Homemade Dungeon Tiles?

[freyar]

I hope you can see the humor in this (I'm really not trying to be mean) but when I saw the third set of minis all I could think of was, "I am Gumby, Destroyer of Worlds..."

That's great! Those are meant to be totally generic, and the gumby-shape is actually the easiest thing to make that stands up pretty well. So I'm all set for mooks or the occasional random monster, now. The other one will look better once they're painted; maybe I'll post them again in a few weeks if I get some time to paint. I hope they look as good as the 3 Haligonians'!

 

[SavageRobby]

I second the WorldWorks suggestion. The WotC Dungeon Tiles aren't bad, either. I have a number of SKG sets as well, but I wouldn't really recommend them. They're a little too cartoony for my tastes, but I know a lot of folks that like them, so YMMV. I've also used Dundjinni to create my own tiles. That works really well.

Instead of cardboard, you might look at foamcore or mattboard to glue them to. You can find both relatively cheaply at hobby shops, and Target, Walmart and the Dollar Store occasionally run specials on foamcore for a buck a sheet. Mattboard is more of the same width as the WotC tiles. (I huge sheet of it, just haven't glued the tiles yet.)

Speaking of glue, I'd recommend sprayglue - it will save your tiles from warping. Most normal glues have relatively high water content, which can cause warping - and warping not only looks bad, even worse it can affect how minis rest on the tiles.

 

[dougmander]

I printed out a floor grid and then put togther some stone wall textures, glued them to foam core that I cut into specific sizes, then hot glued the foamcore together to make modular dungeon pieces similar to the Dwarven Forge stuff.

A couple of years ago I built a foamcore set for my student D&D group, very much like Drkfathr1's description, but I painted and drybrushed it, rather than gluing on a printed texture. I had about 50 pieces, and cost me virtually nothing. I left it in my classroom over the summer, and the cleaning crew threw it out! (Grrrr...).

Lately I've been using modular dungeon tiles for gaming in Second Life. I created this basic set a few months ago:

I can make as many copies of each piece as I want, I can make working traps, doors, and secret doors, and fill it with props and 3-D "minis" that I've built and textured. My players dress their avatars as their characters and can walk through the dungeon. Here it is in actual play:

Best of all, I can save an entire dungeon and pop it into my inventory between game nights!

 

[dougmander]

Hirst Arts: http://www.hirstarts.com/

That's about all there is to it, really.


Cheers,
Roger

I love looking at the Hirst Arts site -- drool, drool! It seems really time-intensive, though, and the mold-pouring process is really fidgety. Anyone here actually use these molds?

 

[Three_Haligonians]

Ok, here are mine! Besides what I mentioned below, there's a smaller winged critter (intended as something like a darkenbeast from MoF) and a naga of some yet-undetermined sort. The painted ones are the tokens from tiny to huge, with "scary" faces. The battlemap is the old keep from WotC's free adventure "The Ettin's Riddle."

Nice! You're minis are a lot less crude than ours, they look really sculpted and smooth. I bet they'll look really good painted. We don't actually paint ours. . . Model Magic comes in primary colours that can be mixed (like Fimo). When they dry they are really light and spongy and weird.

And thanks to everyone so far for the suggestions! This is really helpful, so thank you, and keep the suggestions coming. . . er. . . if you have any!

Thanks,

R from Three Haligonians

 

[Asmor]

Question to those who've used Model Magic: I picked some up the other day, and just did my first "project;" a tray for my reserves when I play Dreamblade.

The question is, does the stuff contract as it dries, and if so how hard is it to pull something that's embedded in there? I've got 16 common dreamblade pieces sitting in a bit of model magic, so that their bases should make a perfectly-sized depression. Ideally when it's dry the minis in there should come out without too much of a fight, and thereafter I'm hoping that I can set up my armies in there and each piece will rest comfortably in a depression.

Should I take the pieces out before it dries completely?

 

[freyar]

Asmor, no it does not contract when it dries (at least, not very much). If the dreamblade pieces aren't really stuck in the model magic, I'd think they'd come out, but you really only need to make the depression. The clay holds its shape pretty well. If you really embed something in the model magic, it will stay, though, so I'd take the pieces out if you're worried. Good luck!

All in all, I like the model magic a lot; it's a good product. The only problem is that I haven't found a way to keep leftovers from drying in about a day, so I have to do enough to use a package at a time. Anybody have any hints?

Just been painting some of my minis today -- the aboleth's done!

 

[Asmor]

I assume you've tried wrapping it in plastic-wrap or a similar air-tight scheme?

 

[Mark CMG]

A few I whipped up a couple years back.

Briefly:
-Printshopped a page of squares, making sure to darken a few of them to break things up a little.
-Ran off a bunch of sheets on some groovy grey marble paper.
-Cut out the rooms I wanted and glued them to posterboard.
-Cut out posterboard and got them laminated with a rigid "ID card" laminate.
-and walla
(HeroQuest doors are a bonus if you have them.)
They've served me well and you can write on them all you want with wet erase.
Only thing I'd change if I were to do it again was to add a few dots of something on the bottom that will make them not quite so slide-y on a polished tabletop.

That looks like a very inexpensive solution. Well done!

 

[freyar]

I assume you've tried wrapping it in plastic-wrap or a similar air-tight scheme?

Tried ziplock, but that tends to dry out, too. Might just not have been the most airtight brand, though. Plastic wrap is an idea though. If you try it, and it helps, go ahead and post it!