A MUST-BUY FOR SANDBOX GAMERUNNERS

Please note that this is the same review as I posted for Five Pack #1

I've bought both bundles, and have read through most of them, so 10 in all. Each of these is short and sweet and most definitely worth the price, and I'd say several dollars more if you compare to the general value of what you get for $2-3. I'll just cover this in bullet points because I'm not going to write up a big review and edit it:

• I've yet to come across one bad idea.
• If you're not sure about the concept or structure of hexcrawl books, give just one of these a shot. Download the free Compendium, which describes each booklet, and choose one.
• These are written in DnD, but they'll be good for any fantasy game that has a random-monsters angle to it or which needs a wilderness.

• The structure is a breakdown of one six-mile hex into its component one-mile hexes with >> A. General description of the six-mile, with history of what makes it special. B. Rumors. These are all solid and logical. C. Location callouts. Each six-mile will have about four to six one-miles called out, and they are tight, to the point, but not so short as to be like "thanks, I guess I'll do all the work then". It's about the purpose and the inhabitants. Good people, bad monsters, good monsters, bad people, cursed locations, interesting nature, they're all in there. D. Random encounter table! Awesome. Linked directly to the theme and population of the Hexed Place, of course. Great stuff. E. Extras: Here is the boom. Not every idea here is totally original, which is great. Let's have a bit of familiarity with our gonzo, okay? This is really what I was thinking of when I said above "Yet to come across a bad idea." Major NPCs, Major new monsters, Major treasures, all of course linked to the Hexed Place and totally logical to the inhabitants and history. F. And of course what I should have put first, the maps. Maybe you don't like hexmaps with their definitive symbols and such. I would expect a lot of people don't. To me, they're a tool. No one map can convey all relevant facts about a place. You know when you try to communicate elevation AND vegetation in one map? Then add politics? It's usually almost incomprehensible. So maybe think of hexmaps as an "Map of Dynamics and Vegetation". That is a stupid phrase, but I can't think of a better right now. "Factors & Flora" or something.

  Anyway, these products are an example of excellent design and excellent, concise, imaginative writing. I will be planting these six-mile hexes in my bigger map and making a campaign that is impinged on by the NPCs, monsters and locations described here. Can't give it a more heartfelt thumbs-up than that.

This review is for the Dungeons in Blue tiles in general, not just The Master List.

Simply put, they are very excellent for use in my game. Instead of a VTT I use them in conjunction with a laptop & projector and the quality is perfect for that. I assemble several tiles in GIMP and edit them as needed (add things here, remove things there, a dash of color to spice things up) and add a black layer over the top that functions as my fog of war. I simply erase bits of this layer as the party progresses through the dungeon and it works excellently. I really appreciate the GM tiles being separate as I put things like secret doors as their own layer in GIMP and leave them as not visible until the party discovers them; it works like a charm. While I do not yet own all of the tile sets (there are a lot!) I do own several dozen of them and plan on getting more. The range of options is great and I really dig the old school flavor as I am old enough to remember when all dungeons were blue.

These are worth the price, but one thing to look out for - during the recent GM sale the prices of individual tiles were cheaper than the prices of the same tiles as parts of bundles. So look around if there is a site-wide sale going on as you may be able to find an even better deal.

Highly recommended.

I'd have rated it a four, but somebody decided that it had to be released as a Zip file. It's not big enough to warrant that. Therefore, a rating of 3 is the best I can give it, I almost gave it a 2.

Easy to view - all the maps available from Dungeons in Blue. I used a couple ideas for my own dungeons and made plans on which sets to buy in the future. Very complete.

Solid product that does exactly what it advertises. The writing is concise and organized, so this requires almost no prep time or rereading before use. It's a bit short, but uses the space more efficiently than most adventures and locations I've read, so it's rather worth the price.

Designed with flexibility and ease of use in mind, this product provides high quality traditional 'blue on white' map components in a way that makes it easy for you to create your own dungeons yet have them look very professional.

This pack contains twelve highly original areas, some caves and some constructed, which are geomorphic and hence can be linked to any other of the 'Dungeons in Blue' series of map components. Some have two exits and some just the one.

Aimed primarily for virtual table top users, people who run on a table-top should have little difficulty in piecing together what they need using a graphics package, then printing out at a suitable scale for their notes.

Although there are some features - scattered boulders, statues, pillars, doors and the like - there is plenty of space for you to add items, traps and monsters as you wish.

Excellent to give a professional yet old school feel to your games.