Thursday, March 13, 2014

Terrain making is difficult

For me, making terrain for the gaming table is rather difficult. I will not even delve into the time and space constraints placed on any crafty fun time i would like to pursue, I wil just complain about the inordinate amount of time it takes me to come to a decision as to what to do.

So, my goal is to make a piece of generic woodland terrain next week ( should all the material I need be at hand). Th eproblem is, I can not decide how to do it, how much to experiment, and what pieces to add to it. Our adventures primarily occur in or near a forest so I would like a frosty terrain.  However, I can not make really good terrain and making trees is nigh on Olympic undertaking for me so I order trees ready made. I don't really like the look of them though.

So I am sorta thinking a straight up board with some forest flocking and a few trees. I am torn though as to how many trees and the type. I have to consider that the terrain should be playable ( meaning we need to be able to move stuff around) and realistic at the same time. The forest we are in is ancient with huge trees, really huge trees. Soi do not want to use the spindly premade trees but big trees and skip the canopy. But will that look right? I have no idea. I cannot get it in my head to look correct.

I also want to be able to move scenery in and out of a basic set up. So I need/want to predesign stuff for later use and make sure there is a 'bald' spot on the terrain board to put it in.

Arrg. Anyway, if anyone has a link to a flocking or basic terrain making instruction, please pass it along. I have looked at lots but am still not finding really good flocking instructions. It leads me to believe its a learn as you go type thing.

I will keep y'all updated with pics.

Davis

4 comments:

Spiralbound said...

For an easy way to make cool table-ready terrain, check out DM Scotty on youtube. He has a series of terrain making vids covering all your topics above.

To make moss flocking, take fine sawdust and stir green paint into it and let fey on newspaper overnight.

For clump foliage suitable for trees & bushes, shred cushion foam with water in a blender, mix with white glue and green paint and let dry on newsprint.

Again, youtube is your friend.

Davis Chenault said...

Hey thanks for that. Looks like a lot of vids. There is also rubbish in rubbish out. Like his videos.

bugblatterbeast said...

I enjoy DM Scotty's stuff but I haven't done much with actually crafting them.
Something I have done is papercraft terrain. Consider Fat Dragon Games' "Overland" or "Forest & Ruins" sets.
http://www.fatdragongames.com/fdgfiles/fantasy/3d-paper-terrain/e-z-terrain

SpankyTaz said...

+1 on the DM Scotty stuff (especially for outdoor, easy to make/use terrain) but also check out the 'DMG Info' who is also on YouTube (and DM Scotty's web forums) - Gareth specialises in 'dungeon'-type tiles, although he has just started doing modular cave and cavern ones now.

The main reason the '2.5D' terrain appeals to me (even though I've been making traditional wargame and Hirst Arts terrain for years) are the facts that it is dirt cheap and easy to make but mainly because it's SO much easier to transport, use and store afterwards.

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