Ben’s D&D battles are progressively going onward and upward as he continuously looks for ways to move the fight to higher ground. We’ve already shared the Water Bridge encounter video on the Tube but Ben became disappointed in one of the connecting bridge elements. So this week he gets between a rock and hard place and shows you how he made a new modular terrain piece that heightens the mood.

Inspiration Nation
Ben often uses simple tempered hardboard and PVC pipe to create raised areas on his game matte. To spruce up their appearance, he splashes a little dark green spray paint over them. These items are a must for your modular toolbox.

Still, there are times where Ben wants to use rickety, old bridges as walkways and the hardboard just won’t suffice. You can get away with the PVC circular risers but they sorta stick out like a sore thumb if they’re not completely covered.

All that fuss led Ben to the creation of a rock stacker terrain piece that can literally bridge his walkways together. Let’s see how he made this monstrosity.

Scenics Route
First off, you’re gonna need some rocks. Woodland Scenics saves the day with all sorts of fun molds. Ben’s favorites are the Rock Mold Boulders and the Rock Mold Outcroppings. Between the two, you end up casting a wide variety of stones to incorporate into any build.

Caster Tip: Fill each mold rock section just a partial amount and you will get even more varied heights and sizes.

Assembly Actions
Now that you’ve got a slew of stones to work with, you need to start stackin’. To strengthen your overall piece, sand down the center portion of each rock top so that each one rests firmly upon the other.

The top piece needs to have enough clearance on each side so that each ladder can connect flush to it. Don’t overlook this engineering feat! Any sanding on that top piece should happen before you glue it down.

Stick It
Now comes the finesse part – pasting each rock firmly in place. There’s a lot of finger and balance maneuvering here. If you have the right glue, this assembly step gets exponentially easier.

Last Father’s Day, Ben got a goody basket from his older brother. Inside were two new intriguing terrain tools: Maxi-Cure and Insta-set Accelerator.

First put a dab of Maxicure on the bottom of your rock. Press the two stones together. Then do a quick spray of the Insta-set Accelerator. That chemical reaction quickly bonds the two pieces together. It works like a dream.

Ben never worries about any visible glue blobs on a rock’s underside as he’s just going to cover those up with a green moss flock anyways.

Water Works
With everything is glued into place, you can then move onto the paint step. Ben still likes MiniWarGaming’s asteroid palette.

You certainly can stop there but Ben loves a good flocking. So he’ll sprinkle on some soil and moss mixtures throughout the piece. Since Ben is using this in a cavernous lake encounter, he grabbed some Vallejo Pacific Blue water effect material and dabbed it in a few nooks and crannies on the bottom rock. Ben sorta liked the darker water color as that particular shade also better denotes some shadow effects.

Game Mechanics
Your new rock stack has all sorts of engaging game play possibilities. Players and monsters can try to push each other off the bridge planks. Any player walking across a raised area supported by these wobbly rocks will need to do an Acrobatics check (or suffer falling damage). If a character is in the water and wants to reach a perched sniper, a Climb check on the slippery rocks would be a worthy skill test. See, it’s fun no matter how ya look at it, right?

Until next week.

Questions to Ponder: Have you ever made a similar piece? What would you do to this one to make it even better? What are your favorite glue bonding products? Got any other fun game play mechanics for DM Ben to consider here?

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This week Ben takes some RPG inspiration from a few Old School Gamers and shows you how he made his own D&D DM Dice Tray.

[sound the glorious trumpets] Next week Ben will make his annual pilgrimage to the holy city of Indianapolis for the 45th annual Gen Con gaming convention.

Are you packed yet? Neither is Ben. Just be sure to print out the Pile’s convention packing list to make sure your buttoned up for success.

At this very moment, Ben is walking the Gen Con convention floor and participating in terrain workshops in the hustle and bustle of downtown Indy. Don’t worry – he’s got the right security by his side. This week’s RPG festivities are a major refueling point for the Pile so rest assured, he’s combing every nook and cranny to bring you the very best treasure possible.

Ben’s back next week with a brand new 3D game board environment for your RPG senses! Until then, a sights and sounds video from previous Ben expeditions will certainly warm the soul.

Until next week.

Questions to Ponder: Have you had the fortune of going to Gen Con? How many times? What’s your favorite part? What’s your least favorite part? Are you going to try and go next year? Got anything you want Ben to be on the lookout for?

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Ben’s current module, Pyramid Shadows, provides a slew of game environments. This variety of settings is both a blessing and a curse for a 3D game board terrain-meister. Yes the players get a ton of colorful layouts but at the same time, someone still has to build all that bloody stuff. Well, Ben is only five rooms into this module and he’s already had to create two unique scenes: first, the Water Bridge encounter and now the Hedge Maze battle. So get your bearings – it’s time to crack this maze.

Inspiration Nation
Ben is on a bit of a recycle-kick lately. He’s trying to take older, discarded stuff from his Pile and give some of it a “fresh coat of paint” for his current campaign.

Last weekend he was combing through his RPG stash and found a box of dilapidated 15mm war gaming scenery – a previous birthday gift from his brother, Presto. Certainly there was something in this carton that could aid hedge maze terrain build.

Memory recall suddenly kicked in and Ben remembered a great hedge tutorial from TheTerrainGuy. The plan was starting to come together. Let’s take a closer look.

Simple Difficult Terrain
The first thing you notice about the maze map is that there’s a lot of difficult terrain. Thankfully, Ben’s old box had all sorts of hastily assembled popsicle stick rock walls. With a little TLC, these babies could be transformed into modular difficult terrain squares.

Ben started by taking each stick and cutting them into d20-sized squares. Next he covered that raw stick color with a quick coat of Craft Smart’s Campground green. Then he simply doused the rubble sticks in PVA glue and sprinkled a simple outdoor flock mixture over the top of them. Try to keep these piles somewhat flat so your minis can end their turns on them and not tip over.

And just like that – you got some easy yet difficult terrain squares with a ton of re-playability. That’s a win-win.

Hedge Row Heaven
The next useful bits in that tub were a bunch of hand-assembled 15mm hedges. These were the perfect height! Ben didn’t want his greenery to be too tall as that would make seeing over them at the game table a bit of a pain. The DM would still be able to explain their actual game height (12 feet) during the reading of the encounter description.

