COVEN OF WITCHES by *NebelelfeNaemy on deviantART
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Frostgrave: On A Frozen River
With far too long a break, I finally got in a game of Frostgrave! Saturday we assembled the usual suspects and played the second game of the 2017 Thaw of the Lich Lord campaign, though for me it was game 1.
The Doctors Ecclescake and Payne had rounded up a rowdy bunch of ne'er do wells to help them find... something that Doctor Payne will need for the Time War. A pair of scoundrels (thieves) and five archers were rounded out by a crested felldrake (wardog) joined the Doctors. Unfortunately Dr. Ecclescake was unable to remember what it was they were looking for, or where it might be (Failed Reveal Secret attempt) but they did notice some activity down by the river, so off they went.
As they reached the bank of the river of ice, they beheld a spectacular sight... Ships of all shapes and sizes were frozen in place, rotted sails and rigging hanging like cobwebs. Unfortunately the activity was Chaffarn summoner to the right, and the sigilist Quail across the way.
The Doctors started at the top right of this picture, with Quail at the bottom, and Chaffarn to the top left.
My ship was in the center of the table.
A large dwarven warship dominated the far end of the table.
The Doctors starting position.
Doctor Ecclescake starts by heading fearlessly out onto the river. He tries to speed things up with Fleet Feet, but the effect fizzles. The archer Elfie slips on the ice, while Harad and Thief 1 make for one of the wrecks. The drake heads out toward the larger hull, but gets an arrow from beyond a fog bank that popped up blocking the view to the far bank. Another fog bank rises up to the right, blocking the view along the ice to where the summoner is. Doctor Payne tries to Mind Control one of the summoner's troops, but even after cranking up the sonic screwdriver (boosted the spell for 3 points!!) the magical fog seemed to hinder the spell.
Blazing across the sky appeared two glowing sigils, Draining Words that made Telekinesis and Bone Dart harder to cast... Truly some dark magics were being used with little regard for their impact on the local Time/Space.
Seeing the drake injured, Ecclescake gives it a speed boost (Fleet Feet), only to see it take another arrow moments later, falling unmoving to the ice. Thief 1 grabs a chest from the frosty deck. Doctor Payne tries to Mind Control Quail's knight that was scaling the large hull, but once again, could not get the effect to stick.
Thief 2, Gnolly the archer, and Dunedain the archer move toward the large hull.
An unnatural calm fell over the river a moment before fat flakes began to fall from the sky. Doctor Ecclescake shifts his temporal location a smidge making him appear to move faster than normal (Fleet Feet). Doctor Payne tries and fails to Blind the knight now on the deck of the ship. Thief 2 and Dunedain also scale the hull, but so does another of Quail's troops, a man at arms! Harad puts an arrow into a thief who was climbing right behind the man at arms.
As all this is going on, another Mage emerges from a hatch in the deck carrying a sack. He tries to use some sort of magical bolt attack, but the chaos on the deck is too distracting. Doctor Ecclescake tries to Blind the Mage, but he can't get the screwdriver to line up with her eyes. Payne again tries and fails to Mind Control the knight. Thief 2 pushes off the man at arms, and rushes for the edge of the ship. Gnolly shoots at the Mage, who was engaged by the knight, but hits the knight instead. Elfie and Harad take pot shots at the man at arms, but miss. The Mage fells the knight, then leaps from the ship down to the ice. Leafie the archer, who had accomplished nothing, was sniped by Quail's archer.
The snow storm intensified, making shooting even harder than before...
Doctor Ecclescake thwacks the sonic screwdriver against the boat's hull, and then takes another shot at Blinding the Mage, succeeding finally. Payne mind controls Quail's little thief Kinny, who in the chaos of the melee had snuck onto the big ship.
The man at arms decides that the Mage is the real threat and leaps after her. Gnolly kills the Mage before the man at arms can get in the killing blow. Payne orders Kinny to kill the man at arms, and she leaps from the ship after him, cutting him deeply. Dunedain followed after her, lodging an arrow into the man at arms on his way down. Kinny, seeing her friend felled, snaps out of the control.
