Building her first dungeon.

Yesterday my Dwarven Forge pieces from their Kickstarter earlier this year arrived at the house. I had ordered three sets and didn’t do any add-ons save for the paint that was offered later after the Kickstarter ended.

I have always been intrigued by the Dwarven Forge pieces, gazing at them with envy at various cons where there were booths with their product or expansive dungeon layouts. The price was always prohibitive and buying a few pieces here and there seemed like a long slow process. So when the Dwarven Forge kickstarter launched I thought it would be a good way to get an “instant” foundation of pieces to start my collection. Enough to start building small dungeons or encounter areas right away. And as time goes on I can now supplement with the occasional set purchase to add to what is now a decent base to work with.

Though I game online a lot right now, I do have a local group and I frequently run a kids campaign on the weekends, especially as the winter approaches. So I figure I can get plenty of use from them. Plus – the kids can use them setup their own dungeons and possibly run some games for their friends. I suspect having the Dwarven Forge pieces will make it a little easier for them to “hook” their friends into gaming.

I have backed several kickstarters over the past couple of years. And compared to others I think I have done pretty well. I haven’t had any fail to deliver completely. Several have been delayed in their delivery, and I am still waiting on some to deliver, but overall my track record with Kickstarter has been pretty good. I am fairly picky about which ones I back and these days I also watch for how long my money will be tied up for before I receive product. That last factor alone keeps me from backing some Kickstarters, even ones I am sure will deliver, but that I don’t’ want to tie my money up for a year.

But the Dwarven Forge Kickstarter has set a really high bar for performance. Easily the best Kickstarter I have participated in yet. First, the Kickstarter ended at the end of April. Here it is late October and I have my Dwarven Forge terrain in hand. The Kickstarter estimated delivery in October 2013 and they delivered.  That is a rare thing in Kickstarter land.

During the process the Dwarven Forge folks were communicative and actually added value partway through by offering a way to add paints to those of us that bought unpainted terrain. And made it easy to add to our order, all without delaying the original product.

I am so used to delays from Kickstarters that it almost felt weird to *not* receive an email stating shipping was delayed and here is why. There was no need to! As things were here on time as stated in the original Kickstarter.

Definite props to the Dwarven Forge folks for a smooth and well run Kickstarter campaign. Something I will certainly remember if they decide to use that route in the future.

Now if you’ll excuse me – I have some how-to videos on painting to watch!