These babies were practically ready to use…they even had that cool, aging plant color. The only bummer was that unsightly popsicle stick on the base. Ben took that same Campground green paint and just hit the edges so that they blended in better with the game matte (Paizo GameMastery Flip-Mat, Bandit Outpost, backside).

Ben also had some leftover hedge material from Games Workshop sitting around. This is where TheTerrainGuy’s two-part tutorial really saved the day. In that video, he explains how you can make a sturdy glue base for your new-found foliage.

Here are the steps:

• Snip some narrow wire mesh strips
• Hot glue that frame to a popsicle stick
• Hot glue your hedge material to the metal
• Warning: avoid warped sticks

Now Ben has a few taller hedges to intermix within the map – looks great!

Finishing Touches
Miniature Building Authority made some great out-of-the-box hedges so Ben used these to line the outside of the game board and frame it in (while adding a little more depth).

Ben made one change to the monsters (as his group has already fought a Dire Boar). So for miniatures, he used:

• Howling Hag (Dungeon of Dread, #18)
• Arborean Watcher: using a Wizened Elder Watcher (Dragon Queen, #23)
• Arborean Reapers: using Wood Dryads (Warhammer Fantasy, 1995)
• Twig Blight minions (Dragon Queen, #58)
• Dire Bear (Deathknell, #28)

For treasure, he made a Fighter’s Reserve Pin item card item card that was stuck to a decaying body inside one of the thick hedges (Perception DC 20 to find it).

And just like that you’ve got yourself a hedge maze to remember.

Until next week.

Questions to Ponder: Have you ever played a similar hedge row encounter? What module? Got any suggestions to spruce up the playability of this board? Have you ever made your own hedges? Who did you get your build tips and inspiration from?

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It’s time for another Dungeon Delve-ish blog post where Ben shares all the core elements he assembled for his own homebrewed encounter. You could run this as a quick, one-off scenario or pick and choose a few of your favorite components to enhance one of your own upcoming dungeon crawls. Let’s begin…

The Encounter
Ben is re-creating the P2 Chamber of Rats room (pg. 4) from Pyramid of Shadows. He’s got six, 8th level characters at his table. To calculate the monster XP make-up, Ben just used WotC’s handy online Encounter Builder tool and plugged in the appropriate values. That gave him a total XP range of 2,100 to 2,999 for a moderate challenge.

This room was originally set up as a rat swarm lair with into a bunch of refuge piles. That was rather humdrum for Ben so he decided to swap out the original monsters and modify the overall premise of the room. Plus, those pesky rats are better suited for a different encounter (C2 The Well).

Senses are becoming a big part of Ben’s encounter creation steps these days. From outside the room, the party will hear loud smacking/suction sounds (our Ethereal Marauder enjoying a meal). And a rambunctious odor will be emitting from the door (our Vermin Swarm trash nests).

The Monsters
Ben used the 4E Monster Builder Rot Grub Brute creature frame but threw in some subtle stat tweaks in order to create four Vermin Swarms. Special thanks to the Zoe and the rest of the Pile Facebook community for the idea assist.

An Ethereal Marauder is also using these stinky trash heaps throughout the room as his dinner buffet line. Basically, the Vermin Swarms chew the original victims down to manageable, mushy, chunk-size pieces. And then the Marauder finishes them off with large inhale gulps. Gross, right?

The Vermin Swarm will strike from within the garbage piles as soon as the heaps are disturbed or the party reaches the center of the room. The Etheral Marauder ignores the Party until the Vermin Swarm appear (which causes it to panic) or if the Party attacks him (and rudely interrupts his dinner).

The Miniatures
The Vermin Swarm are represented by Games Workshop’s Nurgling miniatures. Ben bought them from the Gamers’ Inn store display case and just re-flocked them.

The Etheral Marauder has always been a favorite miniature of Ben’s collection. He just loves that creepy mouth. Now seemed as good a time as any to finally use the beloved monster in an encounter – the plane travel tactic stuff will be fun to try out.

The Map & Terrain
Ben already showed you to make your own modular junk piles in a previous post. Now he’s had a chance to incorporate them into the rest of this Hirst Arts layout. The room configuration stayed basically the same but Ben’s tweaked the overall level one module map and added a secret door (Perception/Dungeoneering DC 18) behind that Boneslide trap (as way to connect to the Library of Whispers).

The Treasure
Besides a smattering of gold, silver and copper coins, the group will uncover a dirty, old fetish voodoo doll deep within one of the disgusting trash heaps called Rags McGuffin.

This magical item has some perks: The good – it has as a daily minor action, get 1d4 additional damage on a single attack which can progressively grow over time on 18-20 attack rolls. The bad – this thing stinks and gives you a -1 to Perception checks. And the Unknown – upon activation, it moves up to two squares a round with an annoying scream (which could alert more bad guys).

Also, attack rolls of 1-2 may have an adverse effect down the road. Here’s the final card Ben made: Player version | DM version (with negative traits revealed as they are learned).

Side Note: Special thanks to the Old School Gamers Facebook group for all the creative help on McGuffin.

Until next week.

Questions to Ponder: How did you like our encounter monster choices? What would you change? Did you like our voodoo doll card? Would play this as a one-off dungeon delve in a pinch? What encounter elements might transfer well to your own campaign?

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This week Ben shows you his interpretation of The Beast in the Pit encounter inside the D&D 4E Pyramid of Shadows module. Your VIP access includes some snappy photos and descriptions of his terrain, monsters, miniatures, add-ons and treasure. You can play this as a standalone Dungeon Delve or simply adapt your favorite elements to your own campaign. Walk this way…

The Encounter
The original map contained multiple room entry points. However, Ben’s twerked it a smidge so that his group only had one way in or out of this encounter (as he had limited prep time for his game).

Sensory checks will reveal no odors or noise from behind the door. Instead, a squeaky, little rat will reveal itself outside the room before suddenly shimmying through a tiny crack in the door (a playful tease of what’s to come).

The Lingo
This is also the very first time the players can attempt to decipher mysterious wall ruins scattered throughout the temple. Making a series of History, Religion, Insight and Dungeoneering checks (moderate DCs) will enable the group to pull a single word from the ancient Pyramid text. The group will eventually decipher all the individual symbols…and ultimately piece together the entire ancient alphabet.

