Monday, July 31, 2017

Month in Review: July

July was kind of a rough month to try to get stuff done, mostly because of the heat! In the end I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped, but I didn't do too badly either.

The goals for the month were:
Finish the Mailees, the Roman, and the Witch Hunter
Paint the July Hangout Figure of the Month: Ogre
Make a decent dent on at least 1 ReaperCon entry (the ladies above)

Well, I finished the Mailees, and you'll get a post about them on Wednesday.
I am nearly done with the witch hunter, and should get him finished up shortly.
Never did pull out the roman... probably won't before Reapercon.
The ogre is on his way, but still has a way to go...
The ReaperCon diorama entry minis are primed. Well, the heroines are... and I've figured out roughly how they'll be based.



We'll see if I can pull it off.

For August:
Finish the Ogre
Paint the Heroines
Paint the Hangout Figure of August

For the diorama, I'll need to get the base built and the monster painted in September... Still haven't settled on a figure for the painters or the ordnance categories.

And here's what my painting table currently looks like:



Books Read: 41
I've been plowing through Lous McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga, mostly on the subway and at lunch. I also finished Beasts of New York, which was a fantastic novel about a squirrel from Central Park! Didn't expect to like it as much as I did.

I also read:
Star Trek: The Lost Era: Among the Serpents
The Very Best of Charles de Lint
Little Fuzzy
Star Trek The Lost Era: The Sundered which was sadly disappointing.

I'm currently reading Supernatural: Bone Key.

Sunday, July 30, 2017

Sunday Inspirational Image: Cathedral of the Steed



This is one of those random images that I have no idea where it came from. It would look right at home in Vornheim though...

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Stonehell: Reptile Revenge

Session 38a was played on 5/7

Eiric, wizard 3 (Kat)
- torch bearers (JJ Swats)
- men at arms (C, D)
- Namish (dog)
AARon, Thief 1 (Henchman)
Orpheus, Human Fighter 3 (Yann)
Matthias, Dwarf 4 (Julia)
- men at arms (M&M, Nnnn, Ood, P.P.)
- Herrick (dog)
Sarin the Ugly, Human Fighter 1 (Josh)
Menchi, Human Cleric 1 (Laurel)
Daryll (NPC Cleric 2)

Picking up where we’d left off in the dungeon…

Standing over the bodies of the lizardmen in the rough passage, the party realizes they’re in a bad spot, and head back to the big room with the totem pole pillars. There they paused to see if more lizardmen would follow. They did!

Eiric used one of her potent sleep spells to drop the first 5 that dared to poke their heads around the corner. To everyone’s surprise the next lizardman that came around the corner was bedecked in far more ornamental garb, including an elaborate headset. He waved his arms, and suddenly Sarin was overtaken with a bone chilling fear. With a scream, he bolted away from the lizardmen into the dark!!

More lizardmen came around with the shaman, and then another hunting party came from the other direction, joining the melee. The party fights off the rear assault, then charges the lizardmen overrunning the shaman, and his bodyguards. They press their assault through the tunnel and into a large cavern with a big mud hut in the middle. Standing in the doorway of the hut, an even more impressive shaman type lizarman screams “Blasphemer!” Deciding that a high level caster wasn’t worth fighting, they ran back the way they came, straight back to the Quiet Halls.



Sarin ran blindly bumping into walls, turning this way and that, ending up in sitting hurt in a dark corner. He drank a healing potion, but was hopelessly lost. Thankfully a berzerker band found him. They were happy to have everything he was carrying, including a big ruby. In addition to fleecing him down, they drew a penis on his face, then frog marched him to the moving room, and shifted the levers down. The room closed into darkness as they stepped out, leaving him to face whatever was at the bottom alone, and unarmed. As the room came to a rest, the darkness was pierced by several beams of red light, and the sliding of metal on metal. 6 augmented monkeys clanked into the room, illuminating it with the flashes of electrical discharge. They grinned, and hooted, and the last thing Sarin saw was the bright flash of lightning.



From the stairs leading up into the Quiet Halls, the party heads for the back door into Kobold Korners to rest, but are set upon by Darryl’s old pals.It goes poorly for them. Darryl seems to take delight in bashing in their heads.

