[Arts & Crafts] DIY dungeon tiles - printing & mounting advice

I've been thinking about making my own dungeon tiles, perhaps a combination of the Skeleton Key tiles and some custom-made ones of my own.

My plan is to make a bunch of 6x6 "generic" tiles (dungeons, caves, etc) that can be used over and over again and mix-and-match into different formations. Because I want to save and reuse them, storage and portability are important factors.

I have a decent laser printer so printing isn't a concern. What I'm looking for are recommendations on materials for mounting. Ideally, it would be something that durable, not too thick, and can be cut with an Xacto knife.

I'm pretty familiar with foamcore, which works great because they are light and fairly durable. However, they are fairly thick and will start to take up a lot of storage space.

I was looking at Art Supplies from Dick Blick Art Materials, which is a good art supply store, and found these:

Matboard - looks nice but expensive and I've heard it's hard to cut.
Matboard - BLICK art materials

Mounting Board - looks good, but not sure the difference between this and Matboard
Mounting Board - BLICK art materials

Chipboard - pretty cheap but not that familiar with it
All-Purpose Chipboard - BLICK art materials

Posterboard - inexpensive, easy to cut, and fairly thin but I wonder if they would slide around on the table too much. Not sure on durability either.
Posterboard - BLICK art materials

So has anyone out there done something like this? Thanks!

I usually use something similar to chipboard. I would suggest the double thick. I use the single thick but glue stacks of them together to make them 4 thick (about the thickness of dungeon tiles).

If you want really durable, I suggest using masonite (also called "hardboard"). You should be able to get 4x4 sheets of the stuff and it cuts pretty clean with a saw. I have also chopped up pegboard to make tiles.

Are you making these because WotC's Dungeon Tiles don't meet your specific needs? Because I would think that the cost of time, supplies, printer ink, etc. to make one's own dungeon tiles would far exceed the cost of just buying them at $10 a pack.

Cincinnatus said:

Are you making these because WotC's Dungeon Tiles don't meet your specific needs? Because I would think that the cost of time, supplies, printer ink, etc. to make one's own dungeon tiles would far exceed the cost of just buying them at $10 a pack.

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One of the major problems with WotCs official dungeon tiles is that they do not stay in print, and quite often shoot up in value on the secondary market. For example Ruins of the Wild commonly goes anywhere from $30 - $50 online.

Ruins of the Wild: Dungeon Tiles 4 - eBay (item 220594245277 end time May-22-10 12:50:37 PDT)

Another source for good tiles is Fat Dragon Games, I would like to mention. They have 2d tiles, 2.5d tiles (flat tiles with 3d objects like furniture / doors), and full 3d terrain.

Fat Dragon Games

Perram said:

One of the major problems with WotCs official dungeon tiles is that they do not stay in print, and quite often shoot up in value on the secondary market. For example Ruins of the Wild commonly goes anywhere from $30 - $50 online.

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With the new Dungeon Tiles Master Set coming out soon, they are not supposed to go out of print, and there will be an wilderness/forest set included. Certainly I would refrain from spending $50 on a set until those come out and you can see what they look like (for $20).

Cincinnatus said:

Are you making these because WotC's Dungeon Tiles don't meet your specific needs? Because I would think that the cost of time, supplies, printer ink, etc. to make one's own dungeon tiles would far exceed the cost of just buying them at $10 a pack.

Click to expand...

The Dungeon Tiles are nice no doubt, but they are limited in that you are "stuck" with what they give you. By making my own tiles, I can create exactly what I need and reuse and build my collection over time.

And as Perram mentioned, the earlier sets can be very expensive.

Festivus said:

I usually use something similar to chipboard. I would suggest the double thick. I use the single thick but glue stacks of them together to make them 4 thick (about the thickness of dungeon tiles).

Click to expand...

That would definitely be a good thickness. How easy is it to cut?

I make my own dungeon tiles. I love doing it -- I like having exactly what I want, exactly as many as I want. And, um, I have this photoshop habit that's much more satisfying if I actually *make* something.

I use Mod Podge adhesive to mount the printouts on 4-ply white mat board, but any low-water paper adhesive should work -- even a glue stick. I like the Mod Podge because I can also paint it over the top as a protective layer. I like 4-ply mat board because it comes in a zillion different colors, it comes in "archival" (acid-free), and the stuff that's made for framing is the same color all the way through (some of the cheaper products will be the color you expect on the outside, and brown or grey on the inside).

As long as your blade is sharp enough, you'll manage to get the mat board cut. If your blade isn't sharp, you'll still manage to get it cut but it'll be a bit messy at the corners, which I believe is perfectly acceptable for dungeon tiles. I actually find it easier to cut than foamcore; it takes about the same amount of pressure but it's way thinner, so I'm less likely to have the problem of not managing to quite cut through the bottom-most layer. I use a mat board cutter (like they use for making framing mats) for rectangular shapes and an exacto knife on a self-healing cutting mat for things that aren't rectangular.

If you plan on doing this a lot and you're not making odd shapes, a mat cutter might be a good investment, but a t-square, an exacto knife, and a cutting mat will work just fine and it's way cheaper. (4-ply mat board is mostly too thick for scissors. I own a Compact Logan mat cutter because I used to cut framing mats. And I adore it, but it runs in the $50-$100 range.)

Finally, the people at WorldWorks Games are seriously geeky about their tile-making: The Official WorldWorks Games Store!, Exceeding Your Expectations One Game at a Time
and if you visit their "tutorials" section they've got lots and lots of detailed information. Their free "beginners guide to cardstock modelling" PDF is full of stuff I had to learn the hard way, so definitely check it out.

(if I might show off a sample of my most-recent set of tiles: pink rock dungeon tiles by ~sevoo on deviantART)

Great post Sev. I definitely agree with you on the "making". I've dabbled with various textures and graphics in Photoshop and it's awesome when you create something that can really bring your game to "life".

sev said:

I like 4-ply mat board because it comes in a zillion different colors, it comes in "archival" (acid-free), and the stuff that's made for framing is the same color all the way through (some of the cheaper products will be the color you expect on the outside, and brown or grey on the inside).

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Is this the stuff you are referring to? The description says it's 14-ply.

Crescent Regular Surface Matboard, White and Off-White - BLICK art materials

GlassJaw said:

Posterboard - inexpensive, easy to cut, and fairly thin but I wonder if they would slide around on the table too much.

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I've made my own out of lots of different types of material and I like plain old posterboard best. As long as you store them flat you're golden.

Regarding sliding around on the table...you're gonna get that no matter what you do. Best way to get around that is get something to lay down on the table...be that felt, thin foam (like a yoga mat) or even that woven rubber stuff you can use to keep things from sliding off your dashboard.

It staggers me that the one thing I've noticed that no one ever thinks of as a material for dungeon tiles...is actual tiles. I mean the cheap linoleum kitchen ones. They're 1 foot square, and even have the adhesive right on the back...just peel off the wax paper like a sticker. Nice thing is they have some weight to them but are fairly thin, and you can get em for a buck at Home Cheapo.