For Throwback Thursday I thought I would share a DIY piece
of terrain I quickly made a while back. In a prior campaign the players were a
cadre of dwarves exploring their lost ancestral home. As they delved deeper
they found hidden mines which were built on top of a dormant volcano. Across
a treacherous river of lava a massive statue of Moradin had collapsed which now
served as a bridge. Instead of drawing this all out on a battle mat I created the
statue from cardboard.
Painted glue blobs made the oozes |
Not included in this picture are the feet of the statue
which I created from Styrofoam and painted to look like a rock. They sat at the
base of the statue and I placed a large piece of red felt under it to represent
the rising lava. The players had to cross what amounted to permanent difficult
terrain while avoiding being knocked down from volcanic tremors. Complicating
things immensely was four lava oozes which were extremely hungry and happy to
turn them to cinders. Oh did I mention a Fire giant was at the other end of the
bridge throwing magma rocks at them?
This encounter was probably one of my fondest memories of
the 4E system. Although it nearly ended in a TPW it tested the players, their
characters and all their mustered ability to succeed. I enjoy making DIY
terrain since it involves just some cardboard, paint and a little of your time.
That all said I find it a refreshing change which “unplugs” you for a while
from the virtual world.
The Fire Giant's "hand axe" |