Dungeon Tiles

[grrjr911]

So since I have to wait to finish up my diorama I decided to start constructing some "3d" dungeon tiles for our next podcast season Forge of Fury. Here are some WIP pics, please let me know what you think.

 

 

[tiniest rhombus]

Looking good. Those are fun cheap tiles to make. I gots a pile of them myself. I've also made the bookshelf, chairs, tables, doors,treasure chests with his method. All a blast to create.

[malefactus]

That does look WONDERFUL, especially in comparison to the method my erstwhile AD&D Group used for marking out the dungeons. Your stone effect is OUTSTANDING. GREAT WORK!

[Chaoswolf]

Wait, is that just cardboard that you painted up? That's pretty cool!

[grrjr911]

Completly forgot to post this pic up last night so here is what they look like up close with minis.

 

Edited October 26, 2014 by grrjr911

[cthulhudarren]

Looks great! Do you prime the cardboard or go straight to spray painting black?

[Jordan Peacock]

Ha!  That looks wonderful!  It makes me think of all the trouble I've gone through with Hirst Arts castings and whatnot (I'm such a fan!), building, storing, TRANSPORTING, and (ugh!) maintaining (dings and dents!) ... and then I look at that as made from CARDBOARD (cheap, light, easy to stack and store!) with a certain amount of ENVY.  :)  That is a handsome-looking setup, and it looks very practical!

[Doug Sundseth]

For anyone who doesn't recognize the style, you might want to check out DM Scotty's YouTube channel.

[Blubbernaught]

Looks great! Do you prime the cardboard or go straight to spray painting black?

 

Usually those sorts of tiles are straight spray painted black, using the cheapest spray paint you can find at the store.   That serves as the primer for further painting.

 

Ha!  That looks wonderful!  It makes me think of all the trouble I've gone through with Hirst Arts castings and whatnot (I'm such a fan!), building, storing, TRANSPORTING, and (ugh!) maintaining (dings and dents!) ... and then I look at that as made from CARDBOARD (cheap, light, easy to stack and store!) with a certain amount of ENVY.  :)  That is a handsome-looking setup, and it looks very practical!

 

Yep!  It's really easy to do, and is a way of re purposing what may otherwise just be trash.     Though I have to admit, I have a lot of temptation to play with Hirst Arts stuff to build elaborate setups.. but the cardboard is great for ease of transport and cost effectiveness.

 

For anyone who doesn't recognize the style, you might want to check out DM Scotty's YouTube channel.

 

DM Scotty, and there's also TheDMG.info on youtube who does much the same.    Scotty has left this style behind it seems, though honestly I prefer this style for the way it looks over his newer method.

[cthulhudarren]

 

 

 

DM Scotty, and there's also TheDMG.info on youtube who does much the same.    Scotty has left this style behind it seems, though honestly I prefer this style for the way it looks over his newer method.

 

 

I watch the same two youtube channels. I am working on the NEXT stuff. Tons of walls to build, so much work!   I do want the grids though but am scared I will screw up the mat. I bought cork mat from Michael's but have been having issues with it. It needs to be sealed before painting. I Wasted a can of black already. Took a ton of paint and it is still coming off . I'm going to put a layer of gesso on and try spray painting again.

[cthulhudarren]

The only thing I don't like about this method is that the need to have open spaces for doors in various configurations causes a lack of re-usability.

Edited October 27, 2014 by cthulhudarren

[Blubbernaught]

The only thing I don't like about this method is the need to have open spaces for doors in various configurations causes a lack of re-usability.

 

Yeah, it can make things a bit tricky, I'd say.  I've not really used them in games, as I'm not actively playing anything these days.       But since the method of making them is so inexpensive, you can make a wide variety of corridor options and wall configurations so you can mix and match fairly well overall.    Or make custom pieces to fit a particular out of the ordinary idea, without too much difficulty.      And you can make some little insert pieces to 'close off' doorway sections that aren't being used.   

[grrjr911]

Looks great! Do you prime the cardboard or go straight to spray painting black?

Straight to spray paint. 

 

The only thing I don't like about this method is that the need to have open spaces for doors in various configurations causes a lack of re-usability.

I thought the same thing but after I made 6 2x2 rooms and just changed where the door was for the last 3 it has more versatility. You don't need a ton of cardboard either. I made 30+ pieces from 1 keurig sized cardboard box.

[Jordan Peacock]

The only thing I don't like about this method is that the need to have open spaces for doors in various configurations causes a lack of re-usability.

 

I have the same problem when making Hirst Arts corridors in the "classic" dungeon style (with ~1" high walls).  To that, I see a couple of possibilities:

 

1) If you really need to, get out an Exacto knife and MAKE a new doorway.  :D  Won't that surprise the players (who were getting JUST a little too "meta" in their expectation that surely you wouldn't mess with the terrain) when you reveal a "secret" door?  ;)

 

2) Make floor flats, and use separate stand-up "doorway" pieces to represent any portals.  I've been doing that a lot with Hirst Arts tiles lately.  (Reason A: They take up less space to store.  Reason B: More flexibility in arrangement.  Reason C: No complaints from the players that the walls are blocking line of sight -- not that this should be an issue here with your setup.)  The expectation would be that where there is bare table space, there is a solid wall.  Downside: There can be some ambiguity between what is a dead end and what is "a corridor that extends further, but the GM hasn't put down more tiles to represent this yet."  

 

I have a bunch of Games Workshop plastic "Warhammer Quest" doors from ages ago that I've been using for such a purpose (with custom cut-out cardboard inserts to represent closed doors if necessary); I really wish they still made those things!  Most of the time when there are nice door pieces available, a lot of effort is put into representing perpetually CLOSED doors.  (They're great for kit-bashing fantasy scenery, too, made of a nice, durable plastic, originally designed to "clip" onto the edges of the Warhammer Quest die-cut cardboard tiles.)

 

Similarly, the old, old HeroQuest board game had cardboard stand-up fantasy doors in plastic bases that could be put to such a purpose, but those doors seem positively TINY compared to standard gaming minis these days.

 

3) Use what you have now, but if you really want to have a doorway where you presently have a wall represented, just use a vertical representation of a door and put it right there.  Sure, the slight lip reads as "door," but if you have a door piece immediately adjoining it, I'm sure the average player can read that this "supersedes" it -- because otherwise, what WOULD it represent, except that there's a door there?  ;)

 

4) Oh yeah.  Almost forgot this one.  Option #4 would just be to MAKE MORE TILES.  These things are modular, after all.  And ... cardboard!

 

Seriously, though, these look nice and generic and modular enough that I think they would have a lot of reuse potential.  :)

Edited October 27, 2014 by Jordan Peacock