Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Tiles on the Cheap!
by In The Kitchen With Matt in Living > Toys & Games
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Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Tiles on the Cheap!
In this instructable video I will show you how to make Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Tiles. These D&D or Pathfinder tiles are really cheap to make and won't break the bank, also they will be modular and can be reused again and again. When playing role playing games like DnD or Pathfinder it really helps to have visual aids to help immerse the players. Giving them spacial awareness helps them to decide on more appropriate actions for their surroundings, and that is where these tiles come into play. There are all kinds of different ones that you can buy but usually they are fairly expensive. I am going to show you how to make some really cool ones, using some junk that you most likely have lying around your house. Remember, don't throw away those cardboard boxes or wrapping paper scraps, you could use them for DnD dungeon tiles. Let's get started!
If you would like to make some cool paper minis to go along with these tiles, check out this instructable here:
https://www.instructables.com/id/Dungeons-and-Drag...
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If you have any questions or comments leave them down below and I will get back to you as soon as I can. :)
Follow the easy steps below or watch the video tutorial or do both! :)
Things You Will Need
Things you will need:
- cardboard
- graph paper
- packing tape (optional)
- scissors or exacto knife
- glue stick or spray adhesive: https://amzn.to/2UwZDy4
- wrapping paper
- markers
- pen or pencil
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Sketch It Out
First we need to flush out or sketch out what we want the dungeon to look like. I usually use graph paper, because it is already ready for scale. Each little square can represent 5 feet, or whatever you want it to be. And it makes it very easy to scale it up for our Dungeon tiles. I created a small little dungeon here with some hallways and three rooms. This piece of paper I will keep for my notes when playing the game, so I can reference it.
Wrapping Paper Treasure
Now we take a piece of wrapping paper that has cutting lines on the back of it. Isn't that awesome? It is basically like one large piece of graph paper. There are more expensive "gaming paper" or "dice paper" but no need for those you can buy a cheap roll of wrapping paper, or better yet, you probably have a some left from Christmas! :) Next using markers we draw out our small dungeon on the larger paper. It is very easy to do, just count the squares, put in your doors, and other cool items of interest. Now is when you can really let your artistic skills come out. I am not really an artist, so mine usually look like these, haha. I make the doorways very thick, so when you cut it, you have half of the door on one piece and half on the other piece.
Cut It Out...
Now using scissors cut out all the pieces. Don't throw away the scraps. You may see junk, but that small piece of wrapping paper, I see a potential dungeon room or hallway...:)
Glue Them Down
Next using a glue stick or spray adhesive, glue down the individual pieces to a piece of scrap cardboard. Don't throw away those cardboard boxes, use them for dungeon tiles! lol
Cut and Finish
Now we use scissors or an exacto knife and cut out the glued down pieces. Usually there will be edges of the pieces that don't look as nice, so you can go back over those with your markers to clean them up a bit and make them more presentable, or not, it is up to you, they are your tiles! Another thing you can do now is wrap each of the tiles with clear packing tape. This will be like a lamination of sorts protecting them. We all know how messy gamers can get with their snacks and sodas.
Ready to Use
Look now we have awesome inexpensive dungeon tiles that we can reveal when the players move into that particular room or hallway, etc. And we can reuse these over and over again with other adventures, campaigns, etc. So next time you are thinking of throwing away that piece of cardboard or wrapping paper scrap...think again... :)
Video Tutorial
Now watch those steps in action by checking out the video tutorial. :)