Play (Enhanced) Advanced Heroquest for CHEAP!

Really all you need to play (Enhanced) Advanced Heroquest is dice, miniatures, the rules, some dungeon floor tiles, and imagination. Anything else is literally optional...

A lot of you likely have dice and miniatures abundant already, and on the DOWNLOADS page of this blog you can get some rules to play; then here you can get suitable dungeon tiles for under $5! Check out the Inked Adventures: Modular Dungeon Cut-Up Sections Basic Pack (see below for more options).

Don't forget you can download some dungeon doors for free as well:
http://enhancedadvancedheroquest.blogspot.com/2013/12/alternative-paper-doors.html
http://enhancedadvancedheroquest.blogspot.com/2013/11/a-simple-mechanic-doors.html

If you don't have appropriate miniatures and you are looking for cheap fantasy figures be sure to check out Reaper Bones! All of these guys are under $3 each!!

There is so much great free (or inexpensive) stuff out there for dungeon crawlers it can make your head spin... here are some of my other favorites:

For slightly more expensive, but really nice (3D) tiles: http://www.worldworksgames.com/store/index.php?view=product&product=22

Some free tiles!:
http://www.yeoldeinn.com/na-tiles.php
http://greywolf.critter.net/ahq/tiles.htm (these are designed for Advanced Heroquest!)
http://bederken.blogspot.com/2011/02/bederken-dungeon-free-printable-tiles.html
http://kevslounge.blogspot.com/2012/11/index-of-kevs-lounge-free-dungeon-tile.html
...and this great French site: http://free-dungeon-tiles-to-print.blogspot.com/
And of course you could spend days searching through DriveThruRPG.

While I'm at it, here are some paper miniatures for Heroquest: http://boardgamegeek.com/file/download/8l0sz90eib/hq_paper_minis_col062812.pdf

In conclusion, if you are willing to do a little digging and a little printing/cutting you can play this great old gem for very cheap (or even free).

How to - Dungeon Tiles: Part 3 (Adding Image to Floor)

Now we will add the Splash Image to the Dungeon Tile floor and just tweak it a little bit so it looks like it belongs there!

Ok now we'll need the image you created in Part 1 and the floor tile you created in Part 2; open both in Gimp (see The Tools below) and Configure your Grid to 0.178 INCHES again, then Show Grid.

1) Open/Select the splash image; then use the Magic Wand tool to select the main graphic. Here you can "Bucket Fill" a different color if you like, I'll make it red:

2) Copy [CTRL-C] this image and go/open your tile now; again be sure the Grid is configured correctly and Show Grid, and Snap to Grid are selected. Important! - Create New Layer!! Then on new layer Paste [CTRL-V] your image; you can rotate/move/re-size it to fit exactly how you like:

3) Once you've got the image at the size/position you want be sure to copy it [CTRL-C] before you anchor it to that layer. Once it's anchored you can then create a new layer and paste the image again; then using the Layer>Transform>Flip* tools create a mirror image on the other side of the floor:

4) Now let's make these look like they belong on a dungeon floor. To make this easier I'll 'merge' the two image layers into a single layer. Now on that 'image' layer I will change the Opacity to about 75%; and then using the Erase tool I will start subtracting from the images, especially in the cracks on the floor (the grid will help tremendously here):

5) The result should look something like this, then using the Erase tool again select a different 'brush', I prefer the "grass" brush and try this with different sizes and different (eraser) opacity to create a faded look:

6) Finally just make sure that your 'shadow' layer created in Part 2 is on Top and above the new image layer; then Export and enjoy your tile.

If I went too fast or too slow, or you have questions or suggestions please comment!


The Tools (all free/open-source):
Pyromancers Dungeon Painter
Gimp
Inkscape


Again, I realize there are probably better ways to achieve the same or better results but I thought this might help some people - that said, if you do have a better technique, please let me know in the comments haha!

How to - Dungeon Tiles: Part 2 (Creating Basic Tile)

Let me just start out by saying, if you are feeling lazy and would rather buy some nice tiles, be sure to check out DriveThruRPG. Otherwise, if you don't already have your own technique you might find this helpful - carry on...

1) Ok this step is the easiest (funnest!) and will give you a simple, usable tile without any additional steps. The folks at Pyromancers have created an amazing tool (see The Tools below), it's practically cheating. Using the "Pavement" pens you can draw any size/shape tile you like. Keep in mind that the normal Advanced Heroquest tiles are 5x5 and 10x5. For the sake of this exercise, create a 5x10 area in one pavement color, then create a single-tile thickness border around it in another pavement color. After you have created a basic tile to your liking, "export to JPG,PNG". Be sure to change the "Cell size in pixels" to 64, then create PNG, then save to your computer.

At this point you could stop, and still have a decent looking tile; but I prefer to tweak them a little bit using Gimp (see The Tools below) or Photoshop.