Once in the Korners, the party takes a night’s rest in the private room. There they meet Josh’s new character, Borumar, the half orc warrior.

Gains:
Kills: Bunch of lizardmen
Losses: Sarin

Sunday, July 23, 2017

Sunday Inspirational Interview: Steel Blood

Taking a bit of detour with today's post. While there's plenty of inspiration in the cover image below, there's also an interview to go with it!
J.L. Gribble, my friend and author published her third novel in the Steel Empires series, Steel Blood, on July 19 (you can order it through these links at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or directly from the publisher, Dog Star Books) and since I know she’s a gamer (she's spent a fair bit of time at my table) I wanted to talk to her about how gaming has influenced her writing.


Let’s jump right into it: How has gaming influenced how you write?
JLG: As a table-top gamer since high school, I think the other players have influenced me more than the mechanics of gaming itself. Gaming involves working together with other people to solve problems, so I’ve never been one for the “lone wolf’ protagonist. My characters are surrounded by friends and loved ones and allies of convenience, who must all work together to solve conflict or escape their current situations. The variety of characters, played by such variety of people, that I’ve experienced over the years definitely helped me realize that relationships are just as important as plot.
In most games, magic systems need some fairly explicit rules to keep the game from imploding. Have you figured out how magic works, or are you winging it, or something in between?
JLG: Definitely somewhere in between. I have structure for how magic exists in my world: different classes of magic, who can use each, what each class specializes in. But the little stuff like spells and shields are more free-form, make it up as I go. The most important rule that I write by, however, is that magic always has a price or cost. Power doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and has to come from somewhere. There is no waving of wands to make problems disappear with no effort.
While I know you’ve written some fanfiction, the Earth of the Steel Empires series is something you developed on your own. You’ve got weredragons ruling your version of China, werewolves ruling the British Empire, and vampires running things in Rome, plus a tiny little Greek-like city-state down at the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay. Can you tell me about how you decided on what to include and how to fit it all together?
JLG: I wish you’d asked me that 15 years ago! Now, it’s all just in my head, as if that’s the way it’s always been: especially the British and Roman Empires. Now, as my world keeps expanding, I pick what I want to write about and then decide how it got there (most other alternate history writers are now very uncomfortable and are not sure why). Once I do decide something, I do the research I need to either back it up or throw the idea out and start fresh. For example, I’m currently writing a later book in the series and I want to introduce the basic ideas of “angels” and “demons.” But how do you incorporate those in a world that doesn’t have major monotheistic religions? So, I wish I could give you an answer that shows how nicely I’ve planned out my entire world, just like I plan every scene in every book before I start writing page one. But nope: I’m mostly making it up as I go.
And speaking of werewolf brits, did you snag that from Doctor Who? And how do you feel about “appropriating” little things like that in books and games? Cheap trick, or fun nod to the other things you love?
JLG: Funny story—I created my world in the late 1990s. I didn’t start watching Doctor Who until 2007. Some things just aren’t original, no matter how hard you try. But I didn’t let that stop me! In my latest book, Steel Blood, I did intentionally incorporate a reference one of my other favorite television series, Stargate. It’s incredibly subtle and nerdy, so I don’t expect very many people to get it. But I know it’s there, and it amuses me, and writers should always write for themselves first.
When running games, you’ve always got to keep on your toes since players will never do what you expect. Do you ever run into that with your characters?
JLG: Since I’m a “plotter,” someone who figures out each scene in the book before I start writing, this doesn’t usually happen in dramatic fashion. I know where I’m going, but I don’t always know how I’m getting there. This is where my characters sometimes surprise me with snippets of dialogue or actions that solve problems I was having with the story. Sometimes they create entirely new problems!
What’s the most applicable part of world building for books that you’ve gotten from games? What’s the best bit you’ve gotten from writing that you’d like to see applied to games?
JLG: As I wrote above, the most applicable thing is that magic should always have a cost. That’s not as clear-cut in fiction, where characters don’t have a mana bar or list of daily spells. But it’s a lesson that I think has made my stories stronger. Conversely, I wish modern video games had more opportunities for diversity in character creation. Some game designers are already doing this beautifully, that’s probably why I love games such as Dragon Age. But I really wish I could play an Assassin’s Creed that features just a female character, not a game that feels like it still needs a male playable option to be acceptable to the masses.
And last question: why would gamers want to read your books?
JLG: Because they’re fun! I play games to relax and turn my brain off. I wouldn’t call my books mindless popcorn, because I don’t shy away from heavy subjects, but I’m not here to teach you life lessons or bludgeon you with political ideaology. I write genre fiction because I want to entertain people, give them an escape from the mundane, and let them explore a world different from our own. Part of why I’d love to see my books adapted for a table-top RPG is because the possibilities are endless. Would you be a mage with water powers? A grizzled half-elven mercenary? A werewolf noblewoman? A vampire politician? In a world as expansive as the Steel Empires, there’s room for everyone. Let me know where you fit.
#
About the book:
As her children begin lives of their own, Victory struggles with the loneliness of an empty nest. Just when the city of Limani could not seem smaller, an old friend requests that she come out of retirement for one final mercenary contract—to bodyguard his granddaughter, a princess of the Qin Empire.
For the first time in a century, the Qin and British Empires are reopening diplomatic relations. Alongside the British delegation, Victory and her daywalker Mikelos arrive in the Qin colony city of Jiang Yi Yue. As the Qin weredragons and British werewolves take careful steps toward a lasting peace between their people, a connection between the Qin princess and a British nobleman throw everyone’s plans in disarray.
Meanwhile, a third faction stalks the city under the cover of darkness.
This is not a typical romance. It’s a good thing Victory is not a typical vampire.
Buy links:
About the author:
By day, J. L. Gribble is a professional medical editor. By night, she does freelance fiction editing in all genres, along with reading, playing video games, and occasionally even writing. She is currently working on the Steel Empires series for Dog Star Books, the science-fiction/adventure imprint of Raw Dog Screaming Press. Previously, she was an editor for the Far Worlds anthology.
Gribble studied English at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. She received her Master’s degree in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, where her debut novel Steel Victory was her thesis for the program.


