Wow, I had Shellendrak Manor for three entire days and you put out an improvement to the set…darn that’s impressive. But while I was working on planning my Shellendrak Manor build I realized any creepy manor needs a creepy basement with secret rooms for cultists to hide in and bizarre geomorphic patterns on the floor.

I think we need a reno project like Return to Shellendrak or a mega kitbash to fulfill this need. I know that you could use HellWorks or one of the dungeon sets to make a basement for the manor, but I don’t think the result would be quite right for a Victorian basement.

Here are a few of the graphic elements I think you need in a Victorian basement:
dingy brick walls
a wall section with a rough hole knocked in it (this was a common practice when people wanted a door in a basement wall where one was not originally included and could serve as an entry location for all sorts of bad things)
secret room with a different floor pattern
a creepy boiler/furnace
broken shelving and general rubbish
floor textures that include sections with several types of mystic glyphs (kind of like the Magic Circles on Concrete kitbash) and at least one large drain
a sacrificial alter
racks of canning and jars
a cluttered workbench (think Evil Dead 2)
boxes/crates and other clutter
some more character types for Zombie Manor (deep ones, shuggoths, CHUDS, exct…).

So if any of you skilled kitbashers would like to make some or all of these elements PLEASE STEAL MY IDEA! I don't mind, in fact I'll happily buy your product.

If anyone has any other ideas for basements feel free to add them to this post. Who knows, maybe you'll get Denny so enthused he'l put out another great set!

There is a long term development which accounts for this. More I can't say right now but we have that kind of thing in mind Should be pretty cool.

Good to know it is in the works.

One other thing I would like to see, but think unlikely that there is enough interest, is some buried windows and doors In places such as Chicago it was not uncommon to build two entry doors, one on the first floor and the other on the second, knowing that the house would sink, and in twenty years or less the second floor would be ground level.

The Auld Grump, pile drivers changes an awful lot of things.

Hmmm, basement stairs, suitable for monsters to grab ankles through.
For that matter, servant's stairs for the main house, along with mingy little beds for them, and cracked windows moved their from other places in the house.

No one ever said that tje Shellendrak's treated their well....

The Auld Grump

Thanks for the suggestions Zenguy and Roxton. I really intended for people to list things they think a creepy Victorian basement needs to have, but I appreciate suggestions for other sets that would work as a basement while we wait for the “official” one to come out.

Do either of you have any more comments on ways to make the dungeon sets look more like a basement and less like a medieval dungeon?

ad windows to your walls, use the top arc of the normal Manor windows, and place it at the top of the walls, so you have cellar windows. Problem is that this means that the top of the basement should be visible from the outside, so you have your "normal" manor to put on a base, inclusive the windows.

I'd actually recommend InteriorWorks: Castles & Keeps as the basement set. It's nowhere near as "themed" as Gothic Realms (unless that's the sort of basement you're looking for), and while it doesn't have victorian basement props per-se, it does have a lot of props that will mix and match with Shellendrak decently well (nice bed/wardrobe for example, and several tables).


Ralftschu's suggestion of photoshopping basement windows in is a solid one, even if it's a lot of work. The tricky part then becomes finding a good way to support the "ground" around the manor at an elevated height to accommodate the basement underneath.

Hmm....

IW:C&K has 2" walls (SM has 3" walls). If one were to design the basement level and build it as a separate part, with windows worked into the topmost 1/2" of the walls....then design the "grounds" of the Manor as a separate part entirely, with a hole cut out to fit over the outside of the basement, it could sit on 1 1/4" risers (assuming 1/4" foam).

The "ground" floor of the Manor then becomes a variation on an upper floor, sitting on top of the basement just like the second floor sits on top of the first.

You'd need to play a bit with the entrance...perhaps bash a couple of steps to lead up to it...but I could readily see how this could be done.

From the replies its clear there is no shortage of creativity here! Thanks for all the great suggestions!

I actually rather like the block texture from the middle section of the dungeonworks classic wall. Personally I'd just rip that texture section to kitbash a basement wall. But that would probably require a bit of work.

Man, you got a lot of projects on the go!:) I was thinking about a basement as well. I thought I might add a half a floor on the bottom suggesting that some of it was underground and build a porch up a half level to the front door. Shellendrak needs a porch anyways:) When you lift off the main section of the house it would reveal the basement with little half walls...Which wouldn't bother me much...