Customer Reviews

Lost Caverns of the Underdark: Dungeon Tiles 5 (Dungeons & Dragons) (No. 5)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is my favorite set of tiles for the Dungeons & Dragons game from Wizards of the Coast. Like all D&D map tiles, they are made of durable 1/16th inch card stock and printed on both sides with a textured matte finish. The tiles are scaled for use with D&D Miniatures, and also work well with other poplular figures such as those from Reaper or Warhammer. The Lost Caverns set has everything you need for a classic dungeon crawl. Illustrated with rough hewn stone tunnels that twist and divide, pits that descend into unfathomable dark depths or pools of searing molten rock, and an underground stream, these tiles set the scene for limitless underground explorations. Large 4 x 4 and 4 x 8 tiles can be combined with border pieces to create cavernous rooms. Other tiles include images of the skull of an ancient Black Dragon, a blob of green slime, an inky black pool, and steep or rough terrain.
None of the D&D tile sets include enough pieces, but the prices are low enough to buy multiple sets. Plan on buying two sets to start, or your dungeon adventure will be a short one.

Not every encounter occurs in a manufactured dungeon or crypt... what about natural caves? This product provides the tiles for those encounters... and they fit nicely with previous tile sets as well! My game player's were pleasently surprised when I brought out these tiles... they added a wonderful new flavour to the game.

... if, that is, you want to set a role-playing adventure or miniatures skirmish in a cavern complex. As with all of WotC's Dungeon Tiles line, the tiles are make of sturdy material like that used for board game boards, and the artwork is very attractive. Thus far, "Lost Caverns of the Underdark" is the only WotC Dungeon Tiles release that actually specializes in caverns, though some of the flavor pieces from other sets can be used in the caverns with little difficulty. You get ordinary cavern floors as well as pits, columns, pools, and other such hazards. I recommend this product.

This pack includes 46 two-sided tiles of various sizes. In this set one side of each tile usually shows a cavern floor and the other side shows tunnel sections. The gray cavern stone has a slightly greenish tinge; this enables it to fit in well with outdoor tiles sets like Sinister Woods - Dungeon Tiles: Dungeon Tile Set DU5 (4th Edition D&D), where the cavern pieces could represent barren ground. The cavern walls are very dark; they could represent cliff edges or even water. Place all the cavern walls on the outside to build a rocky island in a dark sea. The tunnel pieces are a bit tricky to use because the tunnel end sometimes comes out in the center of the tile edge, sometimes off to one side, so they don't always line up. One good thing about this set is the lack of corpses or bones strewn about (except for one very cool dragon skull!). The DM knows where the bodies are buried (or not)! So without further ado, here's the loot:

8x4: cavern floor / curvy lengthwise tunnel
8x4: cavern floor / lengthwise tunnel crossed by river
8x4: cavern floor with cliff / lengthwise tunnel crossed by lava
8x4: lenghtwise cavern edge / curvy tunnel corner
8x2: cavern floor / lengthwise tunnel with narrow space
8x2: cavern edges on short sides / tunnel crossroads
4x4: cavern floor with dragon skull / curvy tunnel corner
4x4: cavern floor / tunnel with niches
4x4: cavern corner / tunnel corner with niche
4x4: cavern corner / curvy tunnel corner
4x4: cavern corner with slanted tunnel / rounded cul de sac
4x4: cavern corner with straight tunnel / branched cul de sac
4x4: cul de sac with spring / U-turn tunnel
4x4: cul de sac / curvy tunnel
4x2: cavern floor / cavern floor
4x2: cavern floor / pool
4x2: cavern floor / large stone column
4x2: cavern floor / large stone column
4x2: lenghtwise cavern edge / tunnel
4x2: lenghtwise cavern edge / tunnel
4x2: lenghtwise cavern edge / widthwise T-tunnel
4x2: lenghtwise cavern edge / widthwise right branch tunnel
4x2: lengthwise cavern edge / tunnel corner
4x2: cavern corner / lava pit
4x2: cavern corner / pit
4x2: cavern corner / tunnel crossroads
4x2: cavern corner / tunnel corner
4x2: widthwise tunnel narrows / tunnel corner
4x2: widthwise tunnel narrows / widthwise T-tunnel
4x2: cul de sac / tunnel corner
2x2: cavern floor / tunnel
2x2: cavern corner / pit
2x2: cavern corner / stone column
2x2: cavern corner / tunnel
2x2: cavern corner / tunnel
2x2: cavern floor with boulders / stone column
2x1: cavern floor / widthwise tunnel
2x1: cavern floor / stalagmites
2x1: lenghtwise cavern edge / stalagmites
2x1: lenghtwise cavern edge / cul de sac
2x1: lengthwise cavern edge / black mushrooms
2x1: lengthwise cavern edge / pile of stones
2x1: cavern corner / boulders
2x1: cavern corner / pool
1x1: pile of gold coins / stone column
1x1: pile of silver coins / green puddle

FACTS: Six sheets, 46 total tiles, as detailed by another reviewer on this page. No large 8x8 tiles in this set, 2x4 is the most common size (16 -- double the nearest contender). The cardstock is the usual sturdy, flat stock with traditional D&D style images. In short: good quality.