The word from the encounter ruins was: “kneel.” Meaning, the party should have shown praise and respect to each statue before approaching. Failure to show respect activated the mischievous trap.

Ben started to explain his ruin decipher mechanics here but quickly realized that there’s a lot of meat on that bone. So, he’s going to save this language skill technique for next week’s blog post.

A very special thanks to Brigitte from The RPG Play Pen for the alphabet art and inspiration.

The Map and Terrain
Ben placed the initial room layout on a board and layed it flat on the table (so it didn’t give away the upcoming ramp/height schematics). Once the trap was sprung, Ben propped the room up on some handy PVC pipe risers so that he could have a WotC Dungeon Tile ramp set up properly.

This configuration also set up the drop from the chute into the Charnel Lord’s trash lair perfectly. Nothing fancy on this underground spot – just some Hirst Arts cavern tiles and a tp-built garbage heap and back wall.

The dark shaft underneath the floor was represented by a single WotC Dungeon Tile and some upright Egyptian walls to give it some dept (that switch is hidden). As the replacement floor rose, Ben slipped some blocks underneath to show that it moved upwards.

The absolute hardest part of this encounter prep was actually understanding how the bleedin’ trap worked and then coming up with a simple way to show its functionality to the party visually. Ben literally spent an hour-plus on this conundrum (and what looks to be a typo in the module description itself sure didn’t help things). Basically the outside wall falls down and becomes the ramp, the floor becomes the new wall and a new floor rises up from the surface. This crazy sequence basically happens simultaneously and hurls players down a chute and towards the jaws of the beast.

There are alllllll sorts of checks and notes for this encounter so Ben made a little DM cheat sheet to help him remember everything during actual game play.

The Miniatures
The big baddy was a new, unique monster specifically written for the Pyramid of Shadows called a Charnel Lord (a type of Otyugh). Now WotC has a perfectly suitable mini from their Night Below set but it didn’t really fit the module photo. Ben polled the Pile’s Facebook page and the rebased Star Vampire mini from Fantasy Flight’s Arkham Horror line was the clear winner.

Other encounter miniature goodness included:

• Rat Swarms: #28 Savage Encounters & #02 Skull & Shackles
• Large Rat Swarm: #23 Unhallowed
• Ravenous Dire Rats: #57 Against the Giants
• Statues: #2 Desert of Desolation

Ben needed identical statues for each side of the room. The larger rat swarm was for the chute/ramp. The Ravenous Dire Rats were for under the floor. And the smaller rat swarms attacked anyone in the main room area.

The Treasure
A strong search of the Charnel Lord’s lair revealed a purdy Amethyst gem (worth 1,000 gp). However, you gotta earn such a haul with some serious dumpster diving. The searcher became severely nauseated and took a -1 attack and damage until the next extended rest.

Until next week.

Questions to Ponder: What do you think of the hieroglyphics deciphering angle? Got any suggestions? Do you like the miniature selections? Could you see your group playing this encounter as a one-off Dungeon Delve? What would you change as the DM?

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Time to head over to the Pile’s YouTube channel and learn more about how Ben made the hedge maze 3D game board for D&D’s Pyramid of Shadows.

Next week Ben will share more details about his home brewed hieroglyphics mechanics.

Hieroglyphics? Pffft – more like funoglyphics. This week Ben shows you how he’s turning the ancient ruins of the Pyramid of Shadows into a simple, progressive interactive storytelling element. This article uncovers the cryptic alphabet, the valuable translation code, the graphic handouts and even a sample walkthrough. So put on your helm of sleuthing +2 and follow along as these mysterious symbols take shape in an engaging skill challenge worthy of your next D&D game.

Inspiration Nation
Brigitte from The RPG Play Pen was a fan of our puzzle map reveal and did what any kickass DM would do…she took it to the next level for her own game. Instead of puzzle piece acquisition map clues, she had her group slowly find ancient letters and eventually use them to decode a special scroll (so they could find their way out of the Pyramid). Pure genius.

She was kind enough to share her work and materials with the Pile so Ben could use them in his own game (and that’s what makes our wonderful RPG community go round and round, y’all.)

Since then Ben has adapted Brigitte’s fine craftsmanship for his own game and this week’s blog will show you what he’s come up with so far.

Previously on…
Here’s a quick recap of where we’re at but Ben encourages you to read our earlier post so that you have the proper context.

Basically, players will encounter all sorts of ancient ruins and scripts throughout the Pyramid of Shadows. Ben wants to take advantage of that opportunity by introducing a revolving skill challenge that gives the characters additional clues about particular encounters and the overall story arc.

Our module villain, Karavakos, ultimately wants the adventurers dead. Learning the prison’s ancient text will ruin his manipulation plans and instead, make the group stronger. He wants none of that. So Ben is going to take a Lord of the Rings’ Sauron and Pippin) angle here. Decrypting the antiquated language may temporarily alert Karavakos and even open a brief psychic connection. Spooky, right?

Core Mechanics
Each time the party encounters some DM-deemed-worthy-ruins, the group follows these steps…

• The DM agrees a ruins check challenge exists
• A player creates a wall rubbing to reveal the word(s)
• The corresponding worksheet reveals the possible letters
• The DM says the category (person, place, thing, action, etc)
• A countdown timer begins (probably 60 secs)
• The group identifies any previously known symbols
• Each participating player states their desired skill check
• Rolling commences
• Success: reveal a letter | Fail: next player
• Now make a word guess or let the next player take a letter
• Note 1: Incorrect word guesses have consequences
• Note 2: After time is up, the letters magically fade away

Letters Rule
Ben is trying to keep this new game mechanic as simple as possible. The total number of letters corresponds to the total number of available guesses minus one. So if a translation challenge contains one word with five letters, the group only gets a max of four guesses…all within a specified time limit (which the group may not even though). Just the awareness of a timer will inevitably hasten the party.

The group is incentivized to correctly guess the mysterious word or phrase as soon as possible because failed attempts unleash unfavorable consequences and lost opportunities. The DM will make it very clear that learning this language is golden opportunity for future victories and clues.

