Even though we’ve officially started dropping clues about The Forgotten Rails in our DnD campaign, DM Ben has asked the 3D-print team at 3DRPG Studios to keep their foot on the steampunk scatter terrain gas! He can never have too many options when building encounters and loves how certain STLs can inspire new scenarios and storylines.

Let’s start with this steampunk-ish Terminal by EC3D Designs. This TTRPG sci-fi-ish scatter is from their fun Ghost City Kickstarter. We really should be 3D printing more from this set, so this was a nice nudge to get some more of those files on our slicer!

DM Ben asked Resident Painter Kimmy Utah to color this one up, and thank gawd, he did! She gave this one way more love to all the tiny accent details that his eyes ever could have mustered. Kimmy can be very inspiring, as he’ll often pull out a similar piece she’s done when he’s trying to decide on a particular paint color for a shared element between the two models. For example, he never would have thought to try those other wire/hose colors… but now he sure will.

We think this terminal could be in Omin Dran’s private chamber, serving to review sensitive data from the 3M team. It could also be utilized by gearhead Collis Strutt or the wizard, Leland Farce.

Next up, we’ve got this adorbs mailbox by STL Miniatures. This parcel keeper is from their wonderful Post Office Set. You might recall our earlier Hovertrain NPCs, The Lettermen, where DM Ben outlined how huge this new transportation outlet would be for mail delivery across the Realm. So, if we’re going to have mail carriers, there definitely needs to be something to drop the mail into, right?

DM Ben was down with putting brush to paint here as the color choices and application were nothing crazy.

• Prime Flat Black | Slapchop Base.
• Core Box Color: FAN Regal Blue + FAN Blue Tone Wash.
• Metals: FAN Gun Metal.
• Envelopes: ASP Ashen Stone.
• Packages: GSW Komodo Khaki + FAN Soft Tone Wash.

We are really into washes these days and now utilize them at every turn. The Army Painter Complete Fanatic Paint Set has been a delightful investment and has prompted us to try so many paints we never would have even dreamed of reaching for before. Highly recommend saving up for that one.

Lastly, we’re doing a rare repeat here on 3DRPG. We don’t like doing that because you deserve fresh 3D prints that inspire you day in and day out. However, this free STL by Dutchmogul just fits our Corederite mining model perfectly, so we had to include it! The mineral isn’t insanely rare, but it can be quite difficult to access larger deposits because they are often buried beneath thick rock.

Three great pieces all in the name of good darn clean fun. Until next time!

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DM Ben thinks the key to a fun and engaging new homebrewed campaign setting is a wide array of colorful characters, some good and some bad, that his players can interact with for new missions, while also getting valuable clues to ongoing mysteries. Besides, meeting new quirky NPCs is just a good time at your gametable!

So, we previously mentioned that very few living beings actually work on The Forgotten Rails, mostly because Omin and the Hovertrain founders (aka, 3M) simply don’t trust anyone. Still, this mech beautification project has been off to a bumpy start with numerous pricey setbacks. A frustrated Dran simply can’t handle another annoying delay, so he found a loner tinkerer to get the program back on track!

And here’s a quick recap of the Clockwork animals ready for action (thanks to our closet mechanic):

• Clockwork Elephant
• Clockwork Owl Bear
• Clockwork Tiger
• Construct Cows
• Clockwork Oxen

Much like those animatronics at Disneyland, these Constructs are off way more than they’re on, and that’s gotta change!

Let’s start by adding a new mechanized mammal to the stable. This is a Clockwork Boar and was also done by the marvelous mz4250. All his STLs are free, but sadly, his specific Patreon downloads have been incredibly unstable lately and are returning near-endless “Not Found” download errors. So, you’ll want to try and find his 3D print collection on other websites like Printables and Cults.

This free 3D print was really fun to slice and color up, as this hard charger has great DnD model texture that keeps some of that unwelcomed streakiness to a minimum. That’s especially good news when you are using a lot of a single color (especially a metallic) on a lot of the miniature.

Nothing to this one in terms of the ol’ steps:

• Prime Flat Black | Slapchop Base.
• Layer ASP Enchanted Steel.
• Drybrush FAN Gun Metal.
• Light, spotty drybrush of black.

