Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Call of Cthulhu => Topic started by: JMGraham on February 27, 2010, 12:49:07 AM
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Has anyone had a go at trying to reproduce any R'lyeh-esque terrain? Given Lovecraft's descriptions, it's of course impossible to create, but I'm curious about what miniature approximations folks may have come up with.
Jim
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You mean like Cyclopean blocks, massive statues, coming up out of the ground kinda terrain?
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You mean like Cyclopean blocks, massive statues, coming up out of the ground kinda terrain?
That'd be it! I have an inkling to make a homebrew version of the old Parker Brother's game Survive! themed after an escape from R'lyeh and am looking for some ideas to steal inspire me.
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Have you looked at some of the weird things that are intended to go in the bottom of fishtanks? Always good for strange terrain inspiration!
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Yeah, I would think that said terrain would be fairly easy. Out of scale brickwork, like Doll House 1/12 stuff! That would be Cyclopean in 28mm, no?
I'm surprised no one here has done it already?
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I'm hoping to have some small pieces done for one of my later LPL entries...
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Fenris Games and Monolith do some Cthulhu style scenery pieces too. Although apparently Monolith are hard to get hold of these days...
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What exactly does "Cyclopean" mean anyway? I never understood that description...
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What exactly does "Cyclopean" mean anyway? I never understood that description...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclopean_masonry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclopean_masonry)
Basically, dry masonry with enormous blocks. Thanks for the ideas, all.
@ D@rth - looking forward to seeing it!
Jim
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Lovecraft mentions the Giant's Causeway in Mountains of Madness. While the real thing is impressive and otherworldly enough, what would happen if we increased the scale to cyclopean proportions? I found this old engraving on Wiki. Hmmm...
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Drury_-_View_of_the_Giant%27s_Causeway.jpg)
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Thats cool. Thanks, JM
I'm suprised we don't see a whole lot of this type terrain?
I'm still working on Innsmouth buildings first.
I think I'm gonna do Innsmouth, Florida. There is a creepy, old fishing settlement right down the street. It was started in the early 1800's, then Colonel Chamberlain (Gettysburg fame) and his brother built a development that failed after the Civil War. The main street is "Chamberlain St." :)
LOL! Synomynous with "Monolith", is "Hard to get a hold of". :( Very nice stuff, I wonder why they insist on the "hard sell"?
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I'm surprised no one here has done it already?
Oh, you know. The whole "there's no room at my house for it anywhere anymore" excuse. ;) :'(
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The biggest problem would be storage. The solution I think would be a base piece, with large slots for the pieces to fit in. This way you could vary the piece for each use of it. Another problem is weight. In this regard consider paper models. They are light weight, and can be dressed up with appropriate stuff to look fairly cool. My impressions of R'lyeh is one of uneven pillars, portals, sculptures, covered in slime, mud, seaweed, and glyphs. Slime can be done with clear silicone caulking. Moss for the bases of floral arrangements can be pulled apart, immersed in glue and then draped fairly well. Statues? Use the bag O' Cthulhus. use spackle or plumbers water putty painted for mud. Making it in several sections of bases that fit together for a larger island is a good Idea as well.
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It´s easy to make Cthulhu terrain! All you have to do is to use non-euclidean geometry!!! ;D
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I suppose I could say (With tongue firmly planted in cheek): Define non Euclidean? Maybe paper models wont work... oh dear. The angles, the horrible angles!
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I have a plan (read: I was thinking about) making whole board one day. I am talking out of head here, but I imagine it on a pacific island, kinda like Iwo Jima - with a mountain on one side. "Huge" (so like waist high - gives cover and you can still see over) stairs would lead on top of the mountain where you'd have the door to his "bedroom" actually laying flat. I guess making some triangular turns on the stairs and cutting them at an angles smaller than 90° would suffice for "weird angles". Random cover could be made with blocks of ruined masonry and I always thought about building angled columns - like half fallen, but normal for a city of that kind :P.
I think your best source for inspiraton would be various atlantis images...and you can use it for that as well!
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Instead of R'lyeh, maybe Devil's Reef is more do-able? Now this is just some random musings after re-reading The Shadow over Innsmouth, mind you....
First thoughts: We know that the reef is a mile from shore. OK, fine. Perspective wise it seems to be visible, but not too big. Now something six feet tall looks about a quarter of an inch tall for argument's sake at a mile. My scaling is probably wrong, but lets go with that for now. So the reef probably is about 6-12 feet out of the water. Well 2" blue foam would serve fairly well for our purpose it would seem.
Second Thoughts: What exactly does a rocky reef look like? This isn't coral, so not jagged. Smooth perhaps, or even rough like sandstone. Possibly with some pockets of harder or softer material that hasn't eroded, or has left strange depressions. Hmmm....... Irregular lumps of rock with pockmarks then? possibly some strange altar, with low rocky outcroppings surrounding it?
Just some musings.
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haven't had a go myself, but FFG has some neat 'other world' art in their mythos games. wouldn't be anything like a board blueprint, but it might give you the right vibe to dive in!
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Try to replicate some Dr. Seuss buildings with sharper angels. That has always been the closest thing to odd-geometry I could visualize.
You could likely make some weird stuff by messing with perspective such as having stairs that are 4 inches wide on the bottom but as they go up narrow the width to one inch with it ending at a small door. If players try to go up them, you just tell them that each step requires 12 inches of movement.