Alphabet Crib Sheet
Ben made a version of the ancient alphabet that does not contain any translated letters. This will be the party’s fill-as-they-go-tool. The group will consult this worksheet before the start of each word/phrase skill challenge to see if there are any auto fill-ins. The DM always has his own cheat sheet as a reference. Notice how one symbol means two different letters? Devilish.

To make life easier on yourself as the DM. Ben has created a downloadable zip file containing a helpful set of images so you can create your own word puzzles.

Read the Room
Hopefully, the group will utilize their current Pyramid room and surrounding environment as a way to better guess the encoded word or phrase. You may have to hint at this in a subtle way if they totally gloss over this tip.

Sample Encounter
Let’s tie this new-found, game mechanic bliss together with another game example. Our recent Hedge Mage encounter (which already has
blog and video posts) is the perfect choice.

As the group approaches the maze’s entrance, they will see a faded wall hieroglyphic. The DM confirms that a small portion of the markings are legible enough to be decoded. A character grabs some chalk and parchment from his adventurer’s kit and makes a quick wall rubbing.

DM Ben places the language puzzle worksheet on the game table and proclaims the word is a “thing.” For fun, there’s even a supporting image on this one (a secondary clue – which makes more sense if this challenge is performed after combat in the maze has been resolved). This hedge maze turf belongs to a Howling Hag and a few Arborean Reapers who have gained mind control over a Dire Bear. The script on the wall basically warns maze goers of what’s to come and to stay clear of this area.

As soon as the party begins to decipher this word, our module villain is alerted telepathically and tries to shut this attempt down. The DM starts the countdown clock. The party does a quick cross-check against any previously solved words and fills in any known letters.

So now each character gets to make a skill check. Success permits a letter and/or word guess. The party Dwarf proclaims he will use his Dungeoneering skill. He rolls an 18 (including skill bonus). The DC was 16 so the player guesses the letter “O”. He is incorrect and decides not to try and solve the puzzle. Next the Rogue rolls a successful Insight check and guesses the letter “R” but also decides to try and guess the word. He confidently proclaims the word “Boar” but the DM says he’s incorrect and gives him 1d8 Psychic damage (as angry whispers suddenly enter his head).

Additional turns are made around the table until the word is correctly guessed or time runs out (and the wall markings basically burn up and become unreadable – think Indiana Jones and that Arc crate).

Certainly there’s some massaging and improvement to be had here but Ben’s rather pleased with his first attempt. He’ll report back on actual game play and let ya know how he evolves this homebrewed, ancient language decryption game mechanic.

Until next week.

Questions to Ponder: What do you think of our language decipher mechanics? Got any changes or suggestions? Have you ever used something like this in your game? Do you own the Hirst Arts Egyptian molds? Is there a particular D&D edition or module that shared some of these ancient script parameters or similar translation challenge (if so, please share the specifics)?

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Avast, me hearties! The Pile is finally ready to share its Skull and Shackles miniatures set review – better late than never, right? And as expected, Paizo did not disappoint our tiny senses. Round four of this series clearly establishes Pathfinder as the minis monopoly leader…and that’s just fine by Ben. So let’s draw swords and get to it.

Inside the Doubloons
Let’s start with the basics. This is the fourth full set of Pathfinder Battles. There are 55 pre-painted miniatures in all (including the promo). Once again if you order a case, you’re basically guaranteed to get a full set. Ben had a scare here but then found four unopened packs in his car – whoops.

Ben re-ordered from PopularCollections.com and paid $344.99 for a booster case with the promotional dragon. He likes this particular online retailer as they often have free shipping or an early bird pre-order special.

The set broke out categorically-ish like so:

• Monsters: 34 (like the Vine Choker)
• Female Figs: 9
• Good-ish Guys: 3 (like the Chelish Marine)
• Unique Characters: 16 (uniques should not be uncommon)

The most common draws (five of each) from Ben’s case were the Sea Devil Champion, Wereshark Pirateand the Pirate Sailor. Ben wished he would have pulled more Bloodbugs (alas just 2).

Editor’s Note: These are loose counts as classifying some of the minis is open to interpretation (so please call off your team of Ernst & Young auditors).

Landlubbers
This set delivered way fewer shipping causalities than the appropriately named Shattered Star set. Ben unpacked xx broken figs from the box.

Previously, Ben was able to ship his Shattered Star misfit toys to WizKids for replacement (all one had to do was pay the original shipping). However, at press time, this option did not exist on their website and the Pile did not receive a reply to its e-mail inquiry. The company might just need more time to get the latest replacement program in place but Ben is hoping they haven’t changed to a tough-tooties-policy.

Pieces of Eight
First, the Pile’s highly coveted Fabulous Five:

• Ambrose Kroop (Chef NPC? Oh hell yes)
• Whalebone Pilk (You had us at Whalebone)
• Gilbrok The Tongue (Pet monkey for the win)
• Cannon Golem (Brilliant idea and exquisite details)
• Seaweed Siren (Three heads are better than one)

Our group went around and around on this set’s best-of votes. So much so that we decided to give an honorable mention to the Wererat. The fig’s pose and paint job were exceptional. Plus, this monster sculpt puts many other opponents to the mat.

Son of a Biscuit Eater
And now for the bad news and our Bottomfeeder Five:

• Greater Host Devil (Call an exterminator…bug problems)
• Seltyiel, Half-elf Magus (Albino white skin freaks us out)
• Scourge Hellknight (all that white after October 1st?)
• Golden Guardian (Thundercats Snarf body double)
• Tsadok Goldtooth (Eddie Munster got his own mini)

Picking the least favs was quick and easy and that’s always a real positive sign.

Blow Me Down
Could Pathfinder be moving to a quarterly release schedule?! This marketing strategy would put them on par with WotC’s renaissance days. The set after October’s Legends of Golarion, Wrath of the Righteous, is rumored to be out in January 2014! [Ben faints]

Hornswaggle
Sadly, the promotional figure for this set was yet another overly familiar creature type – Brinebones, a Skeletal Dragon. Yes, it’s a nice fig but one wonders when the mini designers will finally realize that the community already has ample red, blue, green, silver, and black winged creatures to choose from.

