D&D General Your last adventure in photos.

[Scott Christian]

Cliffs are hard because they take a lot of terrain (i.e. $$$) for very little table coverage, so the best examples I have seen are from folks who make them out of foam, or Dwarven Forge, but that is probably the single most expensive thing you can make out of Dwarven Forge. DF wilderness terrain is around half price if you paint it yourself, but it is much, much more detailed and time consuming to paint than their dungeons or caverns (I can paint a whole dungeon set in about 2 hours, caverns in 3, but wilderness or Hellscape is probably 5 times as long - though that said cliffs are much easier than forest tiles).

This build was from a game a few months back:

View attachment 293522View attachment 293524
Edit: One thing I have considered for doing a cliffside that characters had to climb and battle on is basically doing a cavern floor build with Dwarven Forge on one of their magnetic terrain trays (most DF pieces have magnets on the back) and then putting it on its side to create a vertical surface with ledges and such - that would probably work okay.

First, what a beautiful build. Absolutely awesome! I love everything about it: the minis, the set pieces, the leveling. It has what very few photos of builds have - a "living" scene. Great job!

And, I am the worst painter of all time, but that is how I did an ice cave that started at the top of a giant Styrofoam block (I think it was part of some new furniture packing material), and then slowly carved its way down to the base. The players really liked it, but I haven't repeated anything like it. Perhaps I need to get on board and try painting something similar.

As for the Dwarven Forge cavern floor magnetic pieces, that is absolutely brilliant. I am in the unfortunate circumstance that I bought the caverns when they first came out. So they are non-magnetized. But now you have me considering buying a new set just to see if I can make some cliffs.

 

[Clint_L]

First, what a beautiful build. Absolutely awesome! I love everything about it: the minis, the set pieces, the leveling. It has what very few photos of builds have - a "living" scene. Great job!

Thanks! When I was a kid my Grandpa took me to a local attraction called "Miniature World" and I have loved dioramas ever since, so miniature terrain is dear to my heart.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

Thanks! When I was a kid my Grandpa took me to a local attraction called "Miniature World" and I have loved dioramas ever since, so miniature terrain is dear to my heart.

That is really nice!

I went to gen con in the 90s. And we had never seen much beyond paper maps and lead figures.

A guy there had a simple foam layout. Very simple compared to pics in this thread and it blew me away.

It stuck with me until years later I started making foam stuff. It really followed me for a long time…

Making and collecting stuff is almost a hobby now. Scratches some
D&D itch when I cannot play…

 

[Clint_L]

That is really nice!

I went to gen con in the 90s. And we had never seen much beyond paper maps and lead figures.

A guy there had a simple foam layout. Very simple compared to pics in this thread and it blew me away.

It stuck with me until years later I started making foam stuff. It really followed me for a long time…

Making and collecting stuff is almost a hobby now. Scratches some
D&D itch when I cannot play…

100%!!!

As soon as I started playing D&D I started collecting miniatures (this was around 1980) - old Citadels and Ral Parthas (my preferred brand, back then). I didn't get into terrain until I took up Warhammer pretty hard in the 90s, and that was almost all DIY - foam battle boards, hills, resin water, handmade buildings, the works. Getting terrain for D&D has only evolved organically over the past decade or so - flip maps were great, then those 2d carboard tiles, then a bit of 3d printed stuff... Dwarven Forge always just seemed too expensive, though I loved seeing it on shows like Critical Role. But one day I sort of went, "screw it, this is exactly what I've wanted since I was a kid, and we're comfortably well off, so why not indulge?" And my spouse figured that, as mid-life crises went, it was way better than a sports car or something.

So these days I spend way more time collecting, painting, organizing, and building terrain than I do playing games - it's absolutely its own hobby and I love it! And, as everyone on this thread can appreciate, when you bring out a really cool set and your players love it, it's the best feeling.

 

[el-remmen]

Where did you get those ruins? Did you make them? They look fantastic!

I make all my terrain. This stuff was early experimentation using upcycled styrofoam packaging!

 

[el-remmen]

Folks like who do terrain builds, is there a dedicated thread for that topic on ENWorld (I know I have participated in a couple where it is discussed in combo with mini painting being the focus).

I really want any suggestions people have for mats or cloths for using as base table covering to build on for different environments. I refuse to pay the exorbitant prices I have found for stuff specifically made for the purpose (esp. at the size I need - i have a gaming table with two leaves so I can really build big stuff and still have room for books and dice and stuff) and was wondering if there is a good thread to ask that question. Like, there has to be a workaround using stuff you can get a Jo Ann Fabrics or something.

