The reason we even started this TTRPG scatter terrain series is because we simply hate wasting paint. Whenever we’re coloring a new group of 3D prints, it’s just inevitable that we dab too much paint from a particular pot. Discarding that excess isn’t cheap and is wasteful, so we try to use as much as possible.

So, a popular trick is to have a group of pieces 3D printed, primed, and in clear view on your hobby desk. Even better, pick very common STLs that share a lot of colors, like browns, greys, greens, metallics, etc. We think today’s pieces we’ll help highlight this batching method.

Let’s start with a follow-up to our popular Hanging Around DnD blog post. DM Ben has used corpse markers for as long as he can remember, but Tiny Furniture makes a number of really cool Dead-Body-Themed sets. We liked to paint these because they’re very forgiving. You can cover up any oops brushstroke with dirt or blood spatter, and no one is the wiser. Plus, these poor souls really dress up your gameboard.

Next up, we’ve got an adorbs town sign by Custom Miniature Maker and a whimsical Gnome by wif1973. We love this tinkerer’s sculpt, especially his mighty hair and beard. Even better, this hammer wielder is a free download. Our business sign is from CMM’s Goblin Market Bazaar set, which we highlighted in an earlier post. These don’t necessarily go together, but they still have plenty of uses for any dungeon master.

Now let’s shift our DnD minds to The Printing Goes on Forever and their fun Animal Tracks set. DM Ben did this one to start with just to see how it would turn out. He utilized a fav ground cover scheme of ours: layer on DecoArt Burnt Umber, then drybrush a little ASP Forest Sprite. Then we did a little AK Interactive Wet Ground to better sell the mysterious insets.

Since these turned out so well, we’re going to crank out the others. However, we’ll do them in FDM this next time around instead of resin, since skinny flat pieces sometimes curve up a little.

Lastly, we’ve got a classic scatter piece by STL Miniatures. This hide tanner rack is from their fabulous Fantasy Props 1 set. They’ve released several Kickstarters like that one, and we highly encourage you to do a late pledge. You won’t be disappointed with the huge variety of dressing pieces at your disposal.

Notice, though, how all of today’s STLs utilized very common colors and were simple to paint? That was no accident, my friends. DM Ben got 60% of these pieces colored, and he just couldn’t stand to finish them…so this method is a great completion motivator, too!

One more publishing note. We’re very excited to welcome our newest office mascot, Bailey Mae! She’s a cavapoo pup and is joining DM Ben’s family on 10-3-26! This little teddy bear is just twelve weeks old and needs a lot of TLC next week. He also has to acclimate his one-year-old pup, Winnie Lou, to having a sister. So, we’re taking next week off to catch up on some behind-the-scenes work and give DM Ben some well-deserved time with their second pup. We’ll be back at it starting 10-12.

Until next time!

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3DRPG is on a hot streak when it comes to Gladiators, with several amazing creators releasing some pretty fierce STLs here in 2026. DM Ben wants to have at least several amazing Arena encounters in our homebrewed Beneath the Sands campaign. Plus, these arena warrior miniatures are just cool!

Today’s do-or-die fighters come from good ol’ Brite Minis and their monthly Patreon. They have a nice subset of DnD miniatures from this encounter type, and we have a really solid paint scheme to crank several of these out for our game table.

We’ll start with this classic Gladiator garb and pose. Brite Minis calls this one Gladiator Murmillo. DM Ben asked for several of these guys in case he wants to run a larger arena fight: our six adventurers vs. six of the Colosseum’s top six warriors.

Here were novice painter DM Ben’s paint steps:

• Prime Citadel Grey Seer
• Helmet: ASP Hoard Bronze.
• Shoulder Armor: ASP Hoplite Gold.
• Leather: Citadel Contrast Snakebite Leather.
• Skin: FAN Barbarian Flesh + Soft Wash.
• Waist: ASP Ruddy Fur.
• Sword: ASP Broadsword Silver.
• Shield: FAN Dragon Red + Red Wash.
• Shield Edging: ASP Enchanted Steel.
• Wash: Strong Tone.
• Base: Cobblestone scheme (our go-to these days).

These steps are very similiar to our earlier Cast n Play Gladiator colors.

Our second featured miniature for today is called Gladiator Retiarius. We batch-painted him with the ones above for speed’s sake, and it was a snap because most of the colors matched the ones listed above. Additionally, DM Ben picked ASP Holy White for his classic net and FAN Demonic Yellow for his blonde hair.

This one has an uncanny resemblance to Varro (played by Jai Courtney) from the first season of Spartacus: Blood and Sand. If you haven’t seen that series (currently on Netflix), get it into your watchlist pronto.

Besides the arena encounter mentioned above, a follow-up or second mission could be rescuing Gladiator Retiarius from the Sultan’s clutches. For this mission, use more generic Gladiators as the armed guards trying to stop it. In return for his freedom, he agrees to help the party ransack the nearby tomb.

