Module B4: The Lost City in 3D.

Making the most of an unusual day off yesterday I got round to laying out the Torchlight Resin scenery collection to see what could be done with it. I used the first level from the Tom Moldvay module B4 as a template and just about pulled it off.

I'm still shy of short corridors, but that can be remedied by running a couple of the longer ones down on the bandsaw at work; also 5 of the 6 4x4" rooms have been made up with corridor corners so might be prone to getting knocked out of alignment in use.
I have a small confession to make regarding these corner pieces, they are actually home cast in dental plaster in an RTV silicon mould created using one of the resin originals. I'm in a bit of a moral quandry in this regard, even though I stand to make no gain from doing this I still feel slightly uncomfortable producing copies of someone elses work without permission. But on the other hand the products have been out of circulation for 25 years and the opportunities for acquiring more are slim to say the least, its taken me 5 or 6 years to get to the point where I can attempt even a small layout like the one above.
In an ideal world I could contact the original sculptor and ask him directly, but I am led to believe that he sold the moulds and all rights to an American company in the mid nineteen eighties and after that the trail goes cold. Any sagacious advice would be warmly received.

More Undead Goodness.

A little fleshier than my usual unliving of choice, this time a very modern GW plastic zombie in a homebrewed sewer.

Should be a nice little wandering monster encounter for an unsuspecting party.

Retro Dungeon Real Estate.

Finally got round to cleaning up & dusting off the latest purchase and laying it out with what I already had.

There's eleven rooms from 2" square up to 8" square and 13' 6" of corridor which is enough set up a moderate sized dungeon level, in fact a quick glance at module B4 The Lost City would suggest that the first two levels would be do-able and as this is one of the possible candidates for old school gaming is very good news indeed.
Overall I'm quietly pleased with this Torchlight stuff. I've been lucky enough to assemble it at fairly reasonable cost and the overall simplicity of the rooms combined with the separate doors and accessories makes it very adaptable. You could argue that none of this is necessary for old school style play which should be achievable in the theatre of the mind, but I do like my toys ( its the wargamer in me showing through) and obviously someone thought there would be a market for this product when it first appeared in the mid eighties so it is at least contemporary with the other RPG stuff I'm using.

A Moderate Step in the Right Direction.

After what can only be described as a shit day at work I received a major shot in the arm, one that advances the Retro Dungeon considerably.

A cardboard package containing the above Torchlight Fantasy Products resin dungeon scenery was waiting for me. Sadly a more urgently required darning kit for my socks was not included, that really is very embarrassing!!!!.

Anyway perambulatory organs apart once this little lot is hosed out and re-painted the physical form of the Retro Dungeon will have reached a point where I can lay out fairly extensive levels ( roughly 4'x2') with enough corridors & rooms to make things interesting.
And now off to the dressing room for some new socks.