Rats, More Ruins

Greetings, fellow stealth snipers! We’ve got a heck of a combo to show off today thanks to some free rodent downloads and a crumbling ruins setup you’re certainly going to want to rush to your 3D printers. Let’s begin!

We had been eyeing a cluster of Ruins terrain from our mighty Pile of Opportunity for some time now, but it wasn’t until our recent rat paint scheme success that we finally decided to get ‘er done. We always pull from our completed, unpainted prints with a purpose and endgame in mind so we don’t get a false-start penalty from DM Ben. Meaning, he might say, “Why did you guys focus on that? I don’t need those right now.”

Let’s start with this stunning Ruined Bridge Spans set by Printable Scenery. These amazingly detailed STLs were some of the very first pieces we ever sent to our beloved Prusa FDM Printer (AKA Jester). We’ve bought several individual sets from these fine creators and also joined several of their fun Kickstarter campaigns. What we like most about them is how durable and mighty each piece is.

What often energizes us to knock out some 3D prints is having an existing color scheme or a new set of steps to try. This isn’t always necessary, but knowing how the last leg of the project will go really gives us a lot of comfort going into the project.

YouTuber’s acclaimed Miniature Hobbyist is one of our favorite painting educators. He’s got a great attitude and is kind enough to clearly demonstrate every step and, most importantly, the specific paints he uses on any particular project.

He was showing off his take on a castle gatehouse, and the steps were so smooth and clean, DM Ben exclaimed, “Well, heck. I can do that!”

• Prime Flat Black | Slapchop Base.
• Random Brick 1: GSW Misted Yellow Dipping Ink.
• Random Brick 2: GSW Dusty Blue Dipping Ink.
• Random Brick 3: GSW Walnut Brown Dipping Ink.
• Wash: Citadel Seraphim Sepia.
• Wood: ASP Dark Wood + Vallejo Ochre Drybrush.

Optionally, you can add some other effects like AK Interactive’s Puddles for some standing dirty water, some green moss flock, and even some plants and tufts from Temu. Those personal touches really elevate the pieces further. This whole project can be a little tedious but trust us, it’s all worth it. And remember, you don’t have to color all these bricks…just do a nice random sampling.

Now, you’ll notice in our artist pic at the beginning of the article that several of the pieces are meant to naturally go together to form their own ruin clusters of terrain. However, this set is very modular, and you have a ton of flexibility in how you ultimately lay it out on your game table.

Printable Scenery includes these holes in each STL so you can slip in pegs and have certain pieces fit snugly together to form a bigger, bolder ruin. That method certainly works swell, but Dwarven Forge has forever changed us with their brilliant magnetic terrain, as it’s so insanely convenient. We also have some innovative, brilliant tinkerers on our 3DRPG team, and one of the guys knew exactly what to do.

• Get some skinny magnets.
• Use a Dremel-style tool to drill some holes.
• Add a dab of gel Loctite Super Glue in each hole.
• Place the magnets in and cover them with Scotch tape.
• Align the two connecting pieces accordingly.
• Wait a few hours til dry, and remove the tape.
• Re-apply a little black paint as needed for any dings during the process.

On the first piece, place the magnets in, then use the tape to flip the magnets on the opposing piece to the proper poles. It’s tricky to explain, but this process definitely works like a champ.

So, all we needed now were some sneaky rat b@stard ambushing soldiers to complete our ruins encounter. That’s where Mrhers2 on Thingiverse comes into frame. He’s got several free rat monsters, including this Rat Assassin and this Rat Archer, that were just a perfect match for our new Ruins scatter terrain. He’s got a couple of other versions, but we just haven’t had a chance to 3D print those quite yet (but of course, we will).

DM Ben didn’t mind coloring these sneaky vermin up for the game, especially because we had both a brown and a grey-skinned version to choose from to complete these ambushing monsters. From there, we added ASP Charming Chartreuse for the Assassins’ green cloaks. We also randomly dabbed a little AK Interactive’s Water Gel Swamp Green on their bases for extra yuckiness.

In terms of DnD 5e stat blocks, you could use the lower-level numbers we did for our Dutchmogul Ratfolk Soldiers (AC 16, HP 18, Att +5/1d6+3, SP 25 ft.). Or, if you need a higher DnD Monster Challenge Rating, try this Ratfolk Mercenary: AC 15, HP 45, Multi-Melee +6/1d6+4, Shortbow +6/1d6+2. If both melee attacks hit, add an extra 1d8 of bite damage. Also, have Packing Heat, Nimbleness, and Pack Tactics. Nasty stuff, especially if they pounce in larger numbers.

Side note: DM Ben is OOF on Monday to do some house handyman stuff, but we’ll be back in action on Train Tuesday!

Until next time!