storage in my apartment complex. i made two in my group cry and one went mute, the rest screamed! i have pictures on my twitter :D
That's amazing! You should link to it in the comments!
That sounds amazing! I'd love to have seen their reactions on YT! LOL
@@rosascreativeworks5403 sadly i effed up the recording of it.... Or else i would have
@@kimadrianfroberg Oh well, at least you tried.
If you have photos, feel free to share them instead!
Can we just appreciate how entertaining and informative this video was! 🙏🏼✨
Super jealous! This is incredible. Miss you bud!
Hell yeah! That's what I'm talking about! So many of these gaming table projects on youtube are so precise and polished that the average joe would never be able to match them. This one has charm. It's a little uneven, a little rough around the edges, but that makes it all the better.
That's definitely what makes me love it! It's *ours*, flaws included
I made a table of a similar design, but with a rounded edge for players instead of squared off portions and no partitions. That allows me to squeeze in more players as the need arises. Instead of 2x materials I used 3/4 inch sanded plywood sheets stacked on top of each other in 3 alternating layers, like = on top of 11 on top of =. This gave me an 8 foot x 8 foot surface that’s about 2.25 inches thick to work with. The TV is flush mounted with the surface and the protrusion on the bottom to accommodate the TV is far enough away from players’ legs that they never knock their knees on it. The table is massive and I literally won’t be able to get it out of my house without cutting it apart, so a table this large is a real commitment.
This is absolutely incredible. I love this idea. Thank you for sharing your journey!
Great job on the finished design. Good tips on the "lessons learned" as I am sure these will come in handy for those looking to build from scratch. D&D & RPG tables are quite expensive. Building them really allows you to put your "touch" and features to the finished product!
That's what we're hear for! I'm glad that you felt you could learn from our process!
My goal is to one day play a game of D&D, awesome video!
There are lots of great ways to play online with people around the world, I'd recommend giving it a shot!
The main thing I'd change is putting a glass sort of cover over the TV to prevent scratching it permanently, but all in all this table is amazing and I wish I had one.
I really like the overall design of the table and the DYI aspects, so please take this only as constructive criticism/suggestions. 1. I've never played on a TV screen before so maybe it's fine, but it seems to me like it would get scratched up over time and when it needs to be replaced I think it's unlikely to find one exactly the same size. I saw a video where a guy used a projector and directed it downward onto the table. This seemed like a really good idea to me. No changes needed and you don't have to be careful not to press too hard on the playing surface. Just a thought. 2. I've never liked the look of 2 x 4's or plywood. I think I would have covered it up, at least partially, with some felt. 3. You need some cup holders. 4. As a gaming table I think this is the best shape I've seen, but for me, the table has to pull double duty as a regular table, so the shape wouldn't work. Just my $0.02.
On a positive note, I love the lights and I give you a lot of credit for doing it yourself. It's a great outcome and a very useful thing. Kudos. Big upvote for you.
Would love to play d&d with Rocky, lol. But seriously wouldn't mind playing with you, I do have a group already though. Once my new house is built in Trenton I'll have a perfect playing space, maybe I can hire you to build me a custom table for it.
I'm sure we could be convinced to build a new one, once the cost of lumber comes back down to a reasonable price!
Rocky would be a fun DM:
I punch the side of beef
*deeply slurred* roll for it
A nice job, all things considered. There are some great suggestions here for how to improve the next one. I know my father would disown me if I made anything in the same way as this table, but you don't have the technical background in carpentry that he has. Neither do I for that matter. It's a really nice project, though.
Perhaps for next time, consider doing some modelling ahead of time. There are plenty of free 3D cad programs that will help you with the design. It can calculate the angles and make sure you have the right cuts, and you won't have to go on guesswork for the lid. Of course, there is a substantial learning curve to using these programs, but it is definitely worth it in the end. Failing to plan is planning to fail, after all.
