Post by Gilvan Blight on Mar 21, 2010 11:09:52 GMT -5
Quickly: A great set and love the 3-d tiles.
Summary:
This is the latest set of Dungeon Tiles from WotC. This set has the usual 6 sheets of double sided thick cardstock tiles. This set has the distinction of having the first 3-D tiles.
That's right 3-d tiles. Two of the sheets of tiles are actually parts to make 3-d elements. There's enough to make a staircase, various sized rectangular or square rooms or risers, a door and even a bit of scenery (enough to make two things that can be tables, a pool, an altar or perhaps a riser). Each of these is also two sided allowing you to make all of it appear to be made of wood or of stone.
The remaining four sheets of tiles are indoor type tiles perfect for making an inn, a tavern or other building. There are some nice transitional tiles as well, showing both internal and wilderness.
Here's a pics of the 3-d tiles as those are the most interesting bits. These were all made with one set.
The Good:
I have to say I really like the 3-d tiles. I even used them in an RPGA game and think managed to get the shop I ran in a few sales of the set just based on tossing down the stairs for one encounter and a wooden raised area for a balcony in another. They fit together well and hold up to play well. Besides the 3-d stuff the rest is great. This is one of those, I could have used it a long time ago sets. How many times do PCs get into barfights? How many adventures start at the local inn? How many times are players rooms broken into at night? Now you have tiles to set up encounters for all of those instances and more.
The Bad:
I could have used some instructions on how to put the 3-d stuff together. Especially the stairs took me a bit to figure out. Once I did though it was pretty easy. I do worry about these 3-d bits if you swap them around alot. They are pretty tight now, but I worry they will loosen with use. I think if you build something and keep it that way you should be good, but if you want to keep swapping your stairs from wood to stone you may be in for some trouble. I also had a bit of pealing with my set. While removing the small tabs that you need to remove to build the 3-d stuff, some of the corners of the tiles (the good parts of them) pealed up a bit. This was quickly fixed with a touch of white glue but was a problem.
The Ugly
This is my usual complaint with any of these sets. I really think you need at least two of them for them to be really useful. This seemed to be especially true for this set as you only get the 3-d stuff shown above. Due to the fact I worry that the 3-d parts will loosen over use I think two sets is a must mainly so you can build a wooden set of stiars and a stone set. It also allows you to use more of the scenery bits, plus what good is just 1 door. Extra tavern/indoor bits are nice to have too allowing you to have larger maps or to have two maps prepared at the same time.
Overall
I was really impressed with this set. I really do like the 3-d bits. I really hope they continue this trend. The ratio of 4 normal tile sheets and 2 3-d seemed to be a perfect mix. Besides the great 3-d tiles the other ones are very useful indoor tiles that were previously missing from these sets. My only complaints are that I worry the 3-d parts won't last over time and the fact you really need to pick up two of these sets to get the most use out of them.
Summary:
This is the latest set of Dungeon Tiles from WotC. This set has the usual 6 sheets of double sided thick cardstock tiles. This set has the distinction of having the first 3-D tiles.
That's right 3-d tiles. Two of the sheets of tiles are actually parts to make 3-d elements. There's enough to make a staircase, various sized rectangular or square rooms or risers, a door and even a bit of scenery (enough to make two things that can be tables, a pool, an altar or perhaps a riser). Each of these is also two sided allowing you to make all of it appear to be made of wood or of stone.
The remaining four sheets of tiles are indoor type tiles perfect for making an inn, a tavern or other building. There are some nice transitional tiles as well, showing both internal and wilderness.
Here's a pics of the 3-d tiles as those are the most interesting bits. These were all made with one set.
The Good:
I have to say I really like the 3-d tiles. I even used them in an RPGA game and think managed to get the shop I ran in a few sales of the set just based on tossing down the stairs for one encounter and a wooden raised area for a balcony in another. They fit together well and hold up to play well. Besides the 3-d stuff the rest is great. This is one of those, I could have used it a long time ago sets. How many times do PCs get into barfights? How many adventures start at the local inn? How many times are players rooms broken into at night? Now you have tiles to set up encounters for all of those instances and more.
The Bad:
I could have used some instructions on how to put the 3-d stuff together. Especially the stairs took me a bit to figure out. Once I did though it was pretty easy. I do worry about these 3-d bits if you swap them around alot. They are pretty tight now, but I worry they will loosen with use. I think if you build something and keep it that way you should be good, but if you want to keep swapping your stairs from wood to stone you may be in for some trouble. I also had a bit of pealing with my set. While removing the small tabs that you need to remove to build the 3-d stuff, some of the corners of the tiles (the good parts of them) pealed up a bit. This was quickly fixed with a touch of white glue but was a problem.
The Ugly
This is my usual complaint with any of these sets. I really think you need at least two of them for them to be really useful. This seemed to be especially true for this set as you only get the 3-d stuff shown above. Due to the fact I worry that the 3-d parts will loosen over use I think two sets is a must mainly so you can build a wooden set of stiars and a stone set. It also allows you to use more of the scenery bits, plus what good is just 1 door. Extra tavern/indoor bits are nice to have too allowing you to have larger maps or to have two maps prepared at the same time.
Overall
I was really impressed with this set. I really do like the 3-d bits. I really hope they continue this trend. The ratio of 4 normal tile sheets and 2 3-d seemed to be a perfect mix. Besides the great 3-d tiles the other ones are very useful indoor tiles that were previously missing from these sets. My only complaints are that I worry the 3-d parts won't last over time and the fact you really need to pick up two of these sets to get the most use out of them.