Insulation foam has been taunting Ben for many years now…practically daring him to man up and take the plunge. His apprehension with the material is quite humorous, especially when you consider its light weight and pink color. Thankfully, a homebrewed underworld in D&D’s Pyramid of Shadows has forced his hobby hand. Let’s pop a sun rod and examine Ben’s initial foray into the mysteries of foam.

The Inspiration
Ben first encountered the miraculous material’s properties during his early Gen Con days as a player. His DM, a pioneer in the marriage of Hirst Arts and terrain foam, builds elaborate game boards for the best four days of gaming. He teases Ben every year of the Con with new builds.</>

As usual, Ben could only admire the impressive work from afar. Pink foam is not readily available in Arizona (because of how houses are built here) and he just didn’t have a comfort factor with Hirst Arts early on.

The final foam push came when Ben had to build the first encounter for some Carrion Crawler-like creatures inside D&D’s Pyramid of Shadows. The module mentions their underground lair pretty much as an afterthought. That sorta saddened Ben. This initial combat forte could open up the adventure to all sorts of impromptu cavernous levels and hidden tunnels. So it was time to get busy craftin’.

Part 1: What Ben Made
Let’s start by showing you what Ben constructed and then conclude with all the materials and steps needed to give it a go yourself (should you get the itch).

Modular Rubble Piles
A great place to start and alleviate some of that pent up builder anxiety is with some forgiving rubble piles. This open terrain layout gives you plenty of room to experiment.

Ben’s overarching creative direction was to build pieces that would drop clues that something had burst up from the ground, snacked on its prey and then partially buried the remains (think mad dog with a big bone).

The tinier piles are also great to swap out with some wandering monster Earth Elementals.

Excavated Earth
Burrowing monsters are definitely going to leave behind clues…abnormal entry and exit points. A large hole surrounded by dirt seemed like a fitting terrain piece. Can’t you just see a Purple Worm suddenly popping up from the ground?

Side Note: Besides the DIY methods below, TheDMsCraft has a fun, alternate tutorial on this piece (get ready to un-holster your hot glue gun).

Perched Nest
Your Creepy Crawlers are going to need their own resting place. Ben wanted to have a spot nestled between the cavern floor and the actual room above – sorta like a damp rock ledge. Consider giving your monster a devastating ranged attack and forcing the party to scale the rock wall (like its protecting its young).

Tall Walls
Your traditional Hirst Arts cavern walls are certainly the 3D game board staple for this type of environment but there will be times where the area underground needs to come off as especially deep and formidable. That’s where a few foam cavern walls can really come in handy. They also give you narrow ledges to climb and fight on – good ol’ levels.

Part 2: How Ben Made It
Let’s explore how we made everything you just saw. Remember, guys – Ben sets the bar for what a novice terrain maker is capable of building. If he can follow these steps, so can you.

Meet MiniWarGaming Dave
One fateful day, Ben stumbled across a most excellent tutorial from the MiniWarGaming YouTube channel. Dave showed this slick, old school trick of combing toilet paper with Polystyrene to create this crazy unearthed effect. Ben, who already was hankering to improve his cavern environment, recognized this video as a golden chance to add the effect onto his new underground 3D board. His tutorial was easy to emulate and quite affordable: a hobby win-win.

When toilet paper is combined with a 50-50 mix of Elmer’s glue and water, the dried result is a solid, rippled surface with a slew of terrain possibilities. All those random bumps are a real gold mine for your upcoming dry brush paint step.

Your final pieces quickly convey the earth has been violently dug up with big ol’ roots strewn every which way. Terrain heaven.

The Materials
Before we get into your project checklist, we have to talk about the base itself. You are going to slosh your surface with a very wet, sticky mixture. At first, everything is going to seem fine. However, on the second day of the drying process, dire warping begins to creep in – panic is sure to ensue.

The warping is directly related to the size (width and height) of the earth effect. Ben’s very first piece was done on some Tempered Hardboard at Home Depot. And sure enough – he found a slight warp on his 4×2 square…although in hindsight, spraying it with a Kilz primer probably would have been wise.

His next foundation experiment was with a Hirst Arts 3×3 square mounted on traditional foam core. That choice worked surprisingly well for applying small amounts earth material.

Your failsafe choices are Medium Density Fiber Board, Hobby Plasticard or the Grand Poobah – insulation foam. Typically you can find an eight-foot sheet of pink foam at Home Depot.

Ben highly recommends you invest in a kit from Hot Wire Foam Factory but you can also save some money and just pick up the Router Tool from Woodland Scenics. Hot wire makes the wall cutting and shaping a snap.

Shopping List
The great news is many of the items on your project short list are readily available.

• Elmer’s White Glue
• Water
• Mixing cup (50% glue | 50% water)
• Popsicle stick (to stir and create indentations)
• Toilet paper (pull your squares apart ahead of time)

Ben really can’t add anything to the video that ol’ Dave didn’t already explain beautifully. Just be patient on the dry time. You’re looking at two days-ish for your watery glue-soaked material to fully cure into a solid papier-mâché material.

Enhance your piece by plopping these things down while the glue is still wet.

• Large Rocks (from the yard) or assorted stones (C1276 Coarse Brown)
• Frankensteined miniature parts (from old Mage Knight figs)
• Skulls (from molds HA #45, #70, #82 and #83)

One of Ben’s personal spins was sprinkling in those chewed up arms, torsos, heads, legs and weapons. This chaotic limb spatter effect helps drive home the ferocity of the monsters.

Paint Schemes
Ben was thrilled with the MiniWarGaming reco to gussy up your new terrain with the Reaper Master Series Paint line (readily available at a great price and low shipping at TheWarStore.com). However, feel free to substitute with larger traditional hobby acrylic paint bottles as needed.

Ben always primes everything black and then circles back with some acrylic touchup. With that out of the way, let’s talk color.

For your unearthed ground, stick with Dave’s reco (4:20 mark):

• Tanned Shadow (heavy dry brush)
• Fair Shadow (heavy dry brush)
• Polished Bone (light dry brush)

For your foam rock, use Dave’s asteroid scheme (5:57 mark):

• Midnight Blue
• Rainy Gray
• Olive Green
• Pure White
• Ghost White

For each of these Reaper colors, Ben sure to mix in a drop of flow improver for every five drops of paint. It really makes a nice difference. Regardless, be mindful of a jammed paint bottle. Ben squeezed too hard on some polished bone and alas, that did not go well.

Flock ‘Em (If You Got ‘Em)
So now it’s time to cover those hard flat edges, smooth TP spots and accidental paint streaks. Once again, flock is your friend.

Note: Ben is hooked on those applicator bottles and encourages hobbyists to keep a PVA mixture at the ready. Pouring on that glue is soooo easy now. Once the flock dries, be sure to give it a good dose of the clear matte sealer.

Don’t overlook this step guys. It packs a big punch. Try anyone of these flock types:

• Haderbrush Scatter
• Oregen Beach Sand
• Darksoil Scatter
• Fine Grass…for moss (Bachmann Trains Ground Cover)
• Small plants (Army Painter Battlefields Summer Undergrowth)
• Fine stone mixes

A lot of these are old Skullcraft mixtures but you can easily find similar materials online or at your local train store or hobby shop.

Finally, here are a couple more online tutorials that Ben really found helpful:

• 3-T Studios
• TheDMsCraft
• Terrain Templar

Next Week
With terrain at the ready, we’ll build out the very first encounter (P1: The Entrance Pit) inside the Pyramid of Shadows D&D module. Ben will show you the monsters, treasure and terrain effects for the completed game board. Roll for perception!

Questions to Ponder: Have you made your own pieces? Do you own a hot wire kit? Have you played The Pyramid of Shadows modules? What’s your favorite dirt dwelling monster? What type of underground terrain effects do you like to add to the map?

Join our Facebook community | Subscribe to us on YouTube

Ben is feverishly working on finishing his custom creepy cavern crawler lair – his homebrewed underground add-on level for the entrance room of the Pyramid of Shadows module. Water effects are now involved and as many of you know, those pieces can take a painstaking amount of time to produce. Don’t fret – there’s still plenty of D&D goodness to talk about this week (while we all wait for Ben’s new terrain to dry). Let’s mosey down the Pile aisles and see what we can pull off his RPG shelves.

Forging Options
First and foremost, if this particular DIY cavern set build scheme isn’t your cup of hobby tea, you can get everything you need from Dwarven Forge. Their cavern line is exquisite. And while you do have to pay more for these pre-made, out-of-the-box quality pieces, many DMs consider this investment a worthy one. Underground environments require a lot of personal touches (like dirt, water, shadows, etc). Ben actually likes to mix and match homemade Hirst Arts terrain with Dwarven Forge…especially those amazing hallways.

Rubble Piles
Ben is a huge admirer of Hirst Arts master “Caveman” – a legend hobbyist of the terrain community. The Pile has always admired his dungeon rubble piles from afar. The good news is Ben finally has a handle on this eye popping technique.

And while rubble accents might be obvious to some people, the proper technique has always eluded Ben…with tutorials being few and far between. Once again Hirst Herculean hobbyist, “Bumyong,” recently gave Ben an impeccable forum thread to get things rolling.