Until next time!

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Today’s DnD blog post is a wandering monster of a different color, as these thugs are anything but traditional when it comes to some unexpected foes the party is about to face. That’s probably why DM Ben pushed so hard for these latest TTRPG 3D prints. He loves placing unexpected miniatures on the game table.

We’ve already teased the perfect campaign backstory from an earlier post and even made some bounty hunters for it! However, we’re pivoting from those mysterious cloaked figures to a new set of hired guns (but with a twist). Our first earlier set will function more like the FBI and focus on the Realm’s most wanted list. These new criminal hunters will focus on everyday wanted targets, aiming to catch anyone on the run and collect the reward or bail fee for their capture.

Today’s miniatures come in a set of six and are from good ol’ Wif1973. We recently discovered this creator a few months back and absolutely adore his robust free library of DnD-focused miniatures. This set is entitled: The Mudboot Mob – Roughland Bandits. And again, their STL quality is solid, but you’ll see that DM’s Ben’s clumsiness got the best of him on a few of the minis. Damn you, cruel world!

With resident painter Kimmy Utah consumed by other projects in her immense backlog, DM Ben volunteered to give these guys a go. Since wif1973 miniatures are so darn nice (“beefy” and sturdy), he felt good about using traditional colors to get them onto the game table ASAP. Over the last two years, we’ve established a solid methodology for which colors to use on recurring elements: leather, spider webs, wood, etc.

So, let’s go through the specific paint steps novice painter DM Ben used to bring these money hunters to life.

• Prime Flat Black | Slapchop Base.
• Hair: FAN Demonic Yellow, Grim Black, & ASP Sand Golem.
• Skin: FAN Barbarian Flesh + Soft Wash.
• Hood/Scarves: FAN Dragon Red + Red Wash.
• Shirt: ASP Occultist Cloak.
• Pants: ASP Holy White.
• Jackets: WAR Monster Brown + Soft Wash.
• Boots: Citadel Contrast Snakebite Leather.
• Weapons: ASP Broadsword Silver & GSW Skeletal Brown.
• Base: DecoArt Burnt Umber, ASP Forest Sprite, ASP Gravelord Grey.
• Wash: Strong Tone.

Nothing crazy there, right? All core colors that, time and time again, just work so well for these common paint spots on a DnD model.

Now, our two wanted adventurers in our campaign are wanted for murder, but hey, who hasn’t “inadvertently” stuck a sword in someone at some point in your DnD world, right?! So, a city or even a private citizen can hire these Hoods to bring someone back to the local authorities to either stand trial or go right back into prison.

Here are a couple of great examples of our salvage-first mentality. We hate throwing away completed 3D prints, especially if they’re already painted. Case in point, one of our roughians lost a hand during support removal, and the other guy’s dagger literally broke off while we were taking photos today. Oh well. Nothing to get upset about here – it happens. Now DM Ben will create a little backstory about our missing-hand dude. And a broken weapon? Whatever.

We’re not putting these guys specifically in either Wandering Monster table, but if we had to, we would select the free Wilderness Trek Table. DM Ben will use these new fugitive recovery agents to corner our adventuring party when it makes sense. So, either on a Hovertrain while riding The Forgotten Rails, during a drink in the Charlotte’s Web Tavern, wandering the streets of Waterdeep, or simply traveling to their next mission destination.

Until next time!

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We’re tapping a stalworth in the pirate miniatures space and another top-notch creator who released an amazing, detailed pirate band of their own. Both sculpts share a slew of soul-warming features, so let’s take a deeper dive.

If you need to expand or replace some of your crew (who didn’t survive the last raid), your first instinct should be to head to the local tavern and see what shifty swords are lurking around for hire. We want more lovely ladies onboard, while also expanding to other races. The gameboard looks better with pirates of all shapes and sizes, and HR certainly won’t complain if it’s for nothing else than for diversity’s sake.

Let’s start with Mumma Throxbury by Printable Scenery. This buxom beauty is from their Pirate Witcher Warband set and Cities of Ramshackle and Ruin series. We’ve done several from this miniature set, and for darn good reasons. Just be careful when de-plating to avoid any sad unintended breakage.

Resident Painter Kimmy Utah colored both of our merry marauders today. You can see that she used numerous colors on all sorts of tiny details, and novice painter DM Ben chuckled at the thought of even trying to replicate her amazing work here. We adore this one and will elevate her role in the Hovertrain squad because she’s too beautiful not to put her center stage.

Our second miniature is by the amazing folk over at Cast n Play. They love Freebooters just as much as we do and have done several insane sets in this Privateer category. This one-legged Orc is from their Pirate Chronicles series. We’ll undoubtedly showcase all the bashing buccaneers from this release before it’s all said and done.