2) Open your new image in Gimp and configure the grid to 64 px ("Image > Configure Grid..."), then you'll want to Show grid and Snap to grid ("View > Show Grid", "View > Snap to Grid").

3) Use the Select tool and select the inner floor area, then create a new Layer (important!) and make sure it is selected. Then choose the Airbrush tool and create your shadows:

4) SIZING! You have several choices here (I'll cover 3). I wanted my tiles to be a little bigger (the room squares are just so small otherwise!), so they don't perfectly match up with the original tiles but I'll show you how to size them to fit exactly if you want.

--- A) First we'll try just cutting off the outer wall - the result will fit perfectly with original game pieces. Use the select tool and select the inner floor again, then "Image > Crop to selection". Now check the canvas size and note it down (important for later!)... this one is [W: 640, H: 320]. You can export the image and be done, but if you want to keep the outer wall goto step B.

---B) Undo the "crop" (CTRL-Z) to get back your wall. Now change the grid size to 0.178 INCHES (not px), select the inner most grid-divide of the outer wall and "Crop to selection". This is how my tiles are sized; you can stop and export here but if you want them to match the original tiles (with those annoying small squares) continue to step C.

---C) Easy... working off step B), change the canvas size ("Image > "Canvas size") and enter the figures from step A) [W: 640, H: 320]... this will shrink your tile to fit exactly with the original game.

5) SAVE YOUR WORK!! ...save it as a Gimp project file so your Layers are retained. You'll need this when you go back to add your splash image to the floor.

The Tools (all free/open-source):
Pyromancers Dungeon Painter
Gimp
Inkscape

Coming Soon - Part 3 (adding your splash image to the floor)

New Dungeon Tile - The Phoenix Landing!

"Elves once lived in what is now the Kingdoms of Estalia, long before the men of Tylos came to settle on its warm coastal shore. Many ruins and relics of this distant past still remain to remind the humans of the elder race.

This Phoenix Landing is just one entrance to a hidden lair deep in the Irrana Mountains of Estalia."

The Wilderness part of this tile came from one of the great "Into the Wilderness" map-sets via DriveThruRPG. Most of these maps are less than $2, and truly worth buying in my opinion.

In the DOWNLOADS page of this blog you can download a printable version of this tile - enjoy!

How to - Dungeon Tiles: Part 1 (Floor Images)

This first step goes over how I create the splash images for the floor of my Dungeon Tiles. Keep in mind, this is the floor of a dungeon (haha!) - so your image shouldn't be too complex or too colorful; it also needs to be flat (2-dimensional). You might get lucky and find an image that is already perfectly suitable, but chances are you'll need to doctor up the initial image a bit. There are plenty of ways to get this done - here is mine:

1) Find your image; I'll start with this one (used without permission):

2) Crop out the part you want and open the cropped image with Inkscape (see The Tools below).

3) Zoom in and then 'Select' your image. Then open the "Path > Trace Bitmap" window, update and hit OK.

4) Delete the original image from behind the new bitmap, the result should look like this:

5) Save the new bitmap image, "File > Export Bitmap"; be sure to increase the size to at least 300px and give the file a name.

Now you have a basic, 2-dimensional image to work from. Later you can add more color if you want but this is a good starting point.

I still need to go over making the basic tile, adding shadows to the tile, and finally adding your new splash image to the tile and fitting it to the floor. Most of this stuff you folks have probably already figured out and have even better methods but this is for those that don't. Stay tuned for more!

The Tools (all free/open-source):
Pyromancers Dungeon Painter
Gimp
Inkscape

Coming Soon - Part 2 (creating the basic tile)

Dungeon Tiles RESIZED! - Please read!

If you've downloaded any of the Dungeon Tiles on this Blog, THEY'VE ALL BEEN RESIZED. On the DOWNLOADS page you can find the new re-sized tiles in PDF format.

Unfortunately, it wasn't until I went to have these printed on card that I realized they were off by 4 pixels! Worse yet, they were small by that amount. The original Advanced Heroquest tiles are already quite small and the round model-bases overlap as is. I wanted my tiles to be comparable but just hair (a millimeter or two) larger. If you are making your own tiles a good reference point is 64 pixels per square-tile.

I'm sorry if I caused anyone to waste ink printing the previous set of tiles. Keep in mind that these image (PNG) files are too big to print on your home printer. They need to be printed at original size at your local print shop.

The PDF versions however, are sliced into printable sized bites that should work for you at home.

Ok, well here is another tile then - this time sized correctly!

Another New Dungeon Tile

I wanted some large sacrificial chambers for the Dark Elf quest, and while a few of the Terror in the Dark tiles would have fit the dimensions they didn't fit the character. On the DOWNLOADS page you can find all three dungeon tiles in PDF format.

New Dungeon Tiles...

I have some lofty quest writing goals that may never be realized, but at a minimum I'd like to complete the Dark Elf quest I've started... Here are some of the floor tiles (the PDF's can be found in the DOWNLOADS page of this blog):