Dragonlance D&D Game Blog

Last post we looked at some simple Lego ideas for chairs. As a companion to that posting, let's look at the next logical piece of gaming scenery -- the table. A table can be just as simple as a chair, all you really need is some size brick and a slightly larger plate (or tile). You can make small tables using just 1x1 bricks and 2x2 plates, and thankfully these pieces come in almost every possible color you could want, but I find this structure is usually top heavy and doesn't stand up well to the casual dings a gaming table can take during a game session. If you really need a small table like this, consider using a Scala Base brick , as the "feet" on the bottom of the piece provide a bit more stability. But more common tables are 4x4, 4x6, or 4x8. And with these, you have some options for the table base, either just a simple brick (like a 2x2 or 2x4 underneath the tabletop, or 1x1 bricks for legs, 1x1 round bricks, archs, or even stacking 1x1 round p...

After my talk at GenCon , I've become more and more interested in the idea of using Lego in table top games, and this new ongoing feature will spotlight some simple, easy ways you can add bricks to your adventures. Before I jump into my first idea, I want to address the obvious question "why?", what does Lego add to my games that I don't already have? I would respond with a counter question. What does Dwarven Forge and Hirst Arts add to your game? What do minis , tokens , and battle maps add to your game? In all cases, I see those tools adding greater immersion in your game, and facilitating a clear understanding of what exactly is going on. When you set down a battle mat of a forest clearing, your players are not going to mistake that for a dungeon dwelling. And when you lay down a trio of mountain trolls , players are not going to mistake them for lizard men. Lego can do the same thing, but with one other key benefit, they are customizable and reusable. W...

As I've mentioned once or twice before, I'm a big fan of the Dwarven Forge terrain. Unfortunately, like many, the cost of Dwarven Forge is typically outside my budget, limiting my collection to a few basic sets. That's why, when I heard of Dwarven Forge's Kickstarter project I had to check it out and ended up backing the project in the first day. Like any Kickstarter project, there are a number of backer levels, from as little as $1 all the way up to $3500, but the $120 level is the minimum level needed to earn the various stretch goals that continue to be unlocked every few days. Originally the project was looking to raise $50K, a goal reached in just the first few hours of the first day of backing. Now with about 10 days left to go, the project has raised almost $800K, unlocking all manner of stretch goals. Originally the stretch goals were additional pieces (more walls, floors, doors, etc), but after listening to the backers on the Kickstarter forum, they s...

This is the second of the two part series on planning tools for the Dwarven Forge Room sets. Last time I release a PDF of simple illustrations for the Room Set. This time I'm following up with another PDF of the Rooms and Passages set. Note, I also updated the PDF of the original Rooms set. If you've downloaded that one when I first posted about it, you may want to check out the new version. Both PDFs are available here .

As the new proud owner of a Dwarven Forge - Room Set, I was very eager to use it in my game at the first opportunity. But I had no easy way of planning what rooms I could layout with my one set. I could, of course, pull the actual pieces out and arrange them on my dining room table, but I'd like something a little easier. I've also seen references to some PC programs that would help with the planning task, but I'm a Mac guy and I wasn't looking for something that elaborate (maybe if I had a bunch of sets that might be more useful), but for me and my single set, I was looking for something quick and low tech. Basically, all I really wanted was a PDF with paper versions of the pieces in the Room Set that I could print, cut and arrange as needed. The nice thing about the PDF is that if I had multiple versions of a given set, I could just print out extra copies. Or, if I was planning something elaborate, I could print out as much as I needed and that would show me ho...

As you can tell from a previous post showing off my LEGO centaur , I'm as much a fan of LEGO bricks as I am of D&D. There are many ways to use LEGO in your Dungeons and Dragons game. And thanks to a number of LEGO sites for AFOLs (Adult Fans Of LEGO, hey, they have their own lingo too!), it's not hard to find great ideas and get the pieces you need in an easy, cost effective manner. The top LEGO site out there is LUGNET.com . This site has an extensive forum broken down by theme (Pirates, Castle, Vikings, and many other) and topics. This can be a great site for getting advice on building large or small projects and seeing pictures of fan creations, (also known as MOCs or My Own Creations). Another great site is Brickshelf . This is kind of like Flickr for the LEGO crowd. Here you can find a massive amount of images featuring large and small projects on any subject AFOLs can think of, from Lord of the Rings custom figures and dioramas to actual wedding cake toppers made ou...