"Furniture for Adventure?" Topic

Looking at the possibility of doing more skirmish/RPG adventure gaming as opposed to mass battles, and terrain is a major factor. Outdoors, all that happens is that a tree becomes a tree and not a woods, and a house becomes a house and not a built-up area. But a lot of adventuring takes place indoors. Tenfold Dungeons has been very good to me, but the time has come to start furnishing rooms.

So opinions only, and no wrong answers: when you're gearing up to follow in the footsteps of John Carter, Eric John Stark, Errol Flynn and Harrison Ford, what are the indoor setting no adventurer should be without?

Yes, of course the bar/tavern. ("I'm looking for men. Brave. Loyal unto death. Not very smart.") But beyond that?

Blacksmith – every town had one and almost everyone made use of the blacksmith, from just plain horse shoes to knifes and cutlery, to swords.

I saw this at a local store and thought it was neat. They make several different scenic boxes.

link

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Tons of stuff on etsy. Here is a small example:

link

In town, you will need taverns, stable/s, a blacksmith, a dry goods store, a place to buy weapons, a potion shop, a leather worker, clothing, etc.

Reaper Bones makes some interesting interior details.

Gotta have a prison to rescue comrades from…

Hard to beat the HeroQuest furnishings as essentials:
Bookcases (with arcane books and other sorcerous implements)
Torture rack
Weapons rack
Tomb with effigy lid (suspiciously partially open, of course)
Wizard's lab desk with potions, tools, and horrible tome of accursed occult lore
Sorcerous altar with glowing candles and an even worse tome of accursed occult lore
Fireplace
Comfy chair, uh, that is, throne
Large scary, uh, statue? Maybe? Did it just move?

(Some pics on my blog: link )

Mantic Games makes some nice terrain sets for Dungeon Saga, which has similar items, but also barrels, crates, chests, large kegs, a well, graveyard bits, a stone throne (not comfy), and more.

Oh, and don't forget doors, portcullises, gates, rubble, idols, iron maidens, chains, stocks, gibbets, guillotine, fonts/fountains, pools… richly appointed beds, barely function pallets, all with or without the remains of their respective sleepers, tables (for overturning), benches (for swinging), stools (for throwing)… it can be a long list!

Some thoughts since I have done something very similar.

1. Don't buy ready made buildings with lift off roofs, the floor space is usually to small to accommodate bases and the furniture. There will be no room to maneuver and God help you if you want any bases larger than 25 mm in the building.

2. I recommend buying a dungeon maker or village maker modular tile sets. Make your rooms slightly larger to accommodate furniture and miniatures. ( Open lock on Etsy)

3. This level of detail is great for skirmish games with a dozen or less miniatures. Anything more it gets to congested.

4. Collect a wide variety of interior furniture type in various search words on Etsy and keep typing different word combos to get differing selections. Some items list obscurely and might not show up in searches. Example Dungeon furniture then do a second search for game terrain then a 3rd search for specific items like 28mm chairs etc…

I love this level of detail for skirmish games when the players can interact with the terrain. Flip table on its edge use it for cover. Move barrels to block a doorway. Reposition a mirror to see down a corridor from the safety of a doorway etc…

I have a similar project currently going for sci-fi games…

I love it when players light the scenics on fire then I start to place copious amounts of cotton smoke in the room obscuring view and remind them they could die of smoke inhalation…

You may want to consider 2D floor plans. Figures often have their arms and weapons sticking out to their sides, beyond their bases! Walls will frequently get in the way when moving figures about. It is possible to choose figures which do not have weapons and limbs splayed out, but that limits your choices.

25mm-28mm sized Human figures.

I recommend searching DriveThruRPG.com, for 2D terrain printouts available. I also recommend printing out the floor plan pieces on regular paper; cut out, and apply to the glue side of inexpensive, peel-n-stick vinyl floor tiles (12"-squares), cut to size. Here is a link to my blog discussing this concept, showcasing how it works for dungeon layouts, but it is applicable to any type of 2d floor plans.

This is a Ping Pong Table, 5 feet wide by 9 feet long. Grids on such 2D printouts are often optional, they can be turned on/off by selecting layers within the PDF to print out.

For 3D furniture elements, I would recommend Etsy vendors selling 3D prints. For furniture pieces, FDM prints will suffice, and they should be less expensive than resin. FDM prints will be far less brittle and fragile, as well. Cheers!

