I’ve been going through some of the files on my desktop, and decided to catch up a bit more on uploading them.
This is one of the 3D printed items that I’ve used the most at the gaming table. It helps remind people when I’ve given them bardic inspiration, and reminds me of how many uses I have.
The below items I haven’t got printed examples of, as far as I know. They are items I mixed into new items, but then decided not to actually use.
I’ve probably been a bit confusing with some of my posts so far, referring to my collection of Flatminis without really explaining them, so here it is.
Flatminis are series of RPG minis available on Thingiverse for free to 3D print. They are more of what I refer to as 2.5D minis, as they are designed to print flat on a 3D print bed, and it adds depth to them in layers, not requiring any sort of support (though I do highly recommend printing them using rafting, or you’ll have a hard time getting them off the plate). You print the mini that has a standardized connector tab, and you print a matching base system to go with them that you insert the tab into like so:
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The base design is standardized, so if you have your printer calibrated well you can print a number of the bases, and then print an even larger number of minis because you likely aren’t going to need all the minis at the same time.
Also, by storing the mini and base separately, you can store them much more compactly. I keep a lot of the bases in my toolbox, and the player character/npc minis in a separate case for ease of storage and access. The case is a little display case that I found at a hobby store and added some layers of felt to thicken up the padding and make it look better. I also had to tape back the display stand portion of it so it wouldn’t flap in the way.
Personally, I sometimes refer to these as Crayola Characters. Why? Because I like 3D printing, but not so much doing the detailed painting others do with minis, I literally use crayola markers to color in the white plastic characters, and then clearcoat the outside with nail polish topcoat 24 hours later to seal in the ink and prevent smearing/wearing off on other items (or my hands) in use or storage.
Sure, these minis can be simplistic and goofy looking, but I like them. It allows me to safely and easily carry a wide variety of minis for when someone (particularly newer players or players with new characters) doesn’t have a mini, or when we need some random NPCs in a game.
Also, my enemy minis are mostly Flatminis as well, allowing me to keep an assortment of common enemies on hand without having to carry a bulky foam case with a lot of fragile minis. I have at least 8 of each of the following minis.
Thingiverse has a pretty good variety of them, which I and some others add to every so often as we create things for our own needs. I tend to remix in the connector pieces from existing Flatminis, and use a combination of Paint and Microsoft 3D Builder to turn 2D images into minis designs like I did with the heads of the orcs.
Sometimes I also find keychains or other mostly flat designs on Thingiverse and remix them into Flatminis, like I did with my ninja minis and making twig blights out of a model of baby Groot.
For DM accounting purposes I made some modified bases with numbers on them,
There are also some large size Flatminis.
It’s really convenient storage and portability-wise to use Flatminis, and enables me to always have a good amount of mini variety at the table. It’s also kinda awesome when we have new players at the table who don’t have minis. There’s almost always something close enough for someone to use.
Note: There are weapon sets made to fit Flatminis, but I don’t make these due to some issues with the 3D printing process of such small and thin objects.
I’ve posted some new models to Thingiverse for use at the gaming table:
I’ve been meaning to do this one for a couple weeks now… but I was kinda busy with the holidays. So, here’s my review of the Geek On Ultimate Boardgame Backpack (or as I call it the Backpack of Gaming). Before I get too deep in, here’s the link for those who just want to find where to get one:
I play a weekly D&D game (Adventure League style at my friendly local game store), and I’m always carrying a lot of stuff for the games. At minimum, I carry: Player’s Handbook, Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, multiple folders (full of characters, handouts, spare sheets of many varieties), dice, pencils, erasers, a case full of 3d printed Flatminis, and my DM’s Toolbox of Holding. If I’m DMing, I also carry: DM screen, the hardcover I’m running, wet erase markers, paper towels, bottle of water, Dungeon Master’s Guide, Monster Manual, game mat, premade maps… the list goes on.
Hopefully before I scare any new players away, you don’t need to carry that much stuff, especially if you are just starting out. I’ll cover what I recommend in another post, but keep in mind that for this post, I carry an absurd amount of stuff because I want to and can.
