Mother, May I?

Here we go with a new week of DnD and another rendition of Miniature Monday! We’re “cheating” a lil’ bit here because we’ve already featured this 3D-print in a previous encounter prep. Still, there’s a reason for our madness!

In a recent creative sesh here at 3DRPG Studios in sunny Chandler, AZ, it dawned on us that we’ve been featuring numerous monster swarms but never really revealing “momma bear.” That’s a big miss on our part because encountering a swarm of zombie fish or predator wasps is cool and all, but certainly, the adventurers are wondering if “momma bear” is nearby.

By not including those perturbed parents in some of our encounters and missions, DM Ben is inadvertently removing the thrill of the hunt! Shame, DM Ben…shame. We’ve got to give the players a chance to completely eliminate a threat and, more importantly, find the treasure left by previous adventurers.

So, let’s use a recent example: our yucky, 3D-printed, mutated fleas we made for our previously prepped Tresendar Manor’s Charnel Chasm encounter. Our players have to clear out this underground, mini dungeon delve, and it’s littered with all sorts of creepy-crawly bugs. Like, of course, the Queen Flea, as it were, would not be happy (at all) to find her younglings murdered on her home turf.

First things first, though. Let’s give proper credit to talented STL mastermind, Schlossbauer, for the free download. His version of a freak, oversized, Mutated Flea is so darn good. The original is meant to span 2×2 d20 squares. We originally changed that to a single d20 square, or more like a traditional DnD miniature, 25mm size.

Then, as we were combing through our completed 3D-print library, we realized we had actually passed a much larger version of the mutated fleas to one of our painter contractors earlier this summer. This particular TTRPG 3D print was initially given to Sunrise Sven to color up. Even if we’ve already painted a 3D print ourselves, we often send one to Resident Painter Kimmy Utah or Sunrise Sven for inspiration. That’s the beauty of our 3D print hobby, right – we can always paint more! 😉

Now, Sunrise Sven had no idea about our color take here, so he focused more on the orange-ish color with a brown wash over it (which got into all the darker recesses). DM Ben went back over it to add FAN Banshee Brown spots, ASP Princess Pink to the backside, and FAN Matt Black for the eyes and claws. We needed the Queen Flea to have some of the color traits of all its Soldier Fleas.

This pic shows the size comparison and the color cohesion we were shooting for here. The Queen should look a bit different from its spawns, but it’s pretty slick to tie them together (even if it’s just some subtleties). The goal is to keep the players guessing. Where there is one monster, there are more. Where there is a spawn of monsters, there must be a Queen nearby! That’s certainly what your players are all thinking, at least. 😉

Until next time!