And of course, a nice nature-style base with some vibrant green tufts really seals the deal for the pending forest environment we’re going to place him in.

Next up, we’ve got a Dock Worker by EC3D Designs. This handyman is from their fun Sci-fi Novus Landing Kickstarter. We think he makes the perfect Clockwork Zookeeper for our campaign! He comes off as a loner who is all “bitness,” baby!

Resident Painter Kimmy Utah was the chief colorist for this DnD 3D-printed miniature, and we love her paint picks here! It’s the classic gearhead workshop look, right?! Red t-shirt paired with some overalls and black boots. So good! Besides, you gotta love the Mr. Clean bald head and leave-me-alone scorn.

Let’s finish today’s TTRPG post with some NPC particulars, so DM Ben can make the corresponding character card.

• Colorful Name: Hinge Geargrind
• Character Race: Human, male
• Class: Construct Tinkerer
• Forgotten Rails Role: Head Clockwork Zookeeper.
• Painted Miniature: EC3D Designs

Let the shenanigans begin!

Until next time!

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We’ve made plenty of monsters in this adorable little TTRPG desert series of ours. All are ready to pounce once those undisturbed tomb doors are finally pried open, but what about all the royalty those final resting places were actually built for? We need more fancy-pants options for DM Ben to build storylines around so our one-shots have someone behind the veil barking all those unrealistic demands.

DM Ben wants to introduce a competing-for-hire adventuring party for the first mission and let that dynamic play out during the dungeon tomb crawl, but who’s doing the hiring? Why, a paranoid, snooty royal couple, that’s who.

Here are some other potential storylines we might incorporate:

• The current Royal family wants a tomb cleared of evil.
• The Prince wants a valuable arificat recoverd that belongs to him.
• The Princess wants the party to smuggle her away from her husband.
• The Tomb must be raided to cover the family’s extravagant spending.
• The existing King and Queen are said to be impostors.

And that’s just to name a few. DM Ben is likely to lead with the Prince’s buried brother wrongfully claiming a powerful, rare artifact as his own for the afterlife, and now the acting royal King and Queen want it back, or they won’t properly ascend into the afterlife. All previous retrieval attempts have failed miserably, so they’re calling in the top two adventuring teams to finally get it done.

Our first royal, this bad a$$ Egyptian lady, was really hard to source. We checked all the usual suspects too: EC3D Designs, Iain Lovecraft, Loot Studios, and MiniaturesCraze, but just came up empty. We even thought it might have been Fat Dragon Games. It’s no surprise we lost track of this one, since this STL was printed via FDM, and we haven’t tried that 3D printer for miniatures in ages.

Still, we had to share as Resident Painter, Kimmy Utah, picked the palette here and she nailed it. We certainly wouldn’t cross her, would you?

Our second featured TTRPG 3D print today comes from good ol’ Loot Studios and their Voracious Sands set. Meet Darius Sandwalker – a dashing prince if we ever saw one. Love this miniature’s confident pose and all the charming lil’ details that come with it! There’s a little two-face vibe going here: charming and eloquent in front of his yearning public, but ruthless and plotting behind closed doors.

Once again, Kimmy Utah painted this confident ruler because if we had asked DM Ben, he would have had a stroke. We love her use of greens, mixed with hints of red. We knew this was going to be our starting ruler the second we laid our eyes on this marvelous DnD STL. Wouldn’t he just be perfect for your next Tomb Crawl, too?

Until next time!

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Since we got our last Gamefound Dwarven Forge Dungeons Reforged shipment of plenty, that DnD delivery has sent us on a mad quest to 3D print supporting scatter terrain pieces to mix in with our favorite new prepainted terrain! And besides, 3D printing, painting, and adding scatter terrain to your gameboard is darn fun.

Sometimes the devil really is in the details, right?! Like, what’s the big deal about a stack of bowls and some plates in a dungeon room or empty house? Welp, clues abound if someone in the party wisely investigates.

• How many plates are there (indicates garrison size)?
• Are the dishes still warm/have partially eaten food (guards left recently)?
• What type of rations were they eating (monster type)?

