The Sorcerer's Lair - a Modulable Dungeon Decor

In the past weeks, mysterious disappearances started occuring near the abandoned chapel. It turns out that a sorcerer and his evil cult have invaded the place. Villagers have gathered a modest number of coins to hire courageous heroes to investigate the place and get rid of the vilain.

This instructable shows you how to make a modulable RPG decor to play this scenario or any other you can imagine! The modulable decor includes two basic tiles, four tiles with pillars, two reversible tiles, one entrance tile, and accessories such as benches, an altar, and stairs.

• Carving foam (or insulating foam)

• Paint:
  • black
  • white
  • neutral gray 5 (optionnal, if you mix black and white)
  • burnt umber
  • red (ink can be used too)

• Sandpaper (fine and medium grained)
• Thin pieces of wood (recycled cheese boxes)
• Paper and black paper
• Pencil
• Hobby knife
• Ruler
• Glue
• Table protection
• Differently shaped rocks
• Painting brushes
• Small metal ring (diameter: a few mm)
• Small rock fragments (in very small quantity)
• Fake grass (in very small quantity)

1) Carefully cut nine 8x8 cm pieces (1cm thick) in the carving foam.

Sand down the freshly cut tiles with fine grained sandpaper (150-180).

2) Draw 2x2 cm squares with the pencil on eight of the nine tiles.

For two of these tiles, do it on both sides.

Draw a trapezium on the 9th tile as seen on the last photo. The length of the bases is 4 cm and 7 cm.

Then, draw 2x2 cm squares with the pencil, on the rest of the tile, just like for the 8 other tiles.

3) Make shallow cuts on the lines with a hobby knife.

Use a pencil to enlarge the cuts.

4) With the rocks, give a damaged texture to the tiles.

5) Paint all tiles entirely in black.

Put four tiles aside. We will add pillars to these tiles, so their painting will be finished in another step.

For the entrance tile, brush the trapezium part with brown paint. Then, stick small rock fragments and fake grass on the trapezium part. Brush the rest of this tile with grey and white paint.

For the remaining tiles, brush the whole surface with grey and white paint.

The sides of the tiles can be left in black.

We'll make 4 columns and their base.

1) For each pillar, cut 1x1x3.5 cm pieces of foam.

Every cm draw a line all around the pillar.

Make shallow cuts following the lines with a hobby knife and deepen them with a pencil.

2) For each base, cut 1x1x0.5 cm pieces of foam and sand them.

3) Stick each pillar on its base with glue.

4) Take the four tiles that were left in black.

Stick a pillar on each of them.

5) Paint the pillars in black.

Brush the tiles surface and the pilars with grey and white paint.

1) Make a paper template of the arch.

It must be 7 cm at its top and 6 cm wide (see picture).

2) Use the template to cut the shape in carving foam. It must be 1 cm thick. Sand it.

3) Every cm draw a line all around the arch.

Make shallow cuts following the lines with a hobby knife and deepen them with a pencil.

4) Paint the arch in black.

Brush the arch with grey and white paint.

5) Glue the entrance arch on the entrance tile.

1) Stairs

Cut a 2x2x1 cm piece of foam and remove a quarter from it. Then, sand it.

Paint the stairs in black.

Brush the stairs with grey and white paint.

2) Altar

Cut a 2x3x2 cm piece of foam and sand it.

Inside each of the four lateral sides, draw a 2 mm wide border

Make a shallow incision on the lines and deepen them with a pencil.

Add a bit of texture by pressing a small rock against the surface.

Paint the altar in black.

Brush the altar with grey and white paint.

1) Benches

Cut four 4x1 cm pieces of thin wood for the seats.

Cut eight 1x1 cm pieces of thin wood for the feet.

Sand them and paint them in brown.

Glue two feet to each seat to make a bench.

Let them dry upside down.

2) Trapdoor

Cut a 2x2 cm piece of thin wood for the main part of the trapdoor.

Sand it and paint it in brown.

Cut a 2x2 cm piece of black paper and hollow it out, leaving a 2-3 mm border.

Glue the paper frame on the wood.

Finally, glue a small metal ring for the handle.

Take one of the two reversible tiles, and hollow a slab out so that the trapdoor can fit inside it without sticking out.

Glue the trapdoor inside the hole.

Let's make a pentagram stamp:

• Draw a 2.5 cm radius pentagram on a thin piece of foam.
• Hollow parts that don't need to be printed out.

Put red paint/ink on the stamp.

Take the second reversible tile (not the one with the trapdoor) and apply the stamp.

The first configuration (Level 0) uses the 9 tiles and all of the accessories, except the stairs. The second configuration (Level -1) is a long corridor. It is accessed thanks to the trapdoor hidden behind the altar. Once opened, the trapdoor reveals stairs.

To obtain the second configuration, the trapdoor tile is reversed, as well as the pentagram tile so that it is displayed. The pentagram tile is placed at the end of the corridor. This is where the sorcerer is hiding. The entrance tile is not used here. Two of the four benches are kept and placed in the corridor. The stairs are placed on the first tile of the corridor.