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3 March 2026
Greetings, fellow choo-choo enthusiasts! Today, we pay homage to a few early Construct prototypes from legendary gnome tinkerers of years past. Meander this way!
DM Ben, being a digital guy his entire career, loves the evolution of technology. He’s been fortunate enough to graduate into the business world at just the right time and watch things like the Internet, cell phones, computers, tablets, etc, evolve before his very eyes while working with insanely talented folks along the way. He left college after seeing web pages literally take 30 seconds to load, or cell phones being comically large. So, it’s no surprise that he wants this same sort of tech innovation to play out in The Forgotten Rails and its huge cast of Constructs.
The revolutionary discovery of the mined mineral Corederite, which is absolutely essential in powering our mighty Hovertrains and all the mechs that keep them running, is pivotal to The Forgotten Rails’ success and longevity. Like, without this critical power source, our trains are quickly bricked, and all the vital robots that work on them 24/7 are too. That is a constant, huge fear of Waterdeep’s Omin Dran and its founders.
Still, there was a big, bright, beautiful DnD world before our speedy Hovertrains, and DM Ben wants to acknowledge those brilliant gnome tinkerers, while showcasing some of their wild and wacky inventions!
Thankfully, Void Miniatures launched a dazzling Lost Bolts of Hazim Kickstarter that gives us a mittful of cool new miniatures with just the kind of vibe DM Ben wants to convey to its players. Originally dubbed “Tesliders,” these are the miniatures that pushed us over the edge to actually pledge. You know what we mean, right? There are always a few TTRPG minis (or scatter terrain) that convince you that a particular KS or monthly Patreon is worth your hard-earned gold pieces.
DM Ben didn’t mind painting these robot clunkers up because he felt he had some great metallic color experiences on other miniatures and scatter terrain. Sometimes, confidence is absolutely everything in aggressively tackling one’s TTRPG Pile of Shame.
A gritty, dirt-flocked base also really adds to the overall look and feel of this old-timey piece.
Our second featured DnD 3D-printed miniature is a larger Construct (taking up 2×2 d20 squares). Void Miniatures has this lumbering Kunboom mini. We felt this one was very momma-bear-esque and pairs perfectly with our smaller Hot Stove Heaters.
DM Ben used the same paint steps as above, except he added our core Warpaint Elven Armour color. The reason is that our campaign storyarc here is 3M made this unit so that it could guide the smaller legacy mechs that were yanked out of storage and pressed into service for the realm.
A great real-life example is, let’s say a global superpower started a pointless conflict and had alllll this much, much older equipment just sitting in storage (from like the 1940s). However, the unexpected, extended combat and supply chain challenges meant their government pressed these mothballed machines into service and just accepted that losses would be higher than usual.
The Forgotten Rails would rather figure out ways to retrofit these older mechs and make them productive verse have them sit idly in storage. When machines move, they produce gold. When they sit, they cost gold. Simple as that.
The Hot Stove Heaters are literally powered by good ol’ fashioned natural resources (like coal or wood). Gnome tinkerers originally programmed them to perform very simple, yet dangerous tasks… think of them as glorified Mage Hands. The larger, central unit (aka a “Gear Warden”) has been bonded to them and uses its superior artificial intelligence to increase their productivity. Pretty fun, right?!
Until next time!
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