Never discount these subtle clues when building your rooms. Super simple to paint here, too. Just pick a copper tone and little drybrush a little black over the top so they look a bit weathered. These plates and bowl stacks are from EC3D Designs’ Hero’s Hoard series, specifically the Inn and Tavern Set 2.

DM Ben chose ASP Rudy Fur for the door’s primary wood color, as that rich, dark red spoke to him as a quite heavy, reinforced door.

• Prime Flat Black | Slapchop Base.
• Wood: ASP Ruddy Fur
• Stone: ASP Runic Grey (so good).
• Door Metal Banding: FAN Rough Iron.
• Other Metals: ASP Enchanted Steel.

The spikes are a little too muted, so we’re going to circle back and dab those with Citadel’s Stormhost Silver so that they’re a little more prominent. This door is from Cast n Play’s Terrain Essentials series and Kickstarters.

This slick Witch’s Chair is from their Curse of the Witchmire set. It’s a little homage to Baba Yaga and would be the perfect furniture for its hut. DM Ben wants to use it in a future Wizard encounter where the wacky spellcaster makes several chairs in the room come to life and attack the party.

• Prime Flat Black | Slapchop Base.
• Wood: GSW Skeleton Brown.
• Wood Accent: Drybrush ASP Forest Sprite.
• Feet: ASP Fire Giant Orange
• Berries: ASP Hive Dweller Purple

DM Ben circled back and added a small, clear base to this one to give it a little more stability.

Lastly, we think we’ve got some fun TTRPG Fisherman scatter terrain by Cast n Play’s Terrain Essentials series. Any STL that has barrels, bottles, sacks, etc., is always going to be a beast to source months after it was 3D-printed. DM Ben often cringes at these detailed pieces because it can be tough for his Wisconsin sausage fingers to reach all those nooks and crannies. Hence, he’ll slip them in the next outgoing package to resident painter Kimmy Utah.

Until next time!

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In today’s DnD post, we touch on a classic tale as old as time: a distressed maiden (and/or male) is offered as a sacrifice to appease a ferocious, mysterious monster. No offering, no village – that sorta thing. DM Ben thinks that’s a fun one-shot opportunity and asked for some starting 3D prints to bring it all to life!

Let’s start with the a$$hole causing all the brew-ha! This freaky fellow is called a Toravor, and it makes sense that the locals have to keep posting up sacrifices since there are two mouths to feed. It’s from their amazing Frost City 3 Kickstarter and their nice lineup of unlocked Stretch Goals. STL Miniature typically includes a PDF for some suggested 5e stats but we’ll lean on those potential numbers later.

Resident painter Kimmy Utah was the lead colorist on this imposing monster miniature, and she nailed it. The glistening red skin contrasts perfectly with his heavy armor and off-white bones. We also love how you can practically feel this one coming up from below the surface to check out its latest “gift.”

Our other double-offering (probably one per monster mouth) comes courtesy of EC3D Designs. These unfortunate souls are from their awesome Beasts and Baddies II Kickstarter. Sadly, this marvelous maker has been silent for quite some time now, but a late January update on their Discord Channel says they are still hopeful to release something in 2026. We sure hope so because they are one of our absolute favorite creators in the DnD 3D-print space.

Kimmy Utah did these two stuck souls as well, and you can definitely feel the desperation on their faces. Even funnier, the dude seems a bit more freaked out than his plotting female counterpart. Great color combos here, and we especially like how one is tied to a single post while “the hero” is spread out on two boards.

DM Ben hasn’t worked out all the encounter particulars, but he’s thinking this scenario might be a great candidate for our Kinda Sorta Portal series. Like, the players blow the percentage and end up smack down in the middle of the victims and the Toravor (as it ascends from its underground lair). We’ll flesh this one out more in a future post now that our star miniatures have been chosen.

Until next time!

The post No Danger Without Sacrifice appeared first on 3DRPG.

DM Ben wants to pepper our Forgotten Rails campaign setting with a plethora of different Constructs. Why? Well, first off, it’s really fun to 3D print and create those sorta DnD miniatures. Also, the more unique minis we have, the more unique one-shots and characters we can create! Besides, you can’t grow up being a massive Star Wars fan and not absolutely love droids…you just can’t!