She lives in Ellicott City, Maryland, with her husband and three vocal Siamese cats. Find her online (www.jlgribble.com), on Facebook (www.facebook.com/jlgribblewriter), and on Twitter and Instagram (@hannaedits).

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Steel Blood

Disclaimer: I read an advanced reviewer e-copy of this book from the author, who is a friend (and one of the former players in my Friday night D&D game). Didn't stop me from buying a dead tree copy for myself!



Yet another fast paced installment of the Steel Empire series. This is another squeal to Steel Victory, as it takes place concurrently to Steel Magic showing what Victory and Mikelos are doing while Kane and Toria were off doing their apprenticeship. Of course, what should be an easy bodyguard contract for Victory ends up turning into so much more...

While it doesn't move the plot elements from Steel Magic forward, don't think this is just a filler novel! Steel Blood brings in plenty more plot elements that have the possibility of reverberating through the author's world. And once again getting to see more of the world is one of the great delights of this series! In this installment we're introduced to the Qin Empire (aka China) and its were-dragon nobility, and the werewolf nobility of the British Empire. I'm really looking forward to seeing what Victory's meddling will bring about in future installments.

As with the other books in this series, it continues to defy easy classification. Yes, it's a fantasy alternative history, yet that only just scratches at the surface. What this series really is about is the characters, and the fact that some of them are wizards and were-creatures is truly incidental to that. This whole saga is the story of Victory and her family, whether they're dealing with the fate of nations, the warping weave of magic, or a pair of star crossed lovers, in the end it's all about family.

Once again, my major complaint is that it's so enjoyable and such a fast read that it's over too quickly. We all have to wait another year before we get the next installment! At least the fact that each book has been better than the last, that year is one of anticipation!

Cross-posted to Goodreads and Amazon

Monday, July 17, 2017

Stonehell: Reptile House of Horrors!

Session 37b was played on 5/5.

Eiric, wizard 3 (Kat)
- torch bearers (JJ Swats)
- men at arms (C, D)
- Namish (dog)
AARon, Thief 1 (Henchman)
Orpheus, Human Fighter 3 (Yann)
Matthias, Dwarf 4 (Julia)
- men at arms (M&M, Nnnn, Ood, P.P.)
- Herrick (dog)
Sarin the Ugly, Human Fighter 1 (Josh)
Menchi, Human Cleric 1 (Laurel)
Daryll (NPC Cleric 2)


Back in town, Matthias hosts a reserved beer tasting. AARon sneaks off and joins the local thieves guild. His experience with dungeon traps is something the local guild is sorely lacking.

