Building EPIC D&D terrain for UNDER $20 (Paper minis & terrain)

[@BF-rn3oz]

There are never enough budget craft build videos on KZbin. Even if they were all the same concept, each creator makes it unique and brings new insights. Go powerwordspill!!!!

[@azzaelulbrinter]

I use 3d minis, but as a tip I could give to everyone doing this method (or painting minis like me), is to try adding an accent color to each NPC, so for the bandits example, add a little color dot somewhere on the silloute, or directly paint the bases in different colors. For painted minis, paint some accesory of their clothing in a different way (the hilt of their swords or the cowls of their hoods for examples). That way it's easier to indicate mid battle "the red bandit" and the like, at the same time that you can track hp and initiative easier than having to write "the bandit with the scar that's on the leftmost side".

[@Zr0din]

So I'm one of those freaks that has a bunch of laminated maps and Paizo Pawns that I use (and LOVE) but WOW that was an amazing set-up!

[@oldironsides4051]

I just found your channel. I've been playing since 1976... But you, Sir, are a breath of fresh air! Thank you for doing what you do! And yes, I subbed. :P

[@swordplaysorcery]

That rising platform encounter is such a cool idea. Definitely gonna try that out in the near future!

[@ChaseOrdonis]

Yes love printable heroes, so great. Also if you have cricut, you can arrange for it to just cut the basic silhouette for you. Also I would advise cutting out the squares from the white of the paper BEFORE laminating to fully seal them in for a longer use, otherwise just slightly exposed center of the edges from pulling away hand oil or water/etc. Another great channel for paper terrain, like camps, structures and such is Crooked Staff Terrain. Can't recommend them enough!

[@pasqualecirone9755]

Thank you for this. I’m always on the lookout for cheap terrain. I’ve used paper and scratch materials often.

[@Stefaniello88]

man you are a rockstar i swear...i'm still tryin to figure out how to make the leveling weapons cards and as far as you were really specific on the process i'm truggling a lot with the ideas.. thank you so much!

[@emanuelcamuglia5984]

YOOOOOOOOO PRINTABLE HEROES SHOUT OUT! a few things about the minis: i printed A LOT of them and put them on little bags separating the categories and then on a shoebox. i can take them everywhere like that but they are also on little bags i can just put on my backpack. if you're using a higher tier than just the PDFs you can get the cutfiles and use silhouette studio to arrange them however you want and use a plotter machine to print and cut them

[@sroper90]

This was fantastic! A lot of VTT videos pulled me to your channel, but it's awesome to see you supply what looks like an awesome time to your player friends and to share the steps with us! My difficulty comes with being the traveling DM 😢 Very hard logistically to pack all these set pieces into a car

[@andrecanis4894]

I feel like this video is perfect for the traveling DM. Some printed and laminated maps or tiles, along with a few minis and bases, take up so little space and weight in comparison to full 3d terrain pieces, props and minis.

[@powerwordspill]

Yeah the arena would be tough to transport, but the double sided terrain tiles are very portable! I'm planning to make myself a little portable paper mini and terrain kit with a nice little binder or something similar

[@cyanl.2245]

I love this! I live in a one room apartment and being able to have terrain which looks so good is great!!!

[@ClaysCrossing]

I would really like to see more terrain builds!!!

[@warrick1830]

It's giving me Wildermyth vibes, which I love.

[@dd2834]

I’ve been a long-time fan of your content and appreciate the value you bring to the D&D and roleplaying game community. Recently, I’ve noticed many of my favorite creators, including you, discussing the challenges posed by reduced ad revenue on KZbin. This got me thinking about a potential solution that could benefit the community and its creators alike. What if the top 10-15 D&D and RPG content creators joined forces to create a shared KZbin channel? This channel could feature exclusive content behind a paywall or membership program, where fans like me could access a variety of content from all of you in one place. Here’s how it might work: • Each creator contributes videos to the shared channel. • Revenue is shared based on either negotiated rates or metrics like view counts. • Membership perks (e.g., exclusive videos, Q&A sessions, or livestreams) could encourage fans to join. • Think of this a channel or station, just like the Discovery or History channel, each of you contributing a different show. By collaborating, you could pool your audiences, reduce competition between creators, and create a sustainable revenue model. Fans would likely welcome the chance to support multiple creators through one channel instead of having to choose. As a collective, you could also bring more influence on where this hobby goes. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this idea, and I hope it’s something you and others in the community might explore. Thank you for all you do, and I look forward to seeing where your content goes next! BTW, I am a supporter of numerous Patreons and Content Creators, but I’ve been tapped out. These individual $2 and $5 per month subscriptions add up. I'm also sending this message or similar one to some of my favorite D&D/RPG KZbinrs.

[@MstrCpp]

oooo, LOVE the floating platform idea!

[@JudgeShadowfoot]

The arena seems perfect for the final stage of an X-Crawl Classics game! Might use it for an upcoming convention. Great idea!

[@TioMostFrio]

I'm also ready subbed, but more of these budget videos please

[@dr.mortose163]

Some good ideas here. Thanks for sharing.

[@whamases]

Lifehack: score the back of the fold with the blunt edge of your knife to make a nice, crisp fold.

[@siggmunndittmannsenn]

I love paper minis! You can get some plastic standees for the game Dragonbane to use for paper minis. In Norway they go for about 3 dollars for a bag of 10 standees at the gamestores.