Speaking of Star Wars, that’s where our inspiration came from for today’s DnD post. There’s a great scene in Return of the Jedi where poor R2D2 is put to work on Jabba the Hutt’s sail barge, and remembering that scene brings all the right feels. That got us to thinking that we need a few more service-style Constructs in our game…especially one that is secretly on the good guys’ side.

Enter Brite Minis and their joyous, ever-expanding line of supportless (and base included) 3D-printed miniatures. A mere $5-ish a month gets you two small set releases and access to most of their library. We decided to slice and dice this humorous Pigbot. He’s definitely memorable and simply belongs in our campaign. So much so that DM Ben wants to make him a recurring NPC.

Sunrise Sven was our colorist here, and he kept it clean and simple. Sometimes that’s the kind of easy-going paint job your 3D prints need. You don’t always have to slave over your RPG hobby desk for an entire weekend. Less can absolutely be more. This Army Painter Speedpaint light gray highlights every metal detail and, of course, those wicked-good wheel treads.

Our second featured Construct is by EC3D Designs. They’ve done several fun Sci-fi-esque Kickstarters, and this Industrial Drone is from their Novus Landing set. DM Ben has wanted the team to 3D print this lil’ fella for quite some time, and we finally obliged. Besides being absolutely adorbs, our hovering robotic buddy can fulfill a key role for The Forgotten Rails!

DM Ben didn’t mind coloring up this mini zoomer. He kept the paint steps very simple.

• Prime Flat Black | Slapchop Base.
• Boyd: ASP Enchanted Steel (and FAN Softtone Wash).
• Front: FAN Dark Emerald.
• Eyes: Army Painter Elven Armour.
• Rivots: Citadel Stormhost Silver.
• Fan Housing and Blades: FAN True Brass.
• Air Grates: ASP Hoard Bronze.

Nothing to it, right? We didn’t even have to apply a clear base to this one.

Let’s finish this TTRPG post off by defining their specific roles in our campaign, as DM Ben has some initial thought starters.

Pigbot (also known as “Snout”): serves as both a delivery bot (think DoorDash and its googly-eye prototypes) and a server bot. He typically works a Hovertrain route, satisfying thirsty passengers, but then also delivers precious cargo in his secure steel hull. DM Ben is going to put him in as an NPC who despises The Forgotten Rails and wants to crush their slavery ways. The players will first meet him during an initial high-value escort security mission.

Recon Drones: These are exploratory in nature and have no weaponry (as that adds unnecessary weight and reduces maneuverability). The Forgotten Rails sends these machines in to check out tight quarters or extremely uneven terrain. Omin Dran doesn’t like losing his Constructs outright, as that’s bad for the bottom line. These semi-fast recon drones are a dime a dozen compared to the rest of their pricey arsenal.

Until next time!

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DM Ben loves NPCs who come in pairs. The storylines are more fun and intriguing, while the party is less likely to draw swords and ask questions later. Hence, we have two TTRPG 3D prints to show off today, and they come from a fantastic Kickstarter that just screams main character and NPC miniatures.

Both RPG 3D prints are by EC3D Designs and hail from their sensational Everyday Heroes Kickstarter. This gritty guy was one of the bonus extras. Longtime readers know we adore this maker because nearly every STL in its immense library is supportless and includes the base. Those are two huge time and cost savers for us.

This first miniature is one of their “Human Hunters” and is so frackin’ cool. Besides, you know you have a gem of a 3D print when you can’t decide if the final mini should be for a main DnD character or an NPC.

Guest pro painter Sunrise Sven was our lead colorist here, and we think this is the absolute best TTRPG miniature he’s painted for us! The hair is silly good. The clothing and armor colors sing together. And he just hit every little detail within the STL perfectly. DM Ben keeps a bunch of the final 3D prints in wall-mounted display cases in his home office, and this badass has a primo spot.

Our second featured RPG miniature is also by EC3D Designs and comes from the very same Everyday Heroes Kickstarter. This “Human Male Cleric” was from the core portion of the set. This sculpt drew our eye because of the mighty mace and shield combo, which Clerics often seem to have as part of their inventory.