3D modeling is definitely something I'm interested in. It never even came to mind while working on this project 😅 But in the event of a second table's creation, that would certainly be a good idea. I made a physical model, but more to demonstrate the concept than to precisely measure angles or length
Randomly stumbled across this video through the UA-cam rabbit hole. Excellent work! Looking forward to seeing updates and potentially a second table. Really cool stuff!
got to love the jockey glue rags!!!
Here is a possible suggestion if you make another table. Consider using the vertical wall in between the players and the TV for players to hold things in. Think of it as a player DM screen. There are a ton of things that can be placed here. A dice tower, places to hold tokens for players such as inspiration token are some good examples. I even saw a table that had a button where the light would be that they could push to signal the DM. This was used as a cue for role playing or to let the DM know something important. I used this myself as a cue to let the DM know I was about to attack a party member, and at one point I was told to push the button if I had failed a death saving throw so that other players did not know how close I was to death.
Another thing I thought about was to have a storage location/ a shelf for the players and the DM. This could also be a good place to put chargers so those electronics are not covering the player's space, or if the player has their character on their computer, a hole for the cords can be put into the shelf so cords at reach the table.
The last thing I can think of are cup holders. I hope this helps.
Storage under the table would have been a great idea if we had any clue about how much space we'd have considering chair height! I had the idea of drilling in a small shelf, of sorts, to the top of the privacy guards for the dice/tokens you mentioned but at that point the table was no further along than we hoped, so I nixed the idea. I'd have loved to play around with it more! The lights suggestion is super creative though and I wish I had a better understanding of wiring and making that kind of thing work! I think, if I make another in the future, it'll be a bit less complex on the surface. Maybe the wiring and other types of electronic installations is where I'll really develop those kinds of innovations. Great advice, overall!
That table looks awesome!!! You guys did a better job than what i could do. Very cool.
Thank you!!
Radial arm saw! Im sure this is already been said, but that's a radial arm saw that pre-dates tablesaws. This is a SUPER ambitious build and I'm super psyched to see the process you go through to make it happen 👍
Haha yes, we've been made aware. I believe my father misspoke when referring to it but I should have double checked before posting. That radial arm saw came from his father, used throughout the last 60 years! I'm glad you enjoyed the video, we love making this kind of content, as well as our Tavern Style music!
That's dope as heck
YOU'RE dope as heck, Zach
Dyson logos has got a load of great maps, Sly Flourish put me on that
Nice work and thanks for the descriptive and informative video. Your presentation is relaxed and well done as well.
We found that the TV used for digital map display needs to be lower so everyone can see it well and we knew we needed plexiglass on top to protect the screen. Our TV case was made for us and has legs so it can "Breathe." It is supposed to stand on top of the table. We ended up removing the legs and to keep the TV from overheating, we place it on top of two folding tables, leaving a big gap between them and a fan underneath. We can't have a permanent table, space is limited and we need to be able to put the whole thing away between sessions.
I designed two hexagonal gaming tables. One was just a hidden storage coffee table that doubled as a gaming surface. It ‘could’ be opened and used as a largish DM screen. The other was a six-seat table where the GM had one side and the center (hexagonal hollow core) for additional storage, for a computer, sound controls, books, light, message shoot access. The middle of the table was an elevated overhanging gaming surface for the battle map, minis, etc. while seated the battle map is just below eye-level for the typical adult. Working with the limitation of a scaled 60🌡 wedge it necessitates careful chair pairing.
That sounds delightfully intricate, do you have a link to some photos? Thanks for watching the video!
Where the legs are is also important. Put them in the wrong spaces and your poor players will always be fighting with a leg. We've got a player that likes to sprawl all over the place, LOL! Table legs are always a problem for us, because we're pushing two tables together. Good ideas though! 😇
I am building a game table soon and really appreciated the design of this one. I will send some pics as i go about it. Thanks for the inspiration
We're glad you stopped by! Thanks for watching!
Way cool much wow
Id be inclined to agree, Mr. Johnson
Some of the individuals that in our group like to bring cold beverages. I’d def think of cup holders as part of my design. A spilled drink just makes for sticky situations.
