Why Use Dungeon Tiles?

[megamania]

As anything.... its about preference.

I began with battlemats which is good but lack detail and if one is doing several large room encounters, this can take time to set up. But anything can be designed which is good.

Dungeon Tiles
NOT expensive but gives a good feel for players to understand what they are doing and where/how/when. As more sets come out more options are given.

Other preset scene dry erase sheets
Pazio has a few that are okay and other companies also. They look nice ut lack the adjusting to your adventure. Every temple will look alike etc...

Dwarven Forge
I love the look of the 3-D pieces but they lack the variety the tiles have offered , they are expensive and porting / storage is harder with them. Still, they for pure looks they are the best.

Something not mentioned is I draw out certain sites often revisted (certain taverns, inns etc...) on foam board. Takes time but it is very useful.


and yes, these can all be mixed or interchanged as well.

 

[Mr. Wilson]

I use both Dungeon Tiles and a Flip Mat.

I use Dungeon Tiles most often for outdoor encounters.

Another good point to the tiles is that my artistic ability is non-existant.

 

[The Human Target]

I just got a hold of a lot of dungeon tiles.

I still plan on using a battlemat and pre-set grid maps.

But the tiles do look cool and have a lot of detail to spiced up extra special encounters.

Plus they're already providing me with a of of inspiration.

Absolutely not necessary, but very cool. Just like using actual minis instead oe beads or dice or tokens.

 

[Lord Xtheth]

Got to play a one-shot Delve tonight. The DM used my new Essentials Dungeon set. He was able to replicate the delve maps exactly from the one box. I'd consider being able to run WoTC adventures with the exact map peices a bonus!

 

[FireLance]

One thing I have recently done with Dungeon Tiles is to create a 3-D series of platforms connected by ramps, as shown in the following picture from this blog post.

 

[Thanee]

Drawing a Battlemat is quicker and allows for more "weird shapes".

Dungeon Tiles look prettier.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Jhaelen]

I use them because they're faster and easier than drawing a map. They're also far more detailed than I can draw, so they wind up looking better.

I agree with the latter but not with the former:
Creating a map using tiles is almost always slower than drawing the map (especially if you've drawn the maps before the session ). The exception is the Ruins of the Wilderness (?!) tiles set: It's the most useful and versatile set of the whole bunch.

For everything else I prefer using poster maps or an erasable map which I customize by laying tiles on top of them.

 

[falcarrion]

you might want to consider getting a peice of plexiglass. Lay it on top of the dungeon tiles and it will keep them in place. It is also useful for paper maps as it flattens out the folds. You can use dry erase pens on it and helps protect your maps. I have two that I use. One is clear and the other I have put an one inch grid on. I can take the grid one and lay it on a piece of fake grass and then have a field with grids on it. Or if the grid is hard to see on the map or tiles it helps defining the grid. I also created a platform for it so it sits above the table.
If there is a drink spill it never touches the map or tiles.

 

[malraux]

I want to like dungeon tiles, but I've found that they are impossible to store and organize easily. I've occasionally setup a full dungeon in advance and that works well. But I couldn't get away with doing it during a game.

 

[The Human Target]

I want to like dungeon tiles, but I've found that they are impossible to store and organize easily. I've occasionally setup a full dungeon in advance and that works well. But I couldn't get away with doing it during a game.

I do agree with this.

The only fast tiles creations I make are like 3 big tiles of forest right next to each other.