TerraGenesis Forums

Here is my plan for making modular Dungeon Tiles.

I'll be trying out the following new things:

Techniques/Tools

   Casting* (Possibly, see below)
   Air Brushing (I know, not new, but my continuing journey)
   Modular/Interchangeable Terrain (The main theme)
   Easily Packed/Stored Terrain

Materials

   Plaster* (Possibly, see below)
   Resin/Water Effects
   Glitter (Yeah, I'll go there )

These tiles are going to be made with 5mm PVC Foamboard from a reclaimed student project.

Casting / Plaster

We'll have to see, what with my new arrival and the fact, I only get paid for term time (Summer holiday right now) means that buying silicon resin and dental stone is not on the top of my 'approved list' - we'll see how it goes towards the end of the month...time and wotnot.

Start with the 5mm foamboard.


As I'm hoping to use this dungeon in my ESL classes, it needs to be a little bigger than the traditional 1" move square, but also not totally dwarf the minis that I have - standard GW, Reaper sized ones. So I have gone for each move square to be 1.5" - so the squares below are all 3x3".


One of the 3x3's cut out and using a black biro pen, I have drawn in the flagstones and cracks - each flagstone is the 1.5" move square.


A couple more - the texture on them was created by me hitting them with a bit of concrete.


This is the 12 That I cut today.




I'm going to add small walls along the side of some of the tiles - only 1cm or so in height - bricks drawn in of course. I'll be making 'Corner Tiles', 'Wall Tiles', 'Corridor Tiles' and plain 'Field Tiles'
Extra shapes (Circle, Diagonal) and styles (Cavern, Sewer) will come in due course.

Yes, this is a very similar design to Wyloch over on the DMScraft forum.

C&Cs welcome and appreciated.

(07-11-2016, 09:38 AM)djmothra Wrote: [ -> ]As I'm hoping to use this dungeon in my ESL classes, it needs to be a little bigger than the traditional 1" move square,

I'm not sure I follow this logic, but it's unimportant as I find it hilariously AWESOME that you're using a dungeon game to teach English. In my mind I picture tourists or immigrants in LGSs commenting on miniatures; "Oh! Red dragon with breath weapon fire and bite and claw attacks! This will be good for my D20 system."

Which brings up another question; will this dungeon be stocked with traditional Vietnamese monsters for cultural context or are you going full Gygax? Either way, I can also hear students getting home:

"How was school today, dear?"

"It was OK. I killed six orcs but got hit by a +3 Poison Arrow and didn't make my saving throw."

Ah the Logic about it being bigger - well, I'm only making one set of Tiles...they'll be in the middle of the large table - hopefully, as it's larger the students won't have to crowd round it all the time because they'll be able to see from their chair with no issues... anyway that's the plan

Movies like LOTR and the recent Warcraft are HUGE here (I know mainstream media only ever seems to be about China) so the kids here are aware of the traditional 'Gygax / Tolkien' monsters.
The other problem...no one seems to cast or make the more traditional asian stuff - I know there's a few Tengu minis out there...but the western stuff is so much easier to get. We'll see - I could do paper cut outs if need be.

Coolest.  Class.  Ever.

This is going to be an EXCELLENT project!

And as a teacher, I completely approve of integrating gaming into the classroom setting.

Can't wait to see this project progress.

I am loving both the concept for the competition AND also the way it's going to be used!

Are you just doing the flooring or also the little addons like fountains, benches, treasure chest etc? I feel like you may need some colourful additions to bring life to what may otherwise be a monotone palette.

@Blocky Yes I fully intend on having numerous 'clip on' doors and varying design and size - including a few Secret Doors
I will start to make some dungeon Furnishings for it at some point too - Treasure Chests and Piles of Gold (I did say I'd use Glitter above ) for example.

With Regards to the future - I'll also do some sewer tiles (water effects) and the caverns will get some more Crystals (Airbrush) like my previous Comp entry. I will try to add more colors to it than just grey.
I've also seen some uses of Cotton Buds (I can't recall US name....the things you're not supposed to clean your ears with, but everyone does! ) to make Torches.

I think the main thing is - Come up with a suitable beginner Dungeon for my students and make that - and then add to it over time with more bits.

What I did today at School (I went in early today, got 90 mins of cutting and drawing done)

So, I have a lot of 5mm Offcuts just hanging around - I have used some to make some Measuring sticks, but I really don't need 20 of them...they are all about 1/2" in width...Perfect


Drew in the Brickwork and Cobbles with my trusty Black Biro before hitting with the Bit of Concrete.


The walls have been secured with Wood Glue and used my Pin-Vice (you can see in the first pic) to drill small holes for toothpicks for the extra sturdyness (Exactly the same as my Paint rack I have recently made)

You can see here two 'Wall Tiles' - the wall just along one side of the tile.


Here is a 'Corner Tile'


A "Corridor Tile'


The walls have been drawn and carved on both sides, so I can use them as internal walls for example too.

Here is a quick setup of what I have made so far using the above and a few 'Field Tiles' (Tiles with No Walls at all)


Still have a lot more to make, as well as quarter circles and diagonal tiles. Then we'll move onto caverns and Sewer Tiles...then furnishings...then...who knows!

C&Cs welcome and appreciated.

This is looking great.

Be careful when you get ready to paint. If you decide to toughen up the surface with some sort of coating, you need to watch for curling. If you only coat one side with something like PVA glue, when the glue dries it will shrink and contract. If your base isn't strong enough, then your pieces will curl up.

There are a few ways you can avoid this. One is by not coating the pieces and just painting them. They won't be as tough, but you won't have to worry.

Secondly, your base material may be strong enough that you can get away with only coating one side. That's why I tend to use wood, or 1+ inch thick pieces of foam. I would strongly suggest coating a couple of scraps the same size as your pieces as a test to see what happens if you decide to go this route.

Thirdly, you can coat all sides of your pieces, top and bottom, and hope the drying forces cancel out. Again, I would test on some scraps the same size as your tiles.


Given the nature of your tiles here, you may likely be able to get away with not coating the foam and just going straight to paint. Even if that's the case, I would do a couple of test pieces to make sure your drying paint won't crack or curl the foam on you.

Best of luck and happy building.

@ableman - what if he went the other way and painted first and then applied a matt varnish over the top - I assume that would toughen it up without the potential for curling?

In my head, I'm seeing a textured paint being used (I usually just mix fine grit into acrylic paints) and the sealed with the matt varnish. Or potentially just use multiple coats of paint to toughen it up.

@djmothra - the earbud torches are a great idea - unfortunately your walls are a bit low to have wall sconces

@ableman33 this stuff doesn't need coating before painting or spraying - and whilst it can curl a little it generally only happens on much larger areas - I have a few 12"x12" town tiles, all painted with no curling so these 3 by 3's will be fine I reckon

Yes, a Matte varnish over the top after its painted.

Textured paint...that's not a bad idea, especially for the cavern tiles!

Yeah, the walls are a little low for the Sconces but I can make clip on ones - similar to the doors I'll be doing.