D&D Dungeon Tiles - too late to start collecting?

[jdrakeh]

Nope. As with many 3.5 products, Dungeon Tiles have simply suffered a temporary price spike due to panicked fandom and money hungry online retailers trying to cash in on that. Books that I paid $7.00 a piece for earlier this year are suddenly selling for $40+ a pop on Amazon and eBay.

I seriously doubt that these books have become so obscure in such a short period of time. It's more likely that the aforementioned cross-section of fandom simply thinks that these products are or will be ultra-rare now and for the forseeable future, causing an artifical price spike. My advice is to wait this out.

As 4e is released and retailers still have mountains of 3.5 material on their shelves, you should see prices drop down to pennies on the dollar again.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Personally I wouldn't be too worried if you can't get your hands on the first 2 sets. Yes, a lot of basic hallways/rooms are covered by those sets, but a lot of those tiles are also available in later sets as well.

Olaf the Stout

 

[SlyFlourish]

Dire Tombs

The Dire Tombs set is pretty unique and probably won't play too nicely with the other sets, but it is the best of all of them if you ask me. Two sets of Dire Tombs can build some really excellent Egyptian style ruins.

I just picked up Fane of the Forgotten Gods and I didn't like it as much. It's more generic but it lacks enough bigger rooms to be really effective on its own. I'd also avoid the Caverns of the Underdark for the same reason: too few big pieces and too many small ones.

 

[zoroaster100]

I decided to buy one of each set except the first from Amazon (the first was listed as too expensive on Amazon, and the link to tile set 1 on stiggy seemed to be broken (or perhaps overwhelmed by a rush of ENWorlders trying to buy the set. Thanks for all the responses. I am looking forward to trying them out. If I like them I will figure out which other ones to get duplicates of.

I usually use Dwarven Forge and other 3-D game aids to build the scenery. I love Dwarven Forge. But it is cumbersome to carry. Also, while I don't mind setting up a big beautiful Dwarven Forge 3-D dungeon if we are going to be using it for at least one or two full sessions, sometimes you need to switch from one build to another mid-game. That can get challenging with 3-D products. So I figured the tile sets would be a quicker alternative for those times when I have to set up something quick or switch from one setting to another, or when I have to travel to run a game in someone else's house.

 

[Glyfair]

I decided to buy one of each set except the first from Amazon (the first was listed as too expensive on Amazon, and the link to tile set 1 on stiggy seemed to be broken (or perhaps overwhelmed by a rush of ENWorlders trying to buy the set. Thanks for all the responses. I am looking forward to trying them out. If I like them I will figure out which other ones to get duplicates of.

I do recommend getting duplicates of Ruins of the Wild, if you decide to get duplicates. So far it is the only outdoor set, and most tiles are generic enough that duplicates sets are good to have (especially since it seems like there isn't another outdoor set for a while).

 

[Cyberia]

As pretty much everyone else here's been saying... it's not at all too late to get started.

The quality of the product is top notch and one of the best gaming bargains WotC ever did, IMO.

Don't buy any overpriced copies of set 1... there's nothing so special in that one, that you can't build from the other sets.

I actually liked the cavern set, but then I was specifically building a rough cavern map and they fit my vision better than any set. I only had one copy of the set and was able to come up with a nice layout.

 

[DaveMage]

I decided to buy one of each set except the first from Amazon (the first was listed as too expensive on Amazon, and the link to tile set 1 on stiggy seemed to be broken (or perhaps overwhelmed by a rush of ENWorlders trying to buy the set.

Sorry you didn't get it before it sold out - I'll remove the link.

 

[SavageRobby]

The Dire Tombs set is pretty unique and probably won't play too nicely with the other sets, but it is the best of all of them if you ask me. Two sets of Dire Tombs can build some really excellent Egyptian style ruins.

I just picked up Fane of the Forgotten Gods and I didn't like it as much. It's more generic but it lacks enough bigger rooms to be really effective on its own. I'd also avoid the Caverns of the Underdark for the same reason: too few big pieces and too many small ones.

I have to agree that Dire Tombs is the best looking set of the bunch. Its really nice, and a nice departure from the theme of the rest.

Fane is a lot like the first two sets. In fact, if you can't find the first one, Fane will fill pretty much the same niche. I got two of it because I typically get two of each set, but this was the first one that I looked at and though, "you know, I didn't really need to get the extra one this time".

 

[zoroaster100]

I got the tiles I ordered on Amazon and I liked them. The material is nice and sturdy. I am probably going to get some duplicate sets to increase the variety of set ups I can do with the tiles. Now I would like to see them make a set of tiles for city streets, alleyways and rooftops to use when doing a quick set up for a city encounter.

 

[Dice4Hire]

I'm a huge fan of these sets, though I do wish WOTC would start being more creative with sizes. I got one of every set so far but the latest, because it looked more like the first two sets, boring 90 degree rooms. Ruins of the Wild was worth two sets for me and I do not regret it at all. Wilderness maps tend to be so much bigger anyway. Dire tombs was excelletn and I might get anotehr one, as the brown color is great for marking unstable terain and such on the moe standard sets