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.
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!
Ben opened 2012 with the announcement of Project Red Rover, Red Rover – an ambitious new terrain environment endeavor that would center around the mighty Egyptian civilization of yesteryear. He was initially resigned to the fact that he would have very little access to any pre-made, quality pieces. Then out of the blue, a new Dwarven Forge Ancient Treasures accessories set inexplicably revealed itself! Ben felt like Dr. Jones right after he found Shishak’s infamous Well of Souls! Let’s take a look and see what’s inside this new set…snakes excluded of course.
Grave robbers salivate over Egyptian tombs and care not for the cushy afterlife. Consequently, mighty Pharaoh’s have gone to great lengths to foil these evil doers. The threat of eternal damnation just isn’t enough to scare off treacherous thieves. An agonizing death is always the best deterrent. And with that, Ben’s created his first of many custom terrain tramps to fit our sandy atmosphere. Read with caution.
Your pyramid setup needs some staple accommodations. A sure-fire space would almost certainly be a mummification area. Preparing those royal bodies for the afterlife requires some elbow room. To accomplish this terrain feat, Ben takes a page from Hirst Arts’ terrain guide to show him the way. He’ll also preview a couple more mini inhabitants for the D&D 4E Pyramid of Shadows module. Walk this way.
History will tell ya getting into a pyramid was no simple task. Descending passageways were an endless labyrinth of cramped tunnels to thwart grave robbers from a Pharaoh’s final resting place. So naturally, you need terrain to pass on this game play vibe. Ben borrowed another page out of his Gen Con DM’s book to make his own narrow hallways. He’s also got a new weekly miniatures’ feature so you can get a taste of your unwelcomed neighbors.
Coming up with a variety of new materials for your terrain environment is critical. After all, you don’t want to stare at the same humdrum pieces game in and game out: different building materials means different color schemes. Ben turned to The Google for a little history lesson and came up with ivory as yet another world resource. Let’s see how he’s begun adding this material (and more wood) into his new game board.
Rubble can raise a game board’s landscape to newly entertaining and eye opening heights. Yes, yes – some of the build steps can be meticulous at times but the payoff is bountiful. Hobbyists will also enjoy a cavalcade of artist expression…more so than most terrain creations. After all there’s no wrong way to make modular ruins is there? Let’s take a look at the Pile’s piles.
They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery and when it is comes to terrain buildin’, you would be a bumbling fool not to utilize the vast array of RPG resources sitting at your keyboard. Countless photos, how-to guides and videos are scattered across this world wide web of ours. Let’s see how Ben called upon a few old friends for some help with this week’s new Egyptian pieces.
Our Egyptian environment possesses all the basic terrain – doors, floors, columns and walls. Now Ben has entered a new phase in his game board development that calls for making good pieces better. A hobbyist relishes this innovation phase but it does slow overall production down a bit. There are a lot of nerves to overcome. For instance, Ben has often stared at a new pile of unassembled, molded pieces for hours before taking the creative leap. Let’s see what he slapped together this week.
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