Here’s your rubble-making materials checklist:

• Woodland Scenics Coarse Brown (C1276) flock
• Woodland Scenics Medium Gray (C1279) flock
• Akasha Sand Natural Mix (available at Walmart)
• White Glue (Ben’s Favorite: LePage)
• PVA Glue Mix (50% water | 50% Elmer’s)
• Matte Sealer
• Admire the final product

Your first step is to glue your tiny rubble cluster to the appropriate tile. That white glue will take some time to dry (don’t pour it on too thick). Once complete, go back over your rock pile with that watered down PVA mix as this step cements those little rocks in place. Finally, spray on the matte sealer to seal in the stoney goodness.

You can place these rock piles on certain terrain pieces or go the modular route and mount them on chip board, thin cereal box cardboard or even small miniature bases.

Caverns Water Spots
Back in the 2-2-13 blog post, Ben shared some tricks and tips for making a sandy stone floor. Well, this past weekend, he decided to include some standing puddles by sprinkling in some Woodland Scenics Realistic Water effects. There’s very little sweat equity as long as you follow the steps in the right order.

• Glue down your Hirst Arts cavern stones
• Smooth on your DAP filler
• Sand out some ridges (while wearing a breathing mask)
• Prime your piece
• Apply a heavy dry brush of your basecoat brown
• Highlight a light dry brush of Americana’s Toffee
• Add your moss flock (and let it fully dry)
• Add your sand flock (and let it fully dry)
• Spray on your matte sealer
• Paint the open water grooves (GW Knarloc Green/Loren Green)
• Pour your water effect on (ever so slowly)
• Let it dry (by being very patient)
• Admire your work

This type of cavern piece may seem like a lot steps but they’re all quite quick and easy. Never fear – the payout is certainly there.

Ben tried a deeper blue water color (GW Midnight Blue) but that particular color was just too pristine. The darker green was more musty and realistic. Ben would love to use the Vallejo water effects line but he still hasn’t found a clean way to apply it. Suggestions are certainly welcome. Ben is pondering a painter’s tape technique.

Room Dynamics and Game Play
With our first encounter’s terrain nearly done, it’s time to talk about the dynamics of the two rooms. DM Ben needs to flush out the area’s properties (heights, skill checks, terrain effects, etc).

The encounter goal is simple: draw the characters to the stack of bodies in the center of the room and hope a few players fall through to the underground cavern chamber. This tactic forces a party split and makes it a more manageable fight for the Headtaker villain.

Here’s the list of our bad guys:

• Gurrak, the Ettin (added a boulder toss ranged attack)
• Zombie Rotters (beefed up the attack bonus)
• Carrion Worm Dweller (tweaked the Carrion Crawler stats)

As your adventurers morph into this area, our resident Ettin monster quickly goes on the offensive by making it rain heavy boulders. In round 2, some of those dead bodies will morph into melee zombie minions.

Here are the notable room and terrain properties:

• Body pile (new bad guys rotating in)
• Shiny object bait (Perception DC 16 to entice greedy)
• Pit collapse (30 feet; 3d10 falling damage)
• Wall climb (Athletics DC 21)
• Cavern mud patches (50% bugs wandering monster)
• Character grab and throw (Rules Compendium, pg. 243)

Assuming the fighting dust settles, there’s some nice treasure to be had here:

• Get to meet their new NPC (in the fifth bag)
• Coins: 300 gold, 75 copper, 120 silver
• 2 Potions (Fleet of Foot and Saving Grace)
• 2 object relics (before they disappear – Athletics DC 26)
• Crawler Nest: two random fortune cards from mundane items
• Any other Crawler nest items are ruined by saliva acid decay

What are those “cavern mud patches,” you ask? Tune in next week to see the what and the how (and hopefully a full view of this encounter’s entire two-level game board).

Questions to Ponder: Have you ever made rubble piles for your terrain game board? If so, is your technique similar to our steps? How did you like the water cavern effect? Is Realistic Water your wet material of choice? Have you ever used Vallejo water effects in your terrain – how do you apply it? What did you think of our Carrion Cavern Worms? Got any power suggestions?

Read the How-to Cavern Floor Tutorial | Download our Items PDF

Ben is making a concentrated effort to better incorporate terrain effects into his game boards. Bypassing this occasional combat twist feels like a bit of a lost opportunity. While you never want to overwhelm an encounter, a subtle tactic stimulant now and again is certainly worthy of DM consideration. Ben’s got a quick modular mud hive square tutorial that when complete, will serve as a sort of a Monsters-at-Work road sign for his adventurers…perceive with caution.

Cavern Calamity
What better place to awaken the earth than in an underground setting. A hollowed out cavern has all the necessary pre-requisites: sharp rocks, silent (and not so silent) odors, subtle noises, water pools and loose dirt.

To make the Pyramid of Shadows D&D 4E module his own, Ben is adding intermittent below ground areas to certain rooms and hallways. These special squares will represent visual cues that undesirable cavern dwellers may be nearby – adventurers will have to watch where they step.

Movie Motivation
The 2012 film Prometheus serves as the inspiration for our terrain mud hives. Early on in the movie when the research team first enters that chamber, there are tons of jars with a mysterious black liquid resting at the top. Ben was entranced with how the simplest human touch released such deadly beasts.

Consequently, Ben wants a less than obvious terrain square that carries that same sort of imminent danger (and also releases a random combatant anytime someone accidentally disrupts its home turf). Think of it sorta like a bee hive that’s minding its own business until somebody bumps into it.

Nature Calls
The very first time the party finds itself beneath the Pyramid, ask the players to perform moderate Nature and Dungeoneering checks. The DM then reads the following…

“Your feet rest upon a natural cavern floor clearly void of personal interaction. Rocks and stones of all sizes surround you. A mixture of sand and dark earth fills its uneven crevices. Non-discrete sections of the floor seem somewhat unearthed…and perhaps previously occupied.”

The DM should spring forth a single minion monster (see below) during this initial inspection. You want to drive home the point that they need to watch where they walk or suffer the consequences.

Angry Inhabitants
So what could be living in the ground, you ask? All sorts of creepy things are possible.

• Animated Mud (#46, Mage Knight Dungeons)
• Acid Ooze (#46, Mage Knight Pyramid)
• Grub Swarm (Shattered Star)
• Medium Air Elemental (Shattered Star)
• Giant Ant (Dungeon Crawler, Omens)
• Grappler (Dungeon Crawler, From the Depths)
• Monitor Lizard (#29, Underdark)
• Runespiral Demon (#14, Demonweb)
• Kruthik Hatchling (#37, Deathknell)
• Stormclaw Scorpion (#48, Lords of Madness)
• Twig Blight (#58, Dragon Queen)
• Rat Swarm (#23, Unhallowed)
• Rat Swarm (#28, Savage Encounters)
• Stormclaw Scorpion (#48, Lords of Madness)
• Swarm of Spiders (#58, Underdark)
• Demonweb Swarm (#41, Desolation)
• Rot Scarab Swarm (#32, Desolation)
• Snake Swarm (#35, Dangerous Delves)
• Rot Grub Swarm (#40, Lords of Madness)
• Giant Rats (Reaper Legendary Encounters)

Consider making a random monster table to roll upon and having the monster stats at the ready. Minions are a logical role type as these creatures are merely meant to harass and disrupt the group’s normal combat.

Game Play
The trick is not to get too literal. If the DM were to put these special tiles down on the game board at the outset, it would be rather easy for someone to simply meta game and just walk around the different colored terrain.

Instead, Ben will include a couple unique squares on the board to convey the possible existence of mud hives (i.e. monster hotels). However, the real danger squares will not be revealed until a movement trigger is actually tripped.

The DM will have a photo/sketch of the room with pre-marked threat squares. At the start of a player’s turn, a perception roll is made (moderate DC). A successful roll means the player carefully moves to the desired spot on the map (and nothing happens). A failed outcome means a mud hive has been disrupted and an inhabitant released. The enemy host occupies that bad square and pushes the player back one adjacent square.

Remember, just because one player successfully avoids the mud hive doesn’t mean that no else can activate it on their own turn (think of it like a balance check – just because you know the surface is treacherous, you still have to maneuver the surface correctly).

There are some fun twists here. The cavern monsters may or may not be aware of these maniacal mud hives. If a monster accidentally trips bad square, maybe there’s a yes/no roll each round to determine who the angered occupants attack (you or the monster).

Mud Hive Tutorial
The key to this terrain is building squares that are playable. Miniatures need to rest fairly cleanly on the special squares (which also need to span the traditional d20 width).

Here’s how Ben made his mud hives:

• Glue down your stones
• Add your DAP filler (for the flock to rest on)
• Paint your squares in the appropriate color scheme
• Cover the area with PVA glue
• Sprinkle on your thicker sand flock
• Go back and add a second layer of sand if needed
• Dab on smaller amounts of a darker flock
• Add a little more sand flock (so that dark comes through)
• Spray with your matte sealer

Remember, you’re trying to simulate that the earth has been burrowed or brought up from underneath.

