Reddit reviews Dungeon Tiles Master Set - The Dungeon: an Essential Dungeons & Dragons Accessory

Honestly if you've only played one game I wouldn't go too crazy on making stuff just yet until you're sure your group will regularly play. It's really disappointing when you put a lot of work into something but don't get to use it.

My group started with just a battle mat (1" grid mat for using dry erase makers). They're inexpensive and a great way to get everyone in the game.

Eventually I added model trees, scatter terrain pieces over the grid (think rock obstacles), and now I do pieces like this for big battles:

https://i.imgur.com/xPT0k6J.jpg

Also I bought these which are a great way to build dungeons with minimal investment:

Dungeon Tiles Master Set - The Dungeon: An Essential Dungeons & Dragons Accessory https://www.amazon.com/dp/0786955554/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_ZtTQzbXCQC31C

I really like building terrain for my group, but it's best to do it if you know they will keep playing and appreciate it.

For miniatures, be warned that the Heroclix and Mage Knight minis, while useable, are mostly larger than the 1" standard width (for a medium character or creature) - this is generally not that big of a problem but if you're going with modular terrain it means they may not fit well, especially along with other miniatures beside them.

Ebay is a good choice for miniatures, especially if you have particular needs for certain things - you want that male elf archer in leather armor, or are you looking for a beholder? You can find and get them there. Here's my favorite seller for these things, shipping is definitely reasonable and the choices are expansive:
http://www.ebay.com/usr/auggest?_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2754

Another option to miniatures are tokens, and they are much, much cheaper. These are small cardboard circles that fit a 1" block as standard size (larger creatures will fill more, of course). The best starter set for this for a DM is the Monster Vault, but there are a ton of others as well. I suggest ebay for these for the most part, there are some that sell them by the sheet and others that sell the full boxed sets. You can get these for characters as well as monsters. Here's a link to the Monster Vault so you can see what you get with it:
http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Vault-Essential-Dungeons-Dragons/dp/0786956313/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1420725056&sr=8-2&keywords=dungeons+and+dragons+Tokens

Cheapest and most versatile "professional looking" option for the map / terrain is a chessex battlemat - make sure you have WET ERASE markers, not dry erase and keep it clean between adventures. Below are links to one of their mats (there are other sizes, just search on amazon) and to some excellent markers:
http://www.amazon.com/Chessex-Role-Playing-Play-Mat/dp/B0015IQO2O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420724703&sr=8-1&keywords=chessex+mat

http://www.amazon.com/Expo-Vis-A-Vis-Markers-Colored-16078/dp/B00006IFGW/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1420724703&sr=8-9&keywords=chessex+mat

Cheapest option for modular-type terrain would be tiles. These are cardboard "grids" that most often have designs on them and come in different sizes. The best starter set out there is the Dungeon Tiles Master Set - The Dungeon. It has a lot of tiles and is pretty versatile, at least for base grid options like dungeons and general floors. There are a ton of other options for them - again I suggest you look on ebay for these because you can often find used ones that are in perfect shape sold as a set, or even individual tiles if there's something in particular you need. This is the link to the aforementioned base set on amazon so you can see what it has:
http://www.amazon.com/Dungeon-Tiles-Master-Set-Essential/dp/0786955554/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420724907&sr=8-1&keywords=dungeon+tiles+master+set

If you want to spend more money and go with something much more dynamic, there are 3-d modular sets ranging from paper to near-stone like quality but they can cost a ton. I have a large set of Dungeonstone (www.dungeonstone.com) that I bring out and always get oo's and ahh's. But they're heavy to carry around a lot, especially if I need the whole set. Another option, that's generally slightly more expensive than dungeonstone is Dwarven Forge. You can look them up - but I only mention this in case you decide to spend more money than you want to at this point. :)

Good luck! I hope this helps.

I got the [D&D Essentials: Dungeon tiles] (http://www.amazon.com/Dungeon-Tiles-Master-Set-Essential/dp/0786955554) for a non-D&D game and I think they are very good value for money.

You can always make 3D versions, or buy 2D pdf's from a variety of sources as well.

Dungeon tile boxes. Can't recommend highly enough. Dungeon Tiles Master Set: The Dungeon https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0786955554/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_mPQ7BbGT99JGA for example

There are exactly those. You have the Dungeon tile sets and also the Pathfinder Flip mats. The flipmats work just the same for DnD incase you're worried, they're all just one inch squares.

I have bought a couple sets of each and I would suggest investing in the flip mats if you're going to go that route. Take up less space (so easier to store), you can just keep one or two in your bag to bust out at a moment's notice if your players go full steam off the rails. Also I have found the flip-mats at my local brick-and-mortar store before for the same price as Amazon, so I would suggest looking there as well. The tiles are better specifically for dungeons though because you can lay down the tiles as your players explore, allowing you to set the mood a bit better.

That said, I am definitely going to print out OP's tiles and laminate them to add to my flip mats that stay in DnD bag. This sort of thing is what I was looking for before I started to invest in pre-printed things.

Hope this helps anyone looking.

Though their selection of characters is pretty limited, I'm a big fan of World Works' stuff: http://www.worldworksgames.com/store/index.php?view=catalog&cat_id=2

Their terrain is just fantastic though.

In addition, Wizards has a pretty nice selection of tiles and tokens that tend to be cheaper and more reusable than maps and miniatures. Here's a few of my favorite sets:

-Dungeon tiles

-Forest tiles

-Massive set of monster and character tokens

-The Red Box contains a decent mix of everything for a pretty affordable price

Hope this helps.

I recently started buying a few of these packs:
http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Master-Set-Dungeon/dp/0786955554
but since there are quite a lot of them I was wondering if some could share their experience with these tools and give some advice on which are worth their money and which should rather be avoided?
Thanks in advance!

As listed above, I've got the "Dungeon" Master Set (complete set, original packaging), and the Caves of Carnage (in a large bag at present but complete and barely used).

Ideally you could have some of those "piece-by-piece" boards that you can use to construct the board as the players go on https://www.amazon.com/Dungeon-Tiles-Master-Set-Essential/dp/0786955554/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1481889882&sr=8-2&keywords=dungeon+set

If they GM, you could go with modular dungeon tiles (like these) or a GM screen. Reaper Miniatures also has some nice sets of common creatures to fight (skeletons, kobolds, zombies, etc) and from just a quick look at their site while writing this, it looks like you could get 2-3 sets within your $15 budget.

You're spot on! If I could recommend something to you that my players ended up loving, I use these for combat

https://www.amazon.com/Dungeon-Tiles-Master-Set-Essential/dp/0786955554/ref=sr_1_1?srs=2603813011&ie=UTF8&qid=1498758217&sr=8-1&keywords=tile

They're fun, I have the fields and villages set(I think that's what they're called. There's a very specific tile with a small pond on it and my players insist I set the pond up every time they do combat so that they can throw enemies into the pond upon death.

It looks like all the sets aren't on Amazon but I'm fairly sure they have most of them at Barnes & Noble. That's where I got mine

• Cover with paper
  
  
• Draw the dungeon room for room using paper or a battlemap
  
  
• Use a digital tool to display the map and obscure not discovered areas (using Roll20, GIMP, Photoshop, etc)
  
  
• Use Dungeon Tiles to display the dungeon to your players
  
  
• etc.