The Pile would love it if they read the room and produced more creature types that we don’t have. How about a gargantuan spider or angry giant? Dare to be different, Paizo. You’ve already taken some chances but with Legends of Golarion, this will mean three straight dragon releases. #yawn

Plus, how many darn huge dragons will your group realistically encounter during the life of their campaign? The typical answer is very few.

Dare to be different, Paizo. Your community will support your creativity.

Weigh Anchor and Hoist the Mizzen
As Ben mentioned at the start of this week’s post, another set is nearly upon us. This is fastest follow-up release yet and that’s indicative of the product line’s strength. Legends of Golarion is set to release in October. Ben seriously thought it was a typo at first glance.

The next set doesn’t carry a particular theme or campaign but instead offers a celebration of Pathfinder RPG. A full preview gallery is already up over at Pathfinderminis.com but if you enjoy the weekly previews on Paizo’s blog, don’t click here.

Overall Ben gives the set 4.5 out of 5 peg legs and highly recommends the line to other D&D RPG enthusiasts (especially if you’re running the Skull and Shackles Pathfinder campaign). Here’s yet another tip of the sailor’s cap to the entire Pathfinder Battles development team.

Until next week.

Questions to Ponder: How many boosters will you buy? Did any minis arrive broken? Did we get our top or bottom five wrong? How so? Do you only buy singles? Do you still find yourself re-basing a lot of old Mage Knight and HorrorClix minis? How did Ben do on the category counts? Will anyone ever join Pathfinder in the minis biz or did this just become a one horse show?

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This week Ben shows you his interpretation of the C2 Well Encounter inside the D&D 4E Pyramid of Shadows module. He’s got the terrain, monster groups, miniatures and treasure to share with any and all inquiring RPG minds. Step carefully to learn more.

The Encounter
This encounter has an especially cool backstory. The Pyramid of Shadows is a roaming prison – gobbling up anyone that gets stuck in its path. Arboreans have dug a deep hole (aka The Well) in a futile attempt to escape. This spot now features several colorful yet dangerous creatures – none of whom take kindly to guests on their turf.

The Miniatures
This encounter has a woodsy, underbrush feel to it. Thankfully, the Pile’s miniature collection is up to this Pyramid population task. To make mini pickings easier, Ben basically broke the baddies into several groups.

Leader: The Satyr (Underdark, #22) is sorta the area’s kingpin here. He was looking for an ally upon his imprisonment and had no real choice but to align with the Arboreans (especially when a Dryad charm spell entered the mix).

Bodyguard: The Satyr has “worked out” a deal with a Black Woods Dryad (Desolation, #14). She will be concealed on the edge of the well’s slope and immediately go to protect the Satyr so the magical effects of its instrument will continue to aid the battle.

Brutes: Three rough and tumble Shambling Mounds make up the area’s muscle. Ben is using a traditional Shambling Mound (Harbinger #36), a Stormrage Shambler (Unhallowed, #24) and a Bog Elemental (WoW, #24).

Side Note: Download our home brewed Stormrage Shambler desktop for fun.

The Bog elemental needed to be re-based and flocked but there was plenty of inspiration from an old Tale of the Board Game Painters forum thread. Ben was rather pleased with the final mini.

Minions: This DM always likes a few pestering minions to wreak havoc on the party’s battle tactics. Ben mixed in some stuff that would naturally fit in the forest-heavy underbrush.

• Grub Swarm (Shattered Star, #4)
• Animated Mud (MageKnight, #47)
• Galeb Duhr (Against the Giants, #36)
• Demonweb Swarm (Desolation, #41)

A rock will be wedged in a steep area of the Well. If someone goes to grab it for a foothold on their climb out, the DM will swap it out with the Galeb Duhr and release a surprise attack.

The Map and Terrain
The centerpiece of this encounter is a sloping, forest-draped hole in the ground.

Pink foam is the natural material of choice for such a DIY hobbyist project such as this. However, Ben had two core concerns: playability (keeping minis in place on a sloped piece of gridless terrain) and modularity (lots of work for a potential one-time-use piece).

Thus, The Pile once again turned to its trustworthy terrain ally – paper. Certainly we could craft a printed piece to represent the well while still keeping the module’s desired effects in place. Plus, Hirst Arts tiles would be lined around the edge of the pit to give it a little more depth.

Foam is a valid option and certainly a fun project. However, the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game is carving up Ben’s free time lately. Thus, three hours of PhotoShop graphic-ing vs. a weekend’s worth of terrain building sorta made the decision to go with paper an easy one. You can download our source files here (warning – it’s a large zip file).

Ben has a few existing modular pit pieces from the Thunderspire Labyrinth’s Slave Pits encounter but they just weren’t big enough for this particular scenario.

The Treasure
Our Satyr is a bit of a gold whore so his den is sure to include a small chest of delicious coins (700 GP, 200 SP, 75 CP). An explosive trap protects his coveted stash (Perception DC 28 | Burst 3, 1d10+6 damage | d4-1% coin damage). The only way to open this chest and not set off the trap will be to play the correct notes off his flute.

And speaking of the Satyr’s personal flute, that’s actually the big prize of this encounter. Owner be warned though as it’s a mixed bag in terms of the magical payout. We’ll dig deeper into this homebrewed treasure item next Saturday.

Until next week.

Questions to Ponder: Have you rebased any World of Warcraft figs for your game? If so, what is your fav? What traits would you give the Satyr’s magical flute? What would you do differently for this encounter? Would you make the well out of foam or would the paper trick suffice for your game?

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The RPG world is all a flutter thanks to a new, highly addictive card game set inside the glorious Pathfinder universe. And while Mike Selinker’s brilliant game system carries all the bliss one needs in an easy, 90-minute game, Ben felt a few additional tips might pack even more glee into this wondrous house of cards. Roll the tape!

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Previously the Pile showcased the terrain and DM prep for the C2 Well encounter inside the D&D 4E Pyramid of Shadows module. That battle features a Satyr Piper who just happens to play a wicked pan flute. Ben wants to turn his instrument into a mischievous new magic treasure item. Let’s venture forth to see if he played all the right notes.

RPG Crowd Sourcing
The Old School Gamers Facebook club is a collective group of pure DM genius. Naturally Ben wanted their wisdom as he went forth to build this magical boon. You can read the entire thread here but this post will showcase some of the collective feedback (all of which was very good btw).

