Plans Within Plans

“Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities.  Dreaming, after all is a form of planning.” – Gloria Steinem

The first OpenLOCK set that I am asking money for just went up on Cults3D yesterday.  I spent about 2 days painting the pieces I used in the example pictures.  Honestly, the process of painting is not my favorite, but the end result is satisfying and my players will be grateful for some color at the table!  After some research, I decided to use Krylon Matte Clear Finish (1311) to seal the pieces and lightly coated them twice with the finish.  Finally, I used my phone to take the pictures.  For the backdrop, I went with 4 pieces of white paper taped together and they are paper clipped to my DMs screen.  A world class setup!

OpenLOCK Stairs

I started with the stairs instead of floors and walls because I think they say something about the type of terrain I'm hoping to contribute to the community.  I really do not want to just repeat what others have already done, I want to add new ideas.  I know these are just stairs and there are a bazillion fantasy stairs already!  Yes, there are other stairs, but I think my approach to how these stairs can be as tall or wide as desired using bannisters is unique.  I also am fond of the tomees, they really do make tactical combat easier to run on a table with a lot of stairs.  I have plans to use the technique I employed on the stairs for a future bridge set that will allow for maximum modularity using OpenLOCK pieces.  These stairs can be used with other OpenLOCK terrain designed by others; I myself have used them interchangably with sets from Printable Scenery.

I want to build on the bricks I used on the stairs.  I've been fervishly creating the necessary walls and floors as these are a necessity to getting to where I want to be.  I'm going to run with the brick theme for now for my initial ideas.  A dais, a bridge, some interesting buildings!  All with the goal of adding something new.  I want to push the envelope just a bit to expand what is possible with the OpenLOCK system.

At some point, I will tackle working with other textures besides bricks.  My journey right now is just at the beginning.  I'm learning how to model using Blender and boy have I learned a lot already about that tool in a short time!  It has a steep learning curve and my first pieces took forever to create.  I nearly quit several times, but luckily Blender has a large community with ample documentation and videos so I was able to pick up on ways to do what I've done before faster.

I hope you stick around as I feel I'm just getting started.

Choosing a Site to Sell Terrain

One of the decisions I need to make is what site am I going to use to sell my terrain.  If you ask anyone that knows me, you'll know that I have been vascillated between choices.  These are my considerations:

• custom
• MyMiniFactory
• Patreon
• MyMiniFactory Tribes
• Cults3D

Each has their pros and cons which I will detail.  I have no desire to sell physical copies of the terrain, but instead will be selling the STL files.

custom

I am a software developer, and for the last 10 years, I've been a cloud engineer for a large fintech organization, so my first instinct when I originally thought about this was to just build my own website to host and sell the STL files.  I have domains hosted on GoDaddy, so I know they offer website hosting, but I'm also familiar with others like Google's web hosting services through work.  I also am very familiar with running Apache and/or Tomcat servers and I run Linux on my desktop, so I'm able to build the site from the ground up.  The biggest pros of going this direction are:

• fees are lower because hosting fees are low
• the site can be tailored specifically to my needs
• I will be able to control everything from top to bottom

There are tradeoffs to building a custom site however, including:

• it will take time to build the site
• it has no audience
• I will own everything about maintaining the site

Ultimately, the younger me would have relished the idea of building and maintaining the site, but the older me prefers a turn-key solution so I can concentrate on the end product, the STL files.

MyMiniFactory

To me, the cadillac of choices is MyMiniFactory.  This site was designed for creators to sell STL files and they cater to the table top gaming crowd.  The main pros are:

• it's a turn-key solution
• it has a built-in audience
• it has a targetted audience
• it has a large audience

Honestly, what more could you want?  This was my first choice and it would have been my go to solution, but there is one major, and for me, show-stopping drawback:

• it has a fixed, monthly fee

With a fixed monthly fee starting at $9.99 in addition to the commission of 15%, I just couldn't pull the trigger.  At least not yet.  I want to use MyMiniFactory, but I first need to prove that I am going to be able to make money from selling my 3D terrain designs.  I'm not willing to pay $9.99 until I know I can make money at this.

Patreon

Patreon is a popular choice for beginning creators.  It has several advantages:

• it's a mostly turn-key solution
• fees are low with 8% commission
• tiered follower fees

The idea behind Patreon is a creator just creates and gathers a following that pays them a monthly fee.  The follower fees can vary depending on several factors.  It sounds good except:

• followers are not sticky
• building an audience requires work
• I would need to be constantly creating
• Hosting STL files is done somewhere else

Honestly, Patreon is an enticing choice.  I know I am up to the task of creating decent terrain, but I'm not sure just how fast I can churn them out.  I'm still new to the tools and processes used to create the terrain.  Additionally, Patreon is not designed for what I'm specifically going to sell, STL files.  My understanding is I would need to host my STL files elsewhere.  This big drawback is addressed by my next choice however.

MyMiniFactory Tribes

MyMiniFactory Tribes is basically Patreon, except it is designed specifically for creators of STL files.  Unfortunately, I'm not going this route because I'm still concerned if I can produce enough terrain fast enough to keep a pipeline full to warrant an audience staying interested.

Cults3D

My final consideration is Cults3D.  It's advantages are:

• it's a turn-key solution
• it has a built-in audience
• it has a large audience

Cults3D is not targetted to the table top gaming crowd, but it is used by many to sell 3D files.  For me, the main cons are:

• a fairly high 20% commission
• payment is in euros

I'm based in the US, so if I use Cults3D, there is going to be a fee for converting euros to dollars.

Conclusion

Honestly, this was not an easy decision.  I like aspects of all my choices, but in the end, I have decided I will use Cults3D until I prove there is an audience for my terrain.  I will only see about 65-70% of the income by using Cults3D after commissions, conversion fees, and business fees, but the advantage is I am not paying any upfront money unless something sells.  If and when I see there is a business here for me to pursue, I will use MyMiniFactory which is the superior selling site for established terrain designers.

Welcome to Stryfell

What is Stryfell?  Simply put, Stryfell is the name of my homegrown Dungeons and Dragons 5e setting.  It is born from the combination of two words, strife and fell, which evokes the mood I desire at my table.  Yes, Stryfell is yet another grimdark setting!

Since May 2020, I have been DMing 5e every week or two with three players consistently and almost a dozen more players that rotate in and out as they have time.  My table is fond of tactical combat, so I've become heavily invested in miniatures and terrain to enhance the player experience.  For a few years, I was purchasing STL files to 3D print, but in the past year, I have spent considerable time designing and building my own 3D printable terrain.  That is the impetis for this blog.  I want to share my progress on this endeavor.

While this blog will mostly center around 3D printed terrain and the miniatures that occupy the space, I also will create posting about other aspects of TTRPG that I find interesting.  I like to use physical books from Wizard of the Coast and other third parties, so you can expect a review or two along the way.  I also will occassionally design a monster, NPC, or interesting setting, so you should expect me to be sharing the better creations here as well.  Finally, I do not want to limit myself, so I reserve the right to talk about everything TTRPG, whether it be current events, techniques, or just about anything that tickles my fancy.

I hope you enjoy the journey!