Building a Ruined Tower for Dungeons & Dragons out of Styrofoam

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

Hope you guys enjoyed this build. If you did consider supporting the channel on Patreon to help me bring more great content to the community: bit.ly/JoinTheBMC_Fellowship Or you can help fund future videos by purchasing your supplies through my "Essential Equipment" page: bit.ly/EssentialEquip

[@Carpetcleanerman]

Black Magic Craft thank you for another great build and thank you for sharing. Mel the terraintutor mentioned a while back that he moved from patreon to paypal because the fees on patreon are too high. And with the friend function you as the receiver pay no fees at all. Would you consider? So far i haven't donated money first of all because i am totally skinned and secondly i don't want to give the banks even more money than they already take with both hands.....

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

To me the fees Patreon takes are worth it in return for the platform they provide. Asking for direct donations is a bit sketchy. Patreon provides many great features for the creators and the backers.

[@dropkickpadawan1888]

Is there a Tabletop Crafters Discord? I don't have facebook, but I'd love to be able to talk to people who love this kind of thing.

[@gregoryeverson741]

can you please explain how measured a metric-butt-ton, cuz i cant find a scale for that

[@rhikdavis]

@@dropkickpadawan1888 Yes, there is.

[@crhkrebs]

I like the gaps that you left in the tower walls. When you see real ruined walls, you see that the stones do start separating like this. It just seems to age the walls better.

[@truemisto]

when you were going on about the heat gun melting the bricks i couldnt help but think it might actually be fitting for a stone tower damaged by dragonfire or magical fire

[@jouneymanwizard]

Did that. Left it black and hit it with a gloss top coat. Looks cool.

[@MrBrad9]

Just finished this build tonight. Super fun build. I made mine with a bit larger circumference , added a curved staircase to an arrow slit and a removable wooden stand & ladder set. I suggest everyone get a proxxon hot wire table (if it's in your budget) from BMC's Amazon links. Costs you nothing and helps out the channel. Learned a lot from my fellow Canadian! Cheers!

[@rhikdavis]

Pics?

[@pointonepointtwo7045]

My favourite thing about living in europe is being able to walk to the nearest medieval castle and look at how they were constructed. This is a great source of inspiration for terrain building.

[@BoBB7789]

I literally subscribed because this man cares, he doesn't put the Amazon prices/links on the list if they are too expensive and tells you to buy in store!

[@danegratrick9231]

Excellent timing. I'm just breaking for Summer from the school D&D club I run and we are in Thundertree, just about to assault the green dragon, Venomfang. This will give me time to craft the scenery.

[@Miniac]

Great tower, super fun process to watch!

[@benweinberg3819]

Here's an idea: make the first floor round and intact, then add a "layer" on top with the ruined features. If you were so inclined, you could basically replicate the bottom layer as many times as needed to build up new layers, essentially making modular floors you could add or remove as you like or even make taller ruined towers!

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

That would be very cool. Bit more work than I want to invest, but I think it would work really well.

[@corymerry3399]

Black Magic Craft lazy!

[@bn-auric79]

He figured out a way 😎

[@alecc9268]

Nice! I love that second floor. When I did my round tower I planned out a full tower floorplan and then cut it in half (top to bottom) so that when the two halves are together it looks like a full round tower, but when I pull it apart I get two halves and have two ruined towers.

[@paulalderson6920]

Love your ideas and techniques. I'm building European WWII dioramas in 1/35 scale for posing my German armour. I get so many ideas from watching your must see videos. Keep up the good work.

[@frac]

@4:44 "I created square cubes..." Square cubes?! Whoa! Slow down, there, Poindexter. What do I do with all of these round cubes, now? ;-)

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

Very funny smart ass :P

[@larrydotson2625]

Hey man you still got those round cubes? I used all of mine and need a few more, help a guy out.

[@Miscast]

Good stuff, the arrow slits are a great touch, I'd love to play on this piece.

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

Thanks man :) I enjoy your vids btw, very well produced. Just came across them thanks to Miniac.

[@Miscast]

Cheers! Thanks for taking the time to watch my stuff, it means a lot. Lots more to come in the future :)

[@Aphira-0]

I just want you to know that I discovered your channel today and I've been binge watching your videos because I'm sick and you are so cool. I love your creativity and I kinda want to work with my DM and create some pieces for our games

[@christophercox5566]

This is another great inspiration build piece much like your Viking ship way back when. Marvelous look of stone and wood flooring!

