Terrablox - Plastic terrain

[-T-]

http://www.indiegogo.com/Terrablox

This is a project I've been working on for a few weeks and trying to make a reality.

The idea is explained more in depth on the page, but it should be pretty self explanatory. The image is a concept render, and I also have a video of the current prototypes (more versions are being made already):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOf5kHZdldQ

I submitted it to Kickstarter, but they rejected it; it wasn't really fleshed out enough and I had no way to show people would be excited about the project. So right now I'm just trying to generate as much discussion as I can, so that Kickstarter is more likely to accept the project. I do have donation goal, but that's not to actually produce the things but just to put towards the upfront setup costs of setting up the injection molding. The more donations I get the fewer pre-orders I'll need.

The IndieGoGo page is not to sell pre-orders, it is a straight donation, so if the idea of charity turns you off just wait until it's on Kickstarter, and please help in other ways like showing as many people as you can and leaving a comment such as, "I would pre-order this if it were available."

Let me know what you think; the more buzz I get the more likely it will become a real product.

[Mastikator]

Pretty cool idea actually. Not much to comment on, other than this: what about hex-shaped blocks?

[Ravens_cry]

I remember reading about a very similar system in an old Dragon magazine, but for hexes. As it stands, it looks like Minecraft: the Role Playing Game. Unfortunately, as a gaming aid, I don't see what it adds over wet erase on a mat aside from 3 dimensionality and it really doesn't compare to diorama style terrain for adding realism. I wish you well, but I would personally give it a pass.

[Zejety]

I remember reading about a very similar system in an old Dragon magazine, but for hexes. As it stands, it looks like Minecraft: the Role Playing Game. Unfortunately, as a gaming aid, I don't see what it adds over wet erase on a mat aside from 3 dimensionality and it really doesn't compare to diorama style terrain for adding realism. I wish you well, but I would personally give it a pass.

Isee it as the middleground between those two mediums. It's a cheaper and less specific (more flexible) alternative to diorama style design.

[Ravens_cry]

Isee it as the middleground between those two mediums. It's a cheaper and less specific (more flexible) alternative to diorama style design.

Well, I personally don't see it as much of an improvement over the mat and wet-erace. If anything, less can be more, and MaWE can be more flexible in what it can represent. Any dome or other curve will be an approximation at best.

[Rixx]

This definitely has potential. I'd recommend adding different shaped or size blocks - particularly half-height blocks to make for better graded hills. Ones with sloped tops might be good, too, provided the grade is shallow enough that minis can stand on it without sliding off.

A block with no "top" and instead a tapering point could be useful for the tops of trees, or for rocks.

Also I can't tell from the pictures, but it's necessary that they be 1" square, so that they can be used with flip-mats - also making it easy to measure height (1 block = 5 feet) so you know just how many d6's you're going to suffer for falling off these things.

I would also consider having them lock to the sides via "pips" - like how they lock top to bottom - instead of a sliding mechanism, so that larger free-floating structures like bridges are more stable.



Something like that! Only shallower and bigger, of course.

Other things to consider - a way to keep them from sliding around (maybe rubber bits you can stick on the bottoms), a way to stabilize free-floating structures (I.E. stands), and perhaps later even pre-made terrain pieces that'll fit with these, or flexible plastic mats that have a raised grid of "pips" for easy building.

What I see here is gaming-sized legos, which I think has tons of potential.

The biggest thing I think this can bring to the table is easy representation of three-dimensional space in gaming, which I think goes underutilized just because of how cumbersome it can be to represent on a 2D gaming mat. Not necessarily for every or even most encounters, but something you'd prepare ahead of time for special locations. Or to just have a few trees prebuilt to plop down.

[Xyk]

I can tell you that personally, I wouldn't get them. I have a mat and wet erase markers plus an imagination. It's a clever enough idea, but it seems like it would be a hassle to implement into gameplay, simply because a person would have to build a little region every time a combat sprung up and that's more of a hassle than drawing.

[Zejety]

I don't if I'd use them for RPGing (haven't played any table top RPGs yet), but I see myself picking them up (for a reasonable price) and maybe use it for Songs of Blades & Heroes or other skirmishing miniature games.

[Tyndmyr]

I'm curious. I do admit that it looks like minecraft meets legos, but if the kickstarter price is right, and there's sufficient block variety, Id pop for em.

[Necro_EX]

You know, I'm working on something these would be perfect for.

[valadil]

Question. Are you limited to building stacks of things or is it possible to go under terrain? I see that you have the tree branches there, but it's hard for me to tell if that's something the finished product will do.

Here's why I ask. I've been using Construx in my 4e game. They take some work to set up but they've greatly enhanced a number of my combats. They've also slowed down and complicated other combats. The difference for me is if the terrain has an interior.

Let's say there's a fight in an alley. Fighters surround the exits, archers and a mage show up on the rooftops. I can represent this on a map, no problem. But if there's a door into a house, players can go inside it and end up under the archers. As soon as that becomes an option, it's worth my time to build a model. Until that point it's not worthwhile. If your blocks can do interiors like this, I'd absolutely buy them. If not, I'll pass.

[LibraryOgre]

The Mod Wonder: Locked Pending Review.