by jcb231
I play on what growing up I used to consider a pretty standard-sized dining room table...I inherited it from my grandparents and restored it several years back. It is similar in size to the dining room table my parents had when I was a kid (and still have today). But after spending more and more time on the BGG site I realize that dining rooms, and their tables, seem to be a thing of the past in many homes. My table has leaves that can be put in to extend it as needed. I usually have it set to comfortably seat two people per side and one at each end, making the whole thing (and I'm guessing here) roughly four/four-and-a-half feet wide by eight/nine feet long...maybe more? I'm thinking in its current state you could probably tuck a third person along each side if you were having a big meal, even without adding the extra leaves. Its proven to be a pretty good size for a map plus character cards, although sometimes I will stick in an extra leaf or two if I want to get crazy.I have a friend who used to set up Heroscape maps on an unplugged air hockey table, and another that used an uncut flat door (no holes cut for hinges/knobs and no inset panels, just flat wood) placed on metal stands. The door thing may be a good option depending on how good of a price you can get...measure a standard door in your home and see if that size would be good for you.
EDIT:
Oh, and as others have indicated, you don't HAVE to have the character cards on the table...I've used small end tables, extra chairs, etc when needed.