"Current opinions on Dwarven Forge terrain in 2021?" Topic

For a long time I thought that Dwarven Forge was too expensive and too focused on D&D.

However, my opinion has changed and like many converts I am very passionate about my new love. It is a love shared by my wife and we want others to experience the same joy we feel. Yet often when we broach the subject we hear the same things being repeated that we once said.

I have a lengthy blog post about our views on Dwarven Forge if you are curious….

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But we would like to know what folks here think about Dwarven Forge Terrain in regards to their gaming. How many folks use it? If not, why not?

Has Dwarven Forge's latest kickstarters with new above ground biomes changed your views?

I don't own or use any DF product and probably won't. For RPGs the wet erase mat is easier and faster for us. The focus isn't on minis when we rpg so to spend time setting up and tearing down rooms and hallways just adds a level of "fiddliness" that bogs down the game. If I start to do dungeon skirmish mini games I'll probably come up with some way to make the terrain and pick up some of the Hirst molds (I have a bunch already) to add detail. The only time I've seen DF products in use it looked too time consuming to set up and to have as wide a variety that would be needed would cost quite a sum.

Dwarven Forge is beautiful, no doubt. However, when I roleplay, the focus is on the roleplaying, and we've gone almost exclusively to Roll20 for our roleplaying and its built in mapping tools are all we need for that.

I dipped my toes into dungeon skirmishing recently, and to do so I went with WizKids 4D Dungeon plastic snap together kits since it was a cheaper way to dabble there. However, it took so long to set up and take down that it detracted from the game. My brief experience with Dwarven Forge is that it is even more fiddly to set up and take down- though the results are beautiful.

I tend to play more casually and divide my interests across a number of games so fast set up and take down times are a must for me. I still take time to make some beautiful tables from time to time, but usually I reserve that for things like Bolt Action.

When I retire and have more time, I want to spend more time making my own tables, but will likely go to 2'x2' foam core so I can make truly unique table setups that are still fairly quick to set up. I have delusions of doing extensive lighting and I even have plans for a real flowing river with waterfall if I ever find that kind of time.

For me, walking by and admiring those lovely Dwarven Forge set ups and occasionally taking part in a game at a convention are going to be the limit of my experience with DF.

I had some years ago, it was great until I really tried to use it for sessions. Dungeon Tiles and erasable mats were so much more flexible and more forgiving on figure placement.

I was a fan when the sets were hand painted resins, and still am. My family and I use them regularly when we game but generally only for key ‘boss' fights or puzzle encounters where I want more visuals than I can get with 2D tiles, graph paper, or dry erase maps. We use the latter two items much more frequently than DF sets, again because of speed and ease. I also use the DF sets for wargaming, like Rangers of Shadowdeep and Frostgrave.

I haven't bought any sets in years. The outdoor stuff would be duplicating what I already have for wargaming, and I have enough dungeon, sewer, and city/castle to meet my needs. I've often thought about getting more of the various dressing sets they have, but there are a lot of companies that make tables, chairs, crates, ect so I've picked those up instead. The one area DF really shines is the LED sets- those can really help set the mood or tone of the set!

I was gifted a Basic Set of DF terrain, 15 years ago? I never used it: it was just the Basic Set, which was not enough to do more than a single room. The cost to purchase enough for the dungeons I wanted to build, was prohibitive!

I went the 2D tile route, printing, and mounting them on peel-n-stick vinyl floor tiles (tile side down, using the adhesive backing to secure my printouts). I found that using any sort of terrain slowed down my RPG sessions. I play sandbox style, so prep'ing in advance, is futile. My players may not go the route I anticipated. For my RPG sessions, I use a Chessex Mondo-Mat (4.5 feet by 8.5 feet), covering my large table. When/if I need to draw out a scene, I do so; if I don't need it, we do not use it, but it is always there at the ready.

For my war games, both skirmish, and mass battles, I use terrain which I made myself. It is not realistic, or professional, but I made it -- and that counts for more than the most realistic, uber-fancy terrain I could buy anywhere, at any price. Making terrain is part of the hobby for me. I enjoy the whole process. It is fun to craft terrain, to see what I can make.

Not all of my friends feel that way -- some of them prefer uber-realistic terrain, along with extremely well painted mini's (I am an unabashed Army Painter, GEtGW painting is my standard). That is their schtick -- my schtick is crafting terrain for my games (and painting my mini's to look decent art arm's length -- I view them at arm's length 98% of the time, so I paint for the 98%!). We co-exist well enough, so far, over the past 25 years. I think we will co-exist for another 25 years, well enough to enjoy our games together. Cheers!

I admit the DF stuff looks great, but I built my own set of 15mm 3-D dungeon tiles years ago. I can set up a massive layout, but it fits neatly into a small storage box. Now I just need to make the minis to play in it… ;-)

I don't think I have ever used it for my D&D campaign. Its just too fiddly and time consuming to set up.

I have used it for a myriad of other games, mostly setting up large and complex Warhammer Quest adventures that last all day.

Used parts a few times for some other games.

I have quite a bit of it including at least one of every resin set. I only do the dungeons and cavern sets. The buildings and landscapes seem to be a very expensive option to what's already out there.

Frankly, for all I have it just doesn't get used enough.

I see folks keep mentioning Dungeons.

How many people use the Dwarven Forge buildings, castles and forests?

Is there something you wish Dwarven Forge made given their durable material and modular design ideas?

Not my review but may be helpful to some…

YouTube link

The caverns and dungeon sets, and the city sets make great skirmish tables for Mordheim or Bolt Action.