Ben enjoyed several great articles while researching this topic:

• Tutorial: Terrain Powers
• Terrain Effects and Terrain Props Podcast
• A (Mostly) Comprehensive List of Fantastic Terrain
• The Architect DM: Traps, Hazards, & Terrain

Until next week!

Questions to Ponder: What do you think of Ben’s mud hive mechanics? Got any other monster inhabitant ideas? How would you improve upon the terrain build? Got a favorite terrain effect you like to use in your own game? Got a relevant article on this topic to share?

Get D&D Daily Updates on Facebook

Remember that dilapidated old Winterbole Forest Journal the party wizard picked up back in Thunderspire at the House of Books shop? Well, that particular storytelling technique was meant to be rather short-lived; however, DM Ben’s fondness for this beat-up diary runs rather deep. So much so that he’s decided to extend its clue-giving-life for his Pyramid of Shadows’ campaign. That decision means this subsequent adventure log entry is rather critical for building a bridge to the next module.

Campaign Refresher
You may recall Ben originally created the Barz Brothers Hoard quest and puzzle piece accessory map as a way for his game group to ultimately find the secretive Pyramid of Shadows’ location. He just wasn’t enamored with WotC’s suggested module transition ideas. Collecting puzzle pieces inside Thunderspire Labyrinth and ultimately fitting them together in order to magically reveal the next dungeon’s secret map point was far more intriguing.

With that said, it doesn’t mean our dilapidated Winterbole Journal still can’t reveal additional insights into what possibly lies ahead for the adventure group. There’s real value to be had here, especially since Ben has decided to add a homebrewed cavern layer to the module’s original layout.

Pyramid Sighting
The Journal’s original author will begin this next entry with a big-foot-style sighting of the legendary Pyramid of Shadows. The description and hastily drawn sketch will help reinforce the party’s quest.

“While hiking to higher ground inside Winterbole Forest, a stunning bright light blinded my vision and knocked me off my feet! The once dense forest below suddenly opened its belly as a great pyramid as high as the heavens materialized from the trees’ shadows. Seconds later it vanished and the area around it returned to its original state! What did I just see? Was it real? Am I going mad?!”

A Breadcrumb?
Our storytelling explorer traveled back down to the valley below to see if any clues were left behind from the Pyramid’s brief appearance. The inspected area revealed very little with the exception of a strange clump of earth… a sort of tree-stump-sized hive or cocoon – made up of dense mud and hollowed out cavern rock.

But that’s not even the nutty part. Inside the mud hive were fresh skeletal remains of rare, ferocious creatures long known to be extinct: unique forms of bugs, worms, lizards, etc. There’s even a couple of remnant species previously thought to be only mythical in nature. Yet here they are in the most unlikely of time and place.

How can this possibly be? It simply cannot be.

Warning Signs
Many of the former mud hive inhabitants are known to have traveled in swarming packs whose preferred form of travel was to burrow underneath the cool ground soil. These small creatures are said to be hyper sensitive to the slightest disturbance of their nests. If the Pyramid has truly left behind an accidental clue, one must tread carefully. These breeding pods blend in quite well with natural cavern landscapes. Think of it…would anyone ever march recklessly ahead if they knew a fallen bee hive was nearby?

The DM’s Angle
So DM Ben’s item transition plot is rather straightforward. The Journal’s author found this mud hive artifact and made the appropriate scientific notes. One can then logically assume that he somehow managed to get inside the Pyramid of Shadows for more wild discoveries. Our explorer miraculously escapes the Pyramid’s clutches at some point. However, his firsthand accounts become so legendary and valuable that he becomes an easy target for his one-of-a-kind-notebook…which ultimately ends up in the House of Books as a black market artifact.

And just like that – the Winterbole Journal lives on.

Questions to Ponder: What do you think of our journal bridging technique? Does it seem plausible? How would you tweak this idea to make it better? Got any additional plot twists or ideas that don’t make the transition too complicated?

Download the New Journal Page PDF | Download Its PSD

Even though we’re on a hip-hopping-holiday-weekend, Ben felt you still needed a few inspirational eggs in your ol’ terrain basket. Who knows – you might be inclined to build a few of these yourself.

Terrain Saturday
Certain members of the Pile crew have started meeting up for a monthly build session affectionately known as “Terrain Saturday” – the chief reason being that creating 3D terrain is always more fun as a group.

Having a loose plan and photo motivation library to draw from ahead of time really raises one’s productivity and happiness levels. So with that said, here’s our second installment of our Art of Inspiration series. Feel free to do “save as” on any images that strike a RPG chord.

Editor’s note: We strive to source our findings whenever we can. Sadly, names and links come and go. Omissions are never intentional. We’re happy to make a notation as needed (just post a comment).

Plenty of New Rooms at the Inn
Hirst Arts finally released a series of stunning photos and build tutorials for its heralded Inn Accessory molds (#57-59). You’ve got an overflowing treasure trove of new ideas – especially on the dungeon décor side of the coin.

There are three new, nifty molds to the master set including:

• Inn Building Accessories Mold (mold #57 | photo)
• Common Inn Accessories (mold #58 | photo)
• Unique Inn Accessories Mold (mold #59 | photo)

Not in the mood to roll up your sleeves? No problem – head over to eBay for a pre-assembled and painted set from Hirst Arts artisan and forum gal pal, LadySabelle. Her work is exceptional and very reasonably priced ($30-ish per mold).

Need a working man’s Inn layout? Look no further than this Hirst Arts picture forum thread by Stump.

Officer John
Ben often searches eBay during his work lunch hour by using the term “Dwarven Forge.” Even if you’re not a bidding man, there’s typically a terrain photo or two worth snagging.

Lately, there’s one store in particular that’s been putting up some amazing Dwarven-Forge-compatible-work (via Hirst Arts pieces). It’s called, “Maulhelm.”

His bio is priceless: “My name is John and I’m a retired gamer. That is not to say I’m retired from gaming but that after 23 years in law enforcement I retired to gaming. Fighting Dragons is less stressful then fighting bad guys and there is certainly less paperwork.”

Here are some of his amazing creations:

• Crystal Ball
• Foot Table
• Bone Statue
• Animal Statue
• Skull Idol
• Suspended Prisoner Cage

Quick Pic Hits
And finally, Ben can never seem to get enough dark cavern and ruined fieldstone ideas. Amazing, right?

Well, that’s it for this week. Happy Easter, one and all.

Questions to Ponder: What did you think of this week’s crop of fancy photos? Did any of them jump out at you? What are you going to try and make first? Have you ever bought from those eBay stores? How was your experience?

Support the Dwarven Forge Game Tiles Kickstarter

This week we’re going to pull one out of the ol’ reader mailbag as Pile fan, Brigitte, shared a brilliant Rosetta Stone scroll game accessory idea. Ben is going to meld her dapper gameplay deciphering technique with an inspirational Hirst Arts Egyptian layout (by hobbyist LadySabelle). Initiate code breaking sequence!

Start with a Scroll
The very first step is to pick an authentic paper background for your cryptic letters to rest upon. Ben digs Brigette’s choice as it feels rather old and Egyptian-like. Even if you don’t use a graphic’s program, you can at least draw on this background with a pencil or charcoal pen.

Next you want to create your symbol-to-letter relationship. Part of the ongoing fun here will be watching your game group slowly decipher the Egyptian hieroglyphics into a common alphabet – just like the infamous UK code breakers did at Bletchley Park during World War II. Your game group is literally going to end up with its own ancient Egyptian-style Rosetta Stone.

Ben is giddy about this method! This antiquated storytelling method allows Ben to merge D&D game fiction with real-life history…and that my friends, puts the “A” in awesome.

Brigitte actually had the party collect various pieces of her scroll as they adventured through the Pyramid of Shadows 4E module. Her peculiar puzzle ultimately showed the party the way out of the old, imprisoned tomb. This method also encouraged the group to explore every nook and cranny of the Pyramid – something that always makes a DM quite happy.

Mix in a Mold (or two)
While the Hirst Arts Egyptian molds have some nice hieroglyphic markings on several of its pieces, they’re sorta missing a knockout punch. Thankfully, Keebler Studios steps in with great fury.

They offer two amazing molds:

• Egyptian Hieroglyphs Mold ($35)
• Egyptian Gods Mold ($30)

Each one is competitively priced and they cast with amazing detail. You won’t be disappointed with either mold.

Reveal a Letter (or two)
Your next code crossroad will be to figure out how to slowly reveal individual picture-to-letter-translations. Ben plans on giving the players an initial letter or two by using his tried and true Winterbole Journal technique.

Still, there are other subtle ways like letting the group find a torn parchment piece with a single, deciphered word to get them on their decoding way. Or maybe there’s a marking over a door that contains a rather obvious word like “no entry.” How about having a dying NPC’s short name inscribed on a bracelet?

Go to the Game Board
Hirst Arts extraordinaire, LadySabelle, knows her way around a casting table. She’s posted some picture-stuffed threads on the forums that always seem to get Ben’s inspirational motor running.

