D&D General DIY xps foam terrain. Videos? Pics? Advice?

[not-so-newguy]

There's old axiom in theater: Be good. Be bad. Just don't be boring.
I think I achieved that by using a cacophony of colors. I sill need to create scatter terrain and four double doors.

Here it is: The Temple of Pflarr

 

[dave2008]

There's old axiom in theater: Be good. Be bad. Just don't be boring.
I think I achieved that by using a cacophony of colors. I sill need to create scatter terrain and four double doors.

Here it is: The Temple of Pflarr
View attachment 154686View attachment 154687View attachment 154688

Looks great! I am curious, how long does it take you to make something like this?

 

[not-so-newguy]

Looks great! I am curious, how long does it take you to make something like this?

It's kinda hard to calculate my hours of labor*, but my best guess is about 8 hours of work over two weeks time. This doesn't count the time I spent just thinking about what I want.



*My "labor" is interspersed with the occasional frosty beverage and a toke, so I could probably be more efficient.

 

[el-remmen]

*My "labor" is interspersed with the occasional frosty beverage and a toke, so I could probably be more efficient.

Sounds like my working method.

 

[pogre]

Contemplating building some risers for my builds. Right now the thought is to go with 2 inch height and 4 inch square pieces. I would also build some toppers for the risers also using foam and some rock molds.

I have been thinking about elevation a lot lately. Running a game with PCs that fly pretty easily has something to do with it.

I probably will model the blocks on Dwarven Forge's mountain elevation blocks.

 

[not-so-newguy]

One interesting thing that I learned is that using warm water when applying the the black wash can cause the dry brush colors to blend together

 

[not-so-newguy]

Nearly finished with this. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge
I still need to remake a winch for the balcony.that attaches to a large box (shaped like a phone booth). The box gets lowered down for sacrifices to the dreaded Kartoeba.
The blue thing in the center are blue flames. They're being fed by methane leaking from fissures in the ground (fun fact: this is built on an active volcano that's gonna erupt)



Here it is with the balcony removed



Ground view pics...
Center view


Left view


Right view



Regarding this encounter...
12 skeletons and 6 zombies are packed in the Front Vestibule (green circle)
4 Jade Statues are under the balcony (blue dots)
2 Wights, 3 zombies, and 8 skeletons harass the PCs 20 minutes after entering the temple (yellow circles)

Initial view from the PCs point of view

 

[not-so-newguy]

So I'm tinkering around with my final dungeon for the Rakasta quest line. There are 9 encounters, in a linear layout, which vary between combat and puzzle types. The linear layout allows me present each room separately. For dungeon floor terrain, I'll be using these four 12 inch by 12 inch tiles:

Here's the Rakasta Shrine map:


I used cheap jenga bricks from the Dollar Tree store. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND:



Here's a crappy Giant Lizard (huge size 15x15) mini:


After the entrance, we have the first room. Six columns hold up the 30 foot tall ceiling. An Amber golem stands on each dais. The huge doors are locked.

The next room has 6 mummified saber toothed tigers that animate when the doors are approached. There are 9 sealed tombs. Each has various valuables and a set of War Claws (these become important for a puzzle later)

After a long flight of (trapped) stairs, there's a door that opens up to a pit 100 feet deep. 9 slanted 100 foot tall platforms stretch across the 120 foot long room.

That's all for now

 

[el-remmen]

The current project I am working on:

Originally, it was going to be a fortified dam, but I could not figure out how to make it work as I envisioned, so now it is becoming a bridge instead and the encounter I have planned for it is gonna be wild!

One of the things I love about building terrain for my games is how it is like building a puzzle you are simultaneously designing.

 

[pogre]

I mentioned these over here first and forgot to post them in this thread:

I have been busy with track & field, but I did manage to make these foam dungeon risers. I have been trying to add more vertical surfaces to my encounters. Hopefully these will help get this done.

The risers are pictured below with some old school resin Dwarven Forge, but they are actually made with the new Dwarven Forge scale in mind.

Until next time - keep crafting and painting!

 

[not-so-newguy]

Under the Temple of Pflarr:
So, I decided to cut out most of the maze of tunnels under the Temple of Pflarr. Instead, the the group will find access to the lair of Kartoeba by following this path.

After the Main Temple and turning right, they will find a stairway leading down to the Holy Crypts. There they will greeted by a host of undead, including a skeletons, zombies, wights, and a mummy hidden in a sarcophagus
.

A close up pic of sarcophagi

Eventually, they will find the concealed door. Hopefully, they won't trigger the trap

This leads to a passage.

Which leads to a strange, oval shaped room. A slab of rock covers a hole:

MORE TO FOLLOW...

 

[not-so-newguy]

The oval room has a slide. The Hutaakans somehow managed to cast a permanent Grease Spell on the slide. In days of yore, this is how some Priests discreetly sacrificed political enemies without all that inconvenience of Ceremony... and witnesses.

After enjoying a ride down the greased up super slide, the party will find themselves in the swampy lair of Kartoeba. A cesspool of rotting, fleshy muck (uhh use your imagination )

RANDOM PIC OF STAIRS I MADE:

 

[el-remmen]

Here is my latest completed project sans the two wooden walkways that go on top and the skull beads I plan to put on the end of the metal spikes/stakes (but need to source cheaply): It is an old stone bridge over a subterranean river, but the paths connecting to the bridge on the close end have eroded away. On the far side I plan to put some hill/elevations stackers I made for the Troll Hole I shared a while back - when I have it all set up and ready to go I will share more pix - but for now my table is covered in my 2022 "paint every mini I own" project.


The bridge itself is the bottom insert from a flatscreen TV's box, atop thick cardboard inserts. The stairs and dock on the side are XPS foam, as are most of the boulders - some boulders are shred up regular styrofoam.


I learned a lot from this project, like next time I would place the bottom layer boulders before doing the toilet paper mache water effect layer - but at the time I was struggling to know how many boulders I'd need and where'd they go and got impatient and did the water first.

 

[dave2008]

Nice work - very cool!

 

[not-so-newguy]

I remember the troll hole! It would be cool to see it all together