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Post by sgtslag on Mar 5, 2014 17:28:32 GMT
I hate to ask this... But, have you tried feeding dice into the maw? Those spikes look dangerous to the hand feeding dice to the tower. Other than that, this is one of the neatest dice tower I've ever seen. I love it. I've been wanting to make a dice tower for a while, but your concept is really inspiring me to consider something other than a traditional, rectangular tower. Cheers!
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Post by tauster on Mar 5, 2014 19:35:43 GMT
I hate to ask this... But, have you tried feeding dice into the maw? Those spikes look dangerous to the hand feeding dice to the tower. Other than that, this is one of the neatest dice tower I've ever seen. I love it. I've been wanting to make a dice tower for a while, but your concept is really inspiring me to consider something other than a traditional, rectangular tower. Cheers! I have a few D20's from a Munchkin cardgame that are too large, but most regular dice fit in, including the largest (d20) of regular size. You are right with the pointy teeth: It's hard to avoid them, mostly because I have to throw the dice into the maw with a bit of momentum, as the gullet of the worm has not enough slope. I had know this all along the way, but to correct that, I'd have to rework the upper end of the body completely, which I wanted to avoid. The sculpted maw is just large anough to let the dice through. In short: The whole thing is far from perfect, but for a prototype, it's fairly Ok. Maybe I'll give this one away as a present and make myself a new one someday... My plan is to have The Worm (with capitals) always on the table but use it only for very important checks. Using it as a dice tower will have to wait anyways: I plan to introduce it first as a miniature and only later on use it as dice tower - and the gaming session when The Worm makes it's first appearance is still a few months off (we're gaming only a few times per year). Another WIP update: I based The Worm on a plywood base and added a bit of paper maché around the lower body. When this is dry, I'll add some rubble and continue with the other steps (basepainting, painting, lather rinse repeat). The area where the dice roll out will get a small green felt (a bit similar to what's on a billiard table) so that the dice roll a bit quieter. The 'fence/wall' around the felt will be made of rocks, so the dice stay on the base and don't roll all over the gaming table. I just realised that I oriented the hotglue texture on the scales perpendicular to Scottie's, but that's not important.  |
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Post by tauster on Mar 6, 2014 19:34:49 GMT
I've put some rocks on the base. I let the whiteglue dry & harden for about 10 hrs before taking it out of the box. It's a good idea to wrap the base with baking parchment, so you can easily peel off your base after the glue has hardened. If you just put the base in a cardboard box, you'll get massive problems with glue that has run under the base.  After knocking off any lose rock chips, I added another layer of watered-down witeglue on top. I'll let it dry overnight, so tomorrow I can hopefully start painting. The left picture below really shows how humungous this critter is: Lady Forscale isn't even able to touch the lower parts of the worm with a sword without running up a very steep 'hill' of lose rocks and debris!  Of course you don't have this debris hill on the front of the worm because it's posture is a bit inclined, so that most of the rocks should be at the worm's back. And from a metagaming point of view I couldn't put rocks there anyways because the dice will roll out of the belly, which required the players to ignore the lowest parts of the worm's easier to reach soft belly. I can't wait to see my player's faces when I'll put this critter on the table for the first time!    |
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Post by tauster on Mar 8, 2014 12:48:48 GMT
Basepainted black:  Dark brown base, purple body:  For the transition zone between body and maw section, I used a sponge and stippled some purple on:  As you can see in the last picture, the color dries to a shade that is much darker than the wet color. That's because I used mixing color for painting walls (I got a large crate with 2 dozen 750 ml bottles very cheap on ebay...). This stuff seems change considerable from wet to dry. I'll wait until dry, then I'll decide whether I keep an extremely dark purple or add another layer of a lighter shade... [update] It's dry, and as expected, much darker. The flashlight makes it appear a bit lighter than in reality, but I think I'll leave it at that and continue with the next steps. Interestingly, the rocks I had given an additional coating of watered-down whiteglue now look glossy, even after the darkbrown basepaint (regular acrylic paints that normally don't shine)  |
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Post by tauster on Mar 8, 2014 22:31:32 GMT
...almost done:   I'm quite happy with the result. The only thing left is to create some kind of fence / wall on the base that stops the dice from rolling all over the gaming table. |
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Post by skunkape on Mar 11, 2014 15:45:10 GMT
I see it's coming along!