He was especially captivated by a recent tomb board she built for a friend. She did a phenomenal job incorporating hieroglyphic pieces throughout the Pyramid’s innards. Ben has started to make many of these sections for his own Pyramid of Shadows 3D terrain set.

She made all sorts of fun rooms and her pieces really popped as she added some color to them. You can read the whole juicy forum thread here.

Editor’s Note: Our apologies for the non-post last week. One of life’s evil turns got in the way of Ben’s safety. Never fear – our close knit gaming community shall restore his faith in humanity.

Questions to Ponder: What types of messages would you have the party decode? How would you get the group to slowly uncover the ancient alphabet letter translations? Have you ever used a similar technique in your own game? Don’t Brigitte and LadySabelle deserve a hearty pat on the back for their creativity and community contributions?

Buy some Keebler Studios Molds | Visit LadySabelle’s Ebay Store

Another 30 days in the books so that can only mean it’s time for another video on the Pile’s little ol’ YouTube channel. This week Ben shows you his approach and final pieces for his new underground cavern environment inside D&D’s Pyramid of Shadows module. So let’s light a torch and press onward…and downward.

This week we decided to spice up the entry encounter to D&D’s Pyramid of Shadows 4E module. We just felt it needed a little more flare and adrenaline to properly frame the moment at hand. Our new home brewed terrain will certainly help make this scenario our own – the trusted motto proudly displayed on the BensRPGPile family crest. Gather round…

Encounter A1: Original Script
The very first encounter of the module opens up with a party ambush deep in the forest. Your game group will probably make quick work of the criminal Dwarven war band. When the dust settles, it will ultimately leave the DM with two Pyramid entry scenarios.

• Voluntarily touch the small, glowing Pyramid object
• Become engulfed in the Pyramid as the object drastically expands

Both of these ideas are certainly plausible. However, Ben wanted to raise the drama bar a bit as his group has been working towards this iconic moment for a very, very long time (starting all the way back with the Keep on the Shadowfell module).

Encounter A1: New Thinking
The original module ideas from above sorta tip the party off rather quickly that the Pyramid of Shadows is actually a prison. Ben wants to hold this fact closer to his vest a little while longer. If the DM makes them “earn” their way into the Pyramid via a treacherous skill challenge, they’ll continue to think of themselves more as treasure hunters rather than stranded captors. Ben always loves to keep his players guessing on the real purpose of a mission.

Map Modification
That original forest clearing is now going to include a steep cliff at its edge. On the other side of this 120-foot ravine sits a small, empty outcropping (where the small glowing pyramid will eventually reveal itself).

As the group meticulously re-examines its Barz Brothers Hoard treasure map and journal page, they’ll confirm that this is absolutely the true location of the Pyramid – yet they see nothing.

A successful Arana and Nature skill check (DC 15) will confirm that something rests on the other side of that ravine. But how on earth will they cross that treacherous gap? More to come on that later…let’s start with the terrain build for this encounter.

Terrain Inspiration
Co-Piler Gabe was just itching to make a new rock piece from his astounding 3-D printer (endearingly nicknamed the Kraken). Gabe’s timing was exquisite. We really liked the idea of having some magical, floating rocks that would lead the party to the other side of the cliff where the elusive Pyramid resides. After all, who can forget the leap of faith from the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade movie? This idea will resonate well with Ben’s players.

Modeling Time
Inspiration acquired – but what now? Well, everything starts with a brainstorm sketch so we can get the bubbling idea out of our heads.

From there, a 3-D model is made.

• Produce an initial shape
• Give it a flat surface
• Lock in the final look

Floating Effect
Our arcane rocks must give the appearance that they’re magically suspended in midair. Thankfully, Games Workshop has the perfect clear bases for this desired effect. Even better, this idea was inspired by MiniWarGaming’s miniature asteroid how-to video.

Our freshly printed terrain piece will mount quite nicely on these babies. Of course, we made sure a single miniature would rest comfortably on the rock’s surface.

We plan on having six hovering rocks in total so to ensure they don’t all look identical, we will vary their base stem heights and include a couple two-wide steppingstones. The final pieces came out really nice!

Pyramid Model
Hey, you’re rocks are cute but what will represent the actual Pyramid?! Never fear. Dwarven Forge gives us an amazing Pyramid piece from its Wicked Additions Den of Evil Expansion set. It’s perfect!

In the unlikely event that the group doesn’t touch the Pyramid, the smaller object will suddenly expand and engulf the party. Itar’s Workshop has a great piece to represent a larger structure.

Skill Challenge
Next week we’re all about the game play as Ben flushes out the actual floating arcane rock skill challenge.

Questions to Ponder: Have you ever made floating rocks? Did you try MiniWarGaming’s tutorial? What do you think of our custom 3D printer terrain pieces? Got any design suggestions? How do you like our encounter mechanics? Got any skill challenge suggestions for us?

Last week you got a glimpse of our 3-D printed, hovering boulder terrain. However, those beauties won’t carry any real RPG weight without a great skill challenge, right? Thankfully, Ben’s got some devious DM ideas that are sure to put a little extra spring in this encounter’s step. Rock on.

The Mission
A quick memory refresh: The party goal is to successfully cross a treacherous open ravine by moving from one floating rock to another. Success means the group can finally gain access to the Pyramid of Shadows. Ben wants to introduce a group skill challenge in order to accomplish this great feat.

The Parameters
This home brewed skill challenge has a complexity 5 (12 successes before 6 failures). Players will not be able to assist another person on a skill check (so no +2s).

Ben designed this encounter for six, eighth-level players. He used SlyFlourish’s forever useful DM Cheat Sheet to create a moderate-to-high DC of 18.

A success is defined as at least three of the six players passing a DC 18 on each check.

The Team Approach
There are several reasons why a group skill challenge works best here:

• Each party member has to ultimately get across the gap
• Group rolls means every player gets involved
• Meta gamming is reduced as the players can’t just focus on their best skills

The Pitch
Rather than dictate what will be used, Ben actually prefers to present the overall challenge to the players and then let them pick a particular skill. The player must colorfully describe their character’s action and how it will ultimately help them succeed. The players always know that a great description will mean the DC is lowered by one.

Let’s do an example. The party ranger explains that this skill challenge will be quite taxing physically. Endurance is critical here. Yes – he could stop there and each person in the party would roll a check.

However, he could spice it up a bit by saying, “Nectur the Ranger is a physical specimen. He’s always respected his body. You can bounce a copper piece off his chiseled frame. He’s moving from rock to rock with great fever…never slowing down to make a sloppy mistake.”

See how that description sings and is full of imagination? Thus, the DC here is decreased by one for everyone rolling.

The Skills
With enough creativity, nearly every skill can be utilized. Here are some examples in case you need to give some hints to the party or throw out a couple ideas early on to help get those creative juices flowing.

• Religion: Real danger here. Time to pray to the gods.
• Heal: Lots of bumps and bruising along the way.
• Arcane: Need to find out the magical properties of these floating rocks.
• Streetwise: Let’s time the jump from rock to rock just right.
• History: You recall stories of similar encounters (family, journal, inn).
• Nature: Gauge where to jump for the best foothold.
• Perception: Open your field of vision and look carefully as you go.
• Stealth: Hold still during those monster attack flybys.
• Bluff: Lie still to trick that harassing monster

The Consequences
Entering the Pyramid is rather critical to the Pyramid of Shadows module so obviously the party will ultimately succeed here. However, that doesn’t mean this particular challenge will be a cake walk.

This is a veteran game group so they know that precious extended rests only come about every 4-6 encounters. Thus, taking high volumes of damage and being forced to take an inordinate number of healing surges in any single encounter always makes future gaming difficult.

With that said, Ben is going to take a page out of the classic King Kong movie. Remember when Kong was climbing the Empire State Building and those pesky World War I planes were shooting at him? Well, Ben’s going to convey that same sort of calamity with his rock jumping players by having a nasty Roc from Monster Manual 1 swoop in for some dive-bomber-style attacks of its own.

As soon as the group makes it to the second floating rock, the group will spot a winged silhouette in the distance that appears to be closing fast. Our flying fiend will do one random attack on a player (with a near certain hit: +18) and some alarming damage (3d10+5). Ben wants to pound home an imminent danger vibe. The DM then explains that the creature appears to be coming around for another pass and they must make haste!

Consequence 1: Anyone who fails an individual skill check by 10 or more suffers a claw scrape attack (+18 to attack, 1d10+8). Roll a 1 on a skill check and the attack becomes bite attack damage (3d10+5).

Consequence 2: If the party incurs 6 failures before 12 successes, that means they’re taking way, way too long to get across. They must now kill the Roc in a follow-up combat encounter and that’s not good news. This is the last encounter before an extended rest. The group is really beaten up. Surges and daily powers are especially low. This fight could easily kill a party member or two.

Ben also gave the Roc a “Bone Break” damage option which will be used in the post skill challenge combat. Anyone dropped by the Roc into its cliff nest has a 25% chance of suffering temporary broken bones (which results in a -1 to movement, attack and damage).

Game Play Note: the group will not be actively engaging the Roc during the skill challenge. The creature is meant to harass. They must focus on getting across all the rocks.

