Designed by Greg K. Poehlein With additional components by Gary M. Williams Copyright 2000 MicroTactix Games www.microtactix.com Building Dirt Cheep Dungeons Creating your own massive dungeon complex is now as easy as building a box. Included in this package is the Dungeon Tile Base and eight pages of walls in various lengths and thicknesses. Also included are several styles of doors, a pit, stairs going up and down, torches for the walls and even a few different chests and trunks to add some flavor to the dungeons. Dirt Cheep dungeons is created in the 25mm scale, in which a 6 foot tall figure is about one inch tall. This equates to 1/72 scale. The floors are marked in a block tile pattern that simulates a grid of one-inch squares. These tiles can be used with not only MicroTactix's own Simply Roleplaying! and Compact Combat games, but with any game system that uses a one-inch square system for movement. To build these dungeons, you must first print or photocopy the parts to a good heavy card stock. We recommend at least 65# cover stock, and heavier is even better if you can find it. Tools Required Besides the printed pages, you will also need the following tools and supplies: • Scalpel or sharp-bladed hobby knife • Scoring tool (optional) - dead ball point pens work well, or just turn the knife blade over and score the line lightly. • Metal ruler or straight-edge • Cutting surface - a self-healing cutting mat is just wonderful, but a sheet of corrugated cardboard or even heavy poster board will work as well. • Glue - white glue, glue stick or wax stick. Double sided cellophane tape also works, but may let go after some time. General Construction Notes White glue contains a good deal of water. Too much glue will warp the card stock to a point where it becomes almost unusable. If you use white glue, put a very thin coat on the glue tabs - the thinner the better. You can use a cotton swab or your finger to spread the glue thin. Remember to keep a damp paper towel handy to remove any excess glue. Each part has been marked with a series of Gray Lines that are Fold or Score lines. All Tabs which are to be glued to hold the structures together are marked with a capital letter "G". Unless otherwise
noted, all Glue Tabs fold in towards to the structure. Use a straight-edge and scoring tool to score along these lines so they fold easily. Some of the parts are folded into standups. These are folded so the two end panels overlap. These two end panels form the base and are glued together, so that the final standup is tent shaped, with a triangular cross section. Disclaimer We have made every effort to make sure that all the parts fit together properly, but sometimes tolerances are tight and mistakes do happen. Test fit all pieces before applying glue. Some trimming may be required. Dungeon Tile Base (page 1) Cut out the Base completely, then score and fold the sides and glue tabs. Unless you are building a plain base with no walls or other accessories, do not glue the sides together - gluing the walls to the base is easier when the sides are left unglued. Once all other details are glued to the base, glue the four glue tabs inside the sides so the base stands 3/4 inches tall. Cut out the four base locks, including the slot in the center. These are assembled as standups (see above) but will have a slot in the center. (See Figure 1)
Figure 1
Walls (pages 2-9) All walls, no matter how long or wide are built the same way. Cut the wall sections from the card stock, then score and fold along the gray lines. Glue the tabs inside at the corners to form a simple box. The four tabs on the open side (the bottom) are folded in and used to glue the walls to the base. Align the walls with the sides of the base. (See Figure 2) If two walls will end up touching each other (as in a corner), apply a layer of glue to the end of the wall which will be against the other wall section. This will make the walls much stronger.
To install the pit, cut the center four squares from a tile base and glue pit to the underside of the base as in figure 5. Pits can also be mounted in other positions or anywhere along a corridor tile if you like. To glue the pit to the edge of a base, cut off one of the top glue tabs and glue the side of the pit to the inside of the side of the tile base.
Figure 5
Figure 2 Torches (page 2) Torches are simply two small standups. Cut and fold both the torch handle and a flame standup. Once both handle and flame are assembled, glue the two bases together. (See figure 3). Glue the torch handle to any wall surface you like.
Figure 3 Doors (pages 2, 3 & 4) Like the torches, doors are simple standups. Cut and fold, then glue the ends together to form a base. Pit (page 4) The pit is built as a box, but is built with the printed side to the inside. Be sure to glue the glue tabs to the outside of the sides (see figure 4).
Figure 4
HINT: If you decide you want a little more support for the center of your tiles (i.e. if you have very heavy metal figures), you can glue the pit under the center of a tile base without cutting out the center. The pit is the same height as the tile base and will act as a pedestal to support the center of the base. However, this is not usually needed - the base is actually strong enough to support several human sized metal figures without noticeable sagging. Blocks (page 5) The blocks are built just like the walls. They can be used to build up a dais or platform in any position on a base. If building more than one layer of the blocks, try to stair-step the blocks. Also, be sure to glue the sides of adjacent blocks to each other so they will be more secure and hold together better. Chests (pages 6 & 9) Chests are built as any other box. The small chest is a simple box. The rounded chest folds so that each panel of the lid wraps around the glue tabs of the sides. The large cabinet can be glued permanently to a wall or can simply be placed against it - the open side of the cabinet should be to the floor. Stairs (page 8) There are two different sets of stairs - those going up and those going down. For steps going up, build as any other box, except that one fold will be inverse to form the lower step. Steps going up take up four squares and can be mounted in a room or in a corridor. Steps going down are built in a similar fashion, but with the printed side to the inside. Cut out a 2x2 square from a tile base and glue the stairs to the underside as with the pit, above. Again, steps going down can either be mounted in a room tile or at one end of a corridor tile.