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terrainaholic
Cardboard Collector
Hey all! I'm a 3D guy with a healthy respect for the 2.5D method! Thank You DMScotty!!!
Posts: 47 
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Post by terrainaholic on Mar 17, 2014 3:43:00 GMT
I now some Nid players who would have to change there shorts after seeing these results:)! I'll throw out something I did once with a nid table. Take a girls plastic baret, cut it in half in the middle. Then boil water dip and twist it into a good tentical shape. Make sure the little nobs are on the top like little teeth. Very cheap, very easy, very fast. Great looking results on your build Bro:)!
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Post by tauster on Mar 19, 2014 11:03:55 GMT
My Purple Worm is growing a tail end...  The idea is similar to the Kraken builds with their separate 'tentacle miniatures': Simulating a giant monster body by having several individual body part minis on the battlemap. While the kraken is of course in the water, the Purple Worm will be digging through Underdark caverns, so in the worm's case there is a great synergy with the holes: As the battle rages on, the worm will tunnel in and out of the cave, giving the party some short breaks (healing!). Plus, each movement will drastically change the environment: falling stalagtites & toppling stalagmites as well as opening new holes in the ground each time the monster bores into the rock. I think this will make for a great dynamic battle! Body made with aluminum foil. I crumpled up some aluminum lids from yoghurt cups (cleaned, of course) and made the inner core, so I could save the proper aluminum foil from the roll. Not that I'm that much of a miser, but producing this stuff costs tons of energy and I don't want to use more than absolutely required. I could have sculpted the whole thing out of paper maché, but I didn't ahve the patience for waiting it dry today...  Tried several sizes for the scales: 1,5 cm and 1 cm proved too small, so I went with 2,5 cm sqares. Good to know: You can't use different sizes together because the ridges of the scales won't line up anymore. Perhaps you could reduce the length and keep the breadth, making them shorter, but I didn't try that out...  Tail's end*: I used the hand weapon of a Tyranid I had around. * That would make a fine name for a Tavern founded by some retired adventurer, having the end tail of a Purple Worm on displaying in the tap room...  What was giving me headaches from the beginning on was the question of what to do after the last scale: You'd need some kind of transition texture between the last scale and the rest of the tail... That's what I came up with:  Black basepaint. At the moment it's drying...  I'm toying with the thought of making an U-shaped middle part of the body, but I'm not sure that the work required for such a thing would be justified by the added fun in game... After all the worm is moving very fast, so I would probably have to take it out of the battlefield every second round and putting it back later for only one or two rounds. [edit & update 1] ...almost dry:   I forgot to take WIP pics only until I was almost done. But there are so many Purple Worm postings around here, so I guess that's fine.   At the moment I'm waiting for the white of the ridges to dry. Then what's left is just stippling a bit of dirt on it, and maybe highlighting the metallic green tail with some other color (I'm open for suggestions!!!) [edit & update 2] ...the dirt is on!     Her's the tail end dissappearing in a tunnel hole:  As I took these pics, I realized that I made the mistake of letting the white end apruptly at the ridges end. The better wariant would have been tapering it out or continuing it until the tial spike, under the metallic green. But so what... I hope my players won't have the time of finding these inconsistencies during the battle - 'cos if they would, I'd done something wrong with the pacing of the encounter! |
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Post by tauster on Mar 20, 2014 10:20:33 GMT
The idea is similar to the Kraken builds with their separate 'tentacle miniatures': Simulating a giant monster body by having several individual body part minis on the battlemap. While the kraken is of course in the water, the Purple Worm will be digging through Underdark caverns, so in the worm's case there is a great synergy with the holes: As the battle rages on, the worm will tunnel in and out of the cave, giving the party some short breaks (healing!). Plus, each movement will drastically change the environment: falling stalagtites & toppling stalagmites as well as opening new holes in the ground each time the monster bores into the rock. I think this will make for a great dynamic battle!
