Alternatives to Dungeon Tiles?

[Aus_Snow]

What are they, and how do they compare, in terms of price:quality ratio and sheer usefulness for actual DMing?

Don't get me wrong - I quite like the look of some of the Dungeon Tiles bits and bobs, but not all, and I'm more inclined to directly support a small range of other companies first, where there's a viable option to do so.

For that matter, how well do the Dungeon Tiles cater to the needs of DMs around here?

Last but not least, I'm not interested in making my own practical thingies, or whatever. Sorry, but I just don't have the time to burn / am not skilled with such things / can't be bothered.

 

[Alisair Longreach]

WotC's Dungeon Tiles are great because they are like a box of lego bricks. With the first three sets it is possible to set up almost any dungeon. The fourth set, Wilderness Tiles is great for setting up a wilderness encounter. The fifth set which should be out in september has a cxavern/Underdark theme which should be perfect for spelunking encounters.

Wotc's D&D Basic Game has four doublesided 10 x 10 dungeon boards which are useful for an instant dungeon crawl.

WotC's Fantastic Locations are maps with an adventure booklet.

Paizo has published a lot of themed Map Packs. These 5 x 8 maps are good for supplementing the Dungeon Tiles but they are flimsy and expensive and not customizable. They look really good though.

 

[kaomera]

For that matter, how well do the Dungeon Tiles cater to the needs of DMs around here?

I've found Dungeon Tiles to be the only one of quite a number of products (pdfs, cardstock tiles, etc.) that I actually end up using. If I had the time, etc. to actually print out and mount and laminate a bunch of the pdfs I've purchased I'd have something just as good, but more expensive. If there's anything wrong with them it's that I wish there was some way to keep them in place better (they're better than lighter cardstock or printer paper, but it's still not perfect), and that I now want a bunch of 3D terrain / furniture to use with them...

 

[Klaus]

Fiery Dragon released a print version of SkeletonKey's e-Adventure Tiles, called (appropriately enough) "Adventure Tiles: Dungeons". It was a tin can with (iirc) 36 6x6 cardboard tiles depicting stuff like floors, pits, cells, corridors, intersections, etc, plus 4 pages of "dungeon dressing" that you could cut out and put on your tiles, like columns (wide/narrow), rug, altar, chests (wooden/iron), corpses, doors (wooden, iron, stone), bookcase, barrels and walls to adjust a room's size.

It's OOP, but if enough people bug Fiery Dragon, they might re-release it.

 

[Treebore]

I use Skeleton Key and Fat Dragon Games PDF products to print my own. Print time is not an issue, because I print them when I am doing other things on the computer, such as visiting messageboards or playing games.

For Laminating I get the roll of $5.00 laminating paper in the kitchen section at Wal-Mart. I Laminate them by the sheet, then cut them out. So for a half hour work, I end up with a good set for Dungeon layout.

Fat Dragon Games also has a 3-D line, including furnishings.

They also do sci-fi stuff.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Paizo, Skeleton Key Games and Fat Dragon would be the 3 other products that I would recommend besides WotC's Dungeon Tiles. I'm sure there are others out there beyond those that I have listed though.

Olaf the Stout

 

[TheAuldGrump]

World Works Games also makes a set of dungeon tiles - sort of. They are 2D tiles with 3D elements, faster to build than full 3D terrain, and fairly nifty looking.

Only one set so far, though there is a game in the works along the lines of the old Warhammer Quest game.

The Auld Grump

 

[Treebore]

Man! I totally forgot the PAizo GameMastery Map Tiles! Guess its because I only bought them all about 3 months ago and have only used one set so far, so not to ingrained in my mind yet. Good stuff as well.

WorldWorks is another one I was trying to remember in my previous post, but my mind is not what it used to be.

There is another one I used to have book marked that does, or did, full 3D cardstock sets of buildings, castles, etc...

There are a few more I know I am still forgetting.

 

[Treebore]

Just got reminded of another one. Check out the "Gameprinter" thread down in the publishers forum and their "Endless Terrain" product line.

 

[Treebore]

You may also like to check out their map lamination serviice:

Laminate your private maps!