Category Archives: Dungeon master’s tools

A complete list and gallery of Dungeon Tiles sets

This table describes all the Dungeon Tiles sets released by Wizards of the Coast for Dungeons & Dragons. The gallery links show the front and back sides of the tiles.

 

Set Name Date View Edge code* Features
DT1 Dungeon Tiles 2006 A B 1_black_1 Core dungeon, tavern, and a house
DT2 Arcane
Corridors
2006 A B 2_purple_1 Hazardous terrain, a 2-story stone tower
DT3 Hidden Crypts 2007 A B 3_blue_1 Underground crypts and a barn
DT4 Ruins of
the Wild
2007 A B 4_green_1 Fields, tents, standing stones, a lodge, and a ruined tower
DT5 Lost Caverns of the Underdark 2007 A B 5_yellow_1 Caverns
DT6 Dire Tombs 2007 A B 6_orange_1 Crypts with a desert palette
DT7 Fane of the Forgotten Gods 2008 A B 7_magenta_1 Traps and hazards, a surface temple, and a jail
DU1 Halls of the Giant Kings 2008 A B 1_black_2 Earthen pit, an underground prison, and giant furnishings, doors,
and stairs
DU2 Streets of
Shadow
2008 A B 2_purple_2 Streets, rooftops, sewers, and a cellar
DU3 Caves of
Carnage
2009 A B 3_blue_2 Corpse strewn caverns, an underground river, and rotting bridges
DU4 Arcane Towers 2009 A B 4_green_2 Curved tower walls and stairs, magical laboratories, crenelated
walls
DU5 Sinister Woods 2009 A B 5_yellow_2 Overgrown ruins
DU6 Harrowing
Halls
2009 A B 6_orange_2 Living quarters with wooden floors, a banquet hall, a grand
entrance, and a 3D stair
DU7 Desert of
Athas
2010 A B 7_magenta_2 Desert and oasis tiles, plus 3D stairs, platforms, and wagons
Dungeon Tiles Master Set: The City 2010 0_peach_1 Essential urban tiles
Dungeon Tiles Master Set: The Dungeon 2010 0_ice_1 Essential dungeon tiles
Dungeon Tiles Master Set: The Wilderness 2010 0_pink_1 Essential forest tiles
DN1 Caverns of Icewind Dale 2011 A B 1_black_3 Ice, snow, and caves
DN2 Witchlight Fens 2011 A B 2_purple_3 Swamp and shacks
DN3 Shadowghast Manor 2011 A B 3_blue_3  Thin walls above and below ground
DN4 Cathedral of Chaos 2012 A B 4_green_3 Diagonal halls, a ziggurat, plus trap and hazard tokens
DN5 Urban
Underdark
2012 A B 5_yellow_3 Caverns meet worked stone
DN6 Castle
Grimstead
2012 A B 6_orange_3 Thin, above-ground castle walls, and a moat
DN7 Ruins of War 2012 A B 7_magenta_3 An army encampment
Dungeon Tiles Reincarnated Dungeon 2017 Dungeons and caverns
Dungeon Tiles Reincarnated Wilderness 2017 Forest, swamp, and desert
Dungeon Tiles Reincarnated City 2017 Civilization inside and out

* Mark tiles with these edge codes to indicate the set they come from. For more information on this system, see my complete guide to using Dungeon Tiles.

Gallery

Everything I know about tracking initiative

Many years ago, my little brother received a copy of Electronic Battleship for his birthday.  The gift probably excited me as much as him. Finally, we could play Battleship with all the action sounds (flatulent static!) and explosive effects (blinking LEDs!) shown in the commercial. As it turned out, the painstaking process of entering the location of each ship into the game’s calculator-class brain proved so burdensome that I don’t think we ever reached play. As much as I love gadgetry, sometimes it just hampers you. The original game with its plastic ships and peg boards—or just two sheets of graph paper—makes for a better game of Battleship that the electronic version.

Whenever I find myself enchanted by an initiative-tracking app for a tablet, I think about Electronic Battleship. Initiative tracking just goes better with a few scraps of paper than with technology. I feel a bit ashamed to admit it.

