Dwarven Quarterly Volume 1 Issue 4
 Greetings, Friends of the Forge! Welcome to the fourth issue of Dwarven Quarterly. As the winds of autumn chill our northern climes, the dwarves have gone back below ground to focus 110% on terrain. The forges are hot and the hammers are ringing. Let's delve!  Another Gen Con in the Bag (of Holding) Gen Con is always a high point in the gaming year, and the 2019 edition was no exception. The DF creative team once again turned out in force for the convention. We had a wonderful time meeting with many of our customers and fans, as well as introducing some new folks to the fun and artistry of 3D gaming terrain. We ran a bunch of games at the booth (nearly everyone survived...) and our own Nate Taylor hosted a spectacular celebrity game played on prototypes of our new Hellscape Terrain, which you can watch in its entirety right here the sold-out crowd had a great time, and one lucky attendee (chosen at random) walked away with a DF Castle Watchtower and a bunch of other goodies.      Less well publicized, but also well worth watching, was an interview on the Gen Con Twitch channel with three of our artists (Elye, Nina, and Tobi) discussing the artistic methods and techniques that go into producing Dwarven Forge terrain. You can catch the interview here. Caverns Deep Shipping Despite some delays in production (and a regrettable, unanticipated packing backlog earlier this month at our partner warehouse), shipping for our sixth Kickstarter campaign, Caverns Deep, is now well underway. In the interest of getting these exciting new pieces in the hands of our backers as soon as possible, we are shipping the sets in waves as they become available; thus the earlier encounters began shipping in September. The final sets to ship will be Dreadhollow Forest, which will likely ship right after the New Year. For further details on Caverns Deep shipping, check out the latest Kickstarter campaign update. For those who missed out on the Kickstarter campaign, or would like to delve a little deeper into the underworld, the latest sets will be appearing in our webstore soon after the last backer rewards are shipped. The Devil's in the Details In the aftermath of our Hellscape Kickstarter, our video wizard Selina put together a short video highlighting the creative process of developing a new Dwarven Forge set, from the initial concepting to the artistry of the final sculpts. It features brief interviews with our creators and behind-the-scenes footage of the work in progress. Beans are spilled and secrets revealed. Check it out here. Giving Back to the Community At Dwarven Forge we embrace the fun of roleplaying games, but we also recognize the social value of gathering with friends for the shared creativity of collective storytelling, and we are proud to support events that celebrate this aspect of RPGs in support of a good cause. We are excited to have participated in these recent events: Extra Life: D&D Epic was a twenty-four-hour gaming marathon at Top Deck Games in Westmont, New Jersey on November 3rd in support of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. In an event reminiscent of an 80's arcade game, players uncovered the secrets of a mysterious island, spent quarters to survive and dollars to revive, while expert DMs attempted to maim, mischief or even murder the PCs; the adventure supported all four tiers of play. Dwarven Forge was honored to provide custom builds, for key encounters as well as donating starter sets that were raffled off during the silent auction. To learn more, check out their Facebook event page.  Lost Odyssey: The Book of Knowledge was a special charity event that brought together famous personalities for a live D&D game to raise money and awareness for the Autism Society of America. Dungeon Master Deborah Ann Woll wove an epic tale for an all-star cast of Matthew Lilliard, Kate Welch, Satine Phoenix, TJ Storm, Xander Jeanneret, and Luke Gygax. We proudly sponsored this amazing cause, and donated sets to their fundraising auction. In addition, Nate created a custom build for the final battle of the adventure. Using our new Caverns Deep pieces and Terrain Trays, he built a massive underground chasm. Then he suspended a custom spiderweb over the crevasse to create a treacherous but playable location for the big boss fight. You can watch a stream of the event, and get more information about donating to the cause here.     More Restocks! Following on the heels of our most recent restocks, which included both Dwarvenite and classic resin sets, we are expecting another shipment of restocks in late November, just in time for the holidays! The newest selection will include many of our most popular sets from the Dungeon of Doom as well as a more limited selection of City Builder items. Also, for those resin collectors who haven't yet checked out our previous restocks, you may be glad to know that we still have lots of newly stocked resin on hand, including Den of Evil, Catacombs, and Wicked Additions as well as the classic Rooms and Passages setthe set that started the Dwarven Forge odyssey over two decades ago! You can browse through all that's currently available right here.  Deadliest Dungeon Designs Doom the Imp is back with another devious build designed to challenge your players. In The Harbinger's Hideout a local constable hires the PCs to track down an escaped fugitive. But the runaway's subterranean refuge hides a deadly threat from the Far Realm that could threaten existence as we know it. Click here to behold the full write-up of Doom's latest malicious handiwork.  Ozraeline's Oddvice Dear Ozraeline, I'm afraid of goblins, ever since a very traumatic episode in my backstory when a goblin hid under my bed and made noises in the night to keep me from getting any beauty sleep. My parents were unsympathetic, and in fact they teased me for being scared. (They met on their first adventure where apparently they slew like 20 goblins in a single dungeon crawl.) But at the age of six I was terrified and it left me with horrible memories. Now that it's Halloween season, it seems like EVERYONE wants to be a goblin! My whole village is glorifying the sickening creatures by decorating the pubs and lawns with them. I even received a card via pigeon with a big nasty pop out goblin hiding inside! I've been stealing and hiding all the goblin ornaments I come across, but my fellow villagers think it's just seasonal trickery and keep buying more! I can't get rid of them fast enough! How can I deal with these creatures being thrown in my face and without looking like a fool in front of my parents? A Concerned Citizen Dear Concerned, Yikes. I think you may be overreacting. Fear of goblins is so first-level. They're obnoxious, yes, but just in a stabby little way that can actually be very endearing. As the saying goes, sometimes chaotic evil is where the real fun is. To put it in perspective, what if you'd had a cleric of Bahamut hiding under your bed? Or a flumph. Now those are truly annoying. I suggest learning to associate goblins with the good parts of Halloween, like devil worship and getting advantage on your disguise checks. And remember: the goblin you don't squash today could grow up to look like Jareth and be the next goblin king. Then you might want a labyrinth full of them! Regards, Ozraeline  Builder Spotlight With this issue of DQ we're introducing a new feature, the Builder Spotlight, which will showcase some great creations from our staff and our customers. For this inaugural edition, our guru of customer support, Chuck, brings you a much-requested build from Waterdeep Dragon Heist - Trollskull Manor! As it's the potential headquarters for your party throughout the adventure, a good map for the Manor is essential.  Chuck chose to build the Manor with our iconic Dungeon tiles. The design mostly relies on the basic pieces of the Classic Dungeon Remastered Core Set and the Classic Dungeon Advanced Builder set, but some Passage Walls, Vaulted Diagonal Walls, and a few other bits are used as well. Of course, since the manor includes a taproom, the Tavern Accessories Add-on Pack will be crucial for setting the scene. You can check out the complete build, including a full list of the sets used, here.  Now that our last big set, Caverns Deep, is shipping, and our smaller recent projects are entering factory production, we are forging at full speed for our next Kickstarter campaign: The Wildlands! Venturing out into the tameless wilderness, the forthcoming set will further explore the forests and mountains of Mythras as well as adding two new environments to take your gaming to the next level, all created with our signature beauty, durability and modularity. Prepare to journey farther than ever before!  Credits Editor Elye Alexander Design Janet Feldman Ozraeline's Oddvice Mace Griffin Builder's Masterclass Tobi Lieberson Creative Director Nate Taylor Deadliest Dungeon Designs Nate Taylor and Tyler Ankenman Ozraeline Illustration Felipe Torrent |