Gimp

[Apollo]

I like dungeon tiles. I don't like paying for them. Instead I use Gimp to create epic dungeons. My gaming group has a spare computer set up in the living room where we play and I usually just lay a flat screen monitor down on the table and use Gimp to display my dungeons and we play directly on the monitor. I realize that not everyone has the resources to do this, but if you have a spare flat screen monitor that you don't mind abusing then I suggest trying this out.

I got even more fancy(nerdy?) and have dual screens set up. One monitor is the DM's monitor with the DM's version of the dungeon on it as well as the monster maker and an initiative tracker. While the other screen is laid flat on the table and displaying only the dungeon. You can add a "fog of war" layer and reveal parts of the map as you go to make it even more interesting.

You can design some very large dungeons this way and it makes the game more enjoyable as there are now detailed backgrounds for the PC's to interact with.

I have included a picture of one dungeon we have used.

Vampire Catacombs

I loaded the actual .xcf, Gimp files to my server for people to download and take a look at. They are ~8mb's each. Click below:

Dungeon
DM's Version