If the notion of using technology to track initiative still appeals to you, I refer you to the Radiating Gnome’s Gamehackery column for a round-up of the available options. However, you should know that even though the Radiating Gnome writes a gaming technology blog, he tracks initiative using folded bits of paper.

Gamemastery Combat PadI like material gaming accessories as much as electronic ones, so the Pathfinder Combat Pad always seemed appealing. “It is a wet- and dry-erasable board with a steel core, so the included magnets stick right to it!” You use wet- or dry-erase markers to write all the combatants’ names on the magnets, and then stick them to the board in initiative order.

Unless you stock up on extra monster magnets, the Combat Pad prevents you, as the dungeon master, from preparing initiative ahead of time, so it works best if you delegate initiative tracking to the players. When combat begins, just reveal which monsters to add to the order. “Give me a bandersnatch at +6 and a vermicious knid at +3.” While players handle the details, you can move on.  Not only does this free you, but it increases the players’ involvement in the game. Players start reminding distracted players of their upcoming turns. Play moves faster on both sides of the table.

If you allow players to manage initiative, then the Combat Pad only suffers one limitation: The pad is only visible from one side, making it hard to position so everyone can see.

DMs point of view

I track initiative using folded, card-stock tents with names written on both sides. I drape the tents across the top of my DM’s screen in initiative order. If you work without a DM screen, or prefer to delegate initiative to the players, you can stand the tents on the table, lined up in order. Either way, to adjust initiative order, just rearrange the tents. If someone wishes to delay, hand over their tent and ask for it back when they wish to act. You can mark the active combatant with something like a Post-it flag, or just separate their tent from the others.

Use index cards to make simple tents. Cutting a card lengthwise yields two tents suitable for draping across a DM’s screen.  Or cut top to bottom for three, smaller tents suitable for standing on the table. I like using colored index cards and giving each player a unique color, so they can identify the color across the table. All my monsters get white stock.

For a minimal initiative tent, just write a name on each side, and an initiative bonus and score on one side.

You can hand blank initiative tents to the players and let them manage everything. But if you choose, you can prepare the monsters’ tents in advance. This lets you write the monster names and even pre-roll their initiative.

As a DM, managing initiative yourself gains one advantage:  You can add reference information to the tents.  Especially when I have big variety monsters to run, I like seeing their defenses. For the player characters, I like seeing perception and insight scores.

If you reference the characters’ non-combat information, I recommend having them pre-roll initiative to avoid having to pass the tents back and forth.  At the beginning of a session, have each player roll 3 or 4 initiative numbers and list the results on their tent.  If pre-rolling seems uncomfortably predictable, begin combat by randomly choosing which set of scores to use.

Hit on Crit makes a nice set of pre-formatted DM-screen initiative cards available for download. These cards inspired me, but they packed more information than I would ever use. If I ask my players to fill out something that looks like a tiny tax form, I feel honor bound to need all the information.

I created my own pre-printed tents. Download my fourth-edition initiative tents or my fifth-edition initiative tents.

My set includes tents for players and for monsters, but also includes variants suited for home play and for public play at conventions.

initiative tent without AC for playersThe basic player character tent limits the information to the essentials. The tent includes blanks for 8 pre-rolled initiative scores—enough for a marathon gaming session or a Battle Interactive. I’ve seen enough illegible names on these tents that I considered adding little boxes for each letter, but I elected to leave that sort of thing to the DMV.

initiative tent with AC for playersThis alternate player’s tent adds a place for the character’s defenses. This reduces the blanks for initiative to 4, but still allows for most gaming sessions.

initiative tent for monstersThe base monster tent includes blanks for defenses and a single initiative roll. On the player side, the tent includes places to enter the creature’s highest and lowest defenses. Sometimes in a time-sensitive environment, I speed play by entering these values so players only need to ask whether a few to-hit rolls succeed. Most times, I leave these blank and keep the players guessing.

Living Forgotten Realms initiative tent for monstersThis alternate monster tent works best for Living Forgotten Realms games at conventions. When I judge at a big convention, I often run the same adventures 3 to 5 times. Rolling the monsters’ initiative in advance cuts delays at the table, but I cannot know any party’s level in advance, so I do not know the monsters’ initiative bonuses. Most LFR adventures include versions of the same monster scaled for five different levels.

