When I started my new D&D campaign, I knew I wanted to do somethings that I had not had the time or ability to do before, namely create life-sized props for the players to interact with during the game. I have a long under-used subscription with Props & Beyond, which designs magic item props to be made on FDM and resin printers, so it was time to really get my money’s worth.

So with that in mind, the second story arc “The Specter’s Lantern” featured, well, a life-sized lantern for the players to enjoy.

Unfortunately for the players, their patron, a mysterious woman named Bega, ran off with the lantern in the middle of the night. But among her possessions she left behind was a mysterious message an a decoder panel, which the players were able to figure out was instructions for how Bega was to meet her contact, theoretically the buyer of the lamp. This prop involved a little planning and creativity on my part.

In addition to the coded letter, a strange token was also found hidden in her wagon. The token had a skull symbol surrounded by droplets of blood. This one was taken off of Thingiverse, and bonus points if you can identify it in the comment section!

Sadly for me, the gamemaster, my GM screen fell apart at the beginning of play. This one was made by Hammerdog, and has literally lasted me for almost twenty years, so I feel good about getting my money’s worth. Now to figure out a replacement…

It was fun session, especially for the younger players, and now we roll into a new chapter (and level three) as they pursue the Specter’s Lantern and seek what they owed for recovering it.

Comments welcome!