Sigil - The Sphinx's Market

[oldschooldm]

Submission Category: Papercraft in Action
Title: Sigil - The Sphinx's Market
Finishing Rank: FIRST PLACE! Thank you so much to everyone who voted for this entry and participated in this contest!

UPDATE: Now that the contest is over, if you liked these photos or want to read the story behind the pictures, just head on over to the Forsite Irregulars Obsidian Portal site.

These are player-taken photos from my most recent D&D 4e game session which takes place in Sigil, a city-plane in the inside surface of a doughnut shaped torus.

The party was headed to a market to collect some custom items, and to find a way to the Mirror Library, when they encounter an eternal in the form of a Sphinx - who reinforces the urgency of their quest.

A link to the detailed photoblog play session will be added to this post after the contest voting is over.

Kits Used

Backdrop and Map
Map: Map Arabian Market by DramaScape
Backdrop: Sigil by Ioan Dumitrescu

Buildings
Stone Tower by Dave Graffam Models
Harbormaster Tower by by Dave Graffam Models
Eledriel's Cloister by Lord Zsezse Works FREE
Merchant's Guild by Mystic Mountain Productions (kitbashed)
Town Square Clock Tower by Mystic Mountain Productions FREE
Ravenfell Magic Shop by Fat Dragon Games

Props & Figures
Lampstands and Cauldron: Kev's Lounge Dungeon Furniture Pack by Kev's Lounge
Market Stalls:DRAGONSHIRE: Market Square by Fat Dragon Games
Tables and Chairs: Propz: Dungeon Features by Arid Hills Productions
Elvish Furniture by Dark Horse Productions FREE
Sphinx & Funishings (including Amilliary Sphere) by Eddnic: (Post 1) (Post 2)
Crates:The Ominous Storeroom by Papercraft Dungeon

See more at the-forsite-irregulars.obsidianportal.com/adventure-log/lost-in-sigil

[afet]

Fantastic and eclectic always. You raise the bar, sir :-)

[oldschooldm]

Aug 27, 2015 5:52:03 GMT -9 afet said:

Fantastic and eclectic always. You raise the bar, sir :-)

All I do is build obsessively the stuff that people design and share here. :-)

Once you have tons of stuff built, its just pushing it around on the table until it looks good. In this case, the map provided the inspiration for the layout. Once I had that, I asked myself - "What shall I use for the centerpiece? Oh wait, I've got that Elvish Cloister gathering dust waiting for..."

As I built the papercraft scene for this encounter, the extended narrative revealed itself.

Oh yeah, and I *really* wanted to use Eddnic's Amilliary Sphere because my story had already featured a "sundering" of the connection between the Feywild and the world.

His props are SO evocative.

I'm not a visual thinker and the papercraft is my way of visualizing our story.

[Vermin King]

Outstanding work, as always

[aleks]

You are my reference point for diorama building, sir!

[soaringraven]

I love Sigil. Any information on this particular location as I'm not familiar with it? Anyways, the backdrop adds a lot to the atmosphere. Very beautiful diorama!

[oldschooldm]

Sept 3, 2015 13:14:13 GMT -9 soaringraven said:

I love Sigil. Any information on this particular location as I'm not familiar with it? Anyways, the backdrop adds a lot to the atmosphere. Very beautiful diorama!

I invented this location in Sigil. A "marketplace" was mentioned as a possible information location in "The Mazes" adventure in "Well of Worlds" - I have magic-poor 4e game, and it was time to give the characters their iconic Paragon items - so a market in Sigil seemed perfect. I introduced some factions as threats as well as a huge "the universe is unravling" information reveal. As soon as the judging is done, I'll post a link to the narrative and more pictures!

[soaringraven]

Sept 6, 2015 23:14:17 GMT -9 oldschooldm said:

Sept 3, 2015 13:14:13 GMT -9 soaringraven said:

I love Sigil. Any information on this particular location as I'm not familiar with it? Anyways, the backdrop adds a lot to the atmosphere. Very beautiful diorama!

I invented this location in Sigil. A "marketplace" was mentioned as a possible information location in "The Mazes" adventure in "Well of Worlds" - I have magic-poor 4e game, and it was time to give the characters their iconic Paragon items - so a market in Sigil seemed perfect. I introduced some factions as threats as well as a huge "the universe is unravling" information reveal. As soon as the judging is done, I'll post a link to the narrative and more pictures!

Ah, I see. Please, do add your link after the contest. I'm always eager to expand my own version of Sigil with interesting locations. Thanks!

[oldschooldm]

Thank you so much for voting for this entry, and choosing it as winner in this category this year. As I promised you can see more pictures of this session, and all the other papercraft laden sessions for my group at the Forsite Irregulars Obsidian Portal site.

Some more teaser shots - these all link to the site:







More...

[oldschooldm]

P.S.: There are a LOT of vendors that should feel free to crow about this victory for their products. You have my full permission to use any image here, on the OP site, or on Flickr to promote your pictured product in any of my setups.

I'm specifically thinking of Dave, jjensen, eddnic, BSGTony (lordzsezse), bravesirkevin, darkhorseproductions, dramascape, and fatdragontom amongst others...

Your models make this all happen.