Terrain/minis Note: Ben is using the Roc miniature (#39) from WotC’s Lords of Madness set. The flight accessory is a Dr. Wizard’s Patented Elevation Indicator Extender.

The Research
Ben really enjoyed the following articles for inspiration and education:

• Critical Hits List of Skill Challenges
• The Fine Art of the TPK

The Thank You
Special thanks to everyone who shared ideas on our Facebook page. Ben really enjoyed the thread and all the shared wisdom.

Questions to Ponder: Got any other skill challenge articles you would like to share on this subject? How would you tweak the mechanics to improve this skill challenge? Did Ben forget anything? Got an alternate monster to use instead of the Roc? Do you have any fun house rules for skill challenges

Bookman, our party wizard, has a rather colorful character trait that makes him a bit of a collector. He doesn’t crave fine wines or historical relics. Instead, he fishes for the unusual and extreme. He’s a bit of a DIY caster and often needs unique components to concoct new, experimental spells. Leftovers are saved for his next visit to the local trading post in hopes of a better barter with the shop’s proprietor. Let’s take a look at some of his recent finds.

DM Angle
Still, the big benefit is they incite the player (and game group) to think outside the box and be creative. Ben wants everyone in his group to be an improv superstar of sorts. Keeping these peculiar items in your deck gives you a helpful visual clue to think outside the box and maybe even skip that snoozing basic attack.

Foraged item cards have all sorts of uses including:

• Rare Spell Components
• NPC Trade Value
• Complicated Puzzle Solving
• Emergency Antidotes
• Valuable Keys to Side Quests

Latest Inventory
The party’s outdoor expedition to the Pyramid of Shadows has resulted in all sorts of wild encounters. Consequently, our Wizard has been a particularly busy fellow. DM Ben never knows exactly what Bookman will find as his game antics are all improvisational. Thus, the player just writes the new-found item in his inventory list during the game and that gives Ben follow-up time to make the appropriate item card.

So here’s our Wizard’s latest acquisition stash:

• Gully Tongue: Taken from a rare cave beast
• Sabertooth Fang: Acquired from the Fineas road ambush
• Cannibal Recipe Book: Snagged from Granny Mammy Graul’s kitchen

Once again Google Images gave us all sorts of fun picture choices. These cards will fit nicely into Bookman’s character deck.

Until next week…

Questions to Ponder: Do you use item cards in your game? Why or why not? What did you think of our new cards? Got any suggestions? How might you use these cards to enhance an encounter or brew an elixir?

Download the Item PDF | Download the Item PSD

The Pyramid of Shadows D&D 4E module is a cornucopia of dungeon environments. There’s Egyptian, cavern, water, forest and stone brick all rolled up under one twisted prison roof. This bevy of colliding landscapes is forcing Ben’s terrain mind to work overtime. This week were going to focus on The Bridge encounter and its homebrewed Water Bottom Boys inhabitants.

Encounter P3: The Bridge
This particular encounter is water-based and is right off the Pyramid’s main entrance. Since Ben has no flippin’ idea which room the group will explore next, he’s prepping the more unique rooms first.

The Bridge room definitely qualifies as a distinct area. We’re not just slapping down some 3×3 stone tiles and throwing a handful of Orcs into the fray. We’re talkin’ water terrain, rope bridges and colorful baddies.

Miniature Monsters
Ben starts every encounter prep with the monsters. The Sahuagin Raiders are a big player in this adventure (4E Monster Manual, pg. 224-225) but that race poses a small problem as Ben is still trying to acquire all the appropriate miniatures. However, it does create a great opportunity as Ben has been itching to rebase some dusty, old Heroclix minis.

Ben nabbed these Heroscape Grut Orcs at a previous Gen Con. Mostly because he really liked the paint jobs. However, they don’t look anything like WotC’s traditional Orcs. These chaps are blue and thin. But that’s ok – they’re perfect for this aquatic-ish encounter. If you look hard enough, you could even say these fellas have discrete Water World gills. This group will be a rare offshoot of the Sahuagin race…outcasts if you will.

Monster Flair
The Pyramid of Shadows mod has lots of turf war undertones to it. There are all sorts of groups trapped inside this prison and trying to lay claim to certain areas. So Ben is going to make a homebrewed gang of his own. Their leader will be “SogA the Terrible” and his soldiers will be the Water Bottom Boys. Get the whimsical reference?

The Rebasing Steps
So how did Ben rebase these Heroclix miniatures exactly? Nothing to it. The secret is in the base itself. Give this element enough TLC and you’ll be quite pleased with the end result.

Step 1: Debase
The original Heroclix manufacturing process makes a clean cut a little tricky but don’t fret. Start by carefully snipping away most of the plastic base. You’re going to end up with a thick plastic nub on one of the feet. Just trim that off and then use sandpaper to even out any excess plastic.

Step 2: The Inspiration
Ben always has some inspiration to point him in the right direction. Thankfully, GamzaTheEternal made an excellent water basing video. His insights really got the creative juices pumping.

Step 3: The Paint
Ben picked GW Regal Blue for his base paint color and covered the entire base. This particular shade also blends nicely with his Vallejo water effects material.

Step 3: The Flock
Ben likes to layout the base flock elements ahead of time to ensure the miniature has a leg to stand on – don’t rush this step. The quality is in the details.

• Boulders: Try Woodland Scenics Tallus Rock
• Stones: Woodland Scenics Grey Rock
• Grass Reeds: Army Painter Battlefields Swamp Tuft
• Logs: Woodland Scenics Dead Fall Logs
• Mud: GW Rhinox Hide paint around the large rock edges

Step 4: The Water Effect
Ben has run the gamut on water effect products – it can get quite frustrating finding the material that works best for you. Basecrafts encouraged Ben to try the Vallejo water effects line. And while Ben can’t for the life of him figure out a perfect way to apply the gooey material cleanly, there’s no arguing the final results.

For this particular project, Ben did a few test pieces before settling on Vallejo’s Pacific Blue. It matches well with his paper terrain lake sheet. He used a toothpick to apply the material which worked out swell as you sort of get a running stream/river effect. For best results, apply two coats.

Step 5: The Glue
Putting that water effect on the base is hard enough so save the miniature glue-down for the very end (or it’s gonna be mess city). Ben uses super glue to adhere his minis to their bases. Throughout this process, you should have an idea of how each mini will fit on its final base. Keep your selected mini next to the specific base as you build it. You’ll get quite flustered if you mix up which mini goes where.

And that’s how you end up with a menacing water-based monster clan…not too shabby, right?

Next week we’ll explore the specific terrain for this watery bridge encounter!

Questions to Ponder: What do you think of Ben’s rebase idea? Do you like these Heroclix miniatures? Got any other Heroclix favs? How would you have done the bases differently? Ever used the Vallejo water effects product? How do you apply it? Got any alternate paint or base material suggestions?

Daily D&D Facebook Fun | Watch our YouTube Videos

Last week Ben revealed is home brewed Water Bottom Boys gang but alas, he still needs a cavern-esque terrain environment to represent their prison turf. While he’s started to piece this 3D game board together, his progress moved at a turtle’s pace. Maybe a little keyboard-to-blog-work will incite the necessary D&D juices. So let’s roll up our adventure pant legs and mosey on into the shallow end.

Where to Start?
Ben solved this common conundrum by simply pulling out the easy elements first. Save that vexing piece to the very end. By the time you’re done with the no-brainer stuff, that remaining terrain hunk will practically fall in your lap.

Ben is building the Pyramid of Shadows P3 Bridge scenario. To unclog his terrain brain, he compiled a basic builder list. What did the encounter need to be a success

• Monster gang
• Water floor
• Rope bridge
• Center platform
• Rickety walkways
• Outcropping doors
• Rock dams
• Transition walls

There are a couple from-scratch items here that sorta flustered Ben and got him nowhere fast. Whenever that happens, it best to shake off the worry by focusing on the easier pieces first. Here’s how it all played out.

SogA the Terrible and his Water Bottom Boys
Re-basing miniatures?! Pfffft – been there done that. As you saw last week, Ben grabbed some old Heroscape miniatures for his hooligan clan. After that, he just popped open the Sahuagin Raider monster in the WotC adventure builder and goofed around til he had his final stats.

Ben turned SogA the Terrible into a pit boss capable of casting water elemental minions. Everything is better with minions, right? He also added a couple home brewed powers to SogA’s soldiers including Aquatic Pulse. This burst two ranged attack creates a violent concussion that knocks players off their feet and potentially into the icy water below. Ben will leave a few of these crude grenades on the corpses for some post battle treasure bits.

River Grid
This particular environment has a hollowed out water chamber – perfect for Ben’s blue paper grid technique. Building a full water floor would pricey both in time and cost. Printing a couple 11 x 17 sheets was a snap and the end result turned out to be legit.

Rope Bridge
There’s a single, raggedy bridge from the room entrance to the center platform. Ben reached into his D&D accessory Pile for the rope bridge from Miniature Building Authority (mysteriously out of print). Still, always remember to reach for your RPG collection staples when you’re in a bind.