Creating a Dirt Cheep Dungeon Dungeon tiles can be built in many different configurations to form the basic tiles needed to construct a dungeon. From the basic tile with no wall, we go to the tile with one wall as in figure 1 above. Next, we glue a 1x6 wall along one edge and a 1x5 wall to an adjacent edge to form a corner tile (see figure 6).
If you want a two inch gap, replace the first 1x2 wall (the one glued to the 1x6 wall) with a 1x1 wall as in Figure 9.
Figure 9
Figure 6 Of course, dungeon rooms aren't a lot of good without doorways and doors. This is what the shorter walls are for. For example, to place a doorway in a straight wall section, build a 1x2 and 1x3 wall section and mount them to the tile base as in Figure 7. If you want a double wide door, use two 1x2 wall sections instead.
HINT: Build a few doorways like figures 7 and 8, and build a few 1x1 wall sections to slip into the gap. These can be used to represent secret panels in the walls. If you use these doorway panels often enough even when there isn't a secret door, your players won't know whether there isn't a secret door, or they just failed to detect one. Smaller rooms can also be built. If you place two 1x6 wall sections along opposite edges of a tile, and a 1x1 and 1x2 wall sections as in figure 10, you have half of a 4x10 square room. Placing a 1x4 tile in the gap at the front will make a tiny 4x4 room. And, of course, doorways can be placed anywhere at the center of any wall section as you like. Be sure to always put the doorways in either (or both) of the center two squares of each tile so the hallways will match up.
Figure 7 You can also put doorways in a room corner tile. For example, Glue a 1x6 wall to one edge of a tile. On the adjacent edge, glue two 1x2 walls, one against the 1x6 and the other at the other edge leaving a 1 inch gap between the walls (see Figure 8). In use, this can be an open doorway or you can place a door standup in the gap for a closed door.
Figure 10 Corridors are a matter of using the two inch wide wall sections (2x2, 2x4 and 2x6), leaving a two inch gap down the center of the tile (see figure 11).
Figure 8
Figure 11
For a corner, use a 2x6 wall along one edge of the tile, then glue a 2x4 wall to the adjacent edge. (see Figure 12a)
On an uncovered tabletop or on a tile floor, the tiles will tend to slide around easily. To hold them to each other use the locks provided on page 1. Use two locks per side, and simply slide the edges of both bases into the slot of the lock. The number of locks needed will depend on the number of tiles being used and how you place them. We suggest building a minimum of two locks per tile, but a few extras will come in handy as well.
Figure 12a Finally, glue a 2x2 wall to the opposite corner, as it figure 12b.
Figure 12b For three-way intersections (Figure 13), glue a 2x6 wall to one edge of the tile, then glue a 2x2 wall to each of the remaining two corners.
Figure 13 For a four-way intersection (Figure 14), glue four 2x2 walls to the tile, one in each corner.
Figure 14 HINT: Don't forget that you can also glue 1x1 wall sections anywhere on one or more room tiles to represent stone pillars. These make handy obstacles to provide cover for those trigger-happy dungeon delvers. Once you have a number of tiles built, it is time to assemble your Dirt Cheep Dungeon. If you are placing the tiles on a carpeted floor or on a fabric tablecloth, the tiles will stay in place well enough.
™
Dirt Cheap Dungeons Dungeon Tile Base
Copyright 2000 MicroTactix Games www.microtactix.com
G
G
G
G
G
G
Glue to Wall
Glue to Wall
Glue to Wall
G
Glue to Wall
Glue to Wall
Glue to Wall
Glue to Wall
G
G
G Copyright 2000 MicroTactix Games www.microtactix.com
Glue to Wall
1x6 Wall
Glue to Wall
G
Dirt Cheap Dungeons
Glue to Wall
G
Dirt Cheap Dungeons 1x5 Wall
G
Copyright 2000 MicroTactix Games www.microtactix.com
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G G
G
G
G
G
G
Dirt Cheap Dungeons 1x4 Wall & Pit
G
Copyright 2000 MicroTactix Games www.microtactix.com
G
Dirt Cheap Dungeons 1x3 Wall & Raised Platforms Copyright 2000 MicroTactix Games www.microtactix.com
G
G
G
G
G
G
G G G
G
G G
G
G
G
G G
G
G
G
G G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G G
G G
G
Dirt Cheap Dungeons 1x2 Wall & 1x1 Wall
Copyright 2000 MicroTactix Games www.microtactix.com
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G G
G G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G G
G
G
G G G
G
G
G
G
G
G
Dirt Cheap Dungeons 2x6 Wall
Copyright 2000 MicroTactix Games www.microtactix.com G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
Dirt Cheap Dungeons G
G
2x2 Wall & Stairs
Copyright 2000 MicroTactix Games www.microtactix.com
G
G
G
G
G
G G
G
G
G
G
G
G G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
Stairs Up
Stairs Down G
G G
G
G G
G
Dirt Cheap Dungeons G
G
2x4 Wall
Copyright 2000 MicroTactix Games www.microtactix.com
G
G
G
G G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
