Printin’ on the Dock of the Bay

It’s no secret that 3DRPG is obsessed with towns and townsfolk! So many excellent DnD books, 3D prints, miniatures, and scatter terrain – we want it all! So, let’s see how some of that infatuation plays out for this sidestreet ambush encounter!

A quick reminder to new readers that we are loosely playing D&D Beyond’s 5e free Acquisitions Incorporated module for both our home and office campaigns. We’ve inserted a lot of home-brewed content and have no plans to slow that free DnD content train down. This time, though, we’re staying completely on script and building an encounter straight out of the module.

Waterdeep’s Dock Ward has a lot of prying eyes, especially when it comes to adventurers exiting a mysterious Fissure below the city. We’ve got a great 3D print and some miniatures that will undoubtedly set the scene!

Let’s start with our TTRPG gameboard centerpiece: this Market Shed by Infinite Dimensions Games from their excellent Torbridge Cull series. DM Ben wants to give off that bustling business waterfront vibe, and this fantastic 3D print screams it.

In terms of scale, sometimes we like to print some of our buildings on the smaller side. Two of our biggest DnD hobby headaches are table space and storage space. Consequently, scaling down a building now and then is just darn helpful, especially if we know there won’t be enough room for any combat within a 3D print’s overall footprint.

We don’t expect a 3D-printed building to truly have enough space for dice-rolling needs. That’s a big ask to all the creators out there. Instead, we just pull out the appropriate Dwarven Forge Terrain Tray or Battle Board and place the minis/scatter to represent the inside of the building.

This time, we leaned on MehmMiniPainting to color our nifty FDM-printed Market Shed by IDG. Nothing fancy, of course, with wood being the dominant theme and then some smaller item accent colors splashed on to break that brown up a bit. DM Ben thinks this sets the Dock Ward ambush scene near the water perfectly.

This shot shows the roof off so you can see inside the Market Shed. Even though we scaled it down, having a party of six adventurers and a bunch of baddies would never really work inside the building. No biggie. DM Ben will probably place a few minis under the roof and then pop it off when the ambush occurs. #surprise

Our favorite feature of this Market Shed is the rope crane that loads and unloads cargo. It even swivels, for goodness sake. Play some seaside seagull sound effects, and your players will totally feel like they’re basically on the water!

DM Ben has a couple of encounter hook options here. He can use the Green Mist trap that hilariously covers a player in green dye on a failed DC 15 Dex save. Or, greedy bandits lurk around the Fissure area to ambush anyone they see leave so they can snatch up their treasure haul.

The players will exit the Fissure through the underground shared cellar wall belonging to Ewan McHook. Utterly exhausted and simply relieved that they made it out alive, the group won’t be paying too much attention as they begin meandering back to the City Square to meet up with Omin Dran for their reward.

So, now DM Ben needed to pick out some street thugs and spy miniatures for this bustling street ambush. He grabbed several WizKids prepainted minis. We like to have distinct figs on our game table whenever possible to avoid the monster marker rings. Some are from booster sets, while others are from their scenario sets.

The module encounter calls for one street thug and three bandits, but we’ll probably use a fourth since their stats are so squishy (AC 12, 11 HP, +3 att/1d6+1).

DM Ben really wants to spook the group and slowly reveal that they’re being followed. This will be done via a series of Perception checks, with the first couple at disadvantage (since the group was a little disoriented when first exiting the Fissure).

So, when they first see a shady cloaked figure scoping them out, DM Ben will place this Human Rogue miniature (from WizKids Heroes and Monsters set) on the table and place it next to a market tent scatter terrain piece. Another robed figure leaning against a street lamp might catch their eye as they walk further. Lastly, a third one will be side-eye-talking with a city dweller.

All this street spying tension will come to a head, with the players spinning around and drawing swords against their followers. Or, the bandits will swarm the group in an ally and demand all their belongings.

And just like that – a fun and engaging encounter is ready to go!

Until next time!