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Post by dungeonmistress on Sept 14, 2014 18:06:33 GMT
I am working on a 'dungeon' with 39 rooms, 27 single doors, 9 cell doors, 5 archways and 3 secret doors . I am working with a limited time frame and I wonder how many doors of each type I actually need to make? Please share your opinion with me so I can see what the prevailing thought is. Thanks in advance.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2014 18:20:14 GMT
my thoughts, as many as are in full view at any given time. I would think you don't have to have all of them, as the party moves on, just reuse the doors from the previous room. so, that being said, craft as many as needed in the one room with the most doors, and like I said, just recycle them to the next room, and so on.
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Post by tauster on Sept 14, 2014 18:29:43 GMT
I guess the number of elements you need depends on the size of your gaming table, if you want to put the complete dungeon on it or only the parts that the party currently is in, the length of your game sessions (3 hrs or a whole gaming day), your player's gaming style, etc. You'll have to decide how large the part of the dungeon is that you want put on your gaming table if you don't go for the 'all on the table' option. If your players prefer a 'hit and run' style, they might cover a large area of the dungeon in one session and you'll have fo craft more, if they go methodically from room to room, you need only a few elements of each. In short: without knowing your group's gaming style, session length, the dungeon adventure and your game table, it's hard for me to give you an advice that really helps... Without knowing all the stuff I mentioned above, I would say make 5 rooms and doors and as many secret dors as there are in the room with the most of them (probably not more then 2), one or two archways and cell doors. Plus enough corridor elements (if they're not included in the room number). As I said, giving an exact advice is impossible withouth knonwing the details, but I'm quite confident you don't have to craft the complete dungeon - especially not with a limited timeframe.
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Post by rane on Sept 15, 2014 4:12:17 GMT
I currently have 3 strong wooden doors, 4 regular doors, 3 smooth stone and 2 rough stone doors, one crude door. 4 metal doors, and 3 broken metal doors.
For smaller dungeons or ones with ltos of small floors I can reuse a lot and be ok - but I think Im still gonna need to make a few more strong and regular wooden doors - probably 10-15 of each to be safe and just have enough for any situation.
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Post by skunkape on Sept 15, 2014 19:07:31 GMT
I would agree that you only need as many as the party can see at one time! A nice to have would be one for every door that you have in the location, dungeon, house, inn, temple, etc.
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Post by adamantinedragon on Sept 16, 2014 4:04:34 GMT
Here's a small sample of my doors. I also have a dozen or so hand-crafted ones from cardboard and wood fragments. My personal opinion is that you never have enough doors.
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Post by beetlewing on Sept 19, 2014 7:49:59 GMT
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Post by DarthTaco18 on Sept 27, 2014 18:10:29 GMT
I've posed myself this question before. As I am the type of DM that really just wants to build out as the dungeon is explored and leave it all there for the players to map out. But then I looked at my table size and realized, I could only do a few rooms, so I just made what I need for the largest number of doors in a room as well
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Post by dungeonmistress on Sept 27, 2014 18:33:48 GMT
My problem, exactly. I have a 18" x 3' coffee table on which I place a 3' x 4' folding project board. The Ancient Academy, when fully laid out, measures 5' x 5'! I have no choice but to set up part at a time, unless I set it up on the floor.
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Post by DnDPaladin on Sept 30, 2014 5:10:01 GMT
i'm gonna say this much. it really depends on your playstyle. i have about 10 of them, still need to do more variation though. but my guess being that 20 in total and mixed up for all types. should be more then enough. after all, unless you have a conferance table. such a big dungeon will not fit it all. and i doubt the players to be able to do all the map and come back to it. so i'd retake those i'd have used before.
basically for me, im not keeping the map up at all times. to save some spaces on my table.
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Post by DarthTaco18 on Oct 2, 2014 16:22:31 GMT
Here's a small sample of my doors. I also have a dozen or so hand-crafted ones from cardboard and wood fragments. My personal opinion is that you never have enough doors. I stay eternally jealousy of your collections. But as time goes on maybe I make enough to acquire the variety and detail you demonstrate. (At least that what I hope for)
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Post by adamantinedragon on Oct 2, 2014 18:20:36 GMT
DarthTaco18, I was just having a conversation with one of my game group members about whether I have TOO much stuff. It's not very organized. I am in the process of moving it from one room to another though, so I'm going to take this as an opportunity to re-organize everything. As far as the doors above go, those are almost all plaster casts out of a Hirst Arts mold, so once you have the mold, you can make as many as you want. I could have hundreds by now if I just wanted them that badly. I also have some that I just make on my own out of odds and ends.... If I can get my stuff organized, I'll take a photo and post it on the forum.