To enter pre-rolled initiative scores using this tent, perform the following steps:

  1. Subtract half the monster’s level from the creature’s initiative bonus and enter this number as Init at lvl 0.
  2. Roll a d20 and enter the result as the Base roll.
  3. In the Initiative at level blanks, sum half the party’s level, plus the monster’s initiative at level 0, plus the base roll.

You can easily do step 3 at the table, as needed.

Obviously, the defenses will change for each level. At the table, add the values you need, as needed, in pencil. Or just leave the defenses blank.

Download my initiative tents in PDF.

Also, check out the inserts for my mini DM screen.

Update on elemental miniatures and 3D battle maps

In the 11 Most Useful Types of Miniatures, I lamented the lack of translucent miniatures for fire, water, and air elementals. I have discovered that the early Dungeons & Dragons miniatures sculpts for the medium-sized elementals reappeared in a HeroScape set called Fury of the Primordials.  Unlike the original, opaque versions of these figures, the new versions come in translucent plastic. This makes the fire and water elementals look terrific, and the air elemental now looks like an air elemental rather than an angry, melting fish. 

In addition to the three, translucent figures, the set includes an earth elemental figure, and a Wyvern figure, which once appeared in the Aberrations set in a form that now costs about $16 when purchased individually.

For D&D players, the HeroScape miniatures suffer from oddly-sized bases. The medium bases span a bit more than an inch, making them a bit too big for the squares on the battle map. Large figures like the Wyvern have peanut-shaped bases unsuited to D&D. The Heroscape to DDM re-base guide describes a simple procedure to re-base the figures.

Unfortunately, Hasbro dropped the HeroScape line in 2010 and the Fury of Primordials set is long out of print. Most online vendors sell the packs at well above the original retail price, but I managed to find a few still offering the set at a good price. As of this post, some bargains remain available.

Also in that my top 11 list, I called out the Lurking Wraith as the best D&D miniature ever, and hoped a painted version would reappear in the Dungeon Command Curse of Undeath set. The set has arrived and, rather than including another version of Lurking Wraith, the set includes a translucent version of the Cursed Spirit renamed the Hypnotic Spirit. I’m happy to have the new figure, but it cannot unseat the Lurking Wraith as my favorite. I prefer the original Lurking Wraith’s shadow gray over the ectoplasmic blue of the Hypnotic Spirit. Plus the enigmatic Lurking Wraith works as a neutral ghostly figure, while the Hypnotic Spirit’s malevolence limits it to being a threat. Nonetheless, if you want to plunder Dungeon Command sets for figures to use in D&D play, the Curse of Undeath set ranks as the best assortment yet.

In solving the limitations of battle maps, I looked for better methods of presenting 3D battles. When I posted my question to the EN World and to Wizards’ D&D forums, I received a number of interesting suggestions. The Combat Tiers system from Tinkered Tactics ranks as my favorite.

Next: Before miniature sculptors used computer-aided design

Tips for battle maps and dungeon tiles

I do most of my dungeon mastering at conventions and game stores. This post shares some of my tricks for working with battle maps on the go.

Wizards of the Coast includes pre-printed battle maps with Encounters and Lair Assault adventures as well as most of their published adventures. I love the maps, but they never lay flat. The folds and creases always seem to topple figures on the map.

To solve this problem, I purchased a sheet of Plexiglas from the window department at the local home improvement store. Laying the sheet on the printed map forces it flat and prevents it from sliding. You can even mark up the sheet with a wet-erase pen. Suitable Plexiglas sheets cost about $15.

Living Forgotten Realms adventures encourage you to use dungeon tiles. As I’ve confessed in other posts, I prefer to bring the best possible production value to the table. Particularly if I’m running the same adventure several times at a convention, I feel like the extra effort of assembling maps pays off.

For the times when I plan to set loose tiles on the table, I spread sheets of non-slip drawer liner, available anyplace that sells housewares. The liners grip the table and keep loose tiles in place. The lightweight material easily rolls up for transport.