The Mechanics
The Pile lives in the D&D 4E universe so this item will be usable as a daily power (with both good and bad effects learned over time).

Play the flute correctly and its author unlocks its soothing sounds and beneficial powers. Botch the notes however and suffer unfortunate effects. The character can use skills like Insight and Arcana to attempt to play the proper notes The DCs will be harder at first but become easier over time (practice makes perfect, right?).

The Premise
So a mysterious item needs a good overall premise and a sound set of operating principles. Gamer Eric suggested that having the instrument be the one that calls all the shots. Eventually the possessor will realize that the flute didn’t belong to the Satyr…the Satyr belonged to the flute. Brilliant! Addiction and mind control always makes for a great ongoing story.

To paraphrase Eric’s initial premise: “A great negative for the flute is once you start playing it, you want to keep playing it. You play it whenever you get the chance. It’s all you can think about each day.”

The End Game
So the curse realization will be gradual. After a certain number of attempted plays and a certain number of failed saving throws, the holder will slowly start to turn into a Satyr himself – the curse of curses. It will start with a little extra hair on the back of one’s neck and move to sudden elongated ears after an extended rest – wild body transformation stuff. The body silhouette worksheet from d20PFSRD.com will come in handy here.

The Immediate Effects
DM Ben is going to release subtle effects for failed musical plays in an attempt to masquerade the overall effect. As Chris shared, “Anyone within 30 feet must make a will save or be struck with Otto’s Irresistible Dance.” Peter and Russell suggested other negative caster effects like Summon Swarm and Entangle which will go off against the enemy on a positive Will save but revert negatively onto the caster in the event of a failed Will save.

Two Card Monty
The DM will have a table to roll against to initially to randomly introduce the flute’s powers (which Chris suggested pulling from the Bard Spell list). Ben made up “Fury” because in the end we all know that the rhythm is gonna get ya.

Possible spells rolled on a d12 via a random table could go something like this:

• 12: Otto’s Irresistible Dance
• 11: Silence
• 10: Charm monster (1 round)
• 9: Mirror Image
• 8: Entangle
• 7: Summon Monster III (30 HPs)
• 6: Summon Monster II (20 HPs)
• 5: Summon Monster I (minion)
• 4: Cure Light Wounds
• 3: Fury (add 1d6+4 to damage)
• 2: Blur
• 1: Sleep

Dwarven Ale suggested building the flute’s different melodies over time and then allowing the holder to pick one or two (based on the character’s level) at the start of each day – almost like a spell book. Ben loves that angle.

Ben made two versions of the card (DM vs. Player). He will allow the players to pencil some notes on the back of the card as they discover new melodies.

This should be a fun magic item that grows over time and leaves the game table with some great future stories to tell. And it’s all because Ben gets to be part of such a great RPG community. Thanks again, everyone.

Side Note: a big shout out to Aaron Sims for his amazing Satyr illustration.

Until next week.

Questions to Ponder: Would you incorporate the Satyr magic flute into your own game? What do you think could be improved? Have you ever encountered a similar item in a previous D&D game edition? How do you think this will play out over time? What other subtle Satyr transformation twists could the DM add?

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This week Ben shows you his interpretation of The Library of Whispers inside the D&D 4E Pyramid of Shadows module. There’s new terrain, miniatures and treasure – oh my!

The Encounter
The module writers’ premise here is brilliant. To quote the adventure, “This library is a manifestation of the knowledge possessed by the main villain and all other prisoners ever trapped in the Pyramid of Shadows. Such a valuable repository has attracted the attention of five Eaters of Knowledge, living embodiments of the god Vecna’s hunger for secrets.”

Word-eating monsters and a kick-ass lair? Now how can anyone resist building this 3D game board?! Ben turned his office upside down in order to find all the pieces.

The Entrance
This particular piece was an accidental creation but honestly turned out to be one of Ben’s favorite terrain creations. He wanted this library entrance to impose an ominous feeling when the party approached the room. Tall, heavy, thick-stacked bricks were used to help block out the Eater of Knowledge luring whispers.

The Greenery
Oddly enough there’s a statue (to honor Vyrellis) resting on some perfectly manicured greenery in the center of this room. Ben used a re-based Dreamblade on a WotC Dungeon Tile to represent this area of the room.

For fun, Ben added in an attacking vine (reach 6). Each round one player in the party will roll an opposing Will save with the DM to see who gains control of the vine. If the party wins, they get an attack roll with the green vine. If the DM wins, he gets an attack roll with the black vine.

Monsters and Miniatures
Ben pulled from several miniature makers for this encounter including:

• Vyrellis Statue (Dreamblade Anvilborn, Princess of Thorns)
• Voidblades (Confrontation, Scorpions)
• Thoughtbows (WotC Savage Encounters, Bodak Skulk)
• Mindstrike (Reaper Legendary Encounters, Bathalian)
• Vines (Dungeon Crawler, Grappler and Plant Vine)

The Map and Terrain
Bookcases and a lot of ‘em are the theme of this particular game board. First let’s start with the paperback-laden accessories Ben already had in his Pile. These pieces will be placed within the center of the room and actually create small hallways and impromptu combat cover points.

• Legendary Realms Terrain | website
• Yansolo | eBay store
• Manorhouse | website
• JA Hecker | eBay store
• DungeonMaster Mark | eBay store (honorable mention)

The entire outer edges of this library are lined with ten-foot bookshelves. The Thoughtbow monsters actually fire longbow attacks from the top of these suckers. Ben already had a pile of bookshelves and just didn’t want to spend a whole weekend making even more of them.

Once again he called on his trusted terrain paper ally to assist in the task. A simple Google search on bookshelves revealed the perfect solution from the d4d6d8d12d12 Gaming Blog. The website’s curator had created a wondrous paper template. Ben decided to skip all the folding business and simply cut them out and Sticky Tack them to his outer tiles so that they lined all the outer edges.

Ben also used some handy shelves from Manorhouse to hold disheveled papers and books (by JA Hecker) to imply a sort of reading feeding frenzy in the room. Materials would even be scattered about the floor.

