Miniatures terrain

[broghammerj]

I'm Mike and I'm also a Dwarven Forge addict. My wife got me started last year with a couple of the tavern sets and now I have a whole bunch of the caverns and room / passage sets. I've used them for Keep on the Shadowfell, Thunderspire Labyrinth and I'm just about to finish Pyramid of Shadows. I bought the cavern sets specifically for the Trollhaunt adventure.

I posted a whole pile of pictures at:

D&D - a set on Flickr

Mike, not to get too personal but how much have you invested to get that set of Dwarven Forge items? You have what I would consider a "workable" collection. By that I mean I would have most scenarios covered that I wanted to create. I am sort of an all or none guy. Yeah it's cool to create a tavern scene, but if I can't create 3D caves in the next part of the adventure....it seems incomplete. Either play with all 3D terrain or none.

 

[SlyFlourish]

That's probably the biggest disadvantage to DF. You need a bunch of sets to build something workable and nothing will ever quite work out like it is in the adventures so you have to hedge it.

The main tavern set and the secondary tavern set together can build out a couple of nice rooms.

You need about four of the room and passage sets: two standard room and passage sets, wicked additions 1, and fantasy floors; to build out a good layout using that set.

For the caverns, two cavern sets and one cavernous passage set can make some great caves. The rivers are nice but the chasm set is pretty optional.

Right now I have the following sets:

3x Room and passages (got one of them 1/2 off from a friend)
1x Wicked Additions 1
1x Wicked Additions 2
1x Fantasy Floors

1x Medieval Set
1x Medieval Expansion
1x Medieval Accessories

2x Cavern sets
1x Cavernous Passages
1x Cavernous Chasms (I probably could have done without this set)
1x Cavernous Rivers and Walls

It was quite an investment but I didn't buy a computer this year (I usually upgrade yearly) and I drive a Civic. This is my main hobby so that's where I put my resources. I also ask for these for birthday, christmas, and anniversary gifts - that helps a lot. Not to mention having a very supportive wife who was the one to actually click the "buy" button on all the cavern sets herself. She knows how fun the stuff is.

I really really like them and I think they add a lot to our game. However, they aren't necessary and you can get buy very well with a wet-erase mat and some markers.

One of the disadvantages of Dwarven Forge is that you need to lay out your three or four encounters well ahead of time. This means you end up rail-roading the adventure a bit. Looking at the Trollhaunt map, it's clear I'm going to have to turn it into one long series of areas with forks at the end of the adventure or something like that.

In another game in which I play, the DM wrote out each of the rooms on large 1" grid paper. He writes out each room before hand and sets them up as we go. This makes it much easier to lay out the rooms as the party explores in whatever direction they choose. I don't really have that luxury so I let the party make choices elsewhere.

 

[Zaukrie]

Same issues with any pre-built terrain. Almost none of my adventures look exactly like the maps in the adventure I bought. Frankly, that is one of the great advantage of foam, I can make oddball shapes that fit concepts, but it is also easy to add more tunnels or rooms or grow or shrink them (to make it easier for more movement in combat).

 

[broghammerj]

It was quite an investment but I didn't buy a computer this year (I usually upgrade yearly) and I drive a Civic. This is my main hobby so that's where I put my resources. I also ask for these for birthday, christmas, and anniversary gifts - that helps a lot. Not to mention having a very supportive wife who was the one to actually click the "buy" button on all the cavern sets herself. She knows how fun the stuff is.

I really really like them and I think they add a lot to our game. However, they aren't necessary and you can get buy very well with a wet-erase mat and some markers.

No worries man. I hope my question didn't come off as implying that you were misappropriating your personal income. Just curious what it took to get a playset like that. BTW, if you don't spend money on the things you enjoy now and then, I guess you're not really living.

 

[FunkBGR]

Yowza, I'm a foam core junkie.

Here's a battle we had recently from the third magazine for Age of Worms:
Picasa Web Albums - Bryan - Age of Worms

Most of that stuff is made using Fat Dragon Games and World Works Games stuff.

 

[HelloChristian]

Regarding Dwarven Forge, I think there's a way to keep the costs down. I have a few sets, but not enough to make a larger dungeon. Before play I lay down a few sheets of the large tablet paper from Staples, the sheets with the 1" grid. During play I only build the rooms or passages that are before the PCs at the moment. When the PCs leave a room or hallway, I remove the pieces and use a magic marker to outline the area. In this manner, you can do quite a bit with very little and it takes up less space on the table.

 

[SlyFlourish]

Our evenings are usually three encounters. I just build out the three encounters and we play it out from there left to right.

 

[Mark]

There's a company that doesn't seem to have a web presence yet out of PA that makes some things called Likelike Little Landscapes. I'll try to get some pics of them this week. Very easy to use with minis of all scales and designs (base-wise).

As far as print it yourself products, the Fatdragon stuff is especially useful and flexible, both the 3D stuff appropriate to this thread and the 2D tiles as well.

 

[Treebore]

I'm cheap. I love the look of Dwarven Forge, but the prices make me cry. So I make due with Fat Dragon Games, WOTC Tiles, and other tiles from other PDF companies whose names I am blanking on right now.

Fat Dragon in particular is creating some awesome 3D pieces that I actually prefer to the look of Dwarven Forge. Fat Dragon also does Sci Fi sets.

 

[The Shaman]

. . . (I)f you don't spend money on the things you enjoy now and then, I guess you're not really living.

Very true.

I picked up all of my current Dwarven Forge sets off eBay - the Realm of the Ancients sets are the only ones I've actually ordered from DF directly. With patience and persistence it's possible to get some good deals this way and not break the bank.

For me, there's also the fact that I don't spend a lot of money on gaming otherwise. Most of the games in which I'm interested are no longer published, so I'm not part of the supplement-of-the-month club. I can throw a couple of dollars at some cool terrain and feel okay about it, for the most part.

(Of course, if I straight-up bought everything I wanted right now, well, then I might be in trouble . . .)