RPG Weekend Recap

So this weekend (Saturday) I ran 4th Edition D&D for my friends up in Sunland. Prior to the game, I made a set for encounters to take place. This game was supposed to be a 'holiday' D&D game, so I made a forrest with snowy trees. Here is the list of things I used to create the set and the result below:
-Sinister Woods Dungeon Tiles
-Black foam core board
-1 foam core block
-Fake grass (from a diorama kit)
-Snow covered trees (I got a pack of them at Michael's on sale for $8)
-Scotch Tape
-Green Acrylic Gems

I used Scotch Tape to stick the dungeon tiles to the foam core and did the same to tape the trees on top of the tiles (so they wouldn't fall over during the game). By the way, using Scotch Tape with the Dungeon Tiles did not damage them. I took the fake grass and cut it into a couple of pieces, then taped it to the foam core block to create a cliff in the environment. The result is the picture below (click on any of the pictures below for a larger view).

Shot 1


Shot 2


Shot 3


Here are some post game shots, showing how some of the combat encounters broke down. (For this game I used some ambient tracks from the artist, Robert Rich)

The group was in an Elven settlement, watching over things. They were expecting some cultists to attack and heard some screams from a nearby glade. They entered the glade.



This Elven glade was lined with magical, green crystals that provided warmth throughout the snowy glade (they also provided light in the dark and granted 2 healing surges per encounter to any ally of the Elves). Some Elves had been praying to the Raven Queen in the glade the group entered. The group found the Elves dead by the hands of the cultists they encountered there.


They spotted a Wyvern on top of a 40' high cliff in the glade too! (Yeah, I know the miniature is a dragon, couldn't find any Wyverns in time for the game).


Yuan-ti Malison Sharp Eyes (Archers), who were in control of the Wyvern were also on the cliff.


Combat ensued! (I used an empty dice container to indicate the Wyvern was flying.)






The group beat the cultists, then they went looking for their lair. At that point I had the players go through a skill challenge as they traveled to a more dangerous part of the woods. Eventually they ran into some Eladrin Lingerers (1 Encanter, 2 Knights).


(I rearranged the trees for this encounter)


By the end of the skill challenge, the guys were one success away from finding the Temple of the Emerald Dawn, and one failure away from losing the skill challenge entirely!

Their last roll was indeed a success, which brought the group to the dungeon door. We ended the night with one more combat encounter between their group and some cultists who were outside the temple, on guard.

Fortunately for them, they didn't have to find out what failing the skill challenge meant. Something else was lurking through those woods...


(yes, this is a photo of the actual miniature Wizards sells)