Wanda clearly loves seafaring vessels. Not only was her TERRAINOtober winning entry a beautiful ghost ship but she also lives on a boat. That’s why it’s a bit ironic that Wanda is an Air Force Veteran. The Navy clearly missed out on her!
Wanda is also a massage therapist, a novice marine carpenter and co-owner with her husband of a health clinic and kung fu studio in Seattle. And, as if she wasn’t doing enough with all that already, she’s also mom to a college grad.
For her winning TERRAINOtober submission, Wanda made the cursed ship from the classic Dungeons & Dragons adventure In the Phantom’s Wake. The attention to detail and craftsmanship throughout is truly impressive. Walls that conform to the curved shape of the ship, single space doors, custom grates, crows nest, sails and rigging, as well as a working ballista and catapult to boot! I can only think the players at her table were as stunned as I was when I first saw it.
"TERRAINOtober was a lot of fun- I hope there will be other challenges to try! There is so much you can do with TERRAINO to make you feel more immersed in your game."
The entire ship is a faithful reproduction of the one from the adventure, right down to the shapes and sizes of the individual rooms - well, almost. According to Wanda, “I don't think the module was proofread well - e.g. there was a page that stated each square was 5ft, and another page that said it was 10ft. Another was the smaller doors - I had to shrink down the door and insert to be able to stay true to the map. Luckily, I'm used to the thought of things being smaller on boats. 🙂”
"...one of our players mentioned TERRAINO and as soon as I saw it, I knew that was going to be our best choice for the game he had in mind."
Wanda also had to think outside the box - or in this case outside the TERRAINO manuals - on several occasions as making a ship means taking TERRAINO to some way out places. “I learned how to repurpose ordinary things into my builds. For instance, the crows nest was built with foam and the upper part of a takeout container that I had saved for mixing the TERRAINO "secret sauce.”
It may surprise you to know that Wanda is relatively new to TERRAINO: “My husband and I only started playing D&D a few years ago - he's been a DM for a few groups now. Over the summer, his creative mind came up with an epic casino heist game that he wanted to create a 3D set for. We tried a few things, but one of our players mentioned TERRAINO and as soon as I saw it, I knew that was going to be our best choice for the game he had in mind. I purchased the bundle of TERRAINO manuals that day.”
“When I saw the [TERRAINOtober] challenge, I thought that sounded like a fun project after the casino heist build. Because of time, there was a lot I didn't get to try with the casino build, and I thought this was a perfect opportunity to try out more texturing and painting.”
"[TERRAINO] has turned into an enjoyable hobby for me, and I am especially looking forward to crafting a catacombs set and trying out torches next!"
Wanda’s ghost ship made it’s premiere at her game for Halloween. “Picking out the old module was a no-brainer when I read it was a haunted ghost ship - perfect for Halloween! It had a map of each part of the ship along with descriptions of what was in each room - wraiths, coffins, ominous warnings, etc. And since we were hosting one last big game for the year, we decided to use the ship and adjust the game from 2nd edition to 5th.”
"TERRAINOtober was a lot of fun- I hope there will be other challenges to try! There is so much you can do with TERRAINO to make you feel more immersed in your game. I feel it is versatile enough to use with many genres of gaming- you just have to use your imagination and creativity. It has turned into an enjoyable hobby for me, and I am especially looking forward to crafting a catacombs set and trying out torches next!"
Congratulations, again, Wanda on your amazing ship and your TERRAINOtober win!
1 comment
This is really cool! Is there a guide she has to how she made this?