Designed by Greg K.

Poehlein
With additional components by Gary M. Williams
Copyright 2000 MicroTactix Games
www.microtactix.com
Building Dirt Cheep Dungeons noted, all Glue Tabs fold in towards to the structure.
Use a straight-edge and scoring tool to score along
these lines so they fold easily.
Creating your own massive dungeon complex is
now as easy as building a box. Included in this
package is the Dungeon Tile Base and eight pages
of walls in various lengths and thicknesses. Also
included are several styles of doors, a pit, stairs
going up and down, torches for the walls and even a
few different chests and trunks to add some flavor to
the dungeons.
Some of the parts are folded into standups. These
are folded so the two end panels overlap. These two
end panels form the base and are glued together, so
that the final standup is tent shaped, with a
triangular cross section.
Dirt Cheep dungeons is created in the 25mm
scale, in which a 6 foot tall figure is about one inch
tall. This equates to 1/72 scale. The floors are
marked in a block tile pattern that simulates a grid
of one-inch squares. These tiles can be used with not
only MicroTactix's own Simply Roleplaying and
Compact Combat games, but with any game system
that uses a one-inch square system for movement.
Disclaimer We have made every effort to make
sure that all the parts fit together properly, but
sometimes tolerances are tight and mistakes do
happen. Test fit all pieces before applying glue.
Some trimming may be required.
Dungeon Tile Base (page 1)
Cut out the Base completely, then score and fold
the sides and glue tabs. Unless you are building a
plain base with no walls or other accessories, do not
glue the sides together - gluing the walls to the base
is easier when the sides are left unglued. Once all
other details are glued to the base, glue the four glue
tabs inside the sides so the base stands 3/4 inches
tall.
To build these dungeons, you must first print or
photocopy the parts to a good heavy card stock. We
recommend at least 65# cover stock, and heavier is
even better if you can find it.
Tools Required
Besides the printed pages, you will also need the
following tools and supplies: Cut out the four base locks, including the slot in
the center. These are assembled as standups (see
above) but will have a slot in the center. (See
Figure 1)
Scalpel or sharp-bladed hobby knife
Scoring tool (optional) - dead ball point pens work
well, or just turn the knife blade over and score
the line lightly.
Metal ruler or straight-edge
Cutting surface - a self-healing cutting mat is just
wonderful, but a sheet of corrugated cardboard or
even heavy poster board will work as well.
Figure 1
Glue - white glue, glue stick or wax stick. Double
sided cellophane tape also works, but may let go
after some time.
General Construction Notes
White glue contains a good deal of water. Too
much glue will warp the card stock to a point where
it becomes almost unusable. If you use white glue,
put a very thin coat on the glue tabs - the thinner the
better. You can use a cotton swab or your finger to
spread the glue thin. Remember to keep a damp
paper towel handy to remove any excess glue.
Each part has been marked with a series of Gray
Lines that are Fold or Score lines. All Tabs which
are to be glued to hold the structures together are
marked with a capital letter "G". Unless otherwise
!
Walls (pages 2-9) To install the pit, cut the center four squares from
a tile base and glue pit to the underside of the base
as in figure 5. Pits can also be mounted in other
positions or anywhere along a corridor tile if you
like. To glue the pit to the edge of a base, cut off
one of the top glue tabs and glue the side of the pit
to the inside of the side of the tile base.
All walls, no matter how long or wide are built
the same way. Cut the wall sections from the card
stock, then score and fold along the gray lines. Glue
the tabs inside at the corners to form a simple box.
The four tabs on the open side (the bottom) are
folded in and used to glue the walls to the base.
Align the walls with the sides of the base. (See
Figure 2) If two walls will end up touching each
other (as in a corner), apply a layer of glue to the
end of the wall which will be against the other wall
section. This will make the walls much stronger.
Figure 5
HINT: If you decide you want a little more
support for the center of your tiles (i.e. if you have
very heavy metal figures), you can glue the pit
under the center of a tile base without cutting out
the center. The pit is the same height as the tile
base and will act as a pedestal to support the center
of the base. However, this is not usually needed - the
base is actually strong enough to support several
human sized metal figures without noticeable
sagging.
Figure 2
Torches (page 2)
Torches are simply two small standups. Cut and
fold both the torch handle and a flame standup. Once
both handle and flame are assembled, glue the two
bases together. (See figure 3). Glue the torch handle
to any wall surface you like.
Blocks (page 5)
The blocks are built just like the walls. They can
be used to build up a dais or platform in any position
on a base. If building more than one layer of the
blocks, try to stair-step the blocks. Also, be sure to
glue the sides of adjacent blocks to each other so
they will be more secure and hold together better.
Chests (pages 6 & 9)
Chests are built as any other box. The small chest
is a simple box. The rounded chest folds so that each
panel of the lid wraps around the glue tabs of the
sides. The large cabinet can be glued permanently to
a wall or can simply be placed against it - the open
side of the cabinet should be to the floor.
Figure 3
Doors (pages 2, 3 & 4)
Like the torches, doors are simple standups. Cut
and fold, then glue the ends together to form a base.
