Ben’s feverish room building exploits continue with his interpretation of Thunderspire Labyrinth’s Duergar Workshop (which lies deep within the Northern Fortress of the Horned Hold).

The game group couldn’t conquer the first tower without eliminating Urwol, the Master Smith. Thus, the guys needed a whiz bang encounter with some terrain that would leave a lasting impression. Ben felt this blacksmith chamber was the perfect location.

Key detail pieces and building notes include:

• Two blacksmith kilns ( large & small) for Urwol to start the process
• Anvil-like stone tables to pound the metal in place
• Dry-brushed flock from Skullcrafts to show metal shavings remnants
• Lots of snapped off weapons to demonstrate a fevered production pace
• Crystaline Counters to act as the burning fire
• Trinkets to show a little smithing variety
• Hirst Arts molds (#203, 701, 76, 75, 71, & 70) to put it all together

The 3-D terrain really made this Duergar showdown sing but in the end, the good guys won. Do you have some cool rooms coming up in your dungeon crawls (such as a spider’s lair, excavation pit, etc)?

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Sometimes a guy takes a step back to assess his RPG collection and simply wonders how he got all those…dwarves. No complaints cause who doesn’t love a good ale-drinkin’ dwarf?

One particular hand-painted set, the cannon crew, was a no-brainer. No gamer could resist that army behind a glass display case. Ben’s not sure what 4E role they will play but maybe some sort of town siege (for impeding upon their mountain resources). What plot hook would you use?

Ben has lots of nice main characters to choose from including a fearless sergeant, a storied general and a maniac warrior. This one even looks like the Viking dad from the upcoming “ How to Train Your Dragon” animated movie. These all also fit well into your own character mini or campaign NPCs.

Ben’s got ‘em in metal or plastic (bet you can’t tell which is which). Lots of soldiers to choose from too – even a winter brigade (with a fancy “ desktop for download). And we haven’t even talked about all those WotC pre-painted ones either.

So can you ever really have too many dwarves? Well, no…no you can’t.

Side Note: These might be the product of Games Workshop but Ben honestly doesn’t know. Post a comment here if you know the answer and we’ll update the links.

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The Internet is an RPG game aid paradise for the simple fact that it lets you build upon others’ awesome ideas – case in point with our version of NPC Tracker Cards. Ben first caught wind of an NPC Photoshop template on Newbie DM’s site. He then found a spinoff of those cards on The Free RPG Blog site. Creative juices began to overflow-eth.

Operation Iraqi Freedom and the infamous deck of cards used by the military was the main inspiration for yet another Dungeons and Dragons homebrew project. Who could ever forget the four aces?

With all this knowledge in-hand, Ben set off to create his own set for his monthly Thunderspire campaign. Remembering those story plotlines is a difficult task for many of the players, especially if you only play every 3 or 4 weeks.

So Ben wanted to create some eye-popping NPC cards that would help his group better identify with the villains and their role in the story. He used the front for a fancy image and then utilized the back for key stats/hints. You can even use the WotC Character Builder for your item stats on the card backs.

Google images provides a wealth of photo options. It’s kinda fun picking older D&D art for nostalgia-sake. Besides characters and magic items, Ben is looking to do some key places as well.

You can download the Photoshop templates here or peruse the first three PDFs here, here and here. A special thanks to all for paving the way. We’ll be sure to update the NPC cards as we add more.

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Ben loves a good what-the-frack-accessory now and then. And the twisted crew over at Harcos Laboratories obliges with their simply red invention of the Blood Energy Potion line.

This stuff is frightening real in its appearance. The color and texture are remarkable. The picture hilarity is endless (as we expect the Larper crowd to come loose at the seams).

The product packaging is also worth a hearty chuckle: “not for use with transfusions,” and “garlic free.” Ben especially likes the bloodied thumbprint and smiley vampire face on the back of the label.

Ben’s group used it for a recent DM fumble penalty. You heat it up in the microwave for 14 seconds-ish so you get the blood consistency. It tastes like a wacky and warm fruit punch but includes a bonus four-hour energy surge.

Go ahead and mix things up a little by tossing a bag of blood energy potion on your game table…who knows what will happen next

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