Meanwhile Chaffarn's treasure hunter briefly came into view through the snow and fog at the prow of the ship. She grabbed the coffer that was on the deck. Ecclescake took the opportunity to Mind Control her just as she tucked the coffer under her arm. Right behind her a demonic form lurched over the railing onto the deck. Ecclescake ordered her to kill the abomination, and she does, then jumps down, only to be set upon by Chaffarn's rottie.
Ecclescake turns the screwdriver on the dog, Blinding it. Payne tries to make the treasure hunter faster (Fleet Feet), but fails. The treasure hunter kills the dog, and starts to move toward Payne with the treasure. Through the fog, Chaffarn's man at arms, possessed by some otherworldly force charges toward the treasure hunter, killing her. Gnolly and Dunedain turn him into a pin cushion, but don't stop him.
The storm gets worse yet again, and Ecclescake orders everyone back to the TARDIS, then mind controls the possessed man at arms. Fortunately, his broken mind is easy to sway, and he grabs the treasure.
Through the unnatural storm, they make their way back to the TARDIS, tucked safely in the base of a Tower.
The Felldrake did not survive exposure on the river, but Leafy, useless as she way, showed back up with a small scratch and a lump on her head from slipping on the ice after being clipped by the arrow.
Of the treasures recovered, the one dropped by the Mage turned out to be worthless. Dusty pages that disintegrated instantly. The 4 other treasures recovered included a grimoire of Plane Walk and Absorb Knowledge (which the Doctors already had, so was sold for 250 gold), a mighty Club of Battering (matching the one found by Quail), and 565 gold (815 gold total).
In addition, THe Doctors earned 200xp from the treasures, 50xp for the party killing one of the Mages, 25xp for going out onto the ice, and 120xp for spells cast during the game. Additionally, once back at the TARDIS, the Doctors successfully used their Absorb Knowledge for an additional 50xp, for a total of 445xp, and 4th level!
The Doctors Ecclescake and Payne had rounded up a rowdy bunch of ne'er do wells to help them find... something that Doctor Payne will need for the Time War. A pair of scoundrels (thieves) and five archers were rounded out by a crested felldrake (wardog) joined the Doctors. Unfortunately Dr. Ecclescake was unable to remember what it was they were looking for, or where it might be (Failed Reveal Secret attempt) but they did notice some activity down by the river, so off they went.
As they reached the bank of the river of ice, they beheld a spectacular sight... Ships of all shapes and sizes were frozen in place, rotted sails and rigging hanging like cobwebs. Unfortunately the activity was Chaffarn summoner to the right, and the sigilist Quail across the way.
The Doctors started at the top right of this picture, with Quail at the bottom, and Chaffarn to the top left.
My ship was in the center of the table.
A large dwarven warship dominated the far end of the table.
The Doctors starting position.
Doctor Ecclescake starts by heading fearlessly out onto the river. He tries to speed things up with Fleet Feet, but the effect fizzles. The archer Elfie slips on the ice, while Harad and Thief 1 make for one of the wrecks. The drake heads out toward the larger hull, but gets an arrow from beyond a fog bank that popped up blocking the view to the far bank. Another fog bank rises up to the right, blocking the view along the ice to where the summoner is. Doctor Payne tries to Mind Control one of the summoner's troops, but even after cranking up the sonic screwdriver (boosted the spell for 3 points!!) the magical fog seemed to hinder the spell.
Blazing across the sky appeared two glowing sigils, Draining Words that made Telekinesis and Bone Dart harder to cast... Truly some dark magics were being used with little regard for their impact on the local Time/Space.
Seeing the drake injured, Ecclescake gives it a speed boost (Fleet Feet), only to see it take another arrow moments later, falling unmoving to the ice. Thief 1 grabs a chest from the frosty deck. Doctor Payne tries to Mind Control Quail's knight that was scaling the large hull, but once again, could not get the effect to stick.
Thief 2, Gnolly the archer, and Dunedain the archer move toward the large hull.
