Dungeon tiles. yay or nay?

[Stormsparrow]

So I'm putting together materials for my first game, and I'm torn between using a steel squire flip map (used by my current DM), and the dungeon tiles put out by WotC.

I'd just like to hear everyone's thoughts on the subject of in-game representation. What are your methods? What works best for you?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Mr. Wilson]

You can use both.

Use the Tiles to represent important terrain and the map to represent generic terrain.

This works wonders for me because I have no artistic ability.

 

[Dice4Hire]

Dungeon tiles.

 

[Dice4Hire]

I like Dungeon tiles as they expand my creativity. WIththe tiles set out in front of you, you feel compelled to use some of the interesting parts to make the dungeon environment mroe interesting and alicve. I tend to design boring rooms hwen I draw on paper, so having something extra is an added bonus.

 

[MatthewJHanson]

I prefer the flip map, because it is more versitile and faster to set up.

 

[thedungeondelver]

Dwarven Forge.

Wait, what was the question again?

 

[Obryn]

I loved Dungeon Tiles until I actually tried to use them in a game.

While they would be okay for an improv dungeon, they are poor for pre-planned ones. They just take too much time.

I have begun drawing all my rooms out on a 1" presentation pad, ahead of time. That way, valuable game time isn't taken up by making a map - I already have the maps, and don't need to do anything else.

For improv rooms, I have a Chessex mat and a collection of wet-erase markers.

No need for dungeon tiles, IMHO.

-O

 

[frankthedm]

I kinda like em. They look nicer than just a battlemat, though not as nice as full terrain. Unfortunately I'd have to self laminate them to use a wet erase marker on them. And from my time as a player I'm also trying to make most corridors 3 square wide rather than 2 in games i run, which means corridor tiles are not that useful to me.

But the biggest problem is that they feel like the final step into the "board game" territory. I'd just rather be in "war game" territory using hand made terrain.

 

[Nymrohd]

Some times I wonder if I could use some kind of large flat projector or screen as a gaming table so I can have every room stored up and just load them up when the encounter starts. Well a man can dream right?

As for Dungeon Tiles, I use them and like them. A trick I've tried for a couple of sessions is to have them arranged beforehand and sandwiched between hard paper and those translucent plastic sheets we use to write on while on projectors at our architecture classes. That way there is no wear on the tile and I can write on the sheet with a marker and clean the sheets after the session. So I have everything ready for encounter rooms and just draw any other room that needs to be drawn by hand. Don't know how long the sheets will last though so I'll have to wait and see.

 

[kitsune9]

So I'm putting together materials for my first game, and I'm torn between using a steel squire flip map (used by my current DM), and the dungeon tiles put out by WotC.

I'd just like to hear everyone's thoughts on the subject of in-game representation. What are your methods? What works best for you?

Thanks in advance!

I like the look of the dungeon tiles. The actual use by an old DM of mine didn't go so well though as any kind of bump on the table shuffled them out of place. I know that some posters here have addressed that issue by gluing corner weights to their tiles, gluing magnets so that it can rest on a steel sheet laid underneath, using sticky tack, or using some kind of connector like a binder clip or doorways that they made.

The thing I like using is tac-tiles (I have the old set, not the new one). That works for me.