[@VikingFyre]

Now that verticality has been introduced, guess that means we’ll be seeing modular and functional ladders?

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

Ladders were literally one of the first things I ever built as a crafter. I think they even appear on the channel as early as episode 1. I never thought they are worthy of a tutorial since they are so simple.

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

Mine are playable though, you just make the rungs close enough together to lock in mini bases.

[@willsuttie3683]

"verticality"... height?

[@Soulessdeeds]

You deserve ALLOT more than 54k subs sir! My face was on the floor through all of this and now I am inspired to create my own terrain and features. Also your players are blessed to be able to have you creating and providing such beautiful creations for them to enjoy. I would absolutely love to see you streaming your games and showing off these items. Well done sir.

[@brianartillery]

Using the heat gun has a real world analogue: in Scotland, there are prehistoric ruins known as 'Vitrified Forts'. The stone walls have been subjected to extreme heat, and have melted together in a hard, glassy mass.

[@scalejedi3849]

My friend thank you for starting me on a journey to medieval building thank you for these videos.

[@jennh8972]

"Cut my stir sticks into pieces , this is my castle forrrt!"

[@CubicApocalypse128]

Would it be wrong, would it be right If I built terrain tonight, chances are that I might Fabrication outta sight, and I'm contemplating adding lights...

[@mtgemperor]

Well, a "Northern Stone" ruined tower. Love it! How about some stuff for a desert campaign?

[@CaffinatedLifeform]

I second desert terrain. 😁👍

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

All you gotta do is a slightly different paint job.

[@devileanblack]

Black Magic Craft sure, with different shades of yellow and beige you can make it but also we need to see a desert terrain topologically, like sand piles, wavy sand landscapes, some cactus etc. I would love to see that build. :)

[@Defarious]

Or for more of an adobe look, create your base building, bricks or what have you, then use green stuff w/ water, soft clay, or something to smooth over everything. Then use sand paper to add texture (Press is against it lightly). Then paint/wash.

[@hadynmcloughlin4661]

Second favourite build to your shipwreck cottage. Thanks for sharing

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Awesome! Craftsmart Tan wins the MVP for craft paint.

[@evanhenderson-wilson3599]

So confused as to why anyone would thumbs down this video. You're very easy to follow and the results are great

[@craigcotter7476]

no matter how fantastic your paintings/crafts/music/writing is etc there's is always someone who won't like it. Some people are just funny arses

[@ModelNerd]

Awesome results - the tower looks fantastic. Thanks for sharing.

[@dougsundseth6904]

Might be worth mentioning that there are cardboard tubes that are intended as concrete forms that you can get from your local home improvement store. They seem to typically run from about an 8" (20cm) to 12" (30cm) diameter and about 4' (1.2m) long. Should make a very good base for a tower of an arbitrary height and you could simply texture the outside of the tower rather than building it up out of individual bricks. I suspect the result wouldn't be as nice as this one, but that you could build it much faster.

[@witchetta4903]

Dear Holy Emperor, your work looks like a terrain in an actual video game like Dark Souls. So Beautiful!!!

[@drewadams6667]

Great idea ... Building this as a quarentine project... I hate to ask but have you heard how Wyloch is doing you guys and DM Scotty have been the trinity of my journey, thank you , be safe , be well

[@michaelritzen8138]

BMC, you are amazing, I have been looking around my local hardware stores for bluefoam and whatnot, and could never find anything apart from roof insulation, that I do want to use for a big gaming board, but not for normal terrain building. Thanks to your styrofoam guide, I have finally found a place where I can buy my styrofoam in the Netherlands, so thank you very much!

[@BurgersforBreakfast127]

Awesome build bro. I think the opposite stability bricks and other gaps actually add a lot to the ruined/crumbled, not-quite-perfect-after-400-years look. Before watching I just saw the piece and thought, damn, dude NAILED that sagging, imperfect ruins look.

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

Thanks!

[@katiepult]

Have you thought about using a bit of plant matter terrain as well? The tower is definitely old and ruined and it would make sense for some ivy to grow and maybe a tree that's busted through the pave stones inside? This is a fantastic piece of terrain! A+

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

I didn’t put any greenery on it on purpose. I want to be able to use my ruins in any setting....jungle, desert, icy wasteland. Plant life would tie it to certain settings and make it look weird in others.

