Building a Dungeon

My first project after building the standard buildings on the Hirstarts Site was to attempt a Dungeon. Since this my first Dungeon so I thought Id document the process. Larger pictures can be found in my Gallery Album I'm just going to use thumbnails here so that it flows better. In building a dungeon there is one main question to answer: What type of floor pattern am I going to use?

This is more than a fieldstone vs. cobblestone vs. chipped or smooth question. It has to do with the game you plan to play. Mage Knight Dungeons (MKD) use a 1.5" grid (because of the combat dial), Warhammer Quest squares are about a 1.25" surface (for no real reason other than space to stuff all the monsters), D&D tends to be played on a grid (1" = 5). However if you are measuring movement then a non-grid pattern like cobblestone or randomly sized floor tiles would work well.

Another consideration to grid size is the actual space you have available. Do you attach the walls on top of the floor (strong bond) or to the sides (weak bond)? Depending on your basing method (cardboard, cork, foamcore, MDF, etc.) it may not matter if you use a strong or weak bond. If you choose to place the walls on top like I did, then youll add the width of the tile to the floorspace. For example, a hallway 10' wide (2x 1" movement squares) will become 4" wide. A 5×5 square room would become 7" wide. If you do that with 1.5" tiles then that 5×5 becomes 10.5" wide. Often, youll see MKD dungeons without the surrounding walls for just this reason. Blocking terrain is put on top of the floor but not around the edges.

	Once I decided which way I wanted to go, I built a simple small room, painted it and slapped on the walls (painted seperately in this case because I used a test floor that I had already completed).
	I then, without rhyme or reason, slapped together some more rooms to see how things fit (I'm a visual person). None of these are painted yet except the first one.
	I was liking the feel of the dungeon so I moved into building a more complex room. Its the largest and most complete so far but still an experiment in terms of painting and detailing. Like the others, I did this one without any plan or purpose, I just started stacking bricks. I think it grew into a dungeon enterance. The room you see here is unpainted black Flowstone from whipmix
	The piece comes apart to all access to secret passages, etc. At this point I've also coated the Flowstone with india ink (black ink) and dry brushed the walls Codex Gray and the floor Burnt Umber (Brown). I painted a few random stones with Red Oxide (almost an Orange). While extreme at this point, it will almost disappear on the final piece.
	One major difference between the Dungeon enterance an the other pieces I've made so far is that the others have defined entry points which allows me to use a moveable doorway. The old rooms don't mesh well with the large room which is open on two sides. This just means that Ill have to make some transition pieces.