An unnatural calm fell over the river a moment before fat flakes began to fall from the sky. Doctor Ecclescake shifts his temporal location a smidge making him appear to move faster than normal (Fleet Feet). Doctor Payne tries and fails to Blind the knight now on the deck of the ship. Thief 2 and Dunedain also scale the hull, but so does another of Quail's troops, a man at arms! Harad puts an arrow into a thief who was climbing right behind the man at arms.
As all this is going on, another Mage emerges from a hatch in the deck carrying a sack. He tries to use some sort of magical bolt attack, but the chaos on the deck is too distracting. Doctor Ecclescake tries to Blind the Mage, but he can't get the screwdriver to line up with her eyes. Payne again tries and fails to Mind Control the knight. Thief 2 pushes off the man at arms, and rushes for the edge of the ship. Gnolly shoots at the Mage, who was engaged by the knight, but hits the knight instead. Elfie and Harad take pot shots at the man at arms, but miss. The Mage fells the knight, then leaps from the ship down to the ice. Leafie the archer, who had accomplished nothing, was sniped by Quail's archer.
The snow storm intensified, making shooting even harder than before...
Doctor Ecclescake thwacks the sonic screwdriver against the boat's hull, and then takes another shot at Blinding the Mage, succeeding finally. Payne mind controls Quail's little thief Kinny, who in the chaos of the melee had snuck onto the big ship.
The storm gets worse yet again, and Ecclescake orders everyone back to the TARDIS, then mind controls the possessed man at arms. Fortunately, his broken mind is easy to sway, and he grabs the treasure.
Through the unnatural storm, they make their way back to the TARDIS, tucked safely in the base of a Tower.
Of the treasures recovered, the one dropped by the Mage turned out to be worthless. Dusty pages that disintegrated instantly. The 4 other treasures recovered included a grimoire of Plane Walk and Absorb Knowledge (which the Doctors already had, so was sold for 250 gold), a mighty Club of Battering (matching the one found by Quail), and 565 gold (815 gold total).
In addition, THe Doctors earned 200xp from the treasures, 50xp for the party killing one of the Mages, 25xp for going out onto the ice, and 120xp for spells cast during the game. Additionally, once back at the TARDIS, the Doctors successfully used their Absorb Knowledge for an additional 50xp, for a total of 445xp, and 4th level!
Sunday, February 19, 2017
Friday, February 17, 2017
Frostgrave Folio
It's probably pretty clear at this point that I'm really into Frostgrave right now. With that in mind, there's a new supplement that's up for nickstarter (pre-order) called the Frostgrave Folio.
For $17 you get a whole book full of new scenarios, monsters, magic items, and soldiers. Plus, if you join in on the nickstarter before March 1st you'll get some stuff for free. Right now, it's a sprew of barbarians, some metal bits to make a captain type figure, and a new sigilist wizard sculpt. The next goal is a matching apprentice.
Much of this supplement was previously available in electronic PDF form, but now it's all put together with new art and a new section in hard copy. Check out the video, and then go put in your order!
For $17 you get a whole book full of new scenarios, monsters, magic items, and soldiers. Plus, if you join in on the nickstarter before March 1st you'll get some stuff for free. Right now, it's a sprew of barbarians, some metal bits to make a captain type figure, and a new sigilist wizard sculpt. The next goal is a matching apprentice.
Much of this supplement was previously available in electronic PDF form, but now it's all put together with new art and a new section in hard copy. Check out the video, and then go put in your order!
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Boat Building for Frostgrave: Phase 1
I had planned on sharing my boat building efforts as more of a work in progress over several posts, but instead you get to see the whole (phase 1) process from start to finish.
I started out by figuring just how big I wanted this tub to be. I sketched out the basic hull shape, and then started cutting out chunks of foam to build the core of the structure. The I started gluing it all together.
More glue...
As the dragon boat idea seemed to catch my gaming group's interest, I decided to make a wing template to see how it would look. The idea here being that the wing would form the railing for the forecastle and the main deck. Haven't given much thought on how to do the dragon head yet.
