DUNGEON in a SUITCASE - For the GM on the go (and everyone else)

craft
inspiration
terrain

#1

So, a few people have asked me what I use for terrain and maps etc. at my table. And since I rarely play at my own house, I’ve created a dungeon-kit-to-go that has both:

  • Easy to bring anywhere
  • Allows me to do almost any terrain setup for any situation
  • Has great quality for best visual experience

What I did was, take a common tool case:

Build a pretty standard foam board into the lid, and the main compartment:

Make dividers for the main compartment, that holds some painted up Jenga tiles, some square blocks, some walkways (inspired by Hankerin’s build from an old video), some trees, rocks, crates etc.

And we’re good to go for some cool encounters:

BATTLE AT THE STONE HENGE

SEWERS OF EVIL

THE MINIS:
The monster minis are made from Shrinky Dink, and painted up in color coded batches numbered 1-10. It alllows me to have generic monsters without having to hoard a bunch of minis that take up space, or paper minis that - quite frankly - also quickly add up.

Go forth and craft.

  • Meadbeard

UPDATE! - TERRAIN CONTENTS
On popular demand, here are some detailed pictures of the terrain contents.

Here is an overview of everything stored in the case. You may notice two large black blocks in the second compartment from the left. Those aren’t terrain, but the supports i use for the lid, when folded open.

  1. 30x generic dungeon blocks. (Painted up wooden jenga tiles).

  2. 6x Dungeon doors. (Made from foam board and popsicle sticks.)

  3. 2x Wide walkways & 2x narrow walkways. (Made from tongue depressors, and coffee stir sticks)

  4. 3x Large wood crates/blocks. (Made from heavy card stock, popsicle sticks & match sticks)

  5. 8x Stone pillars/blocks. (Made from foam and heavy card stock)

  6. 1x bag of Icelandic Moss.

  7. 1x Custom “Banana” stick (Made from a tongue depressor and some gears)

  8. 6x Trees. (Made from Foam, Heavy card stock and some flock)

  9. 4x Stone pillars & 2x Stone walls. (Made from foam)

  10. 5x Rocks. (Made from foam)

  11. 1x Double sided stone dais/Wizard’s lock (Made from Heavy Card Stock)

  12. 4x Wooden tables (Made from wooden blocks, matches & heavy card stock)

  13. 2x Chairs (made from wooden block & heavy card stock)

  14. 1x Campfire (Made from LED tea light and matches)

  15. 4x Chests, 1x Weapon Rack, 4x Barrels & 1x Lectern (From some dungeon terrain set)

  16. 1x Stone Throne (From same dungeon terrain set)

  17. 2x Levers (Made from Card stock, a match stick & a Hama Bead)

  18. 1x Stone altar. (Made from heavy card stock)

  19. 1x Altar of Blood (Bought on some online terrain store)

  20. 2x Sewer Grates. (Made from toilet roll, cardboard and tootchpicks)

  21. 6x stacks of Crates. (Made from wooden blocks)

  22. 2x Torches. (Made from LED tea lights and cork)


Repository: DM Kit Essentials
Super cheap terrain ideas
Feelin' Crafty
#2

Nice setup! Are the trees foam (xps)? Have fallen behind on my crafting but I’m aiming on ramping it up next week


#3

Yeah, those are cut from foam, and based on cardstock. Nothing complex. But easy to store, and practical at play.
The rocks, and square pillars in the sewer setup are also cut from foam. The pillars are just square blocks glued to card stock and painted up. Super versatile.
The little lever is just card stock, a match stick, and a hama bead.


#4

Dude those trees look amazing!!!


#5

That’s one sweet setup! I have a few piles of color coded Meeples that I sometimes to use for the same stuff you have the minis for, and especially for crowds of faceless NPC civilians needing saved in VC. Then I do Custom minis or other props for significant stuff that needs the extra flavor. The problem with Meeples is how small and humanoid shaped they are compared to the other paper minis can be distracting and cognitively jarring. I like the idea of having “default” paper minis.


#6

OMG. That’s an amazing setup.


#7

Yeah, I was a bit reserved about the idea at first, because we were used to Pathfinder pawns. But I was sick of carrying hordes and boxes of paper minis.
Now even my friends who GM use my setup. It’s easy to keep track of what monster took what damage etc. With numbered and color coded generics.
Blue 1-5 are goblin mooks, the red 1 is the goblin shaman, and the green 1-2 are dire wolf riders. Go!
You attack goblin nr. 3? For 5 damage? I mark down B3 -5. All on the same piece of paper where I noted initiative order. Something I found frustrating with minis and pawns. Which one was damaged again?


#8

As I’m Inspired and motivated into thinking right now about revising my sprawling kit of minis, might even have a default ENEMY and CRITTER minis, or SMALL, HUMAN, and LARGE paper minis. And then save the custom minis for when that extra POP! is gets the most bang for the effort.


#9

Definitely a nice setup. If I start traveling again with my game I might have to copy this.


#10

I actually just use poker chips as large bases, and put the generic mini token on one if I need a large monster. Most poker chips take up about 2" x 2".


#11

Dungeon in a suitcase??! Awesome!

Now make one for James Bond. I think it would fit incredibly well with the concept! ;D


#12

That is Amazing!!! :astonished::grin::nerd_face::sunglasses:
Take a hero coin :herocoin:


#13

Dude that is pretty sweet!

Your crates are exactly like mine by the way lol.


#14

Am I the only one without cool crates? I was admiring those!!!


#15

You are not alone. I want to make some :grin:


#16

They are just small wooden cubes cut from two 1 inch and half inch sticks, painted and glued together into small piles for easy setup. :beer:


#17

Is it possible to get an inventory of everything you fit in there? Every time I look at the pictures I see a new detail or piece and geek over it again haha! This is so cool!


#18

Sure thing. I’ll do a photo shoot of all the bits and pieces and post them here. :beer:


#19

Just updated the post with content pics. Enjoy. :beer:


#20

Thank you! Those are all amazing pieces and excellent craftsmanship. :herocoin: