For a long time, I refused to watch Critical Role. The thing that got me into it was actually not the storytelling, the cast, or the DM. It was when someone gave me a tine-stamped video clip and told me to check out the battlemaps that they used for combat encounters.

They were incredible. (And as far as I know, made by Dwarven Forge mainly.)

From then on, my favorite parts of the series have been when Matt pulled out these giant, intricate 3D dioramas for them to fight on.

And I’ve wanted to use those in my games ever since. Honestly, before that. But since I’ve seen those, that desire went up a lot.

So when Black Friday came around and there were high-quality 3D printers for 50% off, I couldn’t resist. I took some of the profits from Claus for Concern and my other DMs Guild titles and invested in an Elegoo Neptune 3 printer.

It’s a filament printer, not resin, though. Resin is so toxic and takes such specific handling that I knew I wasn’t ready for that kind of machine. Not at the “zero experience whatsoever” level of novice I am.

Enter the Slime Cave

Last week, my Spelljammer session ended with my party infiltrating a cave that serves as a lair a gang of plasmoids called the Amoebros. (It’s in the simply fantastic Saving Commodoree Krux on DMs Guild and makes the Light of Xaryxis campaign a little more compelling than just finding a key NPC waiting for them in a bar.)

I know my party, and they’re not getting out of this cave without a couple of fights. They rarely handle anything diplomatically. So I decided to 3D print a couple of areas on the map where I am sure they’re going to get into some trouble.

Here’s what I’ve got so far, and I’m pretty proud of it (though it’s still nowhere near finished in this state.)

These are using the OpenForge 2.0 tileset that you can find all over Thingiverse.

And here’s a look at the map I’ve drawn over to kind of plan out what pieces I need to print.

I have been using PDF Expert on my iPad to track how I want to lay it out using the pieces I am printing. The bottom room is the first one they’ll be in, and then I will remix the tiles with a few extras when they go north into the boss room.

I can’t wait to see how all of this turns out when it’s done and painted.

I am waiting for some 5mm magnetic balls to come in so I can drop them in the bases to lock them together, too. I’m so excited to see my party’s face when I pull this out on Thursday. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Do any of you have experience 3d printing terrain and battlemaps for your parties? Let’s talk in the comments!

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Look! I 3D Printed D&D Terrain!