Train Tuesday P75: Baby On Board

Another Tuesday means another Hovertrain post for your DnD hobbyist pleasure! Let’s dive in, just carefully…really, really carefully.

Hovertrains are exceptionally cool, but we need to build around them for this home-brewed content to truly take off. So, today we’ll build on a previous Hovertrain car and its peculiar inhabitants.

Previously, we 3D-printed and showed off this charming Livestock Hovertrain car by Aether Studios. We even featured numerous quirky monster miniatures that we could incorporate into future encounters.

That led us down a path of flushing out a mysterious Collector villain, and one of the very few times we used Marvel as a DnD inspiration. Comic books just aren’t our jam – we like characters getting the axe, or it all just gets a bit silly.

Still, we just love it when a fresh 3D print fills multiple storyline needs for our Dungeon Master. 🙂

And speaking of absolute silliness, we just fell in love with these Hazmat Ferret Drakes by Dragon Trapper’s Lodge. We knew this charming STL was ultimately going to get featured on 3DRPG the moment we first saw it!

DM Ben “volunteered” to paint these pesky lil’ buggers up and he’s developed a pretty solid system to help overcome that starting colors anxiety. Research and inspiration are your pals. So, the team discussed what sorts of scenarios or color palettes would make sense here so that DM Ben wouldn’t be paralyzed in that initial paint pot selection phase.

He recalled a memorable high school class trip to Germany, where he saw several people in these blaze orange jumpsuits cleaning all those amazing, old cobblestone streets. He asked his German teacher who they were and what they were doing. He explained that Germany often had low-collar crime prisoners doing specific tasks throughout the city. So, we started with that unmistakable orange color out of the gate. Not bad, and we see it working if the encounter storyline fits.

Then, another team member immediately said, “Monsters Inc! Remember those yellow guys?! That should be the color scheme!” Well, we certainly couldn’t disagree, so we thought we should try that palette too.

We definitely prefer the yellow color scheme, as it screams, “precious cargo – proceed with caution!” We envision a small pack of these troublemakers, so we prefer a subtle color change from mini to mini to quickly distinguish who is who during combat. Hence, differentiating the gloves was an easy choice.

Now, let’s talk potential scenarios! We love the security angle here! Protecting these mysterious creatures and ensuring they reach The Collector has the makings of a fun and engaging encounter.

We rarely 3D print something for the sake of it. We try to have at least one upcoming use or encounter idea in hand before we go through all the brew-ha of acquiring the STL, slicing it, 3D printing it, painting it, and developing stats for it.

So, with that said, maybe our Baby Drakes:

• Escape their shackles & must be recaptured.
• Attack the passengers.
• Jump from the Hovertrain to get back home.
• Go bezerk from captivity and snap.
• Cry for Momma Bear (who comes to their aid).

Or, maybe it’s all of the above! The good news is we continue to create all sorts of enticing encounters around The Forgotten Rails, so we’re not scrambling to make content at the eleventh hour!

Until next time!