Gathering everyone together, and picking up the stock of beer for the Tavern at the Korners, they head back into the dungeon. The trip was uneventful and the handoff of the beer went smoothly (aka no one (Sarin) was required to mop kobold shit). Eiric asked about going out the back way from the Korners into the Quiet Halls, but the kobolds objected to the party stomping in through the back door of their holdings, especially if they keep breaking the locked door. Eiric pointed out that they wouldn’t have to break the lock if they had a key.

Trustee Sniv saw the logic of that, and decided that the kobolds were better kept on the party’s good side. He handed off a key, but demanded a promise that they would keep the door locked.

  • And that they wouldn’t let anything follow them in.
  • And that they’d hand over their weapons to a check point that he’d set up just for them.
  • And that they wouldn’t just go stomping through their homes, and upsetting the pups.
  • And that the occasional luxury good might happen to find its way to him....

Eiric promised, and the party went on its way through the back door of the Korners, into the Quiet Halls, and down the stairs into the Reptile House. Almost immediately they encounter a kobold hunting party returning with a chunk of unidentified meat, as well as their usual tools and weapons. The parties gave each other room to pass, and each continued on their way. Checking out the room the kobolds were leaving, they see a spiked pit trap with some fresh liquid on the spikes.

The next chamber they check has an assortment of elaborate pictographs covering the walls but there’s no time to examine them, as a hunting party of lizardmen lies in wait, and attacks the party! Unfortunately for them, they’re vastly outnumbered and the 4 creatures are cut down. The party has little to show for their efforts, as they were carrying nothing of value.

Moving on they follow along the path that brought them to the room where they lost half the party last time they were down here. While the faint odor of swamp gas still lingers, the area is clear, but also empty of anything of value.

Backtracking to the stairs, the party comes to a chamber with a pedestal atop which is the broken remains of a stone serpent. Beyond they discover the passageway that connects this area to the Asylum. Recognizing now where they were in relation to what they’d previously explored (or the previous members of the party had mapped for them) they went past the elevator into unexplored territory.

A large hall with 4 pillars carved with a variety of stylized reptilian creatures opened before them. From the shadows another lizardman hunting party attacked. As before they were cut down quickly, and once again they carried no treasure. Beyond the pillared hall, the passage became less worked, and the floor was covered in mud with lots of lizardman footprints. Following the twisting passage they came to a lizardman watchpost, with both more lizardmen and a giant crocodile! The party worked hard to concentrate on the massive reptile, taking some hits before killing the creature, then the lizardmen. One tried to escape further down the passage, but only managed a loud warning cry before being cut down.



The session was running late, and we knew we’d all be playing again in 2 days, so we broke my usual rule about ending the session in the dungeon, and paused the game here for the night.



Gains
Kills: 15 lizardmen, 1 giant croc
Losses

Friday, July 14, 2017

Stonehell: Who Runs the Asylum??

Session 37a was played on 5/5. As with most of this group of sessions, the games ran long, and so the reports are split into multiple parts.

Eiric, wizard 3 (Kat)
- torch bearers (A A Ron, JJ Swats)
- men at arms (C, D)
- Namish (dog)
Orpheus, Human Fighter 3 (Yann)
Matthias, Dwarf 4 (Julia)
- men at arms (M&M, Nnnn, Ood, P.P.)
- Herrick (dog)
Sarin the Ugly, Human Fighter 1 (Josh)
Menchi, Human Cleric 1 (Laurel)
Daryll (NPC Cleric 2)

Rested and recovered from their previous expedition, the party returns to Stonehell, and immediately makes for the second level. They take the stairs down, pass by the skeleton whose mother never loved it, poked around in the bone room, once again disturbing the intricate but inscrutable design. Then back to the vampire’s coffin. The charred remains of the coffin revealed nothing. If there was a body there, it was either dust or gone. They took the chain.

The spear trap was again destroyed, and they passed under the well opening, then by the ogres’ workout room, up past another spear trap, this one they disabled. Onto the solarium. Matt**** breaks the weird rocking horse, but replaces it with a creepy doll made out of an empty wineskin. They open the door to the bathing chamber, then head down to the trio of chambers that include the labyrinth.

