Creating a miniatures layout for GaryCon

In another thread, Pana wrote:

And Druvas wrote:

Here's a sample of Dru's maps:


I am definitely interested in running some events using whatever these guys come up with, but I think it'd be awesome to have games taking place throughout the con using this miniatures layout, so having a few more DMs would be awesome!

I also think we should try to design the concept for the layout as a community effort. Here are my thoughts:

- it should pay tribute to some of Gary's great dungeon designs, without being an exact reproduction thereof
- it should look awesome and play to Pana's strengths as a model-maker
- it should be modular so that it can be used in different ways over the years
- it should enable a range of different kinds of things to do: big rooms for setpiece battles, chasms to jump, difficult environments to navigate, etc.

I'll be glad to do some of the actual design work towards having an adventure to match whatever concept we come up with the first year. My idea is that this should be a beginner-friendly kind of thing (as per the Kenzer Learn to Hack demo); I'm currently doing an afterschool D&D class at my son's elementary school, so I have some ideas about how to approach introducing newbies to roleplaying.

 

those designs all look awesome. As far as the actual modeling. Dont hold back on the design or the write up based off of what I am capable of modeling. I have yet to find anything I could not model in a module. It may take some creative thinking but so far im 100 percent. I will give you guys some links to samples of my work so you can see what I am capable of.

These Videos have music attached to them. If it isnt to your liking make sure you hit mute.

here is the cavern demo from gencon 2010 for kenzerco.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQwsPL07qHE

here is Lava and a cup of Java demo I did for gamers inn based off thier module.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFfQ9USLDRI

here is temple of the bronze flame written by kenzer Co. The dungeon peices in Lava and a cup of java where used to configure Temple of the bronze flame. This will give you the Modular idea of the dungeon layout.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21eUTeR4AGo


Most of those dungeon peices where made 3-4 years ago, The cavern was recent. I have learned a ton since those dungeons. not to mention that I use a much stronger material now that prevents chipping. Anyhow I hope you like the videos. You have an idea of my work. That way someone can do a write up / someone else can design a map / I can build the terrain. It will be an awesome collabritive effort! We can then incorperate it into a yearly dungeon delve!!! Very exciting.


thanks for your time
Pana

 

Excellent videos Pana!!!! Makes me wanna go find my old graph paper & pencil. Can't wait to see what you bring to Garycon 3. I know I'll be bringing my checkbook.

 

Just a thought... you can't have awesome terrain and not use cool minis. So whatever dungeon/adventure idea is fleshed out, be sure whatever creatures show up are ones with miniatures easily obtainable.

I'm sure we can help locate any special ones, if needed.

 

what ever adventure we write, I will bring the minis to run it with. Both NPC and PC if the pcs are premade. That is part of the whole terrain building thing for me. I come with everything needed to run a game. All you need to do is sit down and play.

 

Pana, I played in the cavern at the Kenzer booth at Gen Con - that was totally awesome! The videos are cool but I agree that the cavern is a whole 'nother level for you.

Here's the idea I had for the overall dungeon concept. I started by thinking about the great Gygax modules and what elements of them we could pay tribute to. The idea of which monsters would make cool miniatures was in the back of my mind, as was choosing a module that wasn't totally over-familiar. What this made me think of was Battle for the Brown Hills, a Chainmail scenario that Gary wrote in the pre-D&D days & Paul Stormberg ran at the last Gary Con. Although it's a large-scale wargame battle, it has some very evocative elements that feel like a roleplaying game waiting to happen.

The thing that caught my imagination is that the side that stomped my orcs spent a lot of time moving a wagon train behind those hills, which I believe held the army's payroll. My idea is that this heavy wagon breaks through the ceiling of a dungeon in the hills. The human mercenaries are all topside, looking through this sudden sinkhole at a fortune in spilled gold. They're up there in force, so it'd take another army to approach that way. But by sneaking through the dungeon, one could get close enough to run up and grab some of that loot without being exposed to more than momentary fire from the mercenaries above.