For all but the simplest layouts, loose tiles take too long to arrange on the table, so I like to assemble maps in advance. I use removable mounting putty to stick the tiles on foam-core art boards. Office supply stores sell both the boards and the putty. Get the white putty, and not clear removable mounting dots, because the clear stuff sets after a while and will damage the tiles.

I transport my maps and Plexiglas in a cheap, $10 artist’s portfolio case.

Next: Evolution of the skill challenge

Secrets to storing and retrieving D&D miniatures

As I’ve written before, I always attempt to use suitable miniatures for the creatures in my game. I collected a lot of the pre-painted D&D miniatures. Early on, I heaped the minis in a storage tub, but that quickly became unworkable. Finding the proper figures for a game took way too much time.

To solve the storage problem, I went to the discount store after the back-to-school supplies reached the clearance shelves. I purchased a cart-load of plastic pencil cases at $0.54 each. I printed sticky, address labels with the names of sets and ranges of numbers within the set. For example, “Blood War 11-20.” Now I could organize the miniatures by set and figure number in the little boxes. In the picture, you can see some of my collection sorted into a larger cardboard box.

To solve the retrieval problem I rely on the wonderful, online miniature database at dracosaur.us. The database includes all the pre-painted D&D miniatures along with their pictures and, for most, their card images. You can search by name, or by tags such as ‘female’, ‘crossbow’, or ‘insect.’ If you sign up for a free user account, you can track the number of each figure present in your collection.

With dracosaur.us, I can run a few quick searches to find the miniatures I need from among the ones in my collection, and then I jot down the set names and numbers. This lets me quickly locate the correct figures in the pencil boxes.

Now if only I could find a better way to manage my dungeon tiles. Does anyone have a system?

Next: Picturing the dungeon – boxed text

Solving the limitations of battle maps

In “Battle maps take over Dungeons & Dragons,” I wrote about how the widespread introduction of battle maps improved the fun of combat encounters. Everyone knows where everything is. The game never gets bogged down with boring descriptions of layout and dimensions.

Nonetheless, as much as the simple map avoids confusion, it suffers two weaknesses where I still search for improvements.

Elevation

Without 3D terrain, battle maps do a poor job of representing elevation, and cannot clearly represent rooms with multiple, overlapping levels, such as balconies.

When I create my own adventures, the limits of the flat map limit the kind of spaces that I imagine. So sometimes I work to break the constraints of the map. For example, I once ran a vertical dungeon, perched on walkways and platforms carved into—and jutting out of—a giant cliff. While this kind of environment can inject some fresh wonder into the game, I’m always annoyed when an encounter forces, say, a balcony into an essentially static combat. If an encounter adds the complexity of multiple levels, I want a dynamic encounter with characters on the move between levels, trading fire and flying around. If you have levels, force the characters to go to them before they clear the room.

I used to have trouble representing flying creatures at the table. Players constantly had to ask which creatures were in the air, and who could attack who. The flying figure stands from Litko game accessories solve this problem for medium creatures. The stands allow you to position one figure over another, or to set a die under a flying figure to indicate elevation. Fourth edition’s non-Euclidian geometry simplifies flight, because flyers can rise or descend one square of elevation for each square moved across the map.The flight stands come in three pieces that require assembly. Typical CA glue will fog the clear acrylic, so I suggest using the Craftics #33 Thick Acrylic Cement. Use nail clippers to trim the long tabs on the vertical support so they fit flush with the base and platform.

I want to find some convenient brackets or holders that raise dungeon tiles over the battlefield as with my improvised balcony in the photo. Ideal holders would be compact enough to fit in my convention bag, but heavy enough to stay put. Do any MacGyvers out there have suggestions?

Lighting and visibility

Someday, I hope we all have touch-sensitive, electronic battle maps that sense and track the presence of a particular miniature in a particular spot, and automatically reveal the parts of the cave that that the players can see. Until then, dealing with lighting and line of sight is a chore that I too often gloss over. Some methods help. You can reveal the map as the players explore, either by lifting coverings, laying new tiles, or just drawing as needed. However, in a big battle, where some combatants lurk in the darkness, the matter of tracking who sees what becomes unwieldy.  Does anyone have any tricks for handling lighting and visibility?

