Very disappointed in DU5: Sinister Woods

[MerricB]

I recently bought two sets of the latest D&D Dungeon Tiles release, Sinister Woods. I was very disappointed with the design of the tiles.

The tiles look great, and they're of the same high quality I've come to expect of the line, but they fail a key test of a wilderness set: they don't help build large wilderness battlemats. There isn't a single big "plains/grassland" piece in the set - those that might have been like that are bordered by thick forest on the sides, and too much attention is given to "outside ruins".

I don't mind specialist tile sets which are mostly given to dressing, but this line doesn't have enough basic wilderness tiles in it. The first wilderness tile set (DT4 Ruins of the Wild) was great; it allowed the wilderness vistas I wanted. Unfortunately, that set is long in the past now. New players starting 4E won't have access to it. As we get wilderness sets so rarely, I want them to have better utility than this.

Does anyone else feel the same way?

Cheers!

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Building large wilderness areas would be the primary purpose for me, so if it fails in that regard, I would be disappointed. I own the set, but haven't really looked at it in detail. I got too much stuff on that day, and now the set is already at the gaming location.

 

[DaveMage]

I've ordered it and it should arrive by Friday.

I'll comment when I have it.

 

[DaveyJones]

I've ordered it and it should arrive by Friday.

I'll comment when I have it.

quoting for the irony.

 

[Quickleaf]

I saw them and agree - they're good for a group of 4 PCs facing mostly medium foes, maybe 1 large one. But introduce 6+ PCs or huge foes and they're severely cramped.

I think there's a trend in 4th edition products to fall short of the guidelines they're creating, and not because the guidelines are that hard to reach. There seems to be some sort of disconnect between different design teams (I'm thinking specifically of skill challenge advice vs. implementation in adventures & the dungeon tiles). I mean, in 4e a 10 x 16 square area for a large group or a large-creature fight is about the minimum.

 

[FoolishFrost]

I've been using them with large outdoor battlemaps I have laminated to offer some variance to our basic outdoor maps. Works well for that.

 

[Thanee]

In general, the Dungeon Tiles would be best, if there was a Core line of them, which was always in print, which simply has very basic tiles.

Anyways, in case anyone wonders how the tiles look like, take a look at my sig.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Klaus]

How would you guys like a grassland poster map with some wilderness tiles like trees, bushes, streams, ponds, etc?

 

[Perram]

How would you guys like a grassland poster map with some wilderness tiles like trees, bushes, streams, ponds, etc?

This is the solution I ended up going with, for similar reasons as above. I bought the Flip-Mat: Tavern (OOP, unfortunately, but still cheap on eBay.) It's reverse side is a blank grassland. The tavern is useful as well.

I've been topping it with tiles (from the previous wilderness set and now the new one), Warhammer and Hobby Train trees, and paper fold-up 3d terrain from Fat Dragon Games (They have a couple of wilderness sets that help.)

The only thing that I haven't found a good alternative for is paths and roads to go on the mat. I've been thinking about making them tiles that I print on transparancy paper so that it will blend nicely.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

In general, the Dungeon Tiles would be best, if there was a Core line of them, which was always in print, which simply has very basic tiles.

Anyways, in case anyone wonders how the tiles look like, take a look at my sig.

Bye
Thanee

I seem to remember that this is a kind of goal with the current dungeon tiles. Build a set that will remain in print and WotC can always refer to for (re)creating maps, knowing that the players have a chance to acquire the tiles again. Don't know where I read that, though.

Reading the title and looking at your linked images, I think the tiles make sense for what they are labeled, but they might not be ideal for "generic" Wilderness encounters.