[@ICLHStudio]

If you print the minis on basic printer paper, glue it to either side of medium (1/16th inch thick if I recall?) chipboard, it ends up being nearly identical to Paizo's Pathfinder Pawns and fits just about perfectly into their bases if you have any (and with a little work on measuring and cutting, you can make minis that are practically indistinguishable from Paizo's, and also are very durable). The chipboard though, is *way* too thick to follow the silhouette comfortably, and you're much better off doing a basic rectangle for those ones (1 1/8 inch wide x 1 7/8 inch tall for medium creatures, and 1 7/8 inch wide x 2 1/2 inch tall for large, are the PF Pawn measurements BTW if you want to match them for consistency). I do agree the black-background-shaped minis generally do look better (especially if scaled up a little bit); so if you're planning on going all in on this from scratch, that's probably the way to do it; but if you're not quite as craft-y (or are a bit on the lazy side), supplementing a few custom minis for with the Pathfinder Pawns is a pretty solid way to go. I haven't tried the laminated maps though (mostly I've used digital maps with an overhead projector, but that only works for games at the house that actually *has* the projector), I'll have to mess around with that for sure.

[@LeonardAndHisBiscuit]

An alternative to the 3D printed base for the paper minis for those who don't have a 3D printer is to grab a sheet of RediBoard, or other foamcore sheet. One sheet for a dollar will be enough to last you for all of your paper minis. Cut it down to the size you want, though unless you have something designed for circular cuts, your best bet is to cut them into octagons or hexagons. Next you just cut a line through the center of it and slot the mini's bottom tab into it. Seamless, you won't have to worry about the mini's bottom part being covered up by plastic.

[@noaccount2494]

cookie cutters might work for that

[@Orangely0297]

Awesome project

[@sirhamalot8651]

Use a "Bone Tool" and a straight edge to make cleaner folds.

[@hankydanky6002]

Wow I wanna play!

[@feliciahudson815]

My advice for cutting the minis is to use a smaller blade. An X-acto #16 or something equivalent will be much easier to use than the standard hobby blade (X-acto #2 or #11). Not sure if you can find them at the dollar store, but I've found them in hobby stores. Otherwise, awesome job. I will be using your recommendations for my con one shots.❤

[@powerwordspill]

That's a great tip, thank you!

[@RupertFoulmouth]

All great options.

[@fullofmyself1]

I appreciate you too!

[@devonmarr9872]

I don't been using printable heroes for most of my game. For PCs I use ai art to generate: Race, gender, class, weapon, full body, minimalist sketch, Darkest Dungeon style. I then take this image to arkana paper mini maker website ans now I have a custom printable paper mini.

[@AndreSjoberg]

Loving this video, really approachable way of getting some cool stuff done for cheap :) Never have time to play myself these days, but the kid is heavily into DnD with his friends so I’m gonna surprise him with some of the movable tile pieces, that one was a great idea :) Btw: there are several free resources/web services online for combining separate pages into one pdf (re: the part about having a program) that don’t do watermarks or lower the resolution of the final file - don’t remember the names off the top of my head, but a quick search should get anyone who needs it there :)

[@powerwordspill]

That's awesome, I hope they have fun with it!

[@Jono-Y]

Trying to figure out how to make cliffs or big rock columns like for the observatory in dragons of storm wreck isle

[@andrecanis4894]

Laser cutters have gotten as affordable as 3d printers, so I wonder if you could use the PDF as a guide for laser cutting the printed paper minis "exactly". Or if you have something like a Cricut, that might work too?

[@powerwordspill]

Yeah I think a Cricut would definitely work! At higher tiers, Printable Heroes makes Cricut cutting files

[@GreenMantis-d9o]

yay

[@GreenMantis-d9o]

ima do this later

[@cheepcheep4499]

Would it look okay if i used both 2d and 3d minis together? 😅 I already have a ton of 3d ones but i always need a few more specific ones for NPCs and unique monsters!

[@powerwordspill]

I'm definitely going to be doing that! I want to start getting into some 3d minis but I think I'll start slow, so I'll use a mix of both. I think it would also be awesome to mix paper and 3d terrain!

[@jchamorrob]

This is great !!! May I ask what printer did you use to produce this ?

[@powerwordspill]

I have an Epson ET-2850. The ink is very cheap, but the black smudges so I wouldn't recommend it for minis. I printed the terrain pieces with it, but for the minis I got them printed at a print shop. I'm not sure what their printer is, but it's some kind of laser printer. The colors are really nice and it doesn't smudge! It worked out to $1 per sheet.

[@jchamorrob]

@@powerwordspill Thanks for your answer ! I see none talk about a good paper printer for terrain and minis. I do not know where to search hahahaha. Thanks though !

[@colmbright9822]

I would have painted the sticks black to give the illusion they are floating

[@powerwordspill]

Yeah I think that would've been better. NGL I ran out of time haha

[@wearenotdoinggethelp1077]

In case you're not aware of this, your title has been automatically translated by ai. A couple of days ago, KZbin made the automatical translation for videos turned on by default. This means not only that your title is translated for the non-english audience, but there is also an ai dub available for your video (I think for 5 languages). For us users, there's no way to turn this off (which I find quite annoying because I do understand english as most of the content I watch is in english xD), but you can go into your settings if you don't want these translations. I personally find that the ai does not always make a good job at translating the title and it might even influence your viewer numbers, as it's not clear for us viewers that your video is actually in english. I love your videos btw. Have some enjoyable holidays! I appreciate you.

[@powerwordspill]

I didn't realize, thank you! I saw some notification about that but didn't really read it. I definitely didn't realize the title would be translated. I've just looked now from an incognito tab and I can select the audio track by clicking the gear icon on the player, then there's an option called choose audio track where it lets me pick the language that I want to listen to. If it's doing a bad job at translating though I'll turn it off for now and then maybe check on it in the future. I'd only want to enable it if it's helpful for people. Thanks for letting me know, and happy holidays!

[@adaauvel1389]

Intro false, climaxed while watching.

[@square_looper2193]

Didn’t even get past the intro, don’t know how you do it.

[@StorminWolf]

paperstands are not minis.