Official announcement thread for Arcraetian Module DF1.

DINAS FFORDD: The Seeds of War
An Adventure Module for Beginning Characters, Levels 2-3 in a D&D 3.5 Fantasy Campaign
Written by: Joel Sparks
Illustrations: Matthew Tito Cuenca
Base set: VillageWorks
New models: Aubrey Erickson, Robert Cooper, Denny Unger


Watch this space for sneak peeks at some of the new scenery and models, and feel free to ask any questions as well!

Is it true Dinas Ffordd be renamed Gralburg in honor of its mightiest hero?

I'll be posting the first sneak peek of the new models tonight!

C'mon, Aubrey, I was almost done with the forums for the evening, now I have to lurk about and check back on this one...

Alright, alright!

Click for a full size, 1024 x 768 wallpaper!

SWEET!!! Hey look, shoreline tiles for VillageWorks, just like you gave...me...the heads-up about... Before I wrestled with Photshop... to create shoreline tiles... (I promise I'll listen next time...)

Trust me, Sharkycharger, there's quite a few more shoreline tiles than the ones shown, too!

Thats pretty cool. I might pick this one up if there are a significant number of new models. Not a lot of wow factor there, but lots of utility. Cool.

I like mine better!!!

Nice to see some non-cliff terrain risers coming out, can't wait to see more.

A partial list of what you’ll get in DF1:

New Masterboard tiles: Shore and water tiles to make any size river, stream or lake. Islands and rapids too!

New hill system: Simple, sturdy pieces to make any valley, slope, hilltop or canyon. Innovative lock-together design, so even the highest hills are tough enough for metal figures to fight on.

New standees: More than 20 characters and critters of various sizes.

New models: Two new rooftops for VillageWorks buildings, a gibbet for meting out final justice to wrongdoers, flavor items, a giant wagon, and more. Plus SECRET things that we can’t tell you about yet!

Players’ Book: An introduction to the city of Dinas Ffordd and the world of Arcraetia, including D&D character creation. Maps!

DM’s Book: The complete adventure, plus background material on history, money, magic, languages, etc. More maps!

Illustration Book: Beautiful full-page pictures to bring the adventure to life for players.

And of course, everything is compatible with both VillageWorks and future WorldWorks sets.

Excellent! Hmmmm, not into the role play, but I can see D-Day invasions, Gaslight and Blood & Swash pirates, even 28mm Vietnam gaming with the Marines landing, Riverine combat, etc., etc. With all the new WWG stuff coming out with optional non-grided, may I ask if this will apply here as well? I tend to ignore it pretty well anyway if not. With just recently getting into the Vietnam era gaming, this mixed with Skull Cove might just be a good setting for that era RPG that is out there. And of course we can see the Stargate folks on there as well. Great stuff.

It does bring up the question whether dunes and other smooth hills couldn't be modeled more naturally using a slight incline, rather than a stepped hill like here. Maybe even a combination of inclined slopes, plus a step for the crest of a dune.

What sort of slope do people feel is acceptable to put minis on top of? What angle of slope wouldn't tip even your most top-heavy mini (provide you turn it in the right direction - heck, some minis'll tip even on a flat surface)? At what angle do they start to slide?

I have more organic designs for a future exterior set in the works. Aubreys mods for DF1 are meant to be very easy to build and fit with the visual spirit of VillageWorks.

In the vein of fitting with VW, it's all with a 1" grid - a gridless version would be of debatable value for a D&D module.

Word has it, though, that someone may be working on a VW gridless tile as a kitbash. It'll be up to Denny as to the approval of said tile(s), but we may see it eventually as part of a kitbash mega-pack.

Ohh man, this is shaping up to be a must buy...

Sacretis

Who said anything about gridless? It's not as if you cannot put a grid on a slope, especially a relatively shallow one...

Looks interesting. I think the boxiness of the hills won't be so bad once buildings and props are in place.

Rats! Once again I see something perfect for next Friday's game. And I can't buy it in time.

Thats how I look at them - as risers for buildings. Having the town at different elevations will make it look very cool.

What I would love to see are some interiors for the Villagework buildings. Maybe a floor and wall texture, nothing fancy.

All the stuff included in the new Adventure set sounds great. I'm definately looking forward to seeing more shots!

~Floyd

The next preview is here!

Click for a full 1024x768 image.

Ffully ffunctional ffordd?

This one's a static model, but I do have some ideas on how to make it functional as a kitbash down the road...

That looks really cool.

Here's a nice close-up of the Ferry:

Is it? Could it be? A moose? No...must be a burro.

Nifty, but looks like a tedious build. I hate fiddly bits.

I did something similar years back with balsa and twine.

The only thing that looks fiddly to me is the Wheel, but since it is not actually attached to the rope, it is not all that fiddly (tom me).

All the rest of it looks to be boxes and sandwcih folds. Remember that the wheel does not actually do anything (as per a previous post). I imagine that the raft has a slot in the side to allow it to slide alond the 'rope' rathere than the wheel moving the rope.

The rope at that length is fiddly. Thats why I use real twine/string and/or plastic chains. They look nicer and hold up better as well.

Anyway, this is shaping up to be a nifty set. Too bad its not a full model release. I have no use for any new d20 material.