Sunrise colored our human healer as well! His white garb mixed with purple accents was spot on, and the supporting armor theme was pretty snazzy. This paint job screamed Cleric from the heavens! He also did the face absolutely perfectly. DM Ben is so jealous of Sven’s mad painting detail skillz.

The motivation for these two miniature buddies comes from Game of Thrones. Certainly, everyone remembers Beric Dondarrion (who serves the Lord of Light). He was revived through prayer by Thoros of Myr. They were a fun yet dangerous DnD duo if we ever saw one. DM Ben loved these two guys, especially how Thoros would jaw with The Hound. Having a similiar duo in our own ongoing TTRPG campaign seemed like an especially fun NPC encounter and side mission.

DM Ben is envisioning a tougher encounter that requires a couple of extra NPCs to fight alongside the party. Naturally, the group will focus their healing on their own characters first, which means one or more of these guys is likely to drop, but they won’t necessarily understand the revival part of their story til later (when they bump into them again).

Now, let’s drum up the NPC particulars here so we have a base footing before we come up with a one-shot for these hired henchmen.

• Colorful Name: Aven-Cromley
• Character Race: Human
• Class: Ranger
• Possible Scenario: Sword for Hire
• Painted Miniature: EC3D Designs
• Potential Stats: try MonsterShuffler.com

• Colorful Name: Vitch
• Character Race: Human
• Class: Cleric
• Possible Scenario: Sword for Hire
• Painted Miniature: EC3D Designs
• Potential Stats: try MonsterShuffler.com

Aven-Cromley was once of royal blood but cast it aside due to his family’s corruption and cruelty. Vitch took him in when no one else would and considers his sacrifice so holy that he has vowed to protect and keep him alive at all costs. Besides, Aven-Cromley & Vitch has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it…we know that all the Abercrombie and Fitch clothing fans would at least agree.

Until next time!

The post Miniature Monday: Keepin’ the Faith appeared first on 3DRPG.

Let’s get rocky and share some cool dungeon dressings for your ever-growing scatter terrain library. As DM Ben always tells us when selecting new STLs, “Just give me more options, guys!” Sometimes we have enough advance notice to prepare for a future session; other times we scramble at the last minute, and we may even have to skip a piece. The struggle is real, y’all.

We’ve fallen in love with a particular monster miniature and its supporting super-simple color scheme! That’s the theme of today’s DnD blog post. So, let’s start off with these nifty dungeon rubble columns by Cast n Play and their killer Terrain Essentials monthly Patreon. Their talented creators released these really fun Modular Columns from their The Lost Castle Terrain set. We love ’em!

Even better, we have a new, tried-and-true stone paint scheme that makes getting these completed pieces on the game table a snap! Army Painter Speedpaints have a slick, weathered paint called Runic Grey. We layer it on and sometimes circle back with a second coat as needed. For the ground, we just use ASP Desolate Brown for the dirt and ASP Gravelord Gray for the rocks. Optionally, you can circle back over the stone with a very light white drybrush (which looks fab).

Those holes on the top are for you to stack planks across the columns for multi-level encounters (see the render above). If you don’t want to use ’em, you could just flock them over, but we dig the design.

We’re featuring a second miniature today because we’re using the same paint scheme (with a slight twist). Beloved EC3D Designs released a Beasts and Baddies II Kickstarter, and it is just stuffed with fantastic monster miniatures. We anticipate 3D printing and painting nearly every single one eventually – always the mark of a truly excellent series.

You’ll see here we used the exact same paint colors as our Dungeon Columns above – quick and easy. Again, we prefer to apply two coats, as we like the greyish stone color to be slightly darker. They look pretty imposing though, right?! Like, you won’t walk past these stone demons without your guard completely up, right?!

We ended up printing the same Gargoyle quite a few times because DM Ben wants to do a cool dungeon encounter where these things line a long hallway that must be moved through to get to the next adventure point in the scenario. Sadly, we didn’t realize the set had two different Gargoyle sculpts, so we’ll ultimately circle back to at least print a few of that version.

Now, here’s the paint twist for today’s post: we finally got our hands on the new Army Painter SpeedPaint Markers, and this was the perfect DnD 3D-print to try them out on. We often buy directly from the Army Painter website, and since they’re based in the UK, shipping can take a long time to be fulfilled. Demand has been very high. Also, novice painter DM Ben is very anxious about trying new things, so he had to muster up some courage.