 

[Clint_L]

Folks like who do terrain builds, is there a dedicated thread for that topic on ENWorld (I know I have participated in a couple where it is discussed in combo with mini painting being the focus).

I really want any suggestions people have for mats or cloths for using as base table covering to build on for different environments. I refuse to pay the exorbitant prices I have found for stuff specifically made for the purpose (esp. at the size I need - i have a gaming table with two leaves so I can really build big stuff and still have room for books and dice and stuff) and was wondering if there is a good thread to ask that question. Like, there has to be a workaround using stuff you can get a Jo Ann Fabrics or something.

I'm sure there are DIY options, but this is a case where I think you kind of get what you pay for. A piece of green felt will look okay but will wrinkle and wear quickly. For purpose built battle mats, there are basically two options: neoprene and vinyl.

Vinyl mats tend to be cheaper and have the advantage that you can write on them with a dry erase marker. My favourite maker of vinyl mats is Mats by Mars:

Mats by Mars - Print-On-Demand Wargaming and Role Playing Battle Mats

Check out Mats by Mars' ultra matte vinyl wargaming play mats that will take your gaming table to the next level. Perfect for any miniature game system!

matsbymars.com

They have a ton of different designs available in various sizes, and also do custom mats. I have several and they are great quality.

Neoprene mats have a bit more weight and texture, and tend to look a bit more realistic, IMO, but you can't write on them. You can get them from lots of sources, but Wizkids currently has some excellent ones that you can often find in a FLGS or off Amazon. I have their basic grasslands mat and it looks great, but was so big that I cut it in half:

Dungeons & Dragons Battle Mats

shop.wizkids.com

If you want the best looking mats for water or swamps, Dwarven Forge makes mats that are extremely thin but specially built with a reflective surface to give the impression of actual liquid (the pirate cove build on the previous page uses one:

Texture Mats

Dwarven Forge® produces the world's finest hand-sculpted, hand-painted, modular gaming terrain including dungeons, caverns, villages, wilderness, castles, and minis. All our sets are designed to use with 25mm scale miniatures like those used in Dungeons and Dragons. Each square on the floor is a...

dwarvenforge.com

 

[AnotherGuy]

@darjr
(1) how long does it take you to plan/set up for a session (like the ones here)?
(2) how often do you play using miniatures and terrain?

When we do grid combat and not ToM, our table uses tokens and a laminated hexagonal board which we draw on, so I've always just been blown away at the commitment and effort put in by miniatures/terrain DMs. It is seriously impressive.

I have boxes of tiles but I couldn't be bothered to sift/search, design, display and pack-up again.

 

[el-remmen]

I'm sure there are DIY options, but this is a case where I think you kind of get what you pay for. A piece of green felt will look okay but will wrinkle and wear quickly. For purpose built battle mats, there are basically two options: neoprene and vinyl.

Vinyl mats tend to be cheaper and have the advantage that you can write on them with a dry erase marker. My favourite maker of vinyl mats is Mats by Mars:

Mats by Mars - Print-On-Demand Wargaming and Role Playing Battle Mats

Check out Mats by Mars' ultra matte vinyl wargaming play mats that will take your gaming table to the next level. Perfect for any miniature game system!

matsbymars.com

They have a ton of different designs available in various sizes, and also do custom mats. I have several and they are great quality.

Neoprene mats have a bit more weight and texture, and tend to look a bit more realistic, IMO, but you can't write on them. You can get them from lots of sources, but Wizkids currently has some excellent ones that you can often find in a FLGS or off Amazon. I have their basic grasslands mat and it looks great, but was so big that I cut it in half:

Dungeons & Dragons Battle Mats

shop.wizkids.com

If you want the best looking mats for water or swamps, Dwarven Forge makes mats that are extremely thin but specially built with a reflective surface to give the impression of actual liquid (the pirate cove build on the previous page uses one:

Texture Mats

Dwarven Forge® produces the world's finest hand-sculpted, hand-painted, modular gaming terrain including dungeons, caverns, villages, wilderness, castles, and minis. All our sets are designed to use with 25mm scale miniatures like those used in Dungeons and Dragons. Each square on the floor is a...

dwarvenforge.com

Thanks for the info! I will check these out!

In the meantime, I have been using a pair of gray curtains I cut to size for dungeon environments (basically representing the solid stone around the XPS foam dungeon tiles) or for wilderness environs I will draw out the area on a piece of a giant 200 ft roll of 1 inch graph paper I cut a swath from using paint markers.

 

[pogre]

Still love this thread!

I completed a bunch of dungeon terrain - I'll post some action shot from our last adventure soon.