So we have a preview for DU5, and an "excerpt" for it this week. Awesome - I love getting to see the tiles before I go out and buy myself a pile of them.
But, that said, having looked at them I'm mildly concerned that, well, there's a lot less "woods" to the Sinister Woods than I would have expected.
Now, the stuff that it does contain looks excellent, and I like that there's a lot of "ruins" style stuff, but... I was really looking forward to something more like the first outdoors set (Ruins of the Wild). Actually, this set appears (from the previews) to be a better fit for the "Ruins of the Wild" name than the first set. 
So, not really a complaint, just some confusion. I'm hoping that the portions of the tiles that we haven't seen previewed are all "woodsy" tiles - I'm still hankering for better outdoors / wilderness tiles.
It could be for each of the 6 sheets, one side will be ruins the other side outdoors. While this would be less ideal for those of us looking for a Ruins of the Wild replacement, it would still be pretty darn good and wouldn't be a case of "great, half of these tiles are useless while I want duplicates of the other half."
So, not really a complaint, just some confusion. I'm hoping that the portions of the tiles that we haven't seen previewed are all "woodsy" tiles - I'm still hankering for better outdoors / wilderness tiles.
Given the variety provided by the most recent sets I should hope that the other side might be more outdoorsy. That said one of the stated design goals of this set was to provide tiles that can serve to create a smoother transitions from outdoors-to-dungeon, much like how Caverns of Carnage provided tiles that transition from sewers-to-caves and caves-to dungeon. With that goal in mid this next set looks spectacular.
That said, I to would have hoped for a more forested theme, as Ruins of the Wild was more open fields, roads, and rivers (oh and you are right that the name RotW fits this new set better). Also I'll echo a desire for more variety in outdoors tiles. I'm still hoping for some nice swamp and desert themes, and some terrain for the Elemental Chaos would be nice as well.
I'll echo a desire for more variety in outdoors tiles. I'm still hoping for some nice swamp and desert themes
Just one more reason to love Dark Sun.
Just one more reason to love Dark Sun.
Well, I can't say I'm happy about the price hike, though even at $12 the tile sets will still be a bargin. That minor quip aside, SWEET!!!, not that I needed any more reason to look forward to Dark Sun.
Though now I feel far less forgiving about the lack of an airship map in either the ECG or SotAC. The chaos ship in Prince of Death gives me some small hope, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
Just one more reason to love Dark Sun.
Well, I can't say I'm happy about the price hike, though even at the tile sets will still be a bargin. That minor quip aside, SWEET!!!, not that I needed any more reason to look forward to Dark Sun.Though now I feel far less forgiving about the lack of an airship map in either the ECG or SotAC. The chaos ship in Prince of Death gives me some small hope, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
Fortunately I got the RPGA ship dungeontiles. If those can't be converted to a reasonable airship (of course, first you need the tiles to convert them ;)), then its probably best to just give up on airship tiles entirely and simply use a battlemat.
Though now I feel far less forgiving about the lack of an airship map in either the ECG or SotAC. The chaos ship in Prince of Death gives me some small hope, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
Fortunately I got the RPGA ship dungeontiles. If those can't be converted to a reasonable airship (of course, first you need the tiles to convert them ;)), then its probably best to just give up on airship tiles entirely and simply use a battlemat.
Awesome for you (on the Ship tiles), but those aren't exactly widely available. I hope we still get some real tiles for ships/airships/vehicles - something that I can buy, and something that I can buy multiples of.
Awesome for you (on the Ship tiles), but those aren't exactly widely available. I hope we still get some real tiles for ships/airships/vehicles - something that I can buy, and something that I can buy multiples of.
This.
I don't mind the RPGA members getting rewards months in advance of a widescale release, but everything should eventually become available for purchase by the general public.
I don't mind the RPGA members getting rewards months in advance of a widescale release, but everything should eventually become available for purchase by the general public.
Agreed.
I'm sorta disappointed by the ruined pieces. I can fake those already just with standard dungeon tiles. As this is the first "outdoors" set in awhile and for perhaps some time in the future it should have been well... more wilderness and less stonework. We have TONS of stonework already.
Not that the pieces are unwelcome but "transition" pieces shouldn't get in the way of the theme of the set.