Dude no way this channel only has 1k subscribers. The editing is top notch, and it's obvious a lot of effort went into the content
We do it for people like you! Thank you for the kind words, it's things like this that help us grow!
You have no idea how much that means to me! Thank you for taking the time to enjoy the video, but also the encouraging comment
Nice big table with lots of space. Kinda cool that you've got a built in dedicated GM space with screen. Cool. 😎
Thank you! Our DMs are very appreciative of the extra space 😁I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
This is sick guys! Keep up the awesome work! -Devon V.
Thanks brother!
Super cool table I hope I can see one like it someday 😁😁
Maybe one day!
Very nice! I'd love to do something like this but I lack the tools, skill, know-how, and space to achieve something like this! ;) You should be proud! You guys did a great job!
Thank so you much! I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
This video was so high quality, I was sure I was watching a random large channel but then I saw the channel size. Keep up the great work
That means so much to us! Hopefully we'll be a bit larger of a channel soon, we'd love to keep delivering content like this alongside our musical covers!
love it, great editing!!
Dice tower attached to one side that opens to a die pen on the area where the TV is when players (or even the DM) has to make an all-important roll that so that everyone can see. It's not necesary but great for drama
It should also be noted that we frequently use maps from Dynamic Dungeons and from Drive Thru RPG as well!
Dynamic Dungeons... cool! 🤓
Oh! That first saw is not a Table saw! That's a Saw That's specifically designed to cut ends to help square off untreated wood! 🤣
But hey man! Koodos for making it work!!!!
Y'know, whoever coached you for building it did an amazing job!
Edit; wait up, you gave a wrong peace of advice. This is something I'm passionate about so, I will take the time to correct a mistake you said; Sanding polyurethane using polish compound and a water sanding paper gives an AMAZING finish and IS used in ALL professional jobs for Cabinet Making. I understand you most likely didn't study in the trade, but I just couldn't pass this chance to correct your mistake. 👍
Our very limited experience is with sanding metal panels meant for classic cars, we had no idea that wet sanding was a mainstay practice for woodworking
Sweet result! Best wishes for growing the channel.
Fantastic project and breakdown.. thank you!
This is pretty cool. It's exactly what I'd want, but really cool. I'm not a big fan of the giant TV as a playing surface, and I feel like that section is a bit too high up. But I think this is really awesome. I love the carved out dice tray sections the most. Mostly, I'd just like to be playing with people in person and have a space for a table like this.
The space is the important part, for sure. We hope you can get into an in-person game soon!
That was awesome!
Thank you so much!
Nice looking table.
I know this table was 2 years ago but I think I am going to make a similar design but I think I'm going to try and include almost like a periscope in the area where you would roll your dice.
Not sure if it has been mentioned. Seeing that you've already power running for the TV, you could mount a surge protector under the table and then add an 8 port usb hub under the table. Provide cable management for cleanliness so the players can either charge/run their phones/tablets (even fans) during play. Prices for said hubs (even fans) are reasonable.
Very reasonable solution!
I think this is an awesome design. I would subscribe if you had more D&D content on your channel. Maybe some clips of yall playing. I’d like to see the pros and cons of this style table. I want to build one and I’ve been watching all kinds of videos trying to get ideas. I want to build a sturdy table that will last generations. I’m not a carpenter either. I have a few tools that I use on my homestead, but I’m more likely to start cutting lumber with my chainsaw then my circular saw 😂.
We do plan to roll out more and more D&D related content in the future! We're actually prepping something that may be of interest to you right now... 😉 If there is enough interest, we could be open to streaming some D&D but that's an entire can of worms itself. In the meantime, we ran a Q&A about our table that you can view on our channel!
Great work!!!
Nice table. I really like the shape of it. Obviously it's tough if you ever have more than 6 players as someone's going to have to share but it still looks very nice.
We used to have a problem with inviting too many players to games, so that was partly our way of making sure we don't do that anymore haha
pretty cool d&d table
Looks great, I wanna do the same thing soon for my game room
Good luck with your project!