[@johnleach8553]

Very inspirational! Thanks for making modelling look approachable and achievable

[@JeffersonMills]

Very versatile piece! The circular walls definitely justify not going modular in this particular case.

[@codelicious6590]

Frickin sweet, I love it. This kind of stuff is so damn inspiring! I love the butresses under the arrow slot. Thanks for the modpodge/paint tip too!

[@prowrestlingwithjuce1324]

This is my favorite project I have seen you do. The best part of 3D terrain is going vertical.

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

Thanks :)

[@Subquake]

I don't even play D&D, but this video was very satisfying to watch, you sir have some nice skills in making stuff like this!

[@zealman18]

Another great build! So far I'm really impressed with the quality of your content and I've been able to apply some of the techniques in my own crafting! Keep it up man, this is my favorite channel on youtube

[@JarlSeamus]

Just Wow! That came out fantastic!

[@brucewheeler4499]

Excellent video, I would add a few suggestions in the model railroad hobby we use plaster cloth to cover the foam. The only downside is you have redo the joint lines they could be done in pencil lead .. it would make it very secure with out the damage caused by the heat gun..

[@alexandersanchezacosta3182]

I love your work cause it's seem easy and the results are very pro. Thank for showing.

[@HFNC2171]

These build videos are amazing. Have you ever thought about posting videos of using them in play? It would be great to see these amazing features in action

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

Filming actual gameplay using terrain, and doing it properly, is a huge undertaking requiring more resources than the channel can currently afford to invest.

[@bitzbox]

I've been making some ruins similar to your modular ruins and now you have making even more bricks so I can make my own tower! If mine come out half as good as yours I'll be happy indeed!

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

Moooooaaaaaar bricks!

[@Agamemnon2]

A wonderful build! I think a bit of foliage would bring this to the next level. Wooden bits exposed to the elements would grow moss and lichen, maybe even small seedlings. The external stonework would look fabulous with a creeping vine or two, adding some visual interest and maybe even gameplay elements (give the rogue something to climb on!)

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

Not if the piece is in a desert or winter setting, which is why I typically avoid foliage on pieces like this unless they are specifically meant for a setting that suits them. This way I can use this tower for things like Frostgrave without it looking off.

[@marciacunningham5877]

Quite by accident, I discovered that I can texture my stones, after they're in place, with the tip of a hot glue gun. I just dab at them and it melts in a texture. I also round edges this way. This also gives the foam a hard skin. I have a horrible, uncontrollable glue gun that I bought from Hobby Lobby. I don't even put glue in it. I just use it for this technique. Michael

[@deceptmasterjj]

Great Tower! I love it! Please make a special how to make a graveyard with tombs and everything else! Thank you very much!

[@68cristian]

Bloody magnificent !!! Cheers for sharing.

[@Sketchflo64]

I watched this video in 2018 and decided to build though I had no experience with xps but my dad had some xps lying around so I made huge bricks that looked very crappy only a year later of practice and a 23 dollar hand held hot wire my foam core houses and dungeon and town scatter look a lot better because I watched your vids with your tips they look great thank you black magic craft

[@jktechwriter]

That thing looks awesome. These new ruin pieces you've done plus this tower are must haves for me. I'll be busy one weekend making an entire collection.

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

Thanks man, curious to see how you’d adapt/change the build.

[@garybuettner7920]

Fantastic build. Looks amazing!

[@mikepalmer1971]

You never disappoint with your videos. Excellent job man.

[@anthonymorgan3082]

Yeah was absolutely awesome sauce👍👍!!!!

[@tomjenssen7486]

That's a fantastic piece of work. It looks stunning. All the best...Tom

[@myschathesleddog8100]

Just discovered your channel. Utterly blown away!

[@SilverMKI]

With ruins it can sometimes be fun to make the corresponding bit of the ruin which can then slot into the bottom section to form an intact (but damaged) building. The upper bit can then also be flipped "upside down" to be used as a second ruin. Takes a bit more planning and obviously kind of pointless if you just want one of that type of ruin but may be something to think of next time you want to make multiple ruins of a similar building.

[@joshuadickson4862]

I’m thinking of using your method for dungeon tiles to make 3d tile replacements for the Descent tiles! You’ve been a great inspiration!

