Very disappointed in DU5: Sinister Woods

[Nebulous]

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

I think that is ideal. The Flipmats have some like this and they work well. I used this one a while back to recreate an ogre ambush and it worked great, i just drew in the elevation contours.

 

[Grimstaff]

I have to say, I am more than a little surprised that folks on ENWorld have piped up with their disappointment with the set (though I've gotten a lot of postive feedback on the set as well). I designed it because as a Dungeon Tile user (almost exclusively these days) these were pieces that I didn't have and have really, really wanted for a long time.

The value of customer feedback!

 

[Jhaelen]

Fantastic Locations? Are there any images available on its content? I never picked this up before, and I don't know what to expect in it, but it sounds interesting.

This site has almost all of the map images from the Fantastic Locations sets.
You may recognize some of them, since several have been reprinted with the H1 adventure module.

 

[jasonbostwick]

I'd just like to add some positive comments on the set. I already had two copies of DT4 and a number of poster maps/cardstock tiles, so I wasn't really hungering for any more open fields. (though I'd love to be able to pick up another copy or two of DT4)

I picked up 3 copies of this set (and might pick up a 4th) and am very happy with it. It fills a niche that was missing in DT4 - standalone trees. Big expanses of terrain are useful, but they're incredibly boring without some obstacles in the way. I can think of some pretty cool encounter ideas in maze-like forests.

The ruin side of the tiles is really cool, and I'll be using them for my Eberron Campaign this weekend.
It'll be a lot easier than tossing down some indoor Dungeon tiles on the wilderness ones and waving my hands and saying "these squares here are ruins... and this edge is a wall... no, there isn't a roof...".

Overall, I'm very pleased with the set.

 

[Adso]

The value of customer feedback!

Very true, and indeed very valuable. It's all appreciated.

 

[Adso]

About the trees, they really look a bit like Zelda's. I think a bit more realistic approach would be welcome...

So... about Dark Sun... please tell me that this is going to be a wilderness desert setting... and not dungeons with yellow tiles...

Those trees match the trees we have done with other maps. While I can see what you are saying, I don't mind them as much as you do. They're clear and their meaning easily apprehended by players.

Dark Sun...It'll be a wilderness desert setting, a setting where you can have great gladiator campaigns, a setting where you can have great intrigue campaigns, and a setting with dungeons with yellow tiles. The best Dark Sun campaigns ties all of these together to make something greater than the sum of its parts.

 

[Adso]

The ruin side of the tiles is really cool, and I'll be using them for my Eberron Campaign this weekend.
It'll be a lot easier than tossing down some indoor Dungeon tiles on the wilderness ones and waving my hands and saying "these squares here are ruins... and this edge is a wall... no, there isn't a roof...".

Overall, I'm very pleased with the set.

I'm very pleased to hear this and similar positive comments. This was of course the goal. I know no product will please everyone, and I've received valuable feedback from even those who were disappointed by the set, but hearing comments like these really makes my day. I'm glad you like it.

 

[Skade]

Adso, everything you've said about this set sounds great and fits my needs exactly. I'll be picking it up sometime.

 

[Klaus]

Very true, and indeed very valuable. It's all appreciated.

Here are my two cents: When making wilderness tiles, specially those about "sinister woods", it'd be best to "zoom in" below the tree canopy. The way these tiles are done right now (and this goes for Ruins of the Wild as well), the trees look more like small bushes than actual trees. It'd be good to see thick tree trunks (cover granters), slender tree trunks (those you can share a square with), those big Endor-type trees you can walk around.

Let me ask you a question: if you were to set up an encounter in the middle of the forest, using DU5, how would you do it?

 

[Adso]

Let me ask you a question: if you were to set up an encounter in the middle of the forest, using DU5, how would you do it?

Sure. I'll illustrate it using a picture from a game I ran just a couple weeks ago. This is using one set of tiles and only Sinister Woods (I had just received my first set). The encounter was with spriggans and a greenvise vine within a clearing in the middle of the Witch Wood. The spriggans were "interrogating" a bound gnome-like creature tied to the fallen tree when the PCs came across the clearing. A fight ensued to free the poor unfortunate (named Pik) who as it turns out was not as powerless as the PCs first believed.