Center Platform
The module originally called for a wood platform. However, Ben had a couple leftover test pieces from his papier-mâché cavern effect experiments. Why not have a large rock in the center of the water serve as the room’s middle point? All Ben had to do was finish painting it and then add a bunch of green flock on the edges (to serve as algae).

Rickety Walkways
Many moons ago, Ben recreated the Excavation Site encounter from the classic Keep on the Shadowfell D&D module. The diorama still proudly sits on his office bookshelf. That game board included some makeshift platform bridges. This was the perfect time to re-use those gems.

Outcropping Doors
Ben needed raised platforms and just so happen to already be bidding on some custom eBay pieces that fit the bill. Yes, yes…he certainly could have made these pieces but he needed something quick and easy. Plus, Ben often buys sample pieces from other online hobbyists for his terrain blueprint and inspirational library (especially if it’s a new technique he’s dying to try).

Rock Dams
Ben needed some natural rock walls to illustrate the earthiness of the room. The Hall of the Crimson Whip encounter insider the Thunderspire Labyrinth module reminded Ben of this handy RPG accessory. These recycled rubber rocks from War Torn Worlds as the outer edges of the creepy blood room.

P3 The Bridge
By focusing on the easier pieces first, Ben slowly gained the necessary confidence and before he knew it, he ended up with a perfectly suitable water cavern room. Now was that so hard? Well, sorta:)

Next week Ben will focus on making some modular environment transition walls…the hallways behind those two platform doors. A photo pull from his inspiration library provided the perfect starting point. Be sure to check back next week to see his own interpretation.

Questions to Ponder: Have you ever had a room stone wall you? How did you overcome it? Got any suggestions to make this encounter better? Have a favorite piece? Have you played this particular encounter?

Download Paper grid | Support the Site via our Amazon link

A typical knock on a typical dungeon crawl is that continuous gray terrain scheme. After 20-plus rooms, your gaming eyes become a bit hypnotized from all that dreary brick. Any crafty solutions that can combat this eye paralysis will almost certainly create a better game board experience. This week Ben shows you how he bridged this senses gap between cavern and dungeon with a DIY terrain transition piece. Tallyho!

Inspiration Alley
We start this D&D blog post like we start all our terrain projects…with our inspiration. Many moons ago, Ben snagged this stunning photo from Hirst Arts pro Galghor1. Ain’t it a beaut? This hobbyist transitioned his terrain perfectly. With a little faith, we can emulate this piece.

Ben’s timing was also especially right here as his current module calls for numerous, wacky environments. The Pyramid of Shadows landscape is all over the place – very Game-of-Thrones-like.

Stage Steps
Editor warning: the steps here will seem a little daunting. Don’t wig out. By tackling this project in a series of simple sub tasks, you will end up with a very cool, modular terrain piece.

Placing an Egyptian tile right next to a cavern tile is sometimes referred to as a “hard break.” A game board architect always wants soft transitions…go easy on those game table eyeballs.

• Glue down some Egyptian and cavern blocks
• Include the brick walls
• Do a quick connection check
• Cut a few small pieces of pink foam
• Form a base for your earth effect
• Apply the toilet paper/glue mix
• Add the Dap filler and tape it off
• Paint the Egyptian stones
• Prime the earth effect area
• Paint the cavern floor area
• Paint the earth walls sections
• Flock the piece

Hammer Time
Co-Piler Gabe-age reminded Ben of a cool technique – brute force. Don’t box yourself in by using the Hirst Arts blocks straight out of the mold. They’re meant to be cut up, broken apart and sanded down into all sorts of new and useful shapes.

Remember the context here. Our adventurers are going from natural earth caverns to Egyptian crafted stonework. Mother Nature can obviously keep dungeoneers from laying the perfect floor. The air temperature and shifting landscape will break, crack and inadvertently slide a freshly laid floor. Use some snippers to split a few square tiles – it’s a great look when you glue down both pieces with a natural gap in between them.

Big Patience, Little Tape
With so many paint schemes so close together, the odds of adversely affecting the adjoining pieces with inadvertent color splatters are quite high. Blue painter’s tape protects you from accidental brush slips. Keep a roll in your hobbyist toolbox. And don’t get cocky and skip this step.

Paint Potpourri
Ben pulled out all the hobby stops on this project – Egyptian, Cavern and Natural Earth all rolled into one. Thankfully, he’s already amassed individual tutorials for each scheme. So rather than rehash all that jazz, just use the quick-hit list below for easy reference.

• Egyptian Paint Scheme | Read the tutorial
• Cavern Paint Scheme | Read the tutorial
• Rooted Earth Paint Scheme | Read the tutorial

Flock Fixes
All that taping is going to inevitably leave your terrain piece with a few untouched spaces. Ben shrugs those off by applying flock in the appropriate spots. That microcosmic mix can hide anything.

Perfect Blend
Remember Ben’s platform doors from last week? Well, now that passageway goes from hollowed-out rock to human antiquities rather effortlessly.

Well, where do we go from here? Not sure – Ben thought you knew. Until next week.

Questions to Ponder: Have you ever made a terrain transition piece? If so, what two types of environments were you connecting? Got any suggestions on how Ben could make future iterations of this terrain concept better? Which sub task do you think is the most challenging? Got a terrain piece or blog subject for Ben to tackle next?

Follow the Pile on Facebook | Support the Site via our Amazon link

Did you know Ben often suffers from Stationary Motivation – a rare form of terrain disease found in D&D hobbyists? The symptoms are obvious. Hundreds of brilliant game board ideas swirl through the victim’s head. The patient’s ass inexplicably becomes immobile. Its eyes become fixated on the TV all weekend long. Maybe you’re infected too?! Is there a cure? Fear not. The doctor will see you now.

Too Many Ideas, So Little Time
Ben love, loves to read RPG forums, peruse assorted blog posts, join in on the Facebook game group chatter and watch tutorials on the Tube. Consequently, he has an abundance of unorganized photos and scribbled notes. Alas this content consumption approach is getting him nowhere.

What Ben really needs is a set manageable, organized build options. A series of terrain that’s in arm’s reach the moment he becomes unproductively idol in his weekend gaming den. Even our monthly Terrain Saturday gatherings get a little frazzled at times.

See the problem is Ben is a huge baseball fan. He’ll be watching multiple games in his office with all sorts of projects just a few feet away from joining the Pile. He wants to work on them but the thinking and preparation can be rather overwhelming, especially after a long work week. What to do…what to do.

Small Plan, Big Payout
Ben decided to do a spinoff of Sly Flourish’s D&D article on Twyla Tharp’s idea box. Ben would make a can-do box – a collection of small terrain projects that he could pick through at a moment’s notice.

There’s a great side effect here – reaching for a smaller set of projects will allow Ben to keep his crafty hands moving while other terrain project steps take hold. Ideally, a terrain hobbyist wants to have three or four D&D pieces going simultaneously so no downtime/excuses settle in. Example: You can do a paint step on Project A while you wait for the glue to dry on Project B.

Contain the Project, Release the Creativity
An oversized sandwich bag serves as the container. Don’t get a flimsy or small bag though. Get a tougher brand. So what’s inside?

• Photo: Cut out a pic of your inspiration
• Notes: Keep notes on the back (original author, source, etc)
• Pieces: Gather all the appropriate pieces

Remember, you don’t have to complete a bag’s entire project in one sitting. Instead, maybe you’ll just do one or two of the steps in that bag in a sitting…such as gluing and/or priming the pieces. The goal here is to just be able to reach for something quickly and that has a clear next step to its build.

Short Start, Long Life
Fill that can-do box with a half a dozen-ish initial terrain ideas. Try to add a couple more to the box each month. Consider having two sets in each terrain bag so a friend or family member can build along with you.

So here’s what Ben has in his own can-do box for starters:

• Dungeon Décor: An eBay find with simple set of pieces
• Statue Bases: Ben needs to make assorted bases
• Stone Slab: Very simple set of pieces
• Wizardry Orb: Still gotta pull the ingredients together
• Egyptian Wall: Love the green floor tile accent
• Gear Box: Unique and simple
• Miniature Rebasing: Minis are always a great choice

No blog post next week as it’s finally time for Ben and the Fam’s annual summer vacation. Good thing you got something to do now, right? It’s the perfect time to start your own can-do box. Snag a few of these ideas or hunt and gather some more!

Questions to Ponder: Do you suffer from Stationary Motivation? How do you combat this lack of hobbying languish? Got any organization tips to share? How many projects do you try to do simultaneously? What are you working at now? What are some candidates for your own terrain can-do box? Share your inspirations so we can help each other out with new ideas.

Follow the Pile on Facebook | Support the Site via our Amazon link

Recent studies show the 1980s Depeche Mode single, “Just Can’t Get Enough” was actually referring to D&D statues. OK – that might not be entirely true but there doesn’t seem to be any other scientific explanation as to why Ben can’t get enough of the stone monuments in his own terrain accessories Pile. This week he’s gonna show his interpretation of CatataFish’s Sophisticated Finishes painting technique. And before you know it, you’re going to be humming the same tune.