The great pillared dining hall, draped in cobwebs (and spider webs) which burns nicely after a spray of PowerThirst. The roasted spider falls to the ground with a satisfying crack. Making their way through the hall, they pass by the shattered door to the 3rd level, and into an old dorm room where 3 inmates are just hanging out. They briefly chat with the party, but their incoherent ramblings are less than helpful.

The next room explored has 8 big beetles, most of which are dropped in a 1 or two hits. Nothing of interest or value is found in their nest.

The next door opens into pure blackness. Sarin tentatively pokes at it with his sword. Orpheus grabs him by his backpack, and pushes him into the darkness, holds him for a second, then pulls him back out. As soon as his head clears the blackness, his scream fills the corridor. Deciding that magical darkness and silence isn’t worth investigating, they close the door and move on.

Another old dorm room is found, and then some kobolds fetching water. They insult Sarin, and move on with their barrels. The next room is trapped, but the party spots it and disables the trigger, saving themselves from being smashed by a big stone.

This unfortunately brings them back to the room with the cursed mural. Deciding to blindfold a few members of the party, they test out the effects of the curse. Thankfully not looking at it seems to preserve their sanity, and they successfully make their way around to the door, releasing 6 insane zombies. Darryl prevents them from being any sort of threat, and they’re quickly dispatched. The room they occupy with it’s iron throne is carefully examined, but no one is willing to play the Game of Thrones.

Having now mapped the Asylum, the party backtracks out of Stonehell, pausing only to kill the beetles and centipedes that they encounter on their way.

Gains: Finished Map and XP Bonus for the Asylum
Kills: 10 beetles, 4 giant centipedes, 1 spider
Losses:

Thursday, July 13, 2017

New Terrain Project: Battlefield in a Box

A couple of years ago I embarked on a project to fill a Frostgrave table with terrain for $25. While I never got around to building everything I had planned before moving, I could fill a small table. With my move, I passed that box of terrain on to my old gaming group for their use, and now need to start over. I’m operating under different constraints this time around. Before I was limiting myself by budget. This time the plan is to build enough terrain to again fill a Frostgrave table, but to make it so that it all fits in a paper box. Specifically, this paper box.


Really, this should be not only doable, but pretty easy.
(Famous last words)

Now, I’m already aware of Fat Dragon’s flat fold terrain, and it’s certainly something I’m planning to explore, but paper terrain has never really appealed to me that much. It feels too insubstantial. But I have several sets that were included as part of the Bones III Kickstarter, so I’ll print out a building or two at the print shop around the corner and give it a try.

My initial thought is to make my main focus making a lot of basic walls/corners. Things that will break up line of sight, but not take up a large footprint either in the box or on the table. Ideally most of these walls will have ledges for figures to stand on, and for walkways and ladders to link together to give tactically interesting places for figures to move around on.

Aside from that, I’ve got the graveyard stuff from Bones 3 already. Just need to assemble and paint it up. But what Really would be lacking was some good vertical terrain. Towers, namely, either ruined and open or with balconies/ledges that treasures can be hidden on.

One crazy idea I’ve had lurking in the back of my brain for a while now is to make a completely vertical terrain board. No more than say… 2” deep? But that’s not what I’m planning on working on next, so nevermind.

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

5e FLGS Session 1 Player Recaps

I've been writing session reports for my games for so long now, that having not one but four different players all opt to take advantage of the bonus 100xp is just crazy awesome! I know you probably won't get as big a kick of out reading these as I do, but I hope you enjoy anyway!