Laying down the deck... I do wish I had considered the width of the craft sticks when building the ship. It's hard to see, but the ship is just a tiny bit wider than the craft sticks, so I had to trim some down to hide the gap. Also, building out the stern, I should have made it solid, and not tacked on the bits on the side and back.
Trying to figure out how to handle the curve...
I hate working with paper, but I didn't have the time to work out how to bend craft sticks to match the prow, so....
It's a little hard to see, but the decks are warped. The craft sticks all bent, curling away from the foam, I think from the moisture of the glue. I hadn't considered that, and while it sort of works for a ruined Frostgrave ship it isn't ideal.
I used cut up sections of chop sticks for the railing posts. It also helped to disguise the ugly work of the sides.
With the decks done, it was time to get to work adding the planks to the hull. Again, with paper...
But since paper curls when wet (just like the wood) it turned into an acupuncture horror story.
Using coffee stirrers I added the railing. Enough cover to hinder ranged attacks, but not block them completely.
Some minis for scale.
And a look at the underside. While trying to sand down the foam I accidentally removed a chunk of the stern. I used some craft sticks to repair/hide the damage.
I skipped taking a bunch of pictures during the painting process, but the lower hull was "fathom green" and the upper section was a blend of orange and brown to make a rust color. The deck I originally painted with a light sand color, but then brushed a medium brown over it. The railings were just the orange without the brown.
Crows nest in progress. I took a Reaper RPG 2" base, drilled a hole in it closer to the edge rather than in the middle so that there would actually be space for a mini to stand in it.
To go with the dragon theme, I mixed the fathom green with some grey and added these scales. It looks okay, and will look better when I add the wings.
The masts are removable for ease of storage/transportation.
This will be the ship's wheel. Just need the actual wheels.
I'm going to add a ring around the top of the nest so it looks less like just a bunch of sticks sticking out of a base.
And here she is at the end of phase 1 with some minis for scale.
For game purposes, I made sure the upper decks are just over 3" so anyone falling off of them will take damage, and the crow's nest is deep enough to hide a treasure from telekinesis spells and high enough that jump doesn't reach it, even from the deck. I also avoided making the ship very ruined, since I want it to be useful in both Frostgrave and potentially in the spin off game Ghost Archipelago.
Phase 2, when I get to it, is going to include the dragon wings and head, adding some doors, stairs, and hatches. I also want to add some yards to the masts, and maybe some rigging, though I'm not sure how well that will work while trying to keep them removable. I might dress up the windows too. And it'll definitely need a name plaque! (once I settle on a name...)
I've also been thinking about making a ring of broken ice that I can set the ship into so that it'll better fit the frozen theme, and also create some fun difficult terrain to get over before the climb onto the ship.
I started out by figuring just how big I wanted this tub to be. I sketched out the basic hull shape, and then started cutting out chunks of foam to build the core of the structure. The I started gluing it all together.
More glue...
As the dragon boat idea seemed to catch my gaming group's interest, I decided to make a wing template to see how it would look. The idea here being that the wing would form the railing for the forecastle and the main deck. Haven't given much thought on how to do the dragon head yet.
Laying down the deck... I do wish I had considered the width of the craft sticks when building the ship. It's hard to see, but the ship is just a tiny bit wider than the craft sticks, so I had to trim some down to hide the gap. Also, building out the stern, I should have made it solid, and not tacked on the bits on the side and back.
Trying to figure out how to handle the curve...
I hate working with paper, but I didn't have the time to work out how to bend craft sticks to match the prow, so....
It's a little hard to see, but the decks are warped. The craft sticks all bent, curling away from the foam, I think from the moisture of the glue. I hadn't considered that, and while it sort of works for a ruined Frostgrave ship it isn't ideal.
I used cut up sections of chop sticks for the railing posts. It also helped to disguise the ugly work of the sides.
With the decks done, it was time to get to work adding the planks to the hull. Again, with paper...
But since paper curls when wet (just like the wood) it turned into an acupuncture horror story.
Using coffee stirrers I added the railing. Enough cover to hinder ranged attacks, but not block them completely.