Level reading 0.0
"Yeah, that's pretty much level enough for us"
Just a bunch of major Chads over here, we know
I absolutely love the design shape of this table. I wonder if it is difficult to actually see the screen from a seated position when the TV is raised up so high? I think my ideal d&d table would have this exact shape, but use a lowered TV (flush with the table).
We haven't had any problems with that personally, but keeping the TV flush with the table would certainly remove all doubt.
Thanks for the good ideas. I'm looking at doing this for a buddy of mine, so thanks for your take aways and pains from the build.
Anytime! We wish you luck on your own project!
Nice table. Common add ins for these sorts of tables are Cup Holders, a central Power strip to plug in laptops with a access how at each station, and USB ports at each station also. I have plans to make something like this, maybe more foldable so I can us it as a normal table/coffee table when not holding game nights.
Very cool. Trying to get the measurements right on something like this is really tricky. It may be worthwhile for the second time to talk to a local highschool shop teacher. In my town they are always looking for community projects for students who are in the advanced classes.
We were definitely of the mindset of "it'll get there" 😂 to redo the process, we would have just made the entire players surface at once instead of cutting out shapes to be fit together. Would have eliminated many of the errors we ran into
I love this design! Having the players arranged in a semi circle facing the DM is a great idea. I've been thinking about making a table with a TV built in for a while, this gives me some more to think about. Thanks!
Hey! I'm on TV! MOM GET THE CAMERA!
Better yet, we'll take a screenshot and frame it!
ROFL!
Good for you guys. I watch a lot of woodworking videos and dabble a bit. From that prospective this is a rough build…. But wait that’s is more. You guys did a fantastic job as amateurs and I know the second build would be a massive leap forward. I wish you and your group all the luck. I like the overall design and may just have to steal some of it.
What's your favorite woodworking channel? We'll have to check them out and learn how to do the next table more efficiently!
@@BardicInspirationYT bourbon moth is so dry and hilarious. I have recently discovered black tail and his work is crazy good. What I failed to mention in my first comment is I think your design is fantastic. You really are on to something there.
@@bryankia It's greatly appreciated! We'll have to check out Bourbon Moth next!
@@BardicInspirationYT Black Tail is amazing! That guy could make an EPIC game table if he were of the mind....
bigger dice trays and usb plugs for charging would be good additions. very cool build. i also would have made the spaces a bit bigger for the players. they look to be rubbing elbows a bit.
If we had been able to make the spaces larger for each player, it would have been great! But the size of the table could only be so large before it was too large in the place it was going. That said, we haven't had much complaint on the space being cramped
If you want to do a table like he did, or anything complicated with wood, make it on your PC, there are easy to use programs online.
With it made in your PC, you'll have the measurements and it'll be easy to follow.
And, if a piece is to complicated, go to a printing place and print in real size, then you can just glue the paper in the wood and voila, perfect piece.
When I eventually get my own place, I want to have a custom rpg table themed around Cthulhu, since CoC is our most played game.
We've considered starting up a CoC game as well! One of our friends is a massive Lovecraft fan (his work, not his ideologies) and has wanted to play in that setting for a long time!
@@BardicInspirationYT oh CoC is fantastic! It’s been my favorite game ever since I started GMing. I HIGHLY reccomend getting the free quick-start packet online; it has some basic rules, a free adventure that’s been the best beginner scenario since the games inception, and even has some “quick-fire” rules for character creation! It’s an awesome way to test the waters and see if you’d like it before buying the full core rulebook, and free to boot! It’s how I got into CoC and I still have the packet to this day, that battered old packet I printed at my high schools library XD
Nice! I have one myself. Do you use a croupier stick to move the minis?
Things I added to mine:
electrical outlets (8)
storage bins (lift-lid school desk type)
sound system (ambiance)
smoke machine (cause it's cool!)
LED strip (multi-colored) playing area
Love the table so much I’m currently trying to make a similar one, it would help incredibly if you con give the measurements
Love the design.