Dear Diary,

It's been a long road getting from there to here. So somehow, I've done enough cool stuff and killed enough bad guys to get deputized!!!! How exciting is that! I even got a sparkly badge! I've been lumped in with a group of grumpy grumps to go off to the Badlands. We're supposed to help a group of humans tame the land and battle some goblin guys or something. Human people sure do talk trash about beings they don't know much about! We walked for what seemed like forever and my companions have MUCH longer legs than I, so I am really getting a workout! Luckily, I remembered to pack some extra mushroom snacks for the road! Some of the gang get really grumpy when they're hungry. It's the worst. So the gang is really interesting! There's' a dragon-born guy he's super tough and really tall! and red!!! There's this guy who keeps making magical stuff, but nothing is really doing what he says it's going to do and it's kind of funny. He has a weird gem in his hand and I am trying to get a closer look at it because I know about gems, but it's kind of awkward and he seems kind of secretive about it, so I'm just waiting for the right time. There's a halfling guy who is unusually feisty and seems to like to pick fights. He's more of my size, so that's nice, but he doesn't seem to have mastered the nuances of asking questions before he shoots his arrows. There's also a Kenku. He is really good at mimicking sounds. I wonder if I can convince him to make some cool music with me! There's some guy who seems kinda fancy but is totally trying to slum it. But he is pretty nice. There's an elven monk too. He's pretty quiet and does really good punches and kicks!

Anyhow... We walked for like EVER until we got to the village. I played some music to some screaming babies so we could get some info from the tavern keep. That felt nice! We also found out that there's a weird eyeball head guy freaking people out. Spooky!!!! I am starting to write out some sweet riffs in case we meet him and I can write a song about it. Anyway, We were supposed to check on a farmer who they thought was murdered by goblins. The gang kept talking shit about goblins. I decided right then and there that I was going to make friends with a goblin. ON our way, we saw some goblins washing a dress in a river! Weird right?!!! Anyhow, we killed it. We bickered for while about what we were going to do next and went to the farm. It turns out the goblins were working the farm and seemed to do a pretty good job at it! The farmer was all bungled up and the Kenku fixed him up! It turns out the farmer's daughter is married to the goblin king!!! WHAT?!! We thought maybe she was magic-ed into it, so we bickered about what to do next and decided to set-up a trap of sorts to figure out if that was true. The goblin king and the farmer's daughter came to visit and I played and AMAZING song all about their illicit love. It was epic. It really was because I had to play for a LONG time while the KEnku did some weird magic to find out if she was ensorcelled. It' turns out its TRUE LOVE!!! or at least not magic. SO the halfling was all ready to kill him for no REASON!!!! Luckily Mr. Secretly a lord or some shit offered the king a gift and we were able to make a plan where everyone is happy and now we are going to battle hobgoblins. I am closer to my goal of making a goblin friend!!! Maybe I need to befriend a hobgoblin?

I'm SO EXCITED!



My Dearest Ellinora,

I do not know if you are getting these missives, hopefully my brother spoke true when he said he could pay one of your servants to deliver them. i yearn for the day when we can be together, but until that happy morrow comes to pass I will pour my heart onto these pages for you.

(This paragraph is composed mostly of cliched or strained metaphors relating to Elinora's beauty and professions of undying love.)

My goal of establishing myself started of promisingly. I bought a set of laborer's clothes and, with a suit of mail I bought from one of my family's guardsmen, I received the Duke's badge and was sent to the Borderlands. I met with a varied group of adventurers and was able to blend in as one of the common folk, I doubt they had any idea who I was during our trip. Once at the Keep, we heard tale of many strange things. There were plenty of stories of goblin attacks, but also one of a strange being who's head consisted solely of one giant eye! What mysteries our world holds, how does it blink? Our band decided to investigate a nearby farm that seemed to have been cut off from the community. We set off alongside the river, leading into Goblin territory. After a few hours of walking we spotted a group of Goblins washing something in the river water. Some of the more headstrong members of my group rushed forward to do battle and I, not knowing what else to do, followed to help. We made short work of those small fellows and looked to see what they were doing, it turned out they were washing a woman's dress! At this point the Kenku in our party, a strange one indeed, began cawing at a raven for several minutes. More productively, Wolfsbane the elven monk, tracked the goblins to their lair. He noticed however, that there were quite a lot of them and we determined that discretion was the better part of valor. We decided to resume our course to the farm.

At the farm we saw a strange sight. Goblins working the field while a human man sat on the porch. When we arrived the goblins scattered and we went to talk to the older man. I confess that I was chagrined by our earlier actions, since we attacked those poor goblins without parley or offering a chance of surrender. The man told an interesting tale. It seems his daughter had fallen in love with the goblin king, and he in love with her. When the man tried to bring his daughter home, the king broke his leg. He sent the goblins to work the man's fields in recompense. While the farmer said his daughter had been enchanted by the king I saw the clear parallels in our own tragic tale and decided that I was on the side of love.

My compatriots were not so romantic as I, and set up a plan to determine if the girl was truly a willing bride. We sent work to the goblin king that we had gifts for his wedding and entreated him to meet us at the farm. The gnomish lute-player Marceline would distract them while the kenku would work a ritual he claimed would determine if she was ensorcelled, The rest of us would lie in wait to ambush them if the king was the blackguard the farmer claimed him to be. The king arrived with many bodyguards, but was distracted by a masterful song from Marceline. Our shoddy ambush was quickly discovered and I had to think quickly. Seeing, that the goblin king was a bit of a dandy, I offered him the gift of my velvet doublet as a wedding present. That seemed to mollify him while the bird-man completed his ritual. The farmer's daughter was under no enchantment! It was clear violence would not be the salve for this wound. Diplomacy however, would require the word of more than a handful of unknown adventurers. It was with a heavy heart that I declared myself and signed a letter asking the Baron to meet to negotiate with the goblins. My first challenge as an adventurer was solved by relying on my family name, not a promising start to my goal. Happily however, the Baron and King were able to reach an agreement of alliance, provided we helped the goblins against their enemies. To seal this alliance we were sent to attack a hunting party of hobgoblins, which we dispatched with ruthless efficiency.
I hope I have not rambled overmuch my love. I will write again soon. Until then I remain your eternal servant,

Roland DuKaine



Well Finally. Lorenzo set off, after being deputies, and met the whole group of adventurers (or Co-Workers) like himself and they went together to achieve their first task together.

They had arrived in a small village where they met with a rather rude man who was loyal to the baron. Lorenzo was concerned with the food and board of the group but thankfully it was provided..

The man told us about a group of farmers that lost contact in the area and goblins cause. Putting 2 and 2 together Lorenzo figured the goblins were cause of the trouble.

The group wanted to take rest in the tavern. Which was good because we have been traveling for a few weeks. The food and beer where...less than adequate, but with a touch of magic that problem was fixed.

Setting off to solve the problem we ran to a minor dilemma. 2 goblins were seen mocking washing clothes of humans. In anger, he tried to zap one of the goblins only to discover magic is more crazier and out of control than he thought. He teleported into them

With the help of the team the 2 goblins were quickly disposed of. In discovery the goblin lair was also located however, things amiss, the group headed to the farm.

Arriving at the farm. We discovered that the owner had a broken leg and the daughter eloped with a goblin king.

Fortunately with some clever planning and great diplomacy. We actually found a non violent solution to the matter. Except a clause where we had to remove some hobgoblins. Which a few weeks later we did....



I Ove, halfling rogue went on a strange mission tonight. It took us three weeks to get to this keeper which was on the outskirts of any known land. There was some kind of conflict with goblins who were already living there. I certainly did not want to get into a fight with a bunch of goblins where were living there first.

Our party had two fighters, a monk, a bard, a sorcerer, and some strange non talking bird. I hardly describe the group as battle ready. We did hatch a plan to try and ambush and kill the goblin king - I thought it could work but the bird person of our party convinced us to try diplomacy. By using his magic while dancing, he convinced us that the farmer's daughter was not under a spell. I still think that I could have knock out the king with my shortbow from the roof of the barn.

In the end, it work and the manor of humans and goblins agreed to work together. To satisfy our combat eagerness, we did agree to take on some hobgoblins in the end by ambushing them in some blueberry patch.

The highlight for me was the stealing of 71 gold coin pieces from our unsuspecting fighter who I hear does not care that much about money and has more of it. You can bet that I will be keeping a close watch on him. I think I will spend the next week hanging out in some taverns, playing cards or dice.

Friday, July 7, 2017

Stonehell: Insanity in the Asylum

Session 36(b) was played on 5/3
Eiric, wizard 3 (Kat)
Orpheus, Human Fighter 3 (Henchman)
- torch bearers (A A Ron, JJ Swats)
- men at arms (C, D)
- Namish (dog)
Matthias, Dwarf 4 (Julia)
- men at arms (M&M, Nnnn, Ood, P.P.)
- Herrick (dog)
Sarin the Ugly, Human Fighter 1 (Josh)
Menchi, Human Cleric 1 (Laurel)
Daryll (NