Train Tuesday Part 105: Prisoner Transfer

Today’s Train Tuesday may not be exactly like a “prisoner transfer from cell block 1138,” but you were notified, and we promise today’s DnD blog post will be just as fun. Let’s go!

In our last DnD office game sesh, we finally introduced our first Construct clues, indicating that something big is beginning to take a foothold in and around Waterdeep! The Forgotten Rails are coming, and the players have encountered some discarded steampunk wreckage, come face-to-face with a Reconnaissance Probe Golem, spotted Pulverizer Constructs, and even battled a few Detection Dogs! The gears and sprockets jig is up, and Hovertrains are coming whether anyone likes ’em or not!

Much like the epic opening scene of the Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves movie, a well-done prisoner encounter can raise all the hairs on one’s arms. Chills…literal chills. Hence, when we spotted this free 3D-print miniature, we instantly had a new homebrewed TTRPG scenario in mind. So, let’s flush it out together.

We’ll start with our no-cost DnD miniature by the dynamic Dutchmogul! We adore his work and are always downloading new STLs for our RPG games. He’s just such a good dude and asks for nothing in return for all his great 3D-print sculpts. This one is called the Townsfolk Prisoner and is frickin’ fantastic.

These mysterious criminals came off our resin 3D printer like a champ. We just love the pose – so ominous. You can practically hear the murmur of those bound, heavy chains as they shuffle their feet to their dark cells. And best of all, no pesky faces to paint! Hence, DM Ben was totally down for coloring these misunderstood adventurers.

The paint steps here are so darn smooth…like butta:

• Prime Flat Black | Slapchop Base.
• Robes P1: Base Layer of Citadel Contrast Wyldwood.
• Robes P2: FAN Leather Brown Sporadic Edging.
• Chains P1: ASP Enchanted Steel.
• Chains P2: Circle back with some touches of Citadel Stormhost Silver.
• Hands: ASP Crusader Skin (with a FAN Soft Tone Wash).
• Inside Hood: ASP Flat Black.

Nothing crazy, right? That darker Wyldwood was just the perfect color for their robes…very monk-esque.

Now, certainly, these could be some papal troublemakers, but regular old prisoners also work here, which means this miniature can pull some double story duty. We’re going to go with the latter and just have these be some captured fugitives in standard prisoner garb. We used the LITKO Clear Round 20 mm bases with a little Loctite Gel Super Glue, and our newfound D&D miniatures fit snug as a rug.

Before we dive into the RPG scenario details, let’s discuss which specific Hovertrain car we’re going to load these guys on for their heavily guarded transport. We picked this awesome Prison Car Guard train car by 3D-print juggernaut Aether Studios. While it only has two high-security cells, you can easily say that a few less dangerous inmates can be heavily chained on the opposite wall.

One of the coolest design aspects of Aether Studios’ Hovertrain series is that everything is modular, so if you wanted a larger set of cells, you could simply 3D print two sets of enclosed cell tiles. The robust Fairhaven Line set also features a larger secured enclosure that could easily accommodate our four guilty-until-proven-innocent individuals. You can 3D print specific cell doors, too, but we want them to be sealed in with an arcane energy field.

In terms of the encounter, DM Ben is leaning toward something like this:

• Option 1: The Forgotten Rails hires the party to escort these prisoners to their prison.
• Option 2: The players are hired to free one of the captives.
• Option 3: They need to swap out a convict to establish a spy ring.

He likes option 2 the most, where the players will pose as passengers and then must devise a way to jailbreak one of the prisoners. So, we’ll need to pick out a monk miniature to represent him when the cuffs and robe come off!

Until next time!