COMMENTS: I find this set more challenging to put to use than some other sets. Many pieces have black edges representing cave walls. This reduces your flexibility, as a black edge (or edges) must line up with the black edge(s) of the neighboring pieces, and can't be used as center-room tiles, etc. The preponderance of passageway tiles (they make up most of the 2x4 tiles and many of the reverse sides of any size) means that, unless much of your adventure is going to take place in narrow passageways, the tiles will be of little use to you. That may be fine for many (most) DMs -- after all, a cave adventure should feel different from a basic dungeon or wilderness encounter, and one way that happens perhaps is to have most encounters in long, but narrow and/or twisting passageways (great for melee, tough for ranged). However, if you planned to take the standard approach of having most of your encounters take place in the larger caverns that equate to "rooms" in a cave setting, you may find no reason to use a large percentage of this set. Keep in mind the passageways in this set are clearly defined by black edges on both sides, and can't be used to build rooms, like the edgeless 2x4 pieces in a generic dungeon set can.

The set is also comparatively light on what I would call "accent" tiles -- the ones that dress your set or provide unique terrain. There are two water tiles, a lava tile, some stalactites, one mushroom tile, and the big dragon skull, plus a few others. However, there are only two 1x1 tiles, and they only feature lichen on one side and either a hole or green slime on the other. Again, that may be completely fine for many folks, who would prefer fundamental tiles for layout over the niceties that you can print out yourself and add on top. I'm not holding their lack against this set in my rating, just pointing it out, though I did need far more rough terrain tiles than this set provided the one time I tried to recreate a cave system from a module.

One of the dilemmas of selling mass-produced dungeon tiles that are not tied to any one module is the balance between uniqueness and compatibility/re-usability. If you make the tiles too generic, then all your dungeons look the same and there is no need to get other sets. Bad for the DM and even worse for WotC. If you make them too unique, they look really cool and engage your players' interest; but they are probably too specialized to get a lot of general use. "Oh, look, team! There's a huge dragon skull in THIS cave, too!" This particular, conservative set decides to err on the side of generic, which means that you might get a lot of use out of them every time you run an underground adventure; however, straight out of the box, their tile-by-tile similarity left me a bit cold and frankly uninspired, wondering how I would combine them into anything interesting.

On the plus side, I'm amazed at the way the room tiles match up no matter which two you pair. A certain amount of artistic genius went into making it so what few features there are on any tile seem to continue over onto the next tile, regardless of which two edges you decide to place together (excepting the black edges, of course).

SUMMARY: A good set for basic cave building from scratch, but a lot of passageways, black edges and medium-small pieces creates a challenge in recreating caverns from existing maps (such as in modules). Not a lot of flavor, but that means more compatibility and re-usability. 46 tiles is not a huge number, but unless you plan to leave the entire layout on the table as you go, it will probably suffice for your encounters. Preponderance of small pieces (and no 8x8) means more flexibility perhaps, but also more likelihood of people disturbing the layout every time they move a mini. No box, but the outer "sleeve" does offer some potentially helpful example layouts, more critical considering the limited flexibility. And the price is downright cheap these days. I bought two.

Of the sets I've recently purchased, this is by far my favorite. It has a nice variety of large and small tiles, as well as a few non-rectanglular shapes. A lot my adventures are in caves or tunnels and this set is perfect for those.

As with the other sets, these are a nice thick board that will likely last a very long time.

This set of Dungeon Tiles, like the others, are high quality, beautiful, and contain enough various tiles to make infinite layouts for your games. I highly recommend this to anyone who plays tabletop RPGs with miniatures. Much better than simply drawing on a peice of paper or a whiteboard!

Solid construction and good lamination. Product should last for years of use, barring unforseen beverage spill accidents. Excellent art without being distracting. I appreciate how well the different sets work well with each other.

I really like this set. In every D&D campain you will sooner or latter enter a cave. This set its great for creating from the simplest to the biggest underground maze. And you can always link it with the dungeons tiles or the sewer tiles from the city set.

I know, I know - how can you really expand on cave tiles? Well, I can think of a lot of cool things to include. Sadly, none are in this set. This is VERY similar to Caves of Carnage, so if you already have that set, you might as well just order another. The only tiles worth it for me were the ones featuring water (a waterfall and stream) and lava. Those will come in handy in the future. Though I wish there was more lava to be found. Sadly, most of this is just bland gray tiles with some scattered rocks.