Also, my friends and I occasionally have game days, and when they aren’t at my place, I need to be able to carry multiple board games. This is a massive pain. They are bulky and unwieldy to carry, especially in anything other than nice weather.
Anyway, as you can see I need a lot of storage capacity. I’ve been using a Fallout 4 messenger bag for carrying most of the loose items, and carrying the tool box in one hand when playing. Then I have to add a map tube and another bag for additional materials if I am DMing. Enter the Ultimate Boardgame Backpack.
This came across my Kickstarter radar a while back, and I immediately wanted one.
I’ve mentioned it before here:
Boardgame Backpack Kickstarter
Well, now it’s arrived, just before the holidays. Here it is in the box:
So far so good. Everything is individually plastic wrapped and tagged as a professional product. The backpack comes folded up, and then you have to unfold it into the final shape. Here it is folded:
And here it is assembled and fully expanded.
This thing is huge, and packed with useful features. Each side has two pockets, with the bottom ones having built in koozies. You can also use the bottom pocket and the side straps to mount a map drybag (which I also got). The back and straps are heavily padded, and there is an optional belt to help with the weight.
The main compartment has an enormous carrying capacity, depending on whether you have it full expanded. For storage it is collapsible, but expanded, it has fold out reinforcing foam panels and a drawbridge-style support for your heavy games. This allows you to carry both bulk and weight. It was deliberately sized to carry a lot of common boxed games. As you can see here, if you have much weight up top the compartment will sag the large compartment a bit, but if you fill it up with games it becomes a non-issue.
And now, for my favorite part… the DMing configuration:
I’m able to fit ALL my 5e rulebooks, plus a couple of books for running games (yes, I know the Mini-Dungeon Tome, from another kickstarter, is not AL-legal), the toolbox, the DM screen, and the case of Flatminis (not shown here) in the main compartment. The dice case/tray fit in the top compartment, the spellcard boxes fit in the side compartments, the folders fit in the fold-down door of the compartment, the map fits on the side, and there is still some space for some items in the top compartment. I will note with that many books, it is HEAVY, and a few of these books I won’t normally carry because they aren’t referenced at the table much. I’ll get some better pictures on my semi-finalized configurations for the next installment, showing where I’ve placed everything. I’ll also go over the add-on/accessory items that came with it.
I don’t really know much about this vendor yet, but I just stumbled across them and wanted to note where they were at. They seem to have some excellent printable references, some of it being illustrated item cards, some of it being papercraft stuff that I’d want to do for a home-based game. Might need to stock up on some cardstock to make it more durable.
Given the Tales from the Yawning Portal hardcover, and that the next upcoming hardcovers involve Waterdeep, I’m considering the idea of building a model of the Yawning Portal Tavern itself as a jumping off point for players at the local game store for adventure league. Here’s the map from 4e:
If I were to build this, it’d probably be from the wall behind the bar to the right side, as the other rooms are not likely as critical for most adventures. I already have stockpiled the files for most of the trimmings in a tavern, though it will take a bit of print time.
I also need to consider a couple things:
What do I want to make the base out of?
How will I make and grid the floor?
How much of it do I want to be moveable items vs fixed items?
Can I make a cover for the well to act as a stage if I want it to stand in for another tavern?
I do a lot of gaming, and carrying around the games is a pain. Thankfully, there’s a new kickstarter for a backpack that makes carrying all of it around easy. It’s already going strong, but I’m hoping it keeps picking up, because they’ve recently added some stretch goals to further improve the pack, redesigning portions of it, improving components, and even adding a divider for miniatures and loops for carrying RPG mats.
Tonight is game night with some buddies of mine. We went through a diaspora of sorts over the years, and now live in multiple different states. So, we use Roll20 to play D&D with each other again! Roll20 allows us to play on a digital map, and keeps track of our character sheets and dice rolls, so we can log in from anywhere, even if we are travelling.
I do highly recommend using an alternate system such as Discord for the VOIP portion of playing the game. The voice and video over Roll20 has not been the most reliable.
Technomancer's Sanctum 