For me I would go something like that although with a stand + charger for a tablet as we tend to use D&D beyond, and maybe a slightly larger dice trey.
That was actually part of our original design concepts, the only reason we scrapped it was because the room we were putting the table in had limited space, and adding those features comfortably would have made the table just a bit larger than we were able to manage. If you've got the space then it's an excellent idea, for sure!
That is really amazing!
Thank you very much! We're glad you enjoyed the video!
Very cool to see the hard work put into it. I feel like you could go without the tv and do a top down projector to show the maps and cut out the cost of and weight of a tv.
Could be a good idea, but higher end projectors are about the same cost as a new TV. If you can get the projector mounted right and assure that the table never needed to be moved, this would work out just fine. In our situation, we had an extra TV screen and it happened to be the perfect size for the maps we were using. By all means though, for anyone considering the projector, go for it!
For phone chargers you could mount a USB hub under the table, then run usb extension cables to each player station, no need to do anything more than cable manage then, something like the Anker 60w 6 port hub would handle that no problems.
That's definitely a design choice we would look at if we build another one at some point, but also sounds like something we could add to our current design too. Great suggestion!
If you want to build something like this, search to see if there is a makerspace near you. They can provide the tools - and advice - you need.
Great looking table guys... with the idea of it being under $300 is amazing and 'Bardic Inspiring' if you will. Fantastic job.
Thank you very much!
This is so dope!
For if you ever do another version, LG has a completely flat TV where all of the processing is done inside the sound bar. It would be really easy to mount one of those into a table for both visuals and sound capabilities, and it would save a lot of weight from both the TV itself and the wood you need to attach it to the table. Linus Tech Tips did a video where he used one to make a "window" in his building where the display was recessed into the wall. There's also an LED strip controller you can plug your video input into that makes the LEDs glow in a specific color to match the colors closest to the edge of the screen. If you put some diffuser material over those it would make for an amazing accent to the main set piece. Also, phone chargers would be good, but if you have players that use laptops having a power strip attached to the table and having outlets with USB and USB-C plugs would be even better if it's not much more expensive. And cupholders. Everyone needs a cupholder. Even still, incredible build and I wish I had one for myself
We debated on the cup holders but opted to go with coasters for each seat instead. With a dice tray being routed into the table, we didn't want to take away more space from the surface so character sheets and notebooks could fit flat onto the table's surface. If we wanted to, we could have mounted cup holders to the edge of the table but thankfully the mobility of the coasters has allowed us to not necessarily need a mounted cup holder. It gives some customization to each player, so they can comfortably fit what they need onto their section of the table. A completely flat TV screen would have been preferable though!
@@BardicInspirationYT in a perfect world I'd build "floating" mage hand cup holders that I could hang from a privacy wall between each player so it would be out of the way of your stuff and your hands to help avoid spills as well as just being cool. It could even be on a small gooseneck mount so you can angle it out of your view of the board
You'd just have to find one hell of a strong gooseneck mount! Last thing anyone needs is their G-Fuel mixed with Mountain Dew to pour all over a brand new tablet haha
@@BardicInspirationYT a short length of it won't bend or rotate that much, that's all you'd need
Fair enough! We hope to see a video response if you make this into a reality! It'd be cool to use a Mage Hand prop fashioned under the mount but that may get clunky in terms of space and mobility
Nice video, thanks for sharing this experience ✌️
From one Matthew to another, thank you for enjoying the process with us!
I think it would be really nice to see the plans so we can make something similar !
We plan on releasing a follow up video to go over those specifically! We'll keep you updated, hopefully soon!
I've spent a bit of time thinking about my ideal D&D table. I really don't want a bunch of bells and whistles, just a good looking hexagonal table 33 inches on a side. That would be big enough to fit the largest battle maps I have, but it would still be easy enough for everyone to reach the center, about 29" from the edge of the table to the center.
Great Vid man! Was looking towards making my own and needed some inspiration. Keep up the vids!
Thank you very much! Tag us on Twitter or Instagram once you start building your table!
