The things we do for players... p. 2

I've been DMing a Pathfinder campaign for about 3 years now. My battle maps have been a slow evolution from grid's on a whiteboard with chess pieces. To coloured and numbered tokens, finally to 3d printed mini's and lego/megablock elements. Pathfinder and DnD are games about imagination but there's always been so much fun in the grunt work of these maps.

This is the first instance of me constructing and painting set pieces and mini's it was crudely down but I loved the effect the lights and the rough paint had. I had tried it and loved it so I had to do more.

Sorry for blur! (Potato?) I set most of my prints up at night so when I wake up in the morning there they are waiting for me! (unless I screw up in which case I can start them again and have them ready after work). Each of the items takes 1 - 2 hours individually at 100 - 200 microns. I usually printed walls in sets of 5 - 8.

This is a before image of one of the walls from the OPENLOCK system. I printed in silver so I would only have to dry brush black on!

Holy bushknuckles am I glad I bought silver. I brushed acrylic into the gaps and then using a dry brush dusted the edges. Then a final tertiary sweep over some of the top edges of the brick work with olive green to give it a mossy aged look. You'll see how many of these I ended up painting later.... hint it was a lot.

Before and after! (You can really see the moss in this shot)

Recently me an my players have all been moving into full time work and our time together has been dwindling. I miss my hobby and I miss them so I've decided to take my map building to the next level. I want us to have something truly special for when we play sometimes.

This is me Beginning construction of the next "Planned" fight they're going to have.

So... OPENLOCK is amazing! Many people over many different online forums have put so much love and effort into creating these pieces.... but it doesn't mesh so well... the 4x4 floor tiles (back bone of most of my printing) and the walls have a single connector... while the 3x3 have 3 connectors... Meaning they don't align... Son of a baguette... Blu-tack to the rescue.

Basic shell complete. You can see the big dividing line between the 3x3's and the 4x4's. None the less I created this on black foamcore for a dramatic reveal. So it'll do!

Doing a rough layout of the different elements. Tables, chairs, desks, and bookshelves. This is suppose to be a dormitory/study area for the Seekers Repository in Spearpoint (http://imgur.com/a/8fE4E)

Re-arranging and experimenting with the layout. The beds are representing each of the bedrooms on offer. You can see the bright green clips that hold the units together. The fireplace at this point was unpainted. More on that later.

It's all about the details. A cosy reading corner complete with rustic barrel side table and book shelves.

Another one at the opposite corner of the room. Closer to the fire and the rooms.

I am so pleased about those goddamn tables and chairs and barrels. For context the lime green clips and all of these elements were printed in the same colour! I've painted all of these elements by hand and shaded them. While the browns mismatch each of them looks like actual wood when photographed properly.

A conference table in the middle of the room. This acts as a way to divide the room funneling players around this obstacle. I'm sincerely someone uses it as high-ground or even flips it for cover!

After the interfacing issues between the 3x3's and the 2x2's I couldn't bring myself to try to come up with a combination of components to make a 2x3 room with a 1x1 door. Step in old reliable graph paper!

I actually like how the graph paper leaves the map somewhat open and things don't get too cramped. Added the beds in finally and started fleshing out the storage room (Or is it?)

These tiny flames and torches are left over from my old megablox set. I know they were a lego ripoff with a minecraft texture pack but damn they looked cool. I'm glad I kept them all these years.

Finally painted the fireplace. I'm very happy with the results. If I get time I will add more lights to it for ambiance! Gosh I am just so pleased with the results.

The staircase pictured on my 3d printer! Printed and painted! This and the fireplace were done in green painted black and dry brushed silver..... It took forever!
I am very, very, very glad I printed the rest of it IN silver instead of painting!

Okay Rubbish picture but I wanted you guys to actually see it.

Final arrangement. Candles, lanterns, desks, beds, and some of the mini's to test how it flows. Overall it is rough and crude but... I am happy with the work I've done... I hope the memories of this fight will be something special.

Bard Tax