Considering terrain

For those of us constantly swapping from one genre or rule set to another on a regular basis, and complicating matters even more by actually going out and travelling to other gamer gatherings, the well-known issue of transportable and multi-purpose terrain will be familiar dilemma. Mobilescape Adventures might have the solution for you…

It’s a familiar issue for role-playing or campaign type games where a diverse set of scenarios based in varied landscapes and locales is required. For example, our long-running In Her Majesty’s Name campaign includes distinct settings such as a Venetian Piazza, a desert town in the US, a Hungarian Cathedral and a hilltop village in Portugal! 

Unfortunately, it’s more often the case that my heady plans for an elaborate campaign, or even just a single scenario, are often stymied when confronted by the reality of my limited terrain collection! Yes, I've various standalone terrain pieces that have served me well over the years and a couple of elaborate, dedicated boards (Obsession for example) but they aren't exactly easy to transport! I fall victim to this on a regular basis.

Allowing my imagination and enthusiasm at the start of a particular project to be thwarted sooner or later by the realisation that I actually don’t have enough of a particular type of terrain or structure to do the scenario any justice! I then either have to rely on my opponents or, more often, conjure up plans to build some elaborate terrain board that simply stalls the whole project. The IHMN campaign being the perfect example this!

One solution could be a current Kickstarter from US based new start-up Mobilescsape Adventures who are looking to develop and produce mobile 3D terrain compatible with most of your favourite role playing games. These will be made from high quality board elements assembled via clear plastic bases which can quickly and easily be swapped out as the scene or dungeon map changes. 

"Our fantasy tabletop terrain is perfect for roleplaying game systems like Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, Savage Worlds, etc. We provide simple structures such as pathways, trees, rocks, bushes, to impressive man-made structures like cottages, stone houses and towers. The best part is there is absolutely no cutting, gluing or painting involved!"

Our recent Frostgrave mini-campaign utilised tiles appropriated from Decent and a few door features. Similarly for some SoBH games where I've  used 'tile n' clip' terrain. And it all worked pretty well too!

The card and clip terrain isn’t a new idea – there have been similar designs and products over the years (remember Terraclips?) - although these tend to focus on a particular theme, locale or dungeon with options for expansion. Mobile Adventures have role-playing games in mind but of course this fits equally well with skirmish level games. 

They are looking to produce a broad, versatile range of reversible terrain elements that can quickly build up to provide players options for quick, reconfigurable boards that can serve many roles. And being light and flat, can also be easily transported. From my experience, this type of system is pretty handy to have in your terrain arsenal! So I recommend having a quick look at the Mobilescape Kickstarter!