I'm asking you all to help me brainstorming: I'm planning for the abovementioned battle with the Purple Worm. The battlefield will be a very large cavern, taking up most of the space on my gaming table (0.9 m x 1.3 m). Large rocks, huge stalagmites, giant mushrooms, etc... all the thingies crafted during the last months (more than on this picture). My party consists of 9 PCs of level 10 - 12 (ADND 2nd edition rules, plus Player's Options rules add-ons), which is a pretty powerful group already. A 10th PC will be introduced during the battle: A lvl 10 derro underdark druid with an unhealthy but powerful disposition towards slimes (scavenged parts of the Slimelord prestige class). More details about this guy here. I'm mentioning him because he has an almost-immunity against acid and will probably try to dominate/control/enchant the worm. What I'm looking at, and want to discuss with you, is: 1) what environmental events could make this encounter cool? a) falling rocks & stalagtites, toppling stalagmites b) holes the worm is opening from below with his tunneling c) at least one small area of open water 2) what other critters would be good to add to the mix? I'm toying with the idea of adding some less powerful but numerous monsters who distract the PC, forcing them to split their firepower. Because if they all concentrate on one monster, the worm will be dead at the end of round 2. Here's what I came up with so far. Please comment, criticise and add more crazy ideas!a) lizardmen& myconids: There are several tribes of lizardmen living in symbiosis with the myconid realm of Hraak Azul (see WotC’s 4E Underdark book; I only changed the troglodytes into lizardmen). The environment will feature giant funghi anyways, so adding the lizardmen fits perfectly. These guys can be of any level I need, they are intelligent enough to have advanced tactics that take the worm into account, and they can be as numerous as I need them. b) fey creatures: My worm "mini"ature is definitely larger than your average purple worm... the battelfield will be in the lower reaches of the middledark and even if the players don't know yet, there's a giant portal to the feydark nearby. It's surrounded by miles of massive rock...at least until recently. The worm tunneled through the portal and thus the party only needs to follow it's tunnels. Other wild critters from the fey version of the underdark might have followed the worm. This might be wild & weird animals that normally follow the worm (think 'swarm of scavengers') or a group of intelligent guys. They need to be flexible in terms of power and numbers (see what I wrote above for the lizardmen). c) critters from the King's Highway (a.k.a. 'Torog's children') At the point of the battle, the players won't have encountered Mother (the derro druid, who is a child of mother, will lead them to her afterwards, where they will be able to negotiate an alliance with her). Using this option opens up all kinds of possibilities - I can use all kinds of weird monsters with the flesh theme (I've already crafted some weirdos...). The derro druid could try to organise them into a fighting force, helping the party. That would be the polar opposite of what I want - I need critters to harry the party, not help them. However if I have the derro arrive at the scene only after a few rounds, Torog's children can first fight against the PC and later suddenly help them, while the derro will stay hidden from the party (at least for a while) in the background. That way he'll save their hides and they won't immediately kill him. ...so what's your ideas & comments? |
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sadric
Paint Manipulator
crafting not enough, not enough time. :-(
Posts: 199
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Post by sadric on Mar 20, 2014 10:56:20 GMT
I dont know the stats of a purple worm. :-)
I think most of the critters you mention will be hostile to the worm (destroying their cave) or at least hasnt a reason to be in a cave that is a large battlefield.
What you need are some critters that are clearly "friends" of the worm.
What are with some sort of parasites nesting between the armor plates of the worm. Spiderlike Ticks.
Or some sort of worm-remoras. Three yard long centipedes that burrow in the slimy skin of the worm.
Allways someone hurt the worm you roll a d20.
1-3 = 1d4 ticks jump out of the armor plates
4-5 = 1d2 remorapede burrows out of the skin.
6-7 = Attacker see's a tick
8-9 = Attcker see's a remorapede
10-20 = nothing happen.
Make the ticks and remorapede low challenge rating, only a nuissance, but keep a fighter one or two rounds busy
And when the worm has lost half of the hit points it could shake himself and toss 2d6 ticks/1d6 remorapede's around.
