Miniature Monday: Penny for Their Thoughts

Greetings, fellow good Samaritans! We’ve got some sneaky intelligence gathering for you to incorporate into your next town setting, so let’s see what the little birds are squawking about today.

We’ll start with our inspiration for today’s DnD post. Guys like Varys and Qyburn were amazing characters in Game of Thrones. They didn’t wield the strength of ten men. They weren’t weapon masters. They didn’t command a large army. They weren’t even rich. All they had was a network of “little birds,” and they were nearly unstoppable. That cleverness and ingenuity stuck with us throughout the whole series.

While browsing the many enchanting free DnD STLs on Makerworld, we came across a set of miniatures that immediately made us think of that RPG story angle and go into production mode! Just like our downtrodden, forgotten kiddos from GOT, we thought we could create a similiar NPC dynamic with the poorest of the poor in Waterdeep.

BK Designs made this poor Beggar Family and shared it with the 3D-printing community as a free download. DM Ben wants to use them as individual information points within the city of Waterdeep rather than a full-fledged family (although you certainly could spin up a simple encounter that way).

Novice painter DM Ben did these as a batch paint over this past football weekend and used several go-to colors to bring ’em to life.

• Prime Citadel Grey Seer.
• Skin: FAN Barbarian Flesh + Soft Tone.
• Hair: FAN Matt Black or FAN Daemonic Yellow.
• Beard: ASP Ruddy Fur.
• Cloaks: ASP Camo Cloak, Occultist Cloak, or GSW Komodo Khaki.
• Shirts: ASP Occultist Cloak or GSW Komodo Khaki.
• Pants: ASP Holy White or GSW Komodo Khaki.
• Shroud: ASP Pallid Bone + drybrush FAN Desert Yellow.
• Shoes: ASP Hardened Leather.
• Base: Cobblestone scheme (our go-to these days).

Even though it’s pricey, Citadel’s Grey Seer Primer is so darn good that DM Ben will bite his lip and use it on more detailed miniatures.

We had a happy accident on our dark-haired male beggar where some lighter paint was on DM Ben’s thumb, and he inadvertently dusted a couple of its top hairs. As a result, the dude looks even more ragged and down on his luck.

For our two older peasants, we especially liked those sewn patches on their tattered clothes. DM Ben experimented with our female’s garb, using two tones of brown to give her more of that street-filth vibe. We’re calling an area near the off-the-beaten-path main shipping docks of Water Deep “Beggar’s Bay,” where all the ship workers live. It’s a very depressed and dangerous area that even Omin Dran’s security forces won’t go near.

DM Ben wants to give his players a predictable place to visit to get vital quest information and/or new leads. His players can use this network of spies to gather intel like:

• Learning where valuable targets were last seen in the city.
• Understanding a potential weakness of an adversary.
• Gathering rare vital materials & supplies.
• Getting a secretive message to a key contact.
• Discovering expedient travel routes or ambush points.
• Finding a safe house when the heat is on.
• Receiving illegal contraband for a mission.
• Creating timely distractions for better cover.

Pretty good, right? Adding this type of network to your campaign can pay dividends, speed up one-shot creations, or turn a complex mission into something more manageable (if the group seems to be struggling).

Until next time!