September 6, 2020: Miniature Terrain Survey

[RoboAdmin]

September 6, 2020: Miniature Terrain Survey

Read this article on the Illuminator.

[prospero]

Very much looking forward to see what options you come up with. I'm sure you'll do it right.

[Steve Jackson]

Cannot please everyone but would like to please someone.

[Shadekeep]

I included a comment about ornamentation on the walls. Making things like skulls and gargoyles part of the wall somewhat limits their utility. But how about a system where the GM can customise the ornaments to suit? Some walls could have a simply slot or hole in them, and you could provide a bag of different ornaments with posts on the back that fit into these holes. The GM could hang skulls, banners, shelves of potions, magic sigils, or whatever in order to create the right ambience.

This also opens up the possibility of offering further customisation packs of ornaments down the road, allowing the players to get even more mileage out of the set.

[Turhan's Bey Company]

As primarily a GURPS player, I'm just happy that somebody's seriously looking at hex-based terrain rather than the square based systems which dominate the market. I mostly make my own, but since 3d printing is slow, I'd like the option to buy.

[RogerBW]

Originally Posted by Shadekeep

Some walls could have a simply slot or hole in them, and you could provide a bag of different ornaments with posts on the back that fit into these holes.

Possibly said hole might be a small arched window, or something similarly useful even without an ornament.

[Shadekeep]

Originally Posted by RogerBW

Possibly said hole might be a small arched window, or something similarly useful even without an ornament.

Yes, that works too, with the back of the ornament shaped to socket into the window. I suggested doors, windows, and barred walls (aka jail cells) as desirable extra components, which I'm sure are already on their maybe-plate. This two-birds-one-stone approach sounds like a good way of handling the ornaments.

[Shadekeep]

Thinking further on the "mountable ornaments", since the walls are solid hexes, perhaps some walls could have a kind of alcove in them. This would serve as the mountpoint for any optional ornaments, or could stand in for a window. Clever designers might even find other uses for it. Here's a crude mockup. Picture it with stone texturing and quoins around the alcove.

[prospero]

Originally Posted by Shadekeep

... since the walls are solid hexes ...

I certainly hope that at least some of the available walls won't be solid hexes. That will make for thick, unrealistically wavy walls. Partial-hex walls would save material, and allow for realistically straight walls and 90-degree, four-way intersections.

[Shadekeep]

Originally Posted by prospero

I certainly hope that at least some of the available walls won't be solid hexes. That will make for thick, unrealistically wavy walls. Partial-hex walls would save material, and allow for realistically straight walls and 90-degree, four-way intersections.

Yah, I was going by the mockup on the survey. Ideally flat walls would be a significant portion of the set. It all depends on the vision they have for the finished product, however.