Miniature Madness – Super Picture Post
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We recently ran through an area in our campaign called the Horned Hold. It was intrinsically wrapped into several layers of our campaign. The Horned Hold actually ended up providing about three or four epic battles for our group that spanned over two gaming sessions. All of this fighting also included bringing together different portions of the campaign for us in several brilliant plotlines. Kudos to our dungeon master and the work he’s done on the Horned Hold and the campaign overall. Here are some pictures of some of the battles that took place for our group at this location.
Our group initially entered the area in search of slave traders, a mysterious scroll, and an elusive enemy.
We begin battle against all of the enemies in the Horned Hold, with two Trolls leading the way.
A long view of the entire Horned Hold during the middle of the battle.
The spiked bridge that we were fighting our way up to.
A roped bridge that spanned over a murky, tar-like waterhole.
Stone stairs leading up to the top of the Horned Hold and the spiked bridge.
As I’ve stated in previous articles, building miniature battlegrounds like this can really pay off for the dungeon master and for the group. We spent a significant amount of time here. These game sessions became memories that definitely won’t fade away. And our dungeon master was able to weave a significant portion of the campaign story into these battles. Although it looks like creating something like this would be a lot of work, a lot of these features will be reused in other game sessions to make other battlefields. The work is worth the payoff.
Other related posts:
(1) Basic Props – Picture Post
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February 4, 2009 at 2:32 pm
That’s pretty awesome. Looks like a lot of fun.
Jack Crow’s last blog post..Down and dirty NPC creation
February 4, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Great map and some amazingly difficult fights. Too much fun to be had.
February 4, 2009 at 5:06 pm
Wow. .. just. . .wow. That looks like a lot of fun. How long does something like that take to make?
I wonder if something on a smaller scale might be worth it. Like a small keep or an inn or something.
This post got me thinking, which I like. Thanks!
Jay
Jay’s last blog post..1/31 Actual Play: Regime Change
February 4, 2009 at 8:29 pm
That’s crazytown! More raging jealousy over here.
Johnn Four’s last blog post..FreeMind Tips for Game Masters
February 5, 2009 at 4:13 am
I have never seen props like this, or of those in the other article.
(1) Do you guys have your own RPG store, or whatever?
(2) Does the GM make all of those props, or do the guys in your group help?
(3) You should have a “How To Prop” article on making some of these props. I’m not very handy, but I’d like to know a few tricks or tips.
(4) I see a numbered “2″ marker/counter thing on a miniature in one of your pics. Where do you buy those? I think those counters would be a big help.
(5) I like your site. You guys make it personal and professional. When are you going to have another contest???
February 5, 2009 at 5:36 am
Good job. I have to say having something a bit more 3D does help in a game. I know I have made a few things for some of my games. The major problem I have is finding a place to store things. I also wonder if locations in an adventure are influenced by what dungeon pieces (for lack of a better word) you already have in inventory.
Bonemaster’s last blog post..Going out to fight the monster my lord, might I suggest wearing a coat, it’s a bit cold this evening
February 5, 2009 at 7:48 am
Rick, you have some great questions that other people have been e-mailing me about, so I’d like to address them.
(1) No, we don’t own an RPG store. We’re just regular gamers with regular jobs. We play about once per week.
(2) Our game master makes almost all of the props, but some of the miniatures belong to other people in the group. We pretty much share all of that stuff.
(3) I’m pretty much going to force our game master to either write some articles about it, or I’ll do an interview session with him about it.
(4) He created those markers as well and actually talked to me about offering them up on the site. They are counters that stick to the miniatures so you know which miniature is which. We have other counters for other things to. For example, I believe in the last picture there is a guy with a skull stuck to his head, that means he’s bloodied in our D&D 4e campaign. It makes things extremely easy for the players and game master to distinguish. They’re very cheap and effective.
(5) I have actually been thinking a lot about the next contest. It just may be coming up fairly soon…
February 5, 2009 at 7:59 am
Bonemaster, you’re pretty perceptive. A long time ago we occassionally would re-use some of the items with no changes at all. Honestly, we got a good laugh out of it. “Man, this EVIL lair sure looks familiar!” It really doesn’t happen too much anymore because the setup is modularized. You can take it apart and use parts for other maps.
As for storing items, if you get a bin or a part of a closet to store things you shouldn’t have too much problem. My books and dice take up more space.
February 5, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Holy crap, that’s amazing.
February 7, 2009 at 11:25 am
You should definitely post some close-ups of those markers/counters.
Mad Brew’s last blog post..If RPGs Were Religions
February 10, 2009 at 1:31 am
For sure. Maybe a set of miniature markers numbered 1-10 will be given away in an upcoming contest?
April 13, 2009 at 4:30 pm
“He created those markers as well and actually talked to me about offering them up on the site. They are counters that stick to the miniatures so you know which miniature is which. We have other counters for other things to. For example, I believe in the last picture there is a guy with a skull stuck to his head, that means he’s bloodied in our D&D 4e campaign.”
I agree. How can we get those numbered markers and skulls?