Sneak Peek at Our New 3D Terrain!

Check it out!

These are some of the 3D Terrain sets and pieces that we’ve been using in our home games, and a few of them have made it to John’s convention games.  They’ve seen some use, and gotten a lot of love.  Updated versions of what you see here will soon be available at the Shack, because they’re just too cool not to be!  Also, we have a whole line of additional sets that we can’t show you here just yet, so stay tuned!

Fort Griffon
Fort Griffon
Rock Formations
The Ruins
The Ruins
The Ruins
The Ruins
The Ruins
The Portal
The Portal
Creek Bridge
Creek Bridge

Castle Terrain… Just Cool

About two years ago I downloaded the E-Z DUNGEONS: Borderland Keep, then proceeded to make one of the best ever 3d battle map terrain sets of my underpaid DMing career.

Of course, after all was said and done, the castle crumbled to pieces due to a raging gargantuan Terrasque… (or, a sneaky 3 year-old who took the entire set under the dining room table for some good old fashioned monster crushing).  Whichever.

Castle… gone… for good…

However, the other day I was cleaning up one of my email accounts…

  • 350+ unopened emails
  • 350+ unopened spam

…when I came across these pics.  They were taken by a player in the game when the castle was used.  Yippee!  This particular battle was cool because the players planned it out with about 100 NPC allies to help them (some quick mass-combat rules made this easy).  This was one of my favorite battles that I’ve ever run, simply because we were able to utilize inner and outer castle walls, gates, portcullises, towers, crenelations, elevated crossbowmen, and hordes.  The whole thing was dynamic, and just plain cool.

Now, I still have the files for the castle set, so I can make more castle pieces again in the future.  I just need the perfect adventure.

Click to make ’em bigger:

If you ever make something like this, expect to use a fair amount of printer ink (set it to economy quick print), and make sure you have a decently-sized play area.  Right now the Borderland Keep is 50% off ($5.50), though I don’t know if it’s a sale or permanent.  *Scratch that* – It was a sale.

3D Battlemap Video Tutorial: The Warehouse Loft

Please enjoy this video tutorial. It’s my first, as well as a recreation of my first 3D Battlemap.  The original was used in a 4E D&D game as a warehouse/living space for a dwarf merchant.  The PCs had to meet with the merchant on the loft when the place was stormed.  The players loved the encounter, and I’ll never forget it.

ITEMS USED:

This 3D Battlemap uses the wood floor from the Dragonshire Expansion Set 1, though this is completely optional.

3D Battle Map – from Roland Chambers

One of the great things about the gaming community is our desire to share resources.  These pictures were sent in by Roland Chambers with just that intention.  I especially love when bushes and trees are added – that’s just the right touch (and something I have yet to do effectively).  What do you guys think?  Should we start up some sort of tutorial series?

To all our readers out there, please send in your pics to share!

3D Encounter Sets

I was inspired by our web-master’s recent set of pics so I thought I would add a few of my own.  Most of these came from my last Dungeons & Dragons campaign, Dark Legacy.  Enjoy.

The heroes’ first battle for Fort Griffin!
The taking of Cinderhill Dam.
The village of Dusk, somewhere in the Shadowfell.
Pirates!
Another shot of Fort Griffin.
The heroes enter Dusk.

3D Battle Maps, with Pics!

I’m a very visual gamer – I like me some props, pics, and 3d battle maps. Here are some 3D terrain battle maps that I’ve created over the past couple of years, originally posted over at Roleplaying Pro. John Lewis also makes excellent 3D battle maps, so hopefully more will be posted by him.

Tower of Power
Tower of Power
Tower of Power
Tower of Power
Tower of Power
The Shrine
The Shrine
The Shrine

Agaroth’s Pass
Agaroth’s Pass
Horned Hold
Horned Hold
Horned Hold
Horned Hold
Horned Hold
Horned Hold

Pretty cool, huh?