A library built to look real, not stylised
Most map builders ship a cartoon asset pack. TerrainTale's library is generated and photoscanned instead: floors and walls from real material scans, furniture and clutter that were photographed, characters that are rigged and animated. Everything is CC0, and everything fits the same 5-foot grid.
Surfaces and structure, generated from real materials
96 pieces (`realistic-surfaces`) built by `scripts/build-surfaces.mjs` from ambientCG materials: PBR floor tiles (grass, forest floor, mud, cobbles, flagstones, marble, planks and more), and wall families (stone, stone brick, dungeon, brick, plaster, timber, cave, castle) with matching doorways, archways, windows, parapets and battlements so an opening always lines up with the wall it replaces. Pillars, columns, stairs, a dais, fences, gravestones, an altar, a sarcophagus, a well, and trees round it out.
Props that were actually photographed
About 225 photoscanned props from Poly Haven: furniture, barrels, crates, chests, lanterns, candles, tools, weapons, statues, paintings, shrubs, plants, flowers, rocks, cliffs, a modular fort and a pier. They carry real wear and lighting response instead of a flat cartoon texture.
Characters that idle on the table
Nine rigged, animated minis from KayKit — knight, barbarian, mage, rogue, hooded rogue, and four skeletons — idle in place instead of standing frozen. For anything else, drop your own model or use any image as a standee token.
Why realistic-only
The library is deliberately one style: nothing here is a stylised low-poly pack, so a dungeon corridor, a tavern and a forest road all sit together believably in the same scene, and under the same lighting.
Questions
Is the library really free to use?
Yes. Surfaces are generated from ambientCG materials, props are Poly Haven scans, and characters are KayKit models — all CC0.
How many pieces are in it?
96 surface and structure pieces, about 225 props, and 9 animated characters, plus the five starter scenes built from them.
Can I add my own models alongside the library?
Yes. Drop a .glb, .obj, .fbx, .stl and more onto the window — Premium on the hosted site, every plan on a self-hosted copy — and it sits on the table next to the built-in pieces.
Will you add stylised or low-poly packs?
No. The library stays realistic-only by design, so everything continues to match.
Keep reading
3D Battle Maps for Tabletop RPGs
Make 3D battle maps in the browser from a realistic, CC0 library: PBR floors and walls, photoscanned props, trees and lights.
D&D Virtual Tabletop in 3D
A 3D virtual tabletop built for Dungeons & Dragons: realistic battle maps, animated miniatures, a ruler in feet, initiative and HP.
Import Your Own 3D Models Into the VTT
Drop your own .glb, .obj, .fbx, .stl and more onto the table: Meshy, Sketchfab and Blender exports, Draco/meshopt files.
3D Lighting and Dynamic Shadows for D&D Maps
Battle maps with real light: image-based lighting per time of day, a sun that casts shadows, torch lights on lamps, bloom on flames, and day/dusk/night presets that turn one map into three encounters.
From the blog
Customizing a starter scene for your own campaign
How to take a TerrainTale starter scene and make it your own: renaming, dressing for your NPCs, saving a copy, and when to build from scratch instead.
· 5 min read
Five starter scenes: what's actually in the library
A tour of TerrainTale's five starter scenes — a tavern, a dungeon, a crypt, a forest road and a castle gate — and what's built into each one before you change a thing.
· 5 min read
From a one-line prompt to a finished battle map
What actually happens between typing "a gothic castle inside a forest" and importing a playable scene: picking assets, sketching the layout, emitting a recipe, and verifying it on the grid.
· 5 min read
All articles on battle maps, grid rules and running the game
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