Great video...and congratulations on the success of it. Very cool to see a smaller channel like us have something go viral. Here's hoping you get more and more subs for it. You got my sub!
Thank you very much! We'll return the favor, good luck to you as well!
@@BardicInspirationYT thank you! I appreciate it!
Since the group I play with largely uses electronic character sheets, I would probably add some surge protectors into the table to provide spots for players/the DM to plug in. Also having some kind of integrated dice roller would be pretty cool, but I can also see how that could get really complicated really quickly. I would like to try something like this at some point though. Some really cool ideas in your design.
We're suckers for hard copies haha. D&D Beyond, as well as other third party clients, have made D&D very digitally accessible and for any group that predominantly uses tablets or phone to track character information, the hardwiring of USB outlets and other sources of power would be absolutely necessary!
Right now getting ready to play on a small 4 sided table to record a dnd live play podcast 🤣
Sounds wonderful!
Came for the ideas! ...Left with the idea... "Ya know, according to that location, we are practically neighbors... I can "borrow" it..."
Lol, jk, but honestly, this is a cool idea! And customizable, which is awesome!
I'm glad you enjoyed the process!
You can get great battlemats images from My Mini Factory. They just started with PDFs
Not sure its free though
This looks great! Def gave me some ideas. I’ve been looking for table ideas for when I finish my game room but everything I’ve seen is traditional rectangle. I love the shape of this! I may have to take some tips from you. Free tips for a fellow Ohioan? (Columbus here).
Only if you can answer, correctly, which city is better: Cincinnati or Cleveland!?
@@BardicInspirationYT well, in a convo at work today I called Cleveland “the armpit of the Midwest” so that should answer that question. However personally Columbus beats them both!….. lol I was actually in Dayton yesterday.
Haha very well! Probably my biggest pieces of advice would be the following:
1. If you can make the players surface of the table end up a single piece of wood, do it. If I had known what the end product would look like, I'd have allowed the middle section to not be made "hollow", and instead cut the shape out of a solid piece of wood. This would have raised the TV in the middle, slightly, but it would have been worth it.
2. Consider whether you'd rather have dice trays or a more full surface area for the players. Two of our friends prefer an external dice tray. I still would choose to route them again, but it isn't necessary.
3. Lastly, just build one! There's certainly opportunities to expand on some ideas we had, as well as dialing it back on some others. If you have good overhead lighting, the lamps aren't necessary. If you like having electronics available, maybe mess around with USBs running through the middle section. But either way, make it unique to serve you and your RPG group!
Hope this helps!
@@BardicInspirationYT thanks man. Yeah I’m thinking I want to take your basic concept and expand on it. I like the idea of a recessed center section, but also like how you did the raised to give each person a more structured space. Wonder if a small raise then a recess around the tv would look decent…. Ok now the brainstorming is starting. I need to find a pencil.
That's where it all begins. Tag us on Twitter or Instagram when you get to building it!
very nice table!
Thank you so much!
Btw, that is a radial arm saw
You would be correct. That's our general lack of knowledge on the subject coming through, we're constantly learning!
So it's practically a modified version of a Blackjack table at a casino.
Certainly inspired the table's shape, to a degree!
Sweet table! If you make another it should have cup holders. Also, I was wondering why does the DM get a really long side. Won't and octagon work just as well and have an addition seat?
As a DM, there's often a need for more table space. Maps, notes, an adventure module, handbooks, a laptop, even before considering dice. We decided that this warranted as much table space as possible for the DM.
The term "PERFECT ENOUGH" is now my new most hated phrase. lol Its good enough ...or PERFECT. Great video though XD
Would you accept the term "perfect adjacent"?
I would get a piece of Plexiglass to cover the tv to protect the screen
We talked at length about whether to do this or not. Ultimately, we'd rather just use the TV screen instead of using a sheet of glass/plexiglass that could possibly distort the imaging or give the appearance of the minis "floating" over the battle map. Regardless, we've had no issues with damage to the TV screen after a year of continued use
maybe put some plexus glass over the TV to make sure you don't scratch it with your minis or damage it some how?