Next: Secrets to storing and retrieving D&D miniatures

Marking Zones and Areas in Fourth Edition D&D

As a way to mark zones and other lasting, area effects, I purchased a set of transparent, colored sheets from American Science and Surplus. I cut the sheets into a 3×3, 5×5, and 7×7 square sizes.

Area markers clipped to DM screen

In play, I discovered that the 3×3 sheets worked wonderfully. I paper clipped a variety of sheets to the inside of my DM’s screen. Now, whenever someone drops, say, a cloud of darkness, I can lay down a sheet on the battle map. Because you can see through the sheets, the terrain stays visible. Typically, you only have to lift one or two figures to place a small sheet, which is easier and faster than marking each of the area’s four corners.

Litko Boundry MarkersAfter a while, I started leaving the larger sheets at home. The larger areas seldom come into play, and when they do, you inevitably have to lift several miniatures to position the sheet. Remembering the positions of everything becomes a challenge. Then when you remove the zone, you have to lift and reposition everything again.

For larger areas, I now use the boundry markers from Litko Game Accesories. They’re cheap, work for any size area, and allow the miniatures to stay put.

Rolling in a box

The picture of my DM screen in the first post also shows a transparent, plastic cube.

As a dungeon master, I like my players to feel a little sense of jeopardy, a small sense that their character might not survive this combat. Rolling my dice in the open enhances that drama at the table. The players know I’m not fudging rolls to spare them–or to pick on their character.

I like when a tense moment brings players to their feet, and when everyone at the table watches to see the outcome of a roll. In one memorable moment, I reminded a player that his movement would provoke a pair of attacks, but he cockily laughed off the risk. I rolled a pair of natural 20s and the table burst out laughing. If I had rolled behind the screen, and simply announced a pair of crits, the event would fallen as flat as a card trick on radio.

Despite all this, I would rather not kill any characters (unless this is Lair Assault, when I will coup de grace your dying body). One of the virtues of fourth edition is that the system prevents a couple of bad rolls from turning into a dead character.

Rolling in front of a DM screen raises the problem of keeping the dice corralled. I roll into a transparent, plastic box purchased from a craft store. Unlike a big tray, the box packs easily, takes little space on the table, and never hides the outcome of a roll.

Update: I use this Containables 3-1/2″ x 3-1/2″ x 5″ Plastic Container with Removable Lid. It comes in a set of 4, but I can no longer find just one of anything similar.

Dungeon master’s screen

At the big conventions like GEN CON, I always like to walk the Dungeons & Dragons play area to see how some of the other dungeon masters run their tables. I see very few DM screens. I understand the appeal of dropping the screen; I don’t like peering over that little wall either.

Nonetheless, I continue to use a screen for D&D for a few reasons:

  • I track initiative using folded cards draped across the top of the screen. Though I could stand the cards on the table, hanging them makes them a bit more visible.
  • As a player, I prefer not to see the DM’s notes. But when the DM spreads his pages on the table, my eyes tend to settle on them. I would rather not worry about averting my gaze from Medusa.
  • Some players want to look, but I want to maintain an element of surprise and uncertainty.
  • I reference some rules and tables often enough for them need a place on a screen. This includes rules for monster knowledge checks, some uncommon actions, and the “Difficulty Classes for Level” table, which is essential for organized play.
  • Tradition.

Despite my preference for a screen, standard-sized screens stand too tall for my taste. I prefer the 6” tall mini version of the World’s Greatest Screen from Hammerdog games.Mini dungeon master's screen on table

This screen is constructed like a loose-leaf binder, with clear-plastic pockets on both sides. I filled the DM-side pockets with the tables and rules I needed most at the table. For the player sides, I inserted artwork cribbed from the first edition, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons screen.  In my opinion, David Trampier stands as the finest of the early D&D artists, and his collage on this screen may be his best work. It still calls me to adventure.  Not shown in the picture, the players’ side also includes a tribute to Gary with the image of a signed cover of the first Greyhawk supplement.

Signed Greyhawk Cover

You can download a PDF copy of my fourth-edition rules inserts here and my fifth-edition inserts here. I created the inserts using Adobe FrameMaker, so I’m afraid the source files will be unusable to tinkerers.