This guy has a literal peg leg, so he can’t be that fierce, can he? Oh yes…yes he can. Kimmy Utah went with darker garb to complement his green orc skin, and the miniature just sings because of these excellent paint picks. She also made another ship-plank base, which always tugs at our heartstrings.

Here’s the customary backside shot so you can see all the glorious details of each model. Amazing, right? We loved adding these two newest pirate minis to our raiding party. Now, let’s assign some NPC personalities and raiding roles to our two newest recruits.

Let’s start with just our second lady pirate:

• Colorful Name: Busty Betty.
• Character Race: Human.
• Member Rank: Senior Soldier.
• Key Role: Hunting Party Leader.
• Painted Miniature: Printable Scenery.
• Weapon of Choice: Scimitar and Boarding Axe.

Next, let’s get the specifics on our newest mighty sword swinger:

• Colorful Name: Riptide.
• Character Race: Orc.
• Member Rank: Foot Soldier.
• Key Role: Charge into an enemy mob.
• Painted Miniature: Casts n Play.
• Weapon of Choice: Scimitar and Cutlass.

Let’s conclude today’s DnD post with the latest crew count so you can quickly grab your marauders as needed:

• Captain, Jaguar Jack.
• Quartermaster: Snaggletooth Sam
• Special Advisor, Polly
• First Parrot, Crackers.
• Chief Plunder Officer, Shoeless Moe.
• Treasurer, Tusk the Trustful.
• Treasurer Guardian, Gary.
• The Fixer, Terabyus Trunglefoot.
• Competing Swashbuckler Squad Leader, Grave-girth Malone.
• Master at Arms: Mr. Knuckles.
• Senior Soldier: Mellow Yellow.
• Foot Soldier: Tipper McGee.
• Foot Soldier: Hightower Hamza.
• Foot Soldier: Pegleg Pete.
• Foot Soldier, Seraphina Stormblade.
• Foot Soldier, Smokey Joe.
• Foot Soldier, Cutter.
• Foot Soldier, Larry & Gary Malachi (“The Brothers Grim”).
• Foot Soldier, Snap Jaw.
• Secondary Crew, The Redshirts.
• Secondary Crew, Paddy O’ (Platypus).
• Cannon Crew: Baller.
• Cannon Crew: Barnaby & Bulwark.
• Spotter: Steady-Hand Stella.
• Mapmaker: Geo & his companion, Morris the Monkey
• Top Gambler: Ace.
• Minstrel, Notes.
• Head Chef, Dewey Oxberger (Ox).
• Sous-chef, Taters McGee.
• Cook’s Mate: Hangry Helga.
• Cleaning Crew: Suds.
• Ale Meister, Hank Morgan.
• Prisoner, Mystery Man.

Until next time!

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Townsfolk miniatures, young and old, are so incredibly irresistible here at 3DRPG Studios. We’re always on the hunt for them, and if a creator releases a Patreon set or a Kickstarter with the word “Townsfolk” in the title, it’s almost an automatic pledge or buy. This minis category has so much utility that we know a dungeon master will ultimately find a place for them at some point during a campaign.

DM Ben built an entire homebrewed storyline in our ongoing campaign: a mean, obsessed Night Hag was kidnapping them and harvesting their frightened tears to try to reverse her aging while boosting her appearance.

DnD kiddos slot into an encounter storyline in so many ways:

• Classic rescue mission.
• Sneaky spies (like those little birds in GOT).
• Crafty street thieves.
• Adventurers in training

DM Ben likes having these little troublemakers in our display cases, then uses their beautiful sculpts to inspire new DnD NPCs.

Today’s featured creator is good ol’ Cast n Play and their marvelous Northwind Vikings set. We’ve run off nearly every single miniature from this Viking Folk collection, and for good reason. Each mini is stuffed with fantastic deals, and the poses tug at our heartstrings. We’ve got two kiddos to share with you today.

Let’s start with this adorable Viking Flower Girl. We upscaled the STL so it fills a single d20 square better, and really small minis just annoy the dickens out of us. Resident Painter Kimmy Utah put down all the brushstrokes here, and we are just in awe of her color combos. She also has super soldier eyes; like, how does she do the lips and eyes so wonderfully? Novice painter DM Ben and his 55-year-old eyes are so jelly.

Kimmy Utah painted this cute, mischievous lad too. Her color choices made the model’s details sing, from his Vikings dad’s shield to his historical-period wardrobe. She also added a simple outdoor pattern to our plain MDF wood base. We always send her a big mishmash of bases, including 3D-printed ones, clear bases, MDF bases, etc. We never ask her to flock her work, as we can do that as needed here at our home base in AZ.

Here’s a nice backside shot of both TTRPG models so you can see more of their delightful details. We love a good mini where it looks snazzy from all angles. DM Ben will come up with the NPC specifics when he gets inspired for that next kid-capable encounter.

Until next time.

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