[@Delfire]

for hot glue wisps, try a hair dryer, its a to lower temp than a heat gun. on my craft projects I find that using the lowest setting on a hair dryer does the trick

[@Starolfr]

Absolutely gorgeous. I think I definitely want to try my hand at one as well (one of these days). Maybe add some moss, lichen, and/or ivy... Or a ruined tapestry or pennant. Fun!!

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

All those sorts of things are really fun and look awesome, but on my ruins I avoid them so they can be used in any setting. Moss looks bizarre when these ruins are placed in frozen tundra ;)

[@Starolfr]

Completely understandable. Versatility is key!! :)

[@SupeMima]

Greetings! in this confinement period, I devoured your videos. And in this one, I imagined that a fireplace would be very well placed. And I noticed, that you don't have a tutorial to make campfires or the remains of one. Well, it looks like a request, I would like to see, how you would make one. The main idea, it would not be to attach to the paviment, it would be more like being placed on a coin or something and being mobile, (like the material when you make the traps, but 1x1, or 2x2). Keep going on the excellent videos and works you make. Thank you

[@mikepalmer1971]

Some lichen growing on the bricks would look cool as well.

[@savvas_tsigou]

That's a video of incredible quality. Keep up.

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

Thank you :)

[@ΧαρηςΑ-γ2ε]

Χαιρομαι και εγω που υπαρχει ελληνικο dnd community!!!!

[@jasonford3826]

Great build mate really enjoyed the video as well😬

[@dan19721121]

Just wanted to say that in a couple of weeks I will finally have a "staycation" and in preparing for that, I bought a proxxon hot wire cutter, Tomb of Foes, the graphic chip board and a cutting matt through your affiliate link. (I bought the hot wire foam factory scroll table just before you came out with the comparison video and never set it up thats to seeing how slow and tedious it was at cutting) I have slowly been acquiring plenty of supplies in the hopes of having time and the right tools for making it and now I'm finally be making a assembly line of tiles, and scatter for a solid 2 weeks... I'm gonna be cutting a boatload of terrain pieces at once (dungeon, tavern, ruins, cavern, sewer) tiles, and scatter terrain, doors, archways, cemetery pieces. For the Tiles I'm using your method of tiles with Wylock's cardboard lock system with one modification I'm making the system a sandwich of a 3x3 with 5 one inch "X" pattern and another 3x3 that way I can just make them all the same height. Since I am gonna try and make most of the regular modular stuff these two weeks and when I need "set" pieces for a "boss battle" I'l have plenty of time to sit down and design those. I'm figuring on having to make 400 individual tiles split between the sets. I was thinking I'll probably only need 25 Tavern and 75 sewer tiles and a 100 each of the other sets. I know it sounds a bit insane but I know that if I don't just flipping make this all at once and commit I'll never get things to match up properly ever. (I guess it's my OCD getting the better of me) but how many arches/ door ways/ scatter terrain pieces should I make for this huge undertaking? I'm thinking a day of cutting, a day of texturing, a day of mod podge, and a couple days of painting... So knowing what you and others consider of having enough each type of scatter would be helpful.

[@mikepalmer1971]

I really like the arrow slits.

[@WyoMountaineerBigXII]

Recently found you along with some other KZbinrs. I've become addicted to D&D and hating that my kids just want to stare at screens all day. My thought was to start doing crafts with them. Killing two birds with one stone, we are making terrain/buildings for our future family D&D adventures. I'm a denturist by trade so this comes pretty naturally to me working with fine details and small pieces. What I lack in ability is the painting and I've learned so much from you. Thanks and hope to see more future builds from you.

[@thelastlaugh9724]

Another great build. Really knocked it out the park on this one brilliant work man

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

Thanks 🙏

[@DVS040]

Hey awesome vids! I just started building scenery and I learned a lot from your channel. Now I am building a tower like this one.

[@Xenwing]

You are a God at crafting stuff. Amazing

[@TheAWFord]

BMC, could you provide the finished height on this build? I'm trying to visualize placement scenarios in a limited vertical space. Awesome build, and thanks for the great vids!

[@LakesideTrey]

Dnd Minis are usually about 1 inch tall so guesstimating using the minis he has beside the build it looks to me like it is around four inches from the highest to lowest point.