Our Inspiration
Let’s start off by giving our usual credit where credit is due acknowledgement. Many moons ago Ben was captivated by a particular YouTube video from painter extraordinaire, CatataFish. He created an outstanding tutorial that outlined how to paint amazing statues using the Sophisticated Finishes products.

Ben loves statues in his RPG games. Veteran Pile readers might recall a previous blog post from our fun A to Z series (inspired by The Dungeon Alphabet book).

All this inspirational goodness led to us finally tackling the statue painting technique during a recent Terrain Saturday gathering.

Tool Kit
You don’t need much to get going here. The Sophisticated Finishes painting products (Patina Green and Blackened Bronze) can be acquired online or at your local Michael’s craft store.

For the statues themselves, just reach into your own box of misfit minis or head over to your local game store and grab some figs from their bit box. Ben actually grabbed most of his initial test pieces from a booth at Gen Con last year.

Finally, have some black primer, rubber gloves and a few cheap brushes at the ready.

Step Forward
Here’s a quick rundown of our paint steps:

• Prime your statue minis black
• Create a simple container for pouring
• Shake the Blackened Bronze bottle well
• Do a full basecoat of the bronze color on the fig
• Wait three minutes till it’s tacky dry
• Shake your Patina Green bottle well
• Brush on the green throughout the piece
• Give it a good 2-3 hours to dry
• Go back over the mini with the bronze with spotty strokes
• Marvel in your new statue’s shock and awe

Warning: these steps are a spinoff of the great Catatafish but we’ll explain why below.

Warning II: Wear gloves during these paint application steps. We didn’t protect our hands the first time around and our fingers felt all tingly when the wet paint got all over them – not good. These are chemicals, gang. Be smart.

Lessons Learned
There are several reasons why we altered our inspirational video’s steps. The biggest reason is we were mostly using old metal minis for our statues. After the first bronze layer was on and we went to do the steel wool step, we took all that base paint right off – yikes! Certainly you don’t want shiny metal spots on the statue. That steel wool and plastic probably get along much better.

The other tricky part is that Patina Green paints on clear. Thus, it’s super difficult to see where its coverage specifically is on the model. It was much easier for us to just do a larger coverage of the patina green and then just circle back around with some Blackened Bronze strokes and intermediate flecks to break up large clumps of that aging color.

Again, we’re not saying our way is the right way but this approach definitely better matched our own novice skill levels.

Base Camp
You just made all these new, fun statues but our sculptures got nowhere to stand. Hirst Arts gives you a myriad of choices. Ben made a chorus line of nifty options, depending on the 3D game board setting (Egyptian, dungeon, etc).

One important note though. Ben skipped specific flock applications because he wanted to keep the bases modular. Certain amounts and type of flock just won’t work with certain sized miniatures and game settings. So, to keep things simple, he kept those base tops clear for his statues.

Ben does wish he weathered his stone a bit more. Some of his surfaces were too smooth. Marble looks particularly better when it’s weathered.

Also, permanently gluing a statue to a base or doing specific flock enhancements (vines, rocks, moss etc) can certainly still occasionally done but in general, Ben likes to keep things modular.

Til next week.

Questions to Ponder: Have you tried this technique? How did it go? What are your favorite kinds of statues? How often do you use statues in your own campaigns

Follow the Pile on Facebook | Support the Site via our Amazon link

Time for another stimulus round of RPG bliss as Ben shares some of his latest photo finds from around the community. Hobby time is a bit of a rare commodity at the moment but Ben always has time to gawk.

eGads
The quality of work coming out of the eBay entrepreneurs continues to grow.

JA Hecker recently added a couple cool room accessories to his delightful online store. They’re made up of pieces from Hirst Arts heralded Inn molds. You can go with a grandiose, wizard-style cabinet or a simpler dungeon room shelf. These are actually low-difficulty builds to try on your own on a rainy terrain day. Or, you can acquire these as fully assembled and painted pieces in his eBay store.

Another rising star is a fellow by the name of Maulhelm. He continues to amaze (and motivate) Ben with a series of weekly D&D releases. You’ll give up a few more gp to acquire his one-of-a-kind wares but each auction typically includes a slew of multi-angle photos…which makes it easier to emulate his work on your own. These fountains were especially grand. Those nifty sun and moon idol pieces are typically found in your local craft store’s jewelry section.

Basics
Poor picture labeling got the best of Ben here but this simple idea is still worth sharing. Some dungeon doors can require lots of casts, gluing and paint steps so it’s nice to have a quick and easy option to go to in a pinch.

You could use this basing technique on any number of Hirst Arts door but Ben wants to try it on the Egyptian blocks (since there’s no casted frame/arch to use).

Tray Bien
Several RPG enthusiasts from the Old School Gamers Facebook group started show their dice boxes. One particular pic by Simon E showed real genius (especially if you’re a DM). Ben felt like a lot of his dice were getting neglected at the bottom of his dice bag so this was a great way to get them back in the game.

Heavyweights
The Fantasy RPG Terrain Facebook group recently introduced Ben to Lead Adventure Miniatures. They have a stunning selection of townsfolk miniatures – a group of sculps that Ben just can’t get enough of lately. Naturally Ben placed an order with this European juggernaut. The mini in the hero image of this article is the Plague Doctor…Ben is inspiring you to get one.

Onward
Even better – Maulhelm’s fountains, JAHecker’s cabinets and that plexi-based door are all projects Ben can add to his Stationary Motivation box.

Questions to Ponder: Have you encountered any of these inspirations? Ever order from these eBay pros? Do you have a lot of townsfolk miniatures? Who else has inspired your RPG-crush lately?

Follow the Pile on Facebook | Support the Site via our Amazon link

Every adventurer likes to rid their dungeons of rabid vermin but the kill just seems better when you can clobber those pesky pests on their home turf. This week Ben shares a DIY tutorial for your own modular rat motels. Besides it’s always best to get ‘em at the source, right?

Scene Setting
Ben’s group is just starting to explore the first level of D&D 4e’s Pyramid of Shadows. One of the early rooms is the P2 Chamber of Rats. He always likes to have a signature terrain piece in each area so this time he settled on some earthy rubbish piles. There’s great terrain replay value here so Ben is going to go the modular build route.

Inspiration Nation
As many of you know, DM Scotty has the best dirt on terrain rubble. Ben adored his banged up mining cars tutorial and all the accenting rubble debris. His simple yet effective techniques really pumped Ben’s brain when it came time to make these rat condos.

Rat Packings
Start off by gathering all sorts of different debris bits including:

• Various food items
• Lost weapons
• Battered shields or banners
• Shattered and emptied pots
• Splintered wood pieces
• Ornate decorations
• Old books and bottles
• Broken bones and corpses
• Backyard finds

Remember, Ben wants to drop these earth mounds into any game environment by placing them directly on existing floor tiles…so there won’t be any foam board on these babies. Instead, he’s going to use various flat Hirst Arts blocks (which will be covered completely) to form his bases.

Ben likes basing stuff that protrudes out and naturally fits your rock and dirt spots. He uses pink foam to vary some of the pieces’ height and give him some added sticking power.

For that earthy-roots-feel, he’s gonna mix in some of that TP papier-mâché. Sometimes, you will get some accidental gaps. Don’t panic – just grab a bottle of Vallejo’s White Pumice to cover up those missed spots. You can even use this product on the entire base to give the entire piece a nice gritty texture.

For flock, Ben did the standards (various rock sizes, moss, sand, etc) but he also sprinkled in a little leaf, hay and dead grass scatter to further push the garbage theme.

Paint Scheme
DM Scotty has an easy-to-replicate, can’t-miss color scheme for the ground. Paints include:

• Prime each piece black
• Basecoat the dirt with Folk Art Burnt Umber
• Dry brush with Apple Barrel Nutmeg Brown
• Accent the rocks with Apple Barrel Pewter Gray
• Hit the rock tops with Delta Dolphin Grey by Ceramcoat Acrylic

Be sure to watch DM Scotty’s paint tutorial – it’s loaded with super handy tips and techniques. It really propped up Ben’s confidence and convinced him he could do this himself.

Side Note: Michael’s carries Apple Barrel and Folk Art brands. Hobby Lobby has the Ceramcoat paint line. Make sure you pull their online coupons off your phone at checkout.

Refuse Ready
Your new refuse piles certainly don’t have to be rat-specific dwellings. A host of creepy critters could also timeshare the space including ants and assorted slimes.

Cavern environments certainly make the most sense in terms of a terrain fit but you could easily blend your new creations into traditional dungeons or incomplete pyramids. Ben also likes the idea of dropping them in as unearthed squares or wandering monster nests.

Best of all, these new pieces give you great battlefield cover, line of sight challenges, difficult terrain movement and sneaky stealthy spots.

So now you know…and knowing is half the hobbyist battle.

Questions to Ponder: Do you fight a lot of creepy crawlers in your dungeon campaigns? What’s your favorite monster from that group? What other sorts of accent pieces could go in your rat rubble piles? Have you subscribed to DM Scotty’s YouTube channel yet? You should…now.

