Tile that Dungeon! – Part Three
Updated 2018-05-13, 6 PM.
One of the things I tried back in the 1980s was a battle mat I made myself from a sheet of paper, It had a 1 inch grid marked on it, was covered with clear vinyl, and we drew on it with water soluble markers. We had a damp sponge for cleanup and used paper towel to try and keep the map dry. Maybe dry erase hadn’t been invented back then…
As you can see below back-in-the-day we used both minis and some counters. Under the battle map is a campaign map which is slightly visible at the right margin.
In terms of comparison to tiles there was no particular restriction to the battle maps utility but the presentation did lack a certain thematic charm. Basically all we were really doing was blowing up a dungeon map to 25 millimeter scale suitable for use with miniatures. In the end a battle map is both practical and versatile as it allows one to exactly draw maps as they exist on one’s own grid paper. In the above photo the character’s were out-of-doors fighting a battle so we used the simple grid of squares all the time.
In 2004, after a hiatus of some years and having missed my McGlumphy Fantasy Paths, I made a little set which was based on a grid of three squares. The reason for this was simple, three squares was the area which could be conveniently illuminated by a torch.
The tiles were drawn with a computer to fit letter page paper and I elected for a simple overhead view and left things spare so that I could draw on the tiles to customize them. I cut out the pieces and glued them to cardboard as required, so I had a stack of them.
Of course this interpretation while possessing some advantages lacked important organizing features such as standard sizes, and defined orientation. At the time I used number notations to identify the tiles. Their spare appearance meant that they were not visually as interesting as the Fantasy Paths but they got the job done.
In the next article I’ll discuss the direction I’m taking now, how tiles might be improved upon based on what we have learned thus far, and begin the start of a tile making project which others may join in if they wish. Until then…
