August Entry: the Under Halls

[Gamerprinter]

What timing is this! I just created a Xara tutorial for creating Quick Dungeons and this month's challenge is to create Dungeon Tiles, hmmm.

Strange, but my first product offer on my printing site was for something I called Endless Terrain Battlemaps which featured geomorphic edges on an 11 x 17 map printed and laminated on two sides. A set of four was 8 different maps. Dungeon Tiles is far easier to create than geomorphic wilderness terrain which were my primary offers.

So I'm very familiar with the concept.

Plan so far, following my tutorial step-by-step, I plan to create 12 battlemaps at the 8" x 10" size with four exits each, to include: 1 surface access map, 4 catacomb maps, 1 crypt map, 1 maze of doors map, 1 ruins map, 1 watery map, 1 large chamber map, 1 dungeon community map, and natural cave map.

I've got 2/3rds of the basic floorplans setup, but I want to do some detailing before I post a WIP, but I will post in the various steps of tutorial for all maps so you can see the process in how it was done.

Will post them tomorrow...

GP

[Gamerprinter]

Only 8 tiles? OK, here's the first, I call it the "Entry" tile or "Surface Access" Tile. A hole to the surface from a ruined structure with sunlight and debris falling in. Even some plants growing where the sun allows it.

Since there's a restriction of 8 tiles for this challenge, yet I've preconceived of 12 I want to make, I will be providing 4 "bonus tiles" that because they will be a bit exotic from the standard dungeon tiles one would expect to include - will not count as part of this challenge. The "Entry" Tile is the first of these bonus tiles.

No tokens until the end.

I may change textures and colors but the 1st tile design is complete...

GP

[NeonKnight]

There is no eight tile limit. The limit is each tile should be no larger than 8"x10" for printing purposes (most of us regular folks can only print letter or legal size )

If you want to only make 5 tiles, you are good, want to make 20 tiles, you are good. The tiles with a 1-inch grid should then be 8x10

[Gamerprinter]

I agree with Redrobes in that square Tiles offer more options than rectangular tiles, but this challenge calls for the use of 8 x 10 tiles, so I will observe this rule. Though NK also said at least two doors, I believe four doors open more possibilities for random dungeon tile placement. Though you may notice one cannot necessarily exit through all of the four when in a given tile, depending on the layout. This still follows the philosophy of my Endless Terrain Battlemaps...

Below is 3 of the many possible dungeon tile configurations using 5 tiles I've completed/semi-completed so far. Some tiles have been rotated 180 degrees from a previous tile placement.

The tiles presented are the Entry Tile, and 4 Catacomb Tiles (catacomb tiles will be part of the actual entry and not being bonus tiles.)

GP

PS: Thanks, NK! 12 tiles it is, no bonus tiles necessary! In fact I may go 20 tiles, now that you mention it. Now I can have fun...

[NeonKnight]

Sure, just to further clarify, you can make square tiles if you want, I just stipulated that a tile could be no larger than 8x10

[Gamerprinter]

I'm sticking with full 8 x 10's so I can create larger chambers as I need it.

The first four maps below are the catacombs subset - the "standard" dungeon tiles that would be available in most tile sets.

Since I'm categorizing my "Entry" Tile in the previous post as an exotic. So too is this exotic tile, called the "Pool" Tile, a large chamber with water filling most of it and tranparent to see that it is a living pool, from an underground lake that may flow in from under the "northside" balcony.

Note: there really is no north in these maps, as a GM can rotate them 180 degrees, after using them and placing down ahead through the next door.

My Dungeon Tiles, subsets of 4 tiles: Catacombs 1 (here), Catacombs 2, Drainage Tunnels, Exotics, and Caverns.

Six done - fourteen to go. Note: I will upload gridded versions at completion of all tile designs. And tokens.

These are all 1.5 MB each, or thereabouts...

GP

[Gamerprinter]

After looking at my Catacombs tiles, I thought they looked too standard. So I added some subtle changes like stairs to change elevations between chambers on a tile. Although I've already changed all four catacombs tiles. I've only uploaded the second catacombs tile (gatehouse entry tile).

The door on the "west" wall does not connect with the rest of the exits on this level, so I threw in some stairs up and down. Going up to the center room, I've placed a steel barred window exposing the view at the entrance to the gatehouse below. I've also added some rubble.

Ambushes with missle weapons or spells to targets entering the gatehouse area below. No access past the barred window, so attacker in safe position.

I will upload the improved catacombs with the next batch, tomorrow or later tonight.

GP

[Steel General]

Lookin' good so far, beyond anything I could manage at this point.

[RPMiller]

Looking great GP as usual! These are definitely going to get some use. There is a thread at the RPTools forums right now about using macros and tiles to generate random maps so this month's challenge is quite timely.

[jaerdaph]

Those are really nice looking tiles, gameprinter. Are the bitmaps of the floors and walls available online somewhere or did you create those yourself? I wouldn't mind getting my hands on those.