The Treasure
For goodies, Ben created some item cards to represent the treasure including:

• Scroll of Raise Dead
• Scroll of Consult Mystic Sages
• Bag of Books (worth some gp)

It’s with near certainty that the Party Wizard will scour the bookshelves for valuable manuscripts. And that of course means we need a trap. No chance for a thief to detect this one as our nosy reader will eventually pull a book off the shelf with cursed magic text.

As the character starts to read it, he will suddenly lose all ability to read written words inside the pyramid (so that means he’s out of the Hieroglyphics challenges and memorizing new spells on an extended rest is off the table). The party cleric can call upon Bahamut to lift the curse though (via a religion check, once per day).

The Board
Ben is quite proud of this particular 3D D&D game board – lots of love and tinkering went into it. Keep an eye out on the Pile’s YouTube channel for a flyover video and more thoughts on how everything came to be.

Until next week.

Questions to Ponder: How do you think the game board turned? What would you do differently? Did you like the book trap? Any thoughts on the treasure rewards?

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The Advanced D&D Players Handbook cover is the definition of iconic. There’s not a gamer in all the land who doesn’t instantly recognize this looming statue and daring band of thieves…er adventurers. Ben was determined to make this unforgettable childhood image a permanent part of his D&D den. Let’s see how he did just that.

Book It
Of course Ben had his own personal copy of the AD&D Players Handbook but college came a calling and he was flat broke. So, he surrendered his box of books and dice knowing full well that this desperate transaction would become a regrettable one. Ben fully remembers this poignant moment in time like it was yesterday. Alas, you can’t turn back the clock but you can always right a wrong…right?

So, he clicked over to eBay and sought out his prize. Ben nabbed the beloved book for a cool $24. And it looks like Robert made the same mistake as youngling Ben. Fear not, Sir Robert – someday you will make amends.

Some wear and tear on the book didn’t bother Ben in the least. The natural aging just showed it had a good home. Mint condition would actually be sacrilege.

Stone
The idol required a trip across the pond to British mates, Otherworld Miniatures. They actually sell the Demon Idol and all the nifty accessories for about $48. You can buy the set in any number of ways though.

Stroke Me
Ben’s sausage fingers rarely paint miniatures so he enlisted the brush strokes of the talented Bob Ladd to finish off his prized possession. Words can’t describe Bob’s work. You just have to see it.

Museum Piece
You want to make Gary proud by displaying this work in proper form. Ben has everything nicely placed on a shelf in full view so that he can catch a glimpse of the book and idol every time he walks in (or out) of his D&D den.

One thing is for certain – the conclusion of our D&D 4E 3-module series Keep on the Shadowfell will conclude with this idol fully entrenched in the supporting 3D game board. After three-plus years of game play, it’s the only way our game group can truly pay proper tribute.

Until next week.

Questions to Ponder: Have you ever used this idol in a game? Do you own one? Do you still have your original Players Handbook? Did you write your name in it? Did you give it away only to reacquire (or regret) it later? How might you incorporate this statue into the Pyramid of Shadows module ending?

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Let’s take a deeper look at the construction of D&D’s Library of Whispers by going to the tape. The written word is fun and all but sometimes an RPG video is worth a thousand words. Lights, camera, action!

Another crazy, crazy work week for ol’ Ben so he decided to put up a point-and-shoot video about Lead Adventure Miniatures and the amazing NPC library of miniatures they have available to the D&D gaming public. Annnnnnd action!

Time to take a stroll through a sacred, soothing meadow…one filled with Ettercaps and Arborean Watchers that want to gut your party like a fish! The party has accidentally disturbed their holy ground. Well, at least the 3D D&D game board is quite delightful. Let’s explore it together.

The Encounter

This pyramid chamber has been converted to a dark meadow, a place where Arboreans tend to plants that hold the spirits of their departed elders. The Arboreans have been trapped within the Pyramid of Shadows long enough to recreate their culture to the best of their ability. It’s a killer setup by module authors Mike Mearls and James Wyatt.

This is sacred ground and its inhabitants have woven in illusions to make this room appear outdoors. Ettercaps have allied with the Arboreans out of pure self-preservation. These sort of unlikely alliances are a cool theme throughout the Pyramid of Shadows module.

The Miniatures
Ben did a little miniatures bin hunting at Gen Con to gather the core mins for this encounter.

• Ettercap (Giants of Legend, #47)
• Ettercap Webspinner (Desert of Desolation, #48)
• Verdant Reaver (Night Below, #22)
• Arborean Watchers (Warhammer Fantasy, 1995)

The Terrain
Ben thought he had this terrain setup in the bag when he pulled the Dwarven Forge limited edition Woodland set for the forest illusion. This magnificent set is rich in color and sculpted by the great Sandra Garrity.

There was just one problem with Ben’s terrain solution. The Woodland pieces don’t sit flush. The walls and floors won’t line up perfectly with one another and that means all sorts of unwelcomed gaps. This product imperfection really shook Ben’s trees. He’s never had an issue with any previous Dwarven Forge product line. This setback was a stunner and a bummer.

Tune in next time to see how Ben tackled this game board conundrum.

Questions to Ponder: How did you like this encounter’s monster make-up? Do you own any of the Dwarven Forge Woodland sets? Have you experienced this piece connection issue? How did you solve it?

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Let’s finish off one of the trickier 3D game boards that Ben can remember (that didn’t involve casting the majority of pieces from scratch). Gamers don’t quit, right? DM’s are known for heavy doses of T.C.B. (Taking Care of Business – thanks Elvis, circa 1970s). Please enjoy part 2 of The Black Meadow.

Unfinished Business
Ok, ok. The Dwarven Forge Woodland set isn’t perfect. Take a deep breath and move past this chink in the armor by embracing the challenge. First things first – those obvious cracks between the tiles gotta go. The simplest way to trick the eye is to lay down a thin piece of black cloth and set the terrain pieces on top of that backdrop. Now those cracks are just dark and mysterious.

Woodland Accessories
The module map calls for a pentagram-style symbol in the center of the room to signify holy ground. Ben decided to use a piece from the Dwarven Forge Fantasy Floor Set.

For the plinths (a fancier word for “columns”), Ben once again called on Dwarven Forge. These stone pieces were part of their last super crazy Kickstarter so they should look rather familiar.

