Dwarven Forge’s new D&D kit brings focus back to the tabletop

During the COVID-19 pandemic, fans of Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Cthulhu CallOther tabletop role-playing game tables suddenly faced a dilemma. Are they to stop playing for months, or even years, then wait it out and resume their campaign? Or should they make the jump to digital formats — virtual tabletops like Roll20 and One More Multiverse? Some who made that jump may never go back, but others simply can’t wait to gather around the table once more.

Nate Taylor, chief creative officer at Dwarven Forge, hopes that when groups do gather together in person that they consider playing with his terrain — arguably some of the most beautiful and sturdy tabletop gaming accessories around. Dwarven Forge was founded in 1996 by Stefan Pokorny (a classically-trained sculptor, painter and artist). It is widely known as the best TTRPG terrain. Visit any major convention, from PAX to Gen Con, and you’ll see its booth from a mile away — elaborate scenes featuring ornate underground caverns, bustling city streets, and towering castles.

A crowdfunding campaign is being launched by the Brooklyn-based company for an extravagant new set completely redesigned terrain. Now through February 28, the Kickstarter for Cities untold: Lowtown is open. Polygon met with the team for more information.

Dwarven Forge terrain, unlike other competitors Tabletop World or WizKids can be more expensive. The secret is a proprietary PVC compound called Dwarvenite, which is sturdy enough to stand on while also delicate enough to be hand-painted — either by fans, or by the experts at Dwarven Forge. These results are amazing.

“Affordable is one of our challenges,” Taylor told Polygon in a recent interview. “But appeal is not.”

With this new set, Taylor and his small team of artists are trying to make its terrain more modular — like Legos, he said — and more usable than ever before.

Photo: Dwarven Forge

“At the end of the day, we’re making tools — storytelling tools,” Taylor said. “We’re making things that you can use to build out your story, to wow your players, to drop everybody into their own movie, right? If you want your scene to be memorable, […] our terrain doesn’t end up on people’s tables, we’re not doing it right. It shouldn’t sit in the closet somewhere.”

Cities Untold. Lowtown tells an entire story, one that includes the story of low-quality parts of Lowtown, such as Absalom or Neverwinter. Vignettes include the kinds of dimly lit wharves, rural cottages, and gang hideouts that you’d expect to see in Blades in Dark — or the heist-focused The Golden Vault Keys. But making a set like this isn’t as easy as it looks, and the design challenges for Taylor and his team were many.

“How do we make something that has character dynamics and feels really unique,” Taylor said, “but also then can break apart like Legos and build other bits? One of the biggest challenges is figuring out modular geometry that works with things you’ve done in the past; it’s going to give you as many different options as possible.”

“But how do you modularize something that has a lot of character, a lot of interesting shapes and weird geometry?” Taylor continued. “How do you have it not be repetitive if everything is wood? There’s different textures, different colors, different shapes, there’s beams projecting and whatnot. So I think we’ve cracked both of those.”

Much of Dwarven Forge’s success over the years, Taylor said, comes from its multidisciplinary team. They include sculpting lead Elye Alexander, a carpenter with a bachelor’s degree in poetry from Harvard, and Michelle McGriff, the company’s most senior sculptor, whose specialty is carving micro-fine details and textures using nothing more than a sewing needle. Tobi Lieberson is a former architect who helps to bring together the whole collection.

Photo: Dwarven Forge

“I get to drive our creative team, which is awesome,” Taylor said, “because essentially 95% of our company is product development. We’re just always trying to make the new thing. […]It’s very much so [a] film director would drive a film, I’m also getting to collaborate with the greatest artists in the world.”

Dwarven Forge sells most of its products pre-painted. However, they also do a lot of business with unpainted scenery. There is even a line of paints and tutorials on YouTube. It could also sell STL files of its creations, which can then be used to make 3D printers at home. Well, that’s hard to do when literally everything in the collection is handmade.

“I think there’s something about the analog process that infuses some of the spirit of the creator in the work, in the imperfections,” Taylor said. “There’s something about our pieces — in how our 90-degree walls are not always 90 degrees. I think the imperfections somehow impart that human touch, and I think the joy is somehow you can feel the joy of creation in the piece.”

“When you sell someone that STL you don’t know what quality their printer is, and how it’s going to print out,” Taylor continued. “80% of people are buying the things pre-painted. […] It’s done, it’s durable, it’s not going to break, and it’s painted. It’s already ready to go.

“We can guarantee you the thing you get is going to be as awesome as the thing that we were playing with when we’re testing it.”

Cities Untold: Lowtown pledges starting at $158 for an assortment of hand-painted starter sets.