Dungeon project

[richstrach]

I've started thinking about a dungeon terrain project drawing on many of the ideas on these forums, and finished my first experimental piece last night. Here's a pic:



The floor is a 6"x2" MDF base, and the corridor walls are strips of 1.5" foamboard, the card peeled off and a brick pattern scored into the foam (which you can't really see in the photo). I wanted the walls to be at least as high as a 28mm figure, but not too high that it made it difficult to move. I used a square of sponge to make the floor tile pattern.

I could make load of these corridor lengths fairly quickly, adapting the basic design for junctions, corners etc, and I've got a couple of 6"x6" squares which can be used for rooms. Any suggestions or comments are very welcome though, before I get started on the rest of it!

[Knightofspades]

That is nicely made and painting the floor like that is really good idea. Looks great!

[LeadAsbestos]

I'll be watching this one, as I'm firmly engaged in the build vs. buy debate right now.

[robh]

That looks too narrow, you have a 2" base but put the walls ontop of it so the width is 2" less 2x thickness of wall.

Given the tendency for figures to overhang bases you really need the 2" minimum width so stick the walls on the outside of the floor piece.
A lot of commercial Dungeon products are moving to a 38mm (1 1/2") grid because of this.

[richstrach]

That looks too narrow, you have a 2" base but put the walls ontop of it so the width is 2" less 2x thickness of wall.

Given the tendency for figures to overhang bases you really need the 2" minimum width so stick the walls on the outside of the floor piece.
A lot of commercial Dungeon products are moving to a 38mm (1 1/2") grid because of this.

That's a good idea, it would also make the walls slightly shorter so they wouldn't dominate quite so much. I'll try that out on the next piece.

[Elbows]

I agree with it being too narrow...only if you're intending to have 1"x1" square (the norm for many dungeon crawl rules and dungeons).  If you're playing skirmish style, it's fine as is.  But yeah you'd need to add width to the corridor base to accomodate the walls...OR...glue the walls to the outside of the base.  Even though I have a load of DF stuff, I'm still a big fan of simple wall-less dungeons.  I think it's much easier to do.

Place it on a suitable backdrop and have some nicely painted tiles w/ lots of furniture and stuff in the rooms, and I wouldn't miss the walls at all. 

[richstrach]

Yeah, I should have said it'll be for skirmish games, mainly Otherworld. I like the idea of the corridors being quite narrow though, it would increase that nice sense of claustrophobia the best dungeons should give you!

[robh]

Yeah, I should have said it'll be for skirmish games, mainly Otherworld.

But making the dungeon suit other uses at the outset gives you opportunities to play other games later as well as Otherworld. If you don't have the minimum 1" grid you will not have the option of playing the rules that use them.

Also if you do have a 1" grid you have the option of using any of the commercial floor plans as room decor, so by making the basic corridors and rooms yourself you can use them as built or drop in commercial floorplans of specific rooms as required.

[richstrach]

Thanks for all the suggestions, there are some good ideas to be thinking about here. I'm not going to be able to work on this for the next couple of weeks (holiday, work etc), but I'll post a pic of the new, improved corridor section once I've finished it.

[Braz]

If you make the corridors 2.5 wide x 5 long with the walls placed on top that should give you a 1" grid  or alternatively 3 wide x 6 long should give you a 1.25" grid (approximately). I suggest these dimensions as they would be multiples of the same size allowing you to fit the tiles together better when you lay out your dungeon; 2 3x6" tiles fit in the same area as a 6x6" tile so would align better.
I like the floor painting idea. Simple and effective.

[SotF]

You might want to take a look at wyloch's channel on youtube for a bit, the 1.25" grid is something quite good for tiles.

[Stu]

I've done the same thing, the more you make the more you will want to experiment. I'm doing balconies which is leading to a second level which is giving pages of evil notes for even more ideas 

[PhilB]

As noted above, you definitely want to increase the width to 2 full squares of floorspace, if only to accomodate the occasional large-based figure. I have Dwarven Forge tiles and a fair number of Pathfinder pre-paints, and the larger critters can be problematic. They tend to fit in the straight dungeon-style sections, but don't always fit in the cavern corridor sections.

Looks like once you get a fair number of peices built, you'll have the same problem I do with transport. We usually play at a friend's place, and the Dwarven Forge stuff is just a bear to lug around. I have four large plastic bins, the kind with wheels designed to slide under a bed for appartment storage, and added to my books and figures, it does make for a huge amount of things to transport. Flat dungeon tiles are less aesthetically pleasing, but so much easier to pack up & move.

You might want to consider making "2.5D" tiles with wall that only reach up to your figures' shins or waists.

Give it a test.