Apr 2nd Dungeonstone

Over the past 14 months, I’ve been slowly incorporating Dungeonstone into our role playing sessions, replacing handmade and Wizards-produced tiles in our more dungeon-oriented encounters.  The idea has been to create more 3d effects and to provide the feeling of walls and convey the close quarters of combat better than flat tiles.  3d terrain allows players and DMs to take advantage of corners, nooks, crannies, and to use tables, chairs, and anything else as cover, which undoubtedly makes encounters more exciting and action-packed.

Until recently, I’ve been using the resin and carbon infused diestone composite terrain unpainted, which has been fine to get the basic 3d idea across.  I have found that using the walls in various configurations yields interesting room properties and challenges for my players.  Choke points along the corners, raised platforms in the center of the room, and the narrow passageways provided by the set help evoke high intensity on the battlefield.  I’ve supplemented the terrain with my own hand-made and found additions (I’ll cover these in a follow-up post) to add additional character to our encounters.

This terrain is fully-compatible with Dwarven Forge products; I’ve mapped out a few rooms using DF’s sci-fi accessories to present futuristic dungeons full of strange equipment, and have linked Dungeonstone up to DF’s ice caverns with great success.

Now for the simple review.  This product is amazing!At $100 for a 97-piece advanced set, you’ll have enough pieces to map out a few full rooms with interesting features.  The basic set is $40 and comes with 43 pieces, enough to build one large room or a few small ones.

On top of all of this, the owner/sculptor/producer Leo is a nice guy; we’ve discussed his product and our respective campaigns at the past two OwlCons.  He’s quick to respond to questions and has a slew of tips for making the paint stand out on his models.  Paying him for his hard work and the quality of his results is only too easy; as I write this I’m considering order a few of his 4×4 and 6×6 tiles for quicker setup.

Dungeonstone is currently limited to flagstone-style dungeons; he hasn’t yet ventured into caverns or other non-standard architectures, but does have a crypt (with angled-walls, a skull-mounted wall as shown in this sample layout, and a stone sarcophagus set into a dais), wizard’s chamber (with summoning circle and rounded corners), and a working door and portcullis in his stock.

The only downside is the cost of shipping, but he takes care to wrap and pack the terrain in snug layers of paper and foam.  I’ve always purchased my Dungeonstone in person, so I can’t speak to the quality of the packing post shipping, but everything I’ve read online indicates his thorough packing stands the test of modern cargo transit.

I recommend picking up a set or two from his online store at Dungeonstone.com, or at any of the cons he frequents, including at least OwlCon and ChimaeraCon.  But get there early; I understand he sells out pretty quickly at these events.

Other dungeon terrain elements available in the Dungeonstone line include diagonal passageways, rounded corridors (my current favorite), rounded daises, and pre-made corridor intersections (3-way and 4-way).  These go a long way toward providing a flexible dungeons assembly kit.  Unfortunately, the sets don’t come with many diagonal or rounded passageways by default, but fortunately, they are available as an accessory in the online store.

My hope is that in the near future, Dungeonstone releases more large pieces to make rooms easier to assemble.  Yes, larger pieces may be more difficult to store (and perhaps they are difficult to engineer as well), but these pieces allow DMs to use the smaller pieces as room accents, nooks, and other interesting room features.  Other ideas for expanding the line include modular archways that rise up over the hallways and room intersections to added flair (I’ve hand-made a few of these using clay) and secret passageways that disguise well with standard walls.

In a future post, I’ll cover the painting, sealing, and mounting process that I’ve undertaken on my small yet growing collection of Dungeonstone.  This will cover paint selection, techniques, and other tips for making your terrain rock.