Some minis for scale.
And a look at the underside. While trying to sand down the foam I accidentally removed a chunk of the stern. I used some craft sticks to repair/hide the damage.
I skipped taking a bunch of pictures during the painting process, but the lower hull was "fathom green" and the upper section was a blend of orange and brown to make a rust color. The deck I originally painted with a light sand color, but then brushed a medium brown over it. The railings were just the orange without the brown.
Crows nest in progress. I took a Reaper RPG 2" base, drilled a hole in it closer to the edge rather than in the middle so that there would actually be space for a mini to stand in it.
To go with the dragon theme, I mixed the fathom green with some grey and added these scales. It looks okay, and will look better when I add the wings.
The masts are removable for ease of storage/transportation.
This will be the ship's wheel. Just need the actual wheels.
I'm going to add a ring around the top of the nest so it looks less like just a bunch of sticks sticking out of a base.
And here she is at the end of phase 1 with some minis for scale.
For game purposes, I made sure the upper decks are just over 3" so anyone falling off of them will take damage, and the crow's nest is deep enough to hide a treasure from telekinesis spells and high enough that jump doesn't reach it, even from the deck. I also avoided making the ship very ruined, since I want it to be useful in both Frostgrave and potentially in the spin off game Ghost Archipelago.
Phase 2, when I get to it, is going to include the dragon wings and head, adding some doors, stairs, and hatches. I also want to add some yards to the masts, and maybe some rigging, though I'm not sure how well that will work while trying to keep them removable. I might dress up the windows too. And it'll definitely need a name plaque! (once I settle on a name...)
I've also been thinking about making a ring of broken ice that I can set the ship into so that it'll better fit the frozen theme, and also create some fun difficult terrain to get over before the climb onto the ship.
Sunday, February 5, 2017
Saturday, February 4, 2017
Chronomancers 9th Doctor and War Doctor
I already shared some of this, but I wanted to put together the whole WIP in one post.
With the conclusion of our Frostgrave campaign and the retirement from adventuring of Elsa and Anna, I need a new wizard and apprentice. Since I've already done a necromancer and elementalist, I figured that I should try something a little less directly aggressive, and since I not too long ago bought a couple of not-Doctor Who minis from Heresy... well... here we are.
I started by cleaning all the bits, sanding down the few mold lines, and assembling them. I then glued each to the top of a bottle of craft paint for ease of holding.
This was all done while watching Fellowship of the Ring.
I then used Reaper's brush on primer, followed by a thinned brown liner.
I didn't spend enough time writing down what I did, mostly because they pained up so quickly! These are seriously nice sculpts. Theme wise I painted their jackets the same, and Dr. Payne's neckerchief and Dr. Nine's shirt were painted the same. I started with a purple color, but quickly shifted more redish.
One I finished the figures, I realized that I needed to do something with the base, so I pulled out the greenstuff and got to work.
Note to self, sculpt the base before painting the minis!!
Then I painted it up and added snow flock.
And done!
With the conclusion of our Frostgrave campaign and the retirement from adventuring of Elsa and Anna, I need a new wizard and apprentice. Since I've already done a necromancer and elementalist, I figured that I should try something a little less directly aggressive, and since I not too long ago bought a couple of not-Doctor Who minis from Heresy... well... here we are.
I started by cleaning all the bits, sanding down the few mold lines, and assembling them. I then glued each to the top of a bottle of craft paint for ease of holding.
This was all done while watching Fellowship of the Ring.
I then used Reaper's brush on primer, followed by a thinned brown liner.
I didn't spend enough time writing down what I did, mostly because they pained up so quickly! These are seriously nice sculpts. Theme wise I painted their jackets the same, and Dr. Payne's neckerchief and Dr. Nine's shirt were painted the same. I started with a purple color, but quickly shifted more redish.
One I finished the figures, I realized that I needed to do something with the base, so I pulled out the greenstuff and got to work.
Note to self, sculpt the base before painting the minis!!
Then I painted it up and added snow flock.
And done!