Would we use these nifty markets again? Absolutely, but only in certain painting circumstances. For example, with a stone Gargoyle batch, it makes more sense to layer that solid color with a traditional brush. However, for smaller details like the eyes or to clean up the base edging, these markers were insanely convenient. It’s so nice to just pop a cap off, fill in those smaller details, and skip the traditional brush-cleaning step.

We decided to give our Gargoyle either black eyes or red eyes, and these markets made that paint step so frickin’ easy. Give this stone paint scheme and even the Speedpaint Markers a try! We think you’ll really like ’em.

Until next time!

The post Leave No 3D-printed Stone Unturned appeared first on 3DRPG.

The holidays are beloved here at 3DRPG Studios in sunny Chandler, AZ, where the weather has just been exceptional. These yuletide tidings give us a chance to take a breath and get caught up on some critical painting tasks. It’s just the perfect time of year to attack one’s pile of shame! We’re going to feature a couple of recently painted STLs that we believe belong in your Construct library.

Longtime readers might recall that Waterdeep’s Omin Dran wanted to ensure The Forgotten Rails passenger routes had plenty of “did you see that” moments, so he asked the Hovertrain’s founders to build some mighty mechanical beasts that could be strategically placed along the rail lines. Dran is no fool – he knows people will talk about the fantastic creatures spotted in the wild. However, they’ll be placed in a way that makes it tricky to tell they’re not Corederite-powered.

This Hovertrain beautification directive introduces our first featured print: the Clockwork Elephant by the immensely talented mz4250. This lumbering mech is a free download, and it’s our favorite animatronic animal to date! We plan to try the living-and-breathing version as well (but those solid, smooth surfaces give us pause for painting).

DM Ben wanted to try coloring this 3D print, as he had a few ideas for what Elephant grey could look like. Plus, it’s a larger 3D print, and those are always much more forgiving for trying new schemes.

Here are his paint steps:

• Base P1: layer on GSW Slate Grey.
• Base P2: drybrush GSW Grey Mist Dipping Ink.
• Base P3: drybrush GSW Skull White Dipping Ink.
• Ears: FAN Barbarian Flesh
• Feet: GSW Temple Ochre and FAN Bashee Brown.
• Wash: Brown wash was so-so. Dark wash was a no. Next time, we’ll FAN Strong Tone.
• Finish with a very light drybrush of a grey.

You can also use soft metallics, such as ASP Enchanted Steel, on tusks, gears, and the tail to create a more mechanical look.

Let’s briefly recap all our mechanical animals that The Forgotten Rails will camouflage in the wild to look like real creatures to curious onlookers from their Hovertrain window seats.

• Clockwork Owl Bear
• Clockwork Tiger
• Construct Cows
• Clockwork Oxen
• with more to come!

Most of these geared creatures are the vision of mz4250, who has made all sorts of Construct creatures to choose from. DM Ben is considering a fun stampede encounter in which these mechs malfunction and suddenly panic.

The other 3D-printed miniature we want to share today is our previously featured Copper Construct (heavy hitters), and a Constable mech (ranged shooter). We initially produced only one of each because we weren’t sure how these would turn out. DM Ben loved what he saw and definitely wanted more of ’em!

In general, we have what we call our “Rule of Five” here, which means when it comes to exceptional enemy minis, we want to have at least five of them for encounter battles. And these last couple of holiday breaks in December give us much-needed paint time to knock out more of these fun monster mobs for future RPG gameplay.

We think these police patrols will look soooo fricken good within our train station scatter terrain by Aether Studios. DM Ben envisions numerous security-style scenarios in which these imposing types of 3D-printed miniatures will play a significant role. Besides, who doesn’t love running from the law in their TTRPG games, right?!

Publishing note: And that’s a wrap on 2025! We’ll be taking New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day off, but will be back at the keyboard on 1-2-26 (boy, that’s wild to type) with another DnD 3D print-post! Thank you to our tireless team and especially to all the readers out there who are following along – y’all are the best!

Until next time!

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