Some ideas:
- The dungeon where the wagon landed is a temple, shrine, or node of the Elder Elemental Evil.
- As a result, the men, horses, and mules that were killed when the wagon fell through will reanimate as skeletons or zombies when a life force draws near...
- The layout of the temple is like a spiral leading toward the main nave whose buried high ceiling the weight of the wagon punched through. The spiral design references Tharizdun, as well as making it so that a roughly square layout would have a long path to get from the edge to the center, without having line of sight to it until you were right on top of it.
- The arms of the spiral could be associated with different elements, to give Pana a chance to do some awesome stuff with fire, water, mud, etc. and to make the different possible approaches to the center hold different challenges.
- A cleric who turns the undead in the center might force them down a different spiral arm than the cleric's party used to approach, accidentally or on purpose triggering traps, rousing monsters, and making life difficult for a rival party who's proceeding along that arm.
- The central nave could be in the form of an inverted step pyramid, a series of cuts leading down. The accessible treasure could have fallen onto a bridge or span that stays level, while the pyramid descends on either side. This also references Tharizdun, and is a perhaps clumsy way of handling what I see as the biggest modeling problem with my setup - that the idea of having crossbowmen standing around a hole on the "roof" of the dungeon looking down would mean building a roof that you'd have to duck under to move the minis. No fun! It seems to me that it'd be easier to build up the base and then cut the inverted pyramid into it, and then have that suggest the shape of a similar mirror-image pyramid rising up towards the mon-modeled roof. To keep from having to build up the base too much, maybe the lower pyramid is filled with some kind of horribleness just a couple of steps down, creating a level "floor" below the bridge or span. Pushing people into this yuck, turning zombies and forcing them into it, etc. would all be fun.
- Thinking just of forces from the Brown Hills rosters, the PCs could be elves, humans, or mixed-race mercenaries (either these are rogues, or the mercenaries up above were in the process of hijacking the wagon when it fell through, perhaps due to infighting or betrayal). Or they could be orcs or Chaos mercenaries from the other side, or denizens of the Brown Hills, or just adventurers passing through.

 

sounds good lets flesh it out as an adventure through emails and get a map made up. Looks like a good start.

Pana

 

We are continuing to work on this by email - PM me if you want to get in on it!

I also wanted to invite people to suggest dungeon features. Do you want to see lava pits, slime-covered hallways, rolling boulder traps? Use this thread to suggest them, if you don't want to get as deeply into details as our email conversation!

 

Just looked at the video. That is some cool looking stuff and if it fits in a few pizza boxes then, even I could find storage for it. Very cool.

 

indeed it will fit in 2 pizza sized plastic boxes for sure. It doesnt take up very much storage space. More so it takes up table space when you lay it out. My groups love gaming with the terrain. Its great for anyone who enjoys gaming!

 

Bleh. I how'd I miss this thread with my own map in it, lol. Thanks for the compliments!

 

Update

Well I will tell you guys this much on this subject. We have had close to or over 100 emails back and forth to each other getting this all fleshed out.

The map is about 95 percent done, enough for me to get cracking on building it. That means pictures will be soon.

As well we have determined that the event will be a 2 hour event with indvidual scoring and prizes. Tavis will be setting up the time slot and getting DM's to help out so contact him if you are interested in running the event. We are looking to fill as many time slots as we can to allow everyone at the con a chance to romp through it.

Pana

 

AWESOME COOL!!!
(Forgive me Mrs. Guftasen, 4th grade english teacher.)

 

So its been awhile since I updated this thread. Work is goling well. Tons of casting and gettin the project preped and ready to get put together. Here is a sneak peak of 1/6th of the project. This is a dry stack set up, meaning nothing has been glued down yet, everything sits there making sure I like the layout.

Where it will go from here is this. I will glue and trim the Pink Foam and layer it with plaster of paris. Then I will glue the bricks together as well glue the caverns. The caverns will sit below the temple on the base. So at the same level as the bottom floor of the temple. Once that is done, as well as the other 6 peices I will then start painting and adding details such as pillars, stairs, furniture, and things for the actual adventure.

So in part if this was a loading bar it would read 8 percent complete!.

Enjoy the pictures.
Pana

 

Very nice.

 

Wow! That rocks!

 

Ya Druvas do you recognize what part of your map it is?

 

Fan-effing-tastic!

Here are the times I signed up to run this event, and its description:

Event Title: GaryCon Terrain Challenge #1: Treasure Beneath the Brown Hills
DM Name: Tavis Allison
DM Email Address: [email protected]
Game Type: Role-Playing Game
Game System: OD&D (White Box)
If Other, System Name:
Date: Friday
Time: 8:00pm
Duration: 2 hours (1.5 hours)
Required Skill Level: Beginner
Number of Players: 6
Event Descripton: Who will retrieve the most gold from the Temple of
the Elder Elemental God and make it out alive? Terrain Challenge #1 is
the first annual D&D competition using the fantastic miniatures
terrain contributed to GaryCon by Pana. This year’s adventure imagines
a roleplaying spin-off of Gary Gygax’s classic 1971 Chainmail
scenario, Battle for the Brown Hills. Third level characters will be
provided; all ages welcome.
Special Requests / Comments: Tavis is the organizer; other DMs may run
the events (all times listed below). Individual scoring, tournament
prize awarded Sunday at 1 pm.

Friday 6 pm
Friday 8 pm
Saturday 10 am
Saturday 12 noon
Saturday 2 pm
Sunday 10 am

I chose only times I could run it myself just to be sure it'll go off, but will be glad to have others take over these slots & encourage others to step up and volunteer for times I can't do - it'd be awesome to have this running continually throughout the con!

 

:!:
:shock: :!:
:!:
(Translation: The Keeper's stumped for words.)

 

That looks like the upper left (or North West) corner of the elemental node! Seriously, man, that is some fine work you've done there!