I love and hate tiles

[darjr]

I'm at nuke-con and we are using the ship tiles and I love them we are also using gaming paper and battle matts

ugh I also hate tiles and wish there was an easier way to use them on the fly

oh and I want more ship tiles

 

[kmdietri]

I have a love hate relationship with them too...

Love them in theory, not quite hate them in practice.

Those ship tiles look very kool though.

We switched over to electronic battle mat now though so I can let go of the love hate....

 

[the Jester]

Tiles. Bah.

They look nice- but often take as long to set up as a battlemat, then slip around...

The worst thing about dungeon tiles though is how much they have castrated good map-making in WotC products. Too many tiles stitched together, not enough good, unique maps.

 

[Oryan77]

I would like to get some of those ship tiles. They look pretty cool.

I never really have problems with my tiles slipping around. I hear about them slipping a lot though. I don't know if it has to do with the fact that I still place them on a battlemat and maybe that helps?

I agree though, they take a long time to setup. And even out of all the tiles that I have, I still can never seem to have just the right piece to construct the room I'm trying to do. Even when doing cave rooms, I'll have a nice cave hall that bends one way, and I need that same piece to fit in a certain spot, but have it bending the other way. I wish there was some way to make sure we had universal tiles to be used for any position. That seems really hard to do though.

 

[megamania]

I enjoy my tiles greatly.


However, I do hope they do something about the underground cave edges. As mentioned... they can be annoying to get the correct shape / curve.

As for uniqueness of appearance, I believe that is somewhat what the purpose of the "master sets" are for. Master sets will have the basics required and the furtue "standard" dungeon tiles will be more unique and themed. Desert of Athas and the upcoming Icedale set in January.

 

[gamerprinter]

Ah, unlike you guys, I run a digital print studio with a large format printer, and I'm also a professional fantasy cartographer, so creating map tiles or full scale maps of a single site is no big deal for me - I know I'm spoiled!

I usually print all my maps at full scale, sometimes up to 36" x 48" in full color.

I can also create a semi-photo-realistic encounter map that fits those dimensions with grids placed in about 4 hours, though I prefer to do hand-drawn combined with digital content maps which take double that to create. I do both for RPG publishers professionally - as well as my own soon to be published adventures (see the News and Products board for Kaidan: a Japanese Ghost Story setting.) The first adventure features 10 maps - some hand-drawn, some photo-realistic.

I'm still creating maps for adventures 2 and 3, but have a half dozen ready so far. There will be ship maps in the setting handbook not in the adventure, as the adventure begins with the party's arrival by ship, and no need for the ship for actually adventuring...

Sorry for the slight threadjack - just maps are at the center of my publication, moreso than most competitor's products (my extra edge...)

GP

 

[jcayer]

I tend to draw my maps using Dundjinni or Maptools, print them, cut them up, and tape them together. I'm now moving toward a projector solution since that takes far to long.

That being said, I saw a great idea the other day. I forget the blog, but he used poster putty and foamcore poster board to adhere the tiles ahead of time. They didn't move and with the poster board, where already setup and easily dropped onto the table. If you have enough tiles, this looked like a great solution.

 

[Beginning of the End]

My problem with tiles tends to be my same problem with miniatures: If I draw a line on a battlemap, imaginations come alive to fill that line with unique life. If I slap down a tile, the tile becomes the reality even if it's really only meant to be an approximation.

So with miniatures I use 'em when:

(a) A common mook monster (like goblins or skeletons) that I have a supply of; or
(b) For the occasional, one-shot special that I've purchased the "perfect mini" for.

Similarly, with map tiles, I'll prep custom tiles for very specific, special occasions/locations. But unless I have the perfect tile, I won't use 'em. I think they become a trap for either (a) lack of imagination; (b) consumption of prep time; or (c) both.

 

[gamerprinter]

I've given thoughts to using a 3M product that is something like a 24" x 24" post-it note, but with the light adhesive on one entire side - unfortunately 24" x 24" is the biggest they have. The idea being place map tiles onto the sticky note and they won't move, and since the adhesive is very light adhering, your tiles don't get stuck there.

Since 2' x 2' is too small for me, I haven't tried, but the thought is still there.

I can mount to foamboard as well in my shop, but that gets excessively expensive - since print and lamination is barely affordable as it is.

GP

 

[hexgrid]

I've given thoughts to using a 3M product that is something like a 24" x 24" post-it note, but with the light adhesive on one entire side - unfortunately 24" x 24" is the biggest they have. The idea being place map tiles onto the sticky note and they won't move, and since the adhesive is very light adhering, your tiles don't get stuck there.

Seems like this would get really dirty quickly, with every speck of dust, pet hair, etc. sticking to the exposed adhesive.