Follow the Pile on Facebook | Support the Site via our Amazon link

The Pile hit a minor dry spell on the video front as Ben just didn’t have a worthy script to follow for all the RPG faithful out there. Good news though – he finally completed enough mini projects to assemble the larger P3 Bridge encounter inside D&D 4E’s Pyramid of Shadows module. So grab your swim trunks and put on those floaties, it’s time to get wet.

Ok, so those aren’t the exact words to Elton John’s classic tune but they certainly ring true for many a hobbyist painter. Smaller objects often carry a certain stigma to ‘em. You desperately want to gussy them up but the intimidation level thwarts thee. One way to combat this fear factor is to arm yourself with the right DIY gear. This week Ben shows you a self-made tool he crafted with the help of the Old School Gamers Facebook club. After reading this how-to helper, those itty-bitty terrain pieces don’t stand a chance. Mount up!

Inspiration Nation
No RPG enthusiast can honestly look at the Hirst Arts Inn Tips and Tricks and not become immediately jazzed to paint the night away. Bruce’s assembly tutorial has everything: bottles, pots, bowls and other assorted dungeon accessories. Dropping these flavor items into your rooms takes your game board from great to hella great.

One small problem: novice painters can’t draw on historical techniques to color these little pieces. Plus, if you’re like Ben, your Midwest sausage fingers make holding the miniscule objects nearly impossible.

Recently Ben was working on some modular rat rubble nests and finally mustered up the courage to make a full hearted attempt. Veteran advice was needed so he dropped a post on the Old School Gamers Facebook club and wisdom soon flowed.

All he had to do now was take all that great feedback and literally build the right tool to hold these micro objects in place.

Household List
There’s not much to this trick and it’s safe to say you probably have most of these items sitting around the house.

Here’s your paint tool gripper supply list:

• One old wine cork
• One long, flat head nail
• Tacky glue
• One circular minis base
• Elmer’s Sticky Tack
• Admire your new third hand

Ben actually prefers to have several of these artificial hand tools in his hobby box so he can paint multiple objects in one sitting. Consider varying the nail width in each tool for added flexibility.

Assembly Required
Your construction steps are fast and easy. Push the nail into the cork (but not too far as too split it). Glue the round minis base to the bottom of the cork. Place a small amount of Elmer’s Sticky Tack on top of the nail.

Side Note: Ben likes the specific Elmer’s brand of sticky tack because it’s cheap, doesn’t over stick to the object and doesn’t dry out (especially handy when you live in the AZ dry air).

Side Note II: That minis base on the bottom of the cork work great because it allows you to keep your painted piece upright (during dry times).

Miniature Objects
So now that you’ve got this incredibly handy new tool, what will you actually paint? Hirst Arts has a slew of tiny objects (most notably the new Inn molds line, #57-59). Itar’s Workshop also has some slick Potion Bottles and Treasure Sacks.

The possibilities are endless but your new contraption now allows you to easily paint stuff like potion bottles, books, sacks, crosses, pots, fruit bowls, headstones and weapons.

Some Paint Schemes
Ben wants to especially thank club member Keith from RPG Fantasy Terrain. He gave all sorts of encouragement and color scheme ideas to Ben early on in the process.

Hirst Arts has all sorts of photos to give you plenty of inspiration. You will soon realize that basically any color scheme works. The real key is to pick a color palette but go from dark to light in its range. Then finish it with a super light dry brush of off white and a brown/black ink wash.

Let’s do an example from one of Ben’s recent rat nests.

• Grab a potion bottle
• Basecoat with GW Scab Red (darker color)
• Dry brush with GW Blood Red (lighter color)
• Lighter dry brush of P3 Menoth White Highlight
• Finish with a Citadel Delvan Mud brown ink wash
• Dab the bottle top with GW Chaos Black

Simple enough, right? Pair this gripper tool with a nice magnifying light clamped to your work space and you’re in real business.

Editor’s note: Looking for a miniature holder? Be sure to watch the tutorial from GirlPainting. Ben also recommends the basing video from ThePaintingClinic – the rubbing alcohol tip was brilliant. And if you have a pill addiction, TableTopMinions has a can’t-miss suggestion.

Until next week.

Questions to Ponder: How do you paint small terrain? Got any other great tiny tips to share? Got some beginner color schemes for bottles, books and bowls? What other RPG Facebook groups do you like?

Follow the Pile on Facebook | Support the Site via our Amazon link

Ben is a bit of a card whore when it comes to Dungeons and Dragons RPG accessories. He just can’t get enough of that thin rectangle goodness. The feel of the deck. The uncertainty of the next card. The artwork. The suspense. The drama. It’s all there, baby! This week Ben will share his DM spin on WotC’s Injury Deck and how he plans to incorporate the major/minor wound cards into his own monthly campaign. Now shut up and deal.

Host with the Most
Back in July 2012, Jeffrey Ludwig wrote a brilliant article for Dungeon Magazine called, “Less Death, More Danger” – part of Issue 204. The content is still behind the WotC subscription wall so Ben will be respectful of the copyright rules and avoid posting any direct PDF links (just a few enticing examples).

Still, if you’re not a D&D Insider, Ben highly recommends a trial run of their monthly subscription. The Character and Monster Builder tools are truly invaluable and a major game prep timesaver. Plus, there’s a wealth of ongoing, backlogged content that’s ripe for the saving. The $9.95 single month fee is worth some of your doubloons if you can spare ‘em.

Regardless, there’s nothing to keep you from making your own deck or trying a version of these house rules on for size.

Inspiration Nation
Ben would like to thank YouTuber Mark Saxton for the idea nudge. He shares his homebrewed technique with these WotC injury cards in his My Dungeon video (a must-see). Thanks again, Mark.

Deck Delve
Ben has collected and constructed all sorts of fun D&D decks for his campaign. This accessory has always been a popular topic here on the Pile.

Consider catching up and trying any of these gems:

• Player Decks
• NPC and Monster Cards
• Character Trait Cards
• GameMastery Cards
• Power Cards
• Fortune Cards
• PDF Description Template
• Critical Hit and Fumble Decks

Pomp and Circumstance
Ben sees a real fit for these Injury Major Minor cards in his game. Why you ask? Well, D&D 4E does carry a credible stigma regarding its forever living properties. All those extended rests, healing surges and powers make character death rather difficult for the hardworking DM.

Ben also wants to add a little more tension and fear to his ongoing battles. Yes-yes, he could just ratchet up the monsters but that’s a bit of an extreme. Instead, he would rather just introduce new combat consequences, which in turn will lead to a bevy of new character traits and role play affecting afflictions.

Injury Mechanics
Here’s how the injury deck will work in Ben’s game. Mind you this is still untested so a follow-up post or video on our YouTube channel is forthcoming.

Critical Hit: Each time a critical hit is scored, there is a 50% chance a minor injury is sustained. The pendulum swings both ways here (player character and monster).

Zero Hit Points: Any time a player is reduced to zero points in battle, a major injury card is drawn. Ben wants a memorable scar. After all, the character just escaped death’s door for goodness’ sake.

Big Boss: Anytime a big boss rolls max damage on his dice, there is a 50% chance of major or minor injury.

Failed Skill Challenge: A fumbled skill check gone horribly wrong or a failed team skill challenge also incurs the minor injury wrath (50% chance).

Restitution: Minor wounds can be healed with a 1-2 healing surges. Major wounds last until at least the next extended rest so you’re stuck with ‘em.

Ignore and Profit: The article’s author wrote some great mechanics for pushing past the pain on minor injuries. He also has a few fun triggers set up with positive and negative consequences off a DC roll…Ben might try these on occasion as well.

Chicks Dig Scars
There are a couple sweet-ass rewards for incorporating this mechanic into your campaign.

Start by having every player draw a full body outline on the back page of their character sheet. Or, try this handy body slot silhouette from the d20PFSRD.com website. Each time a major injury occurs, the player will mark the corresponding injury on their own chalk outline.

Example: We had a player fail a skill check as he tried to go through a mirrored portal. Consequently, he got his foot stuck as he passed through. That resulted in an injured foot (severed big toe) and a permanent movement loss of one. Thus, that player would write a little note next to his left foot on his body sheet.

Look at all the fun role playing you just opened up here. Players now have noticeable traits and afflictions that can be used in all sorts of humorous ways and interactions throughout your game. You might start to acquire nasty scars, a noticeable limp, crude stitches, a colorful eye patch or dastardly marks on your character’s frame.

For any HBO Rome series fans out there, do you remember when Titus Pullo got that nasty gash on his head and the “doctor” hammered that goofy plate in his head. Imagine a similar story or experience with your own character. An injury deck helps bring a wicked wound like that to life.

Continued Discussion
Be sure to check out these great forum threads from EN World and RPG Stack Exchange for more notes and discussions on this topic.

Until next week.

Questions to Ponder: Do you have any special house rules for characters on death saves? Have you ever used this deck? How do you incorporate injuries into your own home game? Do you use Paizo’s Critical Hit and Fumble decks? Why or why not? What other decks do you use?

Follow the Pile on Facebook | Support the Site via our Amazon link