Pit (page 4)
Stairs (page 8) The pit is built as a box, but is built with the
printed side to the inside. Be sure to glue the glue
tabs to the outside of the sides (see figure 4).
There are two different sets of stairs - those going
up and those going down. For steps going up, build
as any other box, except that one fold will be
inverse to form the lower step. Steps going up take
up four squares and can be mounted in a room or in
a corridor.
Figure 4
Steps going down are built in a similar fashion,
but with the printed side to the inside. Cut out a 2x2
square from a tile base and glue the stairs to the
underside as with the pit, above. Again, steps going
down can either be mounted in a room tile or at one
end of a corridor tile.
Creating a Dirt Cheep Dungeon If you want a two inch gap, replace the first 1x2
wall (the one glued to the 1x6 wall) with a 1x1 wall
as in Figure 9.
Dungeon tiles can be built in many different
configurations to form the basic tiles needed to
construct a dungeon. From the basic tile with no
wall, we go to the tile with one wall as in figure 1
above. Next, we glue a 1x6 wall along one edge and
a 1x5 wall to an adjacent edge to form a corner tile
(see figure 6).
Figure 9
HINT: Build a few doorways like figures 7 and 8,
and build a few 1x1 wall sections to slip into the
gap. These can be used to represent secret panels in
the walls. If you use these doorway panels often
enough even when there isn't a secret door, your
players won't know whether there isn't a secret door,
or they just failed to detect one.
Figure 6
Of course, dungeon rooms aren't a lot of good
without doorways and doors. This is what the shorter
walls are for. For example, to place a doorway in a
straight wall section, build a 1x2 and 1x3 wall
section and mount them to the tile base as in Figure
7. If you want a double wide door, use two 1x2 wall
sections instead.
Smaller rooms can also be built. If you place two
1x6 wall sections along opposite edges of a tile, and
a 1x1 and 1x2 wall sections as in figure 10, you
have half of a 4x10 square room. Placing a 1x4 tile
in the gap at the front will make a tiny 4x4 room.
And, of course, doorways can be placed anywhere at
the center of any wall section as you like. Be sure to
always put the doorways in either (or both) of the
center two squares of each tile so the hallways will
match up.
Figure 7
You can also put doorways in a room corner tile.
For example, Glue a 1x6 wall to one edge of a tile.
On the adjacent edge, glue two 1x2 walls, one
against the 1x6 and the other at the other edge
leaving a 1 inch gap between the walls (see Figure
8). In use, this can be an open doorway or you can
place a door standup in the gap for a closed door.
Figure 10
Corridors are a matter of using the two inch wide
wall sections (2x2, 2x4 and 2x6), leaving a two inch
gap down the center of the tile (see figure 11).
Figure 8
Figure 11
For a corner, use a 2x6 wall along one edge of
the tile, then glue a 2x4 wall to the adjacent edge.
(see Figure 12a)
On an uncovered tabletop or on a tile floor, the tiles
will tend to slide around easily. To hold them to
each other use the locks provided on page 1. Use
two locks per side, and simply slide the edges of
both bases into the slot of the lock.
The number of locks needed will depend on the
number of tiles being used and how you place them.
We suggest building a minimum of two locks per
tile, but a few extras will come in handy as well.
Figure 12a
Finally, glue a 2x2 wall to the opposite corner, as
it figure 12b.
Figure 12b
For three-way intersections (Figure 13), glue a
2x6 wall to one edge of the tile, then glue a 2x2
wall to each of the remaining two corners.
Figure 13
For a four-way intersection (Figure 14), glue four
2x2 walls to the tile, one in each corner.
Figure 14
HINT: Don't forget that you can also glue 1x1
wall sections anywhere on one or more room tiles to
represent stone pillars. These make handy obstacles
to provide cover for those trigger-happy dungeon
delvers.
Once you have a number of tiles built, it is time
to assemble your Dirt Cheep Dungeon. If you are
placing the tiles on a carpeted floor or on a fabric
tablecloth, the tiles will stay in place well enough.

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Dirt Cheap Dungeons
1x5 Wall
Copyright 2000 MicroTactix Games
www.microtactix.com
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Dirt Cheap Dungeons
1x4 Wall & Pit
Copyright 2000 MicroTactix Games
www.microtactix.com
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Dirt Cheap Dungeons
1x3 Wall & Raised Platforms
Copyright 2000 MicroTactix Games
www.microtactix.com
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Dirt Cheap Dungeons
1x2 Wall & 1x1 Wall
Copyright 2000 MicroTactix Games
www.microtactix.com
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Dirt Cheap Dungeons
2x6 Wall
Copyright 2000 MicroTactix Games
www.microtactix.com
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Dirt Cheap Dungeons
2x2 Wall & Stairs
Copyright 2000 MicroTactix Games
www.microtactix.com
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Stairs Down
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Stairs Up
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Dirt Cheap Dungeons
2x4 Wall
Copyright 2000 MicroTactix Games
www.microtactix.com
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