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Post by DarthTaco18 on Oct 2, 2014 19:02:01 GMT
DarthTaco18, I was just having a conversation with one of my game group members about whether I have TOO much stuff. It's not very organized. I am in the process of moving it from one room to another though, so I'm going to take this as an opportunity to re-organize everything. As far as the doors above go, those are almost all plaster casts out of a Hirst Arts mold, so once you have the mold, you can make as many as you want. I could have hundreds by now if I just wanted them that badly. I also have some that I just make on my own out of odds and ends.... If I can get my stuff organized, I'll take a photo and post it on the forum. I wouldn't mind seeing an organized layout of the collection. I've considered going to plaster in the past, but for some reason I just haven't found the funds to go that directio, even though considering how much can come out of it, its not that expensive.
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Post by adamantinedragon on Oct 2, 2014 19:12:32 GMT
The initial investment is significant, but you can reduce it by carefully choosing the first molds you buy. Each mold costs about $30-$40 as I recall, and if you buy multiples, you get discounts. But it's still not cheap. But plaster is cheap, even the hard stuff I use. I get 50 pound bags of Hydrostone for about $35. And fifty pounds is a lot of Hirst blocks. So over time, if you really do a lot of casting, the cost per item comes down a lot.
I first got into Hirst molds because I thought the cost of Dwarven Forge blocks was just astronomical. And compared to Dwarven Forge, the Hirst approach is dirt cheap, and it allows you to customize things to any degree you like. I've even made my own custom molds to cast my own custom pieces. But compared to DM Scotty's 2.5D approach, Hirst blocks are quite expensive.
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Post by skunkape on Oct 2, 2014 21:03:56 GMT
One of the big things I like about Hirst blocks is that there is a little more weight to them than with just cardboard and foamcore. Granted, you can add some weight with sand, but using plaster like Merlin's Magic, even if you just door floor and 1 block high walls makes a big difference!
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Post by adamantinedragon on Oct 3, 2014 0:27:09 GMT
skunkape, I concur, but I would go further and say that the Hirst blocks allow me to create highly detailed builings, bridges, towers, that qualify for actual sculpture status if I want to display them that way. I have several Hirst Arts projects on display in my front room as home decor. I also like the consistency of the result. My cardboard construction skills don't end up nearly as consistent as a final result.
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Post by DarthTaco18 on Oct 3, 2014 22:27:01 GMT
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Post by dungeonmistress on Oct 3, 2014 23:51:16 GMT
I would, if I had any Hirst molds. Or even a door I could make a mold from. For now,I making DM Scotty doors, (I'll make some DMG doors when I get some more stick to work with.
Just got back from WallyWorld. Splurged and bought 4 bottles of Apple Barrel paints! Whoo-hoo!
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Post by adamantinedragon on Oct 4, 2014 6:12:37 GMT
Here are some ways I've made quick and cheap doors before (and sometimes after) I got the Hirst molds. I have a box of thin wooden coffee stirrers that cost me virtually nothing that I use for a lot of game crafting situations. They can be painted or stained and their small size and flexibility actually makes it easy to make decently scaled items for gaming.
For doors I used to first cut a piece of cardstock from something like a cereal box to the door size I want, then I just cut and glue down the sticks on both sides of the card stock. I'll usually get some clear plastic from some packaging and cut a small base and hot glue it to the base of the door so it will stand up with the floor visible on both sides.
If you don't have and can't find wooden coffee stirrers, you can do the same thing with more expensive, but still reasonably cheap, craft sticks from Michaels, Hobby Lobby or some other hobby store. You can design and make several different styles of doors from sturdy cross-braced barriers to flimsy, rickety invitations to enter.
Another thing I've done is sculpt a door out of Sculpey clay. You can probably make a dozen doors and bake them in half an hour watching TV.
I've even gone so far as to make a temporary mold out of clay and cast copies of a door I like. That usually means molding each side and then gluing the halves together once you've cast each side, but it's a fairly easy process and you can make a LOT of doors that way, for pennies a door.
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Post by skunkape on Oct 6, 2014 17:00:38 GMT
I've been experimenting with Sculpey and some of my Hirst Arts molds! So far I've gotten good results with one of the floor tile molds, but the first wall mold didn't work out quite as well. Being a deeper mold, I didn't push the clay in quite enough in a couple of spots and demolding caused a little deforming of the Sculpey. I'd like to bake the Sculpey right in the molds, but I'm not sure if the molds will withstand the heat! I've tried to get an answer on the Hirst forums, but so far, the responses having covered how well the molds will hold up to the heat.
But I also use the coffee stirrers to make my doors as well, at least wooden doors!
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