If the worm emerge out of the ground it should be like a earthquake, roll to stay on your feet, roll for falling debris and so on. This should hinder the characters to toss into poor worm in the first round because they need to stand up, free themselve from debris and so on.
Maybe a worm this large could wipe heavy stones with a twitch of his tail, works like some spell (similiar to ice storm spell without cold damage).
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Post by grym247 on Mar 22, 2014 11:42:04 GMT
Awesomeness Dude, Love the Tail , great idea , gonna Borrow that
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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2014 16:19:43 GMT
Every time i see this thread title i read it as "Tauster's Testicles" That would be an interesting campaign, a hardened band of adventures set out against the back drop of a looming war of succession in search of the legendary Wizard Tauster's petrified magical balls in order to harness their fading powers and save the lands from a terrible plague of infertility. Oh, the hijinks that would ensue!
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Post by tauster on Mar 22, 2014 17:46:34 GMT
Every time i see this thread title i read it as "Tauster's Testicles" That would be an interesting campaign, a hardened band of adventures set out against the back drop of a looming war of succession in search of the legendary Wizard Tauster's petrified magical balls in order to harness their fading powers and save the lands from a terrible plague of infertility. Oh, the hijinks that would ensue! Now I'm tempted to craft some testicle-y dungeon deco...  |
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Post by skunkape on Mar 27, 2014 21:07:41 GMT
Wow, that looks awesome!
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Post by tauster on Mar 15, 2015 9:12:02 GMT
Revivifying an old thread... I finally opened the bag of Reaper's Bones II had Mashaaf, The Great Old One and put all parts together to see how it looks.      The model is sculpted very well. I really like the interesting details like the rocks protruding from it's back and the seemingly soft underbelly, not to forget the tentacled goodness of the mouth. The base looks cool as well, and the posture is really dynamic. Coolness abounds. But. ... You know, once you have made yourself a Purple Worm DMScotty-style, you're less than impress with the size of commercial monsters calling themselves 'giant' or 'great'.  I had Mashaaf already bagged and didn't want to re-open it when taking the pic, but you get the idea: It's about half the size of a the Purple Worm, maybe even less. Harrumph... While I actually don't have the time, my fingers are really itching to make a better (=LARGER!) version. At least the size of the PW. There's a lot of small details involved, and I don't have a solution for all of them right now, but it will come during the crafting, as always. There are already some examples of people having painted Mashaaf online, so I'd have something to guide me there. forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/54352-mashaaf/www.hammerdialectic.com/2015/03/the-hobby-pledge-march-3-2015.html |
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Post by SpielMeisterKev! on Mar 15, 2015 13:25:42 GMT
Howdy,
The tail for the purple worm is pure EXALT BUTTON genius!
Sorry I just noticed it,
Kev!
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Post by SpielMeisterKev! on Mar 15, 2015 13:36:07 GMT
Howdy,
WAIT!... That's a DICE TOWER?
O.K. so I am slow?
The SpielMeister demands video of the awesomeness in action,
Kev!
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Post by tauster on Mar 15, 2015 13:41:54 GMT
I don't have a webspace to upload a video, so I'm going to make it an animated gif. Might take some days though.
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Post by DnDPaladin on Mar 15, 2015 21:42:00 GMT
Spielmaster... i had the very same thought, nice purple wurm, nothing new.. then next post, ITS A DICE TOWER  !!!!! tauster, open up a google account or if you have one, then you already have a youtube account. google bought youtube a while back. and yeah... figurine scaling isn't really wizards or paizos forte. their stuff is much smaller then it should be. that or its us who have too big of an imagination. |
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Post by silver0wl on Mar 16, 2015 5:52:39 GMT
really nice work man love how u can move them around during battle
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Of course you don't have this debris hill on the front of the worm because it's posture is a bit inclined, so that most of the rocks should be at the worm's back. And from a metagaming point of view I couldn't put rocks there anyways because the dice will roll out of the belly, which required the players to ignore the lowest parts of the worm's easier to reach soft belly. 
!!!!!
