Scatter Chatter: Bridge Over Troubled Water

Greetings, fellow working stiffs! It’s another edition of Scatter Chatter of the most epic and sneaky proportions. So, roll your investigation check and let’s begin!

Our featured 3D print has been a long time in the making. We sliced this STL and sent it to our Prusa printer many moons ago. However, the 3DRPG team just couldn’t agree on a color scheme. Then during a recent Hey, Hey Game Day prep sesh, we had to get a stone tower to the table for the players’ evolving Bastion. That lookout piece came out pretty darn slick, and its fresh paint scheme seemed like it had some legs for other terrain.

This Cast n Play 3D print turned out swell, and the stone had a nice weathered feel to it. Now, the real test came – will this same color combo work on similiar rocky structures? We had some confidence going into this one and felt some creative flocking would bring it all home.

First things first, though, let’s give a tip of the helm to Printable Scenery for this amazing Bridge Troll scatter terrain STL. This amazing 3D print is from their valued-stuffed The Gloaming Swamps & Wilderness Kickstarter. We’ve got numerous pieces from this one teed up and are finishing them as our ongoing campaign calls for ’em.

One of our favorite details of this 3D Print is the subtle face at the far end of the bridge, which we made sure our paints and flock would highlight. Even though the creator calls this a troll bridge, we also thought it was giving some mighty crocodile vibes, too. That’s good news as it means we can use it in several different DnD scenarios.

Our core stone color steps can be found here. The bottom portion was done in our traditional crocodile scheme. We then used moss flock and AK Interactive’s Diorama Puddles Effect to make it look a bit wet in places.

Here’s a quick shot to better demonstrate the scale we settled on for the final piece. You can certainly scale this to whatever grid size you like, but we went with 8 d20 squares long and 4 d20 squares wide. While we did this one in FDM, running this one in resin would be just as poppin’.

While our players are currently traveling through Mushroom Alley, DM Ben could slip an engaging swamp encounter either before or after the campaign’s next upcoming dungeon crawl: Tresendar Manor. Our newfound bridge would be fantastic for such an occasion. This STL could also carry the players into a mysterious portion of an old cavern. DM Ben is absolutely thrilled at all the storytelling options he has with this DnD 3D print.

Let’s shift gears from the mighty to the subtle with a couple of charming scatter terrain pieces. We feel the simple stuff doesn’t get enough love, like our bigger jaw-dropping Troll Bridge, but they play just as important a role on our gameboard. Take this adorbs Thermal Trunk bench by Cast n Play’s Terrain Essentials. This take-a-seat spot is from their Red Magic Spa set. Certainly, your DM can find a spot in a future encounter for this one.

DM Ben felt like this lil’ paint project ain’t no thing but a chicken wing, especially after some recent success with a series of myconid soldiers.

• Prime Flat Black | Slapchop Base.
• Wood: GSW Elfwood Brown + Soft Tone Wash.
• Ground Cover: ASP Desolate Brown.
• Mushrooms: ASP Hivedweller Purple & Blood Red.
• Foliage: ASP Forest Sprite.

If a Dungeon Master placed this in the middle of the forest, certainly its players would wonder why such a bench was there, right?

Next up is another subtle 3D print loaded with potential tactical uses and numerous placement possibilities. This Hay Block is from Cast n Play’s Terrain Essentials Bandit Camp set. We’ve done a few other hay bales, including a slick Training Target piece.

We’ve got a really solid hay paint scheme, so you can click here to give it a try. DM Ben likes to intersperse these on both an outdoor and dungeon gameboard to add some fun tactical options for the players. Smart characters and monsters rarely pass up opportunities for a little additional cover for their AC.

Even better, Terrain Essentials recently released a new Life in the Countryside set, and it’s bursting with hay as far as the eye can see. So, we’ll probably do a batch paint run of those the next time we break out that classic Ochre Yellow paint bottle.

Until next time!