A couple hovels for when you have to spend the night with the hoi polloi. A larger, nicer dwelling to serve as a place tro rob, the home of a wealthy merchant, or perhaps the Count's hunting lodge. In more modern times, stately homes of Denver's 19th Century wealthy have now become law offices. Also, some outdoorsy stuff that would be unimportant is a mass battle might be needed, like a cave entrance.

Grelber

I would just start collecting a variety of furniture starting with more generic items that would be found in many locations. Then expand collection to include exotic items.

I'm a little surprised that "Mean Sets" hasn't been mentioned yet for 28mm interiors for RPG's for the first half of the 20th Century.

Specifically designed for complete access to every portion of specific businesses or rooms, these PDF files for self-printing and simple assembly are in full color and can be ready to go same day.

An example of an exotic location for Pulp games is the "El Baraka" bar and night spot.

More photos here: link

If your Hero(es) can't make a critical contact here, they may as well stay home!

Another likely scene would be in the Cheap Hotel.

Where relevant, most "Mean Sets" come with cut out self-assembly furniture pieces (beds, tables, bookcases, counters, etc).

A plethora of Fantasy and Medieval furniture sets--mostly for inns and taverns--are available from many sources, but not so much for the Pulp Era. TVAG will be releasing a range of such items soon (with some other related surprises), but here are some perfectly compatible with 28mm figures are these Eastlake furniture items from the turn of the century: link

If the provided links don't work in whole or part, just follow this one to see everything, as well as other links for furniture, etc. link

Cheers!

TVAG

Locations:

Junkyard – twists, turns, movable and immobile stuff, elevation changes, hazardous (flammable, etc.) materials, improvised weapons, towers of stuff to knock over

Museum – stuff to climb on, push over, destroy, but not as inherently hazardous as a junkyard; also stuff to animate (though you could have a junk golem too); and bathrooms, stairwells, and offices for a change of pace

Carnival – Abandoned or populated, lots of interesting terrain, especially dynamic terrain – things that move on their own; noise, surveillance, and a control room for modern ones; and portapotties/outhouses/latrines; mobile carny will have wagons, trucks/trailers, or a train with offices, etc; and animals to escape!

Docks – water, obviously; large craft which are essentially buildings and small craft which are hard to move through and can be moved; lots of stores and crates, hazardous materials (make sure there's an open catch to a hold of rice or grain!); masts to climb, yardarms to balance or, and plenty of ropes for swashbuckling swinging

Wreck – in and out, elevations, and floors/walls to look sturdy until you put weight on them; maybe something on fire or an old wreck with something living there; underwater is great skirmishing, but other austere, hostile locations add to the excitement; and of course a hidden objective with lots of canards, red herrings, and things that bite back (or explode)

The House That Jack Built (See the Avengers episode of that name) either a 60's psychedelic building designed with moving walls, rooms, stairs, etc. or an eldritch temple where the dynamic nature of the terrain is magic and possibly evil

Atlantis – submerged or not, the ancient future tech mix makes for lots of fun; and there's this inlgames.com/atlantis.htm or it's opposite, which is the same link

Skyscraper – generic offices with a couple of elevators and stairwells to go between floors; and the option to go out on the ledge climbing or swing on a rope to the lower floor (crashing through a window, mandatory); cube farms are open, offices are segmented, and restrooms are actually tough to fight in; I usually do these with side-by-side floors; you would rarely need more than six floors

Brewery – vats, pipes, and catwalks; things leaking and spilling from battle damage – slippery stuff, sticky stuff, and flammable stuff; and the option for a flood of beer!

Other Factories – lots of blocking terrain, but also planned lanes for easy transit; stores, crates, and various materials lying around (boring, toxic, flammable); modern ones will also have mechanical automation, maybe even a (foam?) fire suppression system accidentally(?) lighting off

Sewers and Subways – long corridors of line of sight broken up with off shoots, accesses, etc. abandoned subway lines collapse at a sneeze and may be inhabited; sewage is lots of fun!; also darkness and distracting echoing sounds; the occasional train in an active subway is fun to avoid or fight on

Trainyard – rough terrain to transit all around; on or in various train cars with their own stuff – cargo, oil, water, live animals?; and an elevated yard control office

This might be a bit too much for some people but I will place miniature skeletons or fresh corpses if the scene calls for it.