[@jonannett]

Hi I just made first build. you have taught me everything I know about making scenery. thanks a lot. when I get my shit together I'll for sure become a patreon supporter. thank you very much.

[@sharkforce8147]

on super strong fortification walls, sometimes they would actually put alternating stone blocks going into the middle of the wall as well. but anyways, you could always just argue that the tower as a whole *is* a modular piece of the ruins. given that it isn't locked into any one placement in the ruins, that is. if you wanted to go the extra -mile- kilometer, i suppose you could build a wall piece that fits over the foundation ring of stones of your tower to connect to the rest of your ruins...

[@demetrifrost2546]

just found the channel. Going through all your stuff now and watching all your cool stuff~

[@M4STERcontrol]

Wow! This came out very nice.

[@judymcadam1307]

Love it. Thanks for the demo.

[@bigkahunamenor]

Amazing work brother 🤙🏾

[@Mupersega]

You are an incredible creator, thank you for your work.

[@CMBurnsderErste]

You know the old days, 80's Castle Grayskull? That would be way more awesome !!! I have an old Castle Grayskull, black eyes black mouth, done. That was everything.

[@paul_from_diamond]

Outstanding detail mate

[@deviantpersona]

Just add some static grass and flocking and it's completely golden. Looks amazing!

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

Left that off on purpose, this way it can be used in any setting, even a frozen wasteland with no chance of vegetation.

[@EnchantedMinis-qt4pq]

"I don't want to make modular round walls. It's kind of a pain in the ass." Said every model builder EVER!

[@777Berzerker777]

Really nice piece and totally badass for a “boss” battle!

[@mikepalmer1971]

Omg you made my stomach turn taking that hot gun to the foam....😳

[@sim2570]

..You also makes me buy the Proxxon foam cutter!!! (I use the link ;) I didn't try it yet but already loving it! lol

[@johnathonbrown3861]

A bit late to the party but really enjoying the videos now that I've found them. Was wanting to ask if you considered making a "square" edge on one of the sides. Would make it to where it would be possible to line up this one with the modular pieces?

[@FrankMonday]

That’s a really fun build.

[@bennymacaroni]

Looks fun, like playing with blocks

[@devileanblack]

Awesome as always.

[@rafaelsimon2917]

Best youtube channel for those who wants to play RPG like "big old bad ass" (as Runehammer channel too) .... congrats and keep forth !!!!

[@SilverMichi]

that was really bad ass, I'd have so much fun playing in something like that.

[@akshatmishra3214]

Great Work!!!!! Would love if you can please construct a colosseum.......

[@rat_datboi2185]

looks great!

[@Nishe77]

I follow you from France and I 'd like to say you rocks !!

[@amdnable]

I totally agree that ruins should be modular, a tower doesn't have to.

[@danman1012]

Look into model train diorama/scene stuff. Scale lumber, etc.

[@edinnuir7518]

looks sweet! for the gaps obv' looking back you could taper each brick to align, but just stacking blocks like that can work then just work some plaster or alike around the whole thing before painting to add mortar to the walls. . . i need to get me some XPS foam (uk is a pain)

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

Yea that would be WAY more time and work. I tend to speed build, but if someone wanted to put in the time they’d get better results.

[@Eantrin]

Would it be a good idea to just have a box of little bricks should you ever need them? Made gradually out of foam scraps or the like or just dedicate a block or 2 of foam to making a surplus.

[@jamestyre1746]

That KFA! I wanna try to build it

[@tomwilderbuer8337]

This is awesome. I woulda put a big pile of rubble on the floor tho--those walls had to go somewhere!

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

Then it would loose a lot of playability which is the whole point.

[@tomwilderbuer8337]

Black Magic Craft true true!

[@thetra00]

Looks awesome

[@SH-qs7ee]

A great build and a great idea; not sure about your campaigns, but in the ones I've played in, ruined towers seem as ubiquitous as actual dungeons. If you have any of those coffee stirrers you painted up left over, you could even make a small removable trapdoor you can use to lead the adventurers down into a dungeon with. If the wood is prepped up already id be surprised if it took you longer than 10 mins to make.

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

I actually already have a trap door made up like that I use all the time in dungeons! It’s very handy.

[@SH-qs7ee]

Great minds, hey?

[@andrewjoseph7492]

Yesss!!! Getting back to the builds!! Love it!!!