I had both the fantasy and sci-fi sets long ago. The players found it too hard to see while sitting, so we played the session standing. The tiles do not work for anything larger than 25mm or else the walls interfere with the poses of the figures. If anyone remembers the early GW fantasy Minotaur leaning over with his arms out holding two swords, then you know what I mean. He was suspended across the tiles, held up by his arms along the wall. Nice looking stuff, but too small for us in the end.

Has anyone ever seen this guy Professor Dungeon master on YouTube?
He has a channel called Dungeoncraft. He came up with something called ultimate dungeon terrain and it's revolutionary. You won't need dwarvenforege or anything else ever again.

tom sulski, Professor Dungeon Master's Ultimate Dungeon Terrain 1 & 2 is only one approach. Some folks never use mini's and terrain (Theater of the Mind), others use 2D tiles, and still others use full 3D terrain. Still others use pennies, or other markers, with/without a wet-erase mat. There is no one-size-fits-all approach.

I use a Chessex mat, mostly. Sometimes I add in 2D terrain pieces, sometimes I just use the ink pens. Other times, I use 2D printed terrain tiles, other times I employ full 3D terrain. It depends on my mood, and how much I feel like putting out there on the table.

Professor DM's approach has pro's, and con's, like all of the other methods. DM Scotty has a YouTube channel in which he built full 2.5D terrain setups for his entire dungeons, back when he was playing 4e D&D. He still builds nearly every dungeon, even though he has switched to 5e rules. He even came up with around three different systems, including my personal favorite (sort of), 2.5D Next.

The DMG Info, another YouTube'er, came up with a sort of miniature theater stage system.

There are times when I play 2e BattleSystem Skirmish, a fantasy miniatures game with a thin veneer of 2e AD&D RPG over-laid on top. For that, I will use either 2D printed tiles, or full 3D terrain. I also play 2e BattleSystem, a full-blown mini's game, based on 2e AD&D RPG (loosely), for which, I go all out, with full 3D terrain (some commercial, some hand crafted, by me -- a very large part of the hobby, for me, as I enjoy it so much).

Pick the system that suits your style and preferences. There are a lot of YouTube channels which will cater to your preferred approach. Cheers!

Thanks Sgt Slag. I was unaware of DMG. A very interesting video. I think it looks great. Still prefer UDT for my set up. It just works best when you have a group of people sitting around a dinning room table. Everyone can see he positions of the miniatures from any point at the table.
Like you said pick the system that best suits your style and preferences.

I have had a few sets of Dwarven Forge for quite a number of years, still in the original boxes. I should sell them.

The sets are beautiful but I realized I needed about 3 times as many sets to have a full layout ready -- I couldn't master setting up for each encounter. Also when I would use them, players couldn't see over the walls and ended standing up. We didn't use them enough to have issues with figures fitting but I imagine that would happen too.

I decided I wanted a 2.5d setup – isometric layouts showing elevation with walls removed. I made a set of hardboard textured tiles, blocks, etc. Now that I've gone down the DIY route I don't want to do it any other way.

The non-Dungeon products came out much later and again, although my terrain has gaps in it still, I would rather DIY my own solutions when I get around to that.

There is no one single best approach for everyone. We all have our own wants and needs in gaming.

But it does help having as much information as possible to help make those decisions on wants and needs. And it helps to have an open mind.

DMG Info makes an interesting point about perspective playing a role in perception of a game, top down giving a more tactical feel for example. This is one reason I am trying to find a backdrop system that works for my gaming table. I want more gameplay and photos to focus on the perspective of the minis.

YouTube link

We have gotten our hands on more Dwarven Forge terrain and our opinion of it has only gotten better. We love this stuff.

If you are curious to read more details about why…

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One question that keeps coming up from DF staff is what else can they make thatbpeiole would want. Is there something DF does not make that you want?

And, given their next Kickstarter will focus on city buildings…

Is there something about their buildings that you do not like? Something you wished they did different?

I do find their mini's very reasonably priced for the quality. Their painting prices are quite good, as well, being around $2 USD more per painted figure than the unpainted. They have some nice figures available. Cheers!

Fwiw i've found walls don't work well for dungeons. Players can't see where everything is without standing.
They don't want to stand up.
Flat or very low – like kerb sort of height works better.

Ymmv

Necrothread here—

I have a HUGE DF collection but found it too much of a pain for roleplaying, and COVID rather dented the ability to use the stuff anyway. I have, however, decided to fully embrace skirmish tabletop gaming with some of my buddies—not roleplaying but fantasy-related—and am going to use D&D 4th edition rules and all my DF terrain. It will make fantastic set-piece encounters/scenarios. (I am going with 4e because rules like Ares or SBoH just don't have enough options or depth, and 4e has almost as much tactical crunchiness as any pure miniatures set.)

What @Andy said.

I bought an FDM printer and bought some dungeon walls and floors and doors sets, so I could print my own much cheaper. And I got a large number done, and then started to assemble them to see my growing wonderful 3D dungeon.

And when I was done, and plunked a mini in the hallway, all I could see was the top of his helmet.

It was quite discouraging.

Then I found some sets that had half walls, and printed off a few of those, and those were MUCH better.

And now I have discovered a campaign by Kraken games. They do mostly flat tiles with occasional wall elements, jsut enough to give you the illusion of something there. And those look amazing to me.

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So even if I had ever purchased some DF stuff, I would have ultimately been unhappy with it. Don't need walls, really, floors and doorways are enough (which is what I got when Warhammer Quest came out, and I have never found anything to surpass that experience).