Obviously the trees are a critical accent piece to the Pyramid’s forest illusion so Ben went to his go-to saplings – a pack from Furucius on eBay and another cluster from from Miniature Building Authority.

Placing these rounded tree bases within the square Dwarven Forge pieces created some awkward, glaring holes. So Ben grabbed some Dungeon Tiles to fill these spots in accordingly – turned out to be a nice combo aesthetically.

Board Storage
This setup is a bit bulky so Ben broke it up into several manageable sections so reassembling it come game day wouldn’t be such a (dire) bear.

The Big Reveal
All things considered, Ben is rather happy with this setup. The terrain certainly has its quirks but the room’s vision is still intact and much fun will be had by all.

Treasure Time
While the forest is an illusion, the Arborean Watcher monsters are all too real. DM Ben wants to give the party’s crafty wizard a chance to carefully harvest 1d4-1 perfect wooden limbs so that he may turn them into a set of magical throwing daggers.

This special material will allow for great accuracy (+4) and range (10/15) but they will be a little frail. Roll 1d12 on any miss. On a 1, the dagger breaks. Up to three can be thrown in a single attack.

Side Note: Arrows probably seemed like a natural choice here but the party ranger already has a wicked ranged attack (a bit of a min/max character build) and the rest of the group lacks some ranged punch.

Ben will use a Paizo GameMastery item card for the front and crafted this for the back of the card.

The Puzzle
This seems like another good spot for a hieroglyphics challenge. The door will have some cryptic symbols clawed into its wooden frame. Since this is a final resting place, a simple phrase of “RIP” will be aces.

Happy Holidays
My oh my how the game time flies – another year has come and gone for the ol’ Pile…bigger and better than ever. Ben has also made many new RPG friends on our Facebook page and he’s very, very grateful for that. Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year. We’ll see y’all back at the game table in 2014.

Questions to Ponder: Got any fun effects for that holy symbol? What twist could those plinths play in combat? What would you do for the party treasure? Did you like the throwing dagger idea? How might you enhance the weapon traits? What’s on your RPG list to Santa? What are you most thankful for in 2013?

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A new year means sounds like a perfect time to build a new encounter! Sound the trumpets and bring fourth the Temple of Verdant Rage. It’s another juicy encounter inside D&D 4E’s Thunderspire Labyrinth module. This particular pyramid room packs a rather heavy-hitting punch and death saves almost seem like a forgone conclusion. Let’s open the gates of battle.

New Approach
To relieve some of the weekly “stress” of posting, Ben is going to do more manageable articles. No lie – the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game and Hearthstone are currently major entertainment sources for Ben these days. Still, one always has a little time in the week to share some D&D goodness with the community at large, right?

This next encounter will again be broken up into a multi-part series (similar to the recent Black Meadow posts).

The Backstory
Let’s just start by understanding what we’re dealing with in terms of prep. This temple is set in another forest illusion and serves as the worship area for the Aroborean’s strange-ass cult. The good news is the DM’s have a very robust map to play with here.

This encounter required a lot of tinkering to ensure it fit his adventure party. Thus, you’ll see multiple pieces of new terrain and a major overhaul on the miniature monsters (because fighting the same old stuff is snooze city).

Coming Soon
Next week we’ll take a look at one of the room’s terrain centerpieces – the monoliths. Ben called upon two highly skilled fellows: Itar and CatataFish to lend some helping hands.

Questions to Ponder: Have you played this particular encounter? Have you tried Hearthstone or the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game? If so, what are your thoughts? Do you recommend either one to other fellow gamers?

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This week Ben tackles a key terrain piece in the Temple of Verdant: the mysterious monolith. We’re pretty sure that word is just Sweedish for Rune. Never the less – challenge accepted. Plus, if a maniacal monster can pick one of these stone suckers up and throw it at a charging adventurer, then this object must sit comfortably on your 3D game board. Let’s see how easy it is to add a rune to your own RPG pile.

Inspiration Nation
A great starting point on your new terrain builds is to commence with a Google Images search to ensure you’re putting all your upcoming perspiration in the right direction. Make sure you have a clear visual for reference.

Out of the Box
There are several ways to go here.

You can actually get your hands dirty and cast some pieces using the Hirst Arts Egyptian Temple Accessory Mold (#98). You just need a decent number of re-casts to make it happen. Not this time though. Ben wanted to use these particular pieces in a future room.

Sooooo Ben turned to Itar’s Workshop and their pre-cast set of Standing Stones product which fit this project’s requirements to the letter. Plus their $8 price tag was a slam dunk for the beloved quick-and-easy-method. Luckily Ben already had a set sitting in a drawer when he snagged them at Itar’s Gen Con booth several years ago.

Side note: You can even make some monoliths out of foam (as long as you have a steady hand).

Paint Steps
These runes need a touch of color and for that step, Ben turned to master artisan, CatataFish. His tutorials are so flippin’ good and give all the novice folk out there a real chance to replicate some very simple steps.

For the initial rock base gray color scheme, Ben once again relied on MiniWarGaming’s technique but for the glowing rune effect, we followed CatataFish’s video.

• Fill in the runes with a Citadel Hawk Turquoise for a shadow/glow
• Paint the inside of the ruin with watered down Citadel Ice Blue
• Mix 70% Skull White with 30% Ice Blue on any intersecting lines

You actually want the paint job to be a bit jagged and sloppy (so this technique was right up Ben’s alley). Also, make sure your brush gets thinner as you move from step to step.

For further confidence, start with a test piece so that you can get the hang of the technique and learn how to better apply it to your final terrain.

Flock Me
Now that everything is all colored up, circle back and apply the appropriate flock to match the game environment.

The Thunderspire Labyrinth module has these babies in a forest illusion so Ben needed to make ‘em look rather earthy. Army Painter Highland Tufts and Basecrafts Dark Green Lichen (for vines) really make the final pieces sing.

And just like that you’ve got some modular runes for your next D&D game.

Until next week.

Note: Hero illustration by ThePhoenixDark.

Questions to Ponder: Have you had Runes in your own D&D encounters? What sort of nifty powers did they have? How would you have painted or flocked these differently? Who wins the coolness award – Itar’s Workshop or Hirst Arts?