Pathfinder 1E WOTC's Dungeon Tiles vs. Paizo's GameMastery Map Packs

[zoroaster100]

I just posted this on the maxminis site, but I wanted to get input from ENWorld as well:

I just bought some Dungeon Tiles (produced by Wizards of the Coast) on amazon.com, and was pretty impressed with the quality of the cardstock and the potential usefulness of the tiles for playing out D&D combats with miniatures. However, selection for many outdoor wilderness, village, city and other settings is still pretty limited, as there basically is only one set of outdoor tiles, on set of caverns and the rest are dungeon tiles.

Then I saw that Paizo is selling a big variety of Gamemastery Map Packs, including various outdoor areas, village and city terrain. Has anyone here tried these? If so, how do they compare with the Wizards' Dungeon Tiles in terms of quality and versatility? Are they compatible? Are they made on nice good cardstock as the WOTC Dungeon Tiles, or are they paper maps? Would you recommend Paizo's Map Packs for use for settings not covered by WOTC's Dungeon Tiles?

 

[SavageRobby]

I love the Dungeon Tiles. Nice, thick, versatile - good stuff. I bought some of the earlier Map Packs, and was sadly unimpressed by them. They are not the same product type as the Dungeon Tiles, in my mind.

The Map Packs are essentially laminated cardstock, not terribly sturdy, and there is little versatility in the tile configurations. The artwork is very nice, very typically Paizo, but I get the impression they're tile sized more to cash in on the tile craze (and perhaps for ease of storage) than for any other real reason - they really should be little maplets instead of tiles. I'm almost tempted to tape the ones I have together into their specific configurations, because if I ever did use them, they wouldn't slide around on the table as much.

The configurations, in addition to being somewhat limited, aren't big enough, other. Meaning that the edges of the particular scene (graveyard, building, whatever) - where a lot of the action will be - doesn't have enough space to support figures. So you have to put these on a bigger map or something if you have allies/enemies hovering at the edges, or you have to have a larger battlemap underneath to extend the area out - and it probably won't match the background (grass, whatever) of the tiles, kind of ruining the effect. (If that doesn't matter to you, then obviously its no biggie. It bugs me.)


And just for reference, in general I dislike WotC and really like Paizo, so that underscores the differences between the products all the more.

 

[DaveMage]

I like the Dungeon Tiles better since they have more versatility.

I do own most of the map packs from Paizo as well, but they are better suited for the specific locations they were designed to be.

 

[Logos7]

same as above really,

the game mastery tiles are really preetty, but are laminated paper stock, and are not designed to be terribly reconfigurable. (not to say useless some really classic sets in their , castle front, inn complex etc. Its just that once you've used it once or twice...

The dungeons and dragons tiles are also really good looking, are thicker board stock, and are a bit on the bland side for the most part, but that is good cause you can reconfigure them more easyier. Also the use of accent pieces help make up for the blandness. You can make a preety awesome little place, (including things like hidden traps) with a little time of stacking these tiles. Having had access to both sets, I more or less used the WotC exclusively (which may say more about me than the tiles but there you go)

Logos

 

[DM_Jeff]

I like the Dungeon Tiles better since they have more versatility.

I do own most of the map packs from Paizo as well, but they are better suited for the specific locations they were designed to be.

Exactly. And like another mentioned, I DO tape my Map Packs together in their pre-configured way, and that works great. You can still fold 'em up and slip 'em into a page protector.

I am running out of space to store my heavy cardstock D&D Dungeon Tiles, but they are so worth it.

-DM Jeff

 

[00Machado]

To increase the versatility of each product, I'd space them apart on the map (like a 1 inch grid easel pad), then draw between them. Adds color and cool art to what would otherwise be a hand drawn map. Leaves room to DM to place stuff that fits his version of the environment, even if the product didn't have those things printed. Best of both worlds.

 

[Treebore]

What Savagerobby and DaveMAge said.