We've had many comments like this one, but we've had no damage done to the TV after over a year of prolonged usage
I just saw this video. I'm debating between this style table or a traditional table for my next dnd table. We currently use a projector to show maps and occasionally I will build out the setting. My question is what size are the player areas? Interested in the width and depth of each player area
Thanks for the question! The player spaces are 24 inches from corner to corner and 18 inches from edge to the privacy guard
Instructions not clear, stapled nuts to 2x4 and covered in wood glue
It happens to the best of us
Buddy I reckon you used the wrong nuts for the assembly eh?
@@jacobkirsh8753 fack soari aboot it eh
Needs snackage holders. ;)
A important part is when building a table is. Mind your players size. And i mean their hight i have players that are small or children as well the privacy guards mean they cant really see the table without Standing up and even than depending on tv that can come to a problem so maybe a n inlet tv in the ground of the table jnstead of an Higher elevation so everyone can see and the surfaces for players can be greater or the table can down size a lil
Keeping your players in mind is always the key! For our group, we're actually all above average height, which is why the elevated center piece works for us
The table came out quite nice. Probably not my favorite design, but as long as it fills your needs, who am i to complain? 🤷♂️
As a side note, to say the truth, some of the mistakes were quite painful to watch. On the other hand, i still didn't build anything myself, so i would probably fare even worse 😅
Plans are always improved by hindsight. I'd build the thing much differently, today!
@@BardicInspirationYT one Home Depot type store chain here runs and ad that say something along the lines of "It's not bad if it's made by you" 😉
As for my favorite table design, it was the Geek Chic Sultan. But than one was a Bentley among the gaming tables.
put a glass table top over the tv,they dont have to be very thick and that will save the tv from damage. I personally would have had the tv so high,the lower the better people can see positions without standing up. I bet players or the GM stand up often.
We expected so as well, but so far, none of our players have needed to stand up in order to see the screen easier. That, or they're all just too nice to admit it!
Were you using an old pair of pants to wipe off the excess wood glue? 😀
Close! It was an old t-shirt!
@@BardicInspirationYT those are clearly jokey shorts 😳😱
@@Goosefang I may be mistaken about which clips made it into the final edit. Either way, the best usage for Jockey "tighty-whities" is as a rag!
Not to nit pick, but I am a tool nerd. The "really old table saw from the sixties" is a radial arm saw. I don't want to be mean, but this is the equivalent of picking up a long sword & calling it a rapier.
Chalked up to a slip of the tongue 🤣 we actually used both the radial arm saw and a table saw throughout this build
really cool i would make something like this if i could find nerds like me to play with 🤣
There's a huge space for online games for those wanting to play their first game!
Looks great! Are you putting your minis directly on the TV?
Yes, we do!
@@BardicInspirationYT Doesn't that damage the screen? I put plexiglass on mine.
We debated that for a while but, after over a year of use, we've not seen any damage to the screen of the TV! We are very careful with our table, however, so I'd hate to suggest that we are the rule and not just an exception.
@@BardicInspirationYT Interesting. Thanks for the reply!
Always here to help! Thank you for being awesome!
How do you like how tall the middle area with the tv is? Is it hard for the players to see it? Very pretty table :D
Generally, it isn't an issue for us! A simple lean forward typically clears up any of our sight issues
Did you get the wood in March of 2020? Because I can't imagine that plus the legs being less than 300 today... Gorgeous results though! Carpentry is all about hiding your crimes 😁
You're correct! About 3 months after we finished the project, lumber costs skyrocketed
Inkarnate, it might not be free totally, but it's like 25 bucks a year or something, and is a great tool and allows for community submissions and copy/modify tools.
We'll have to check that out! I've played with Inkarnate a little but I'm not experienced with it
Same thing but a one time purchase. Wonderdraft is fantastic option.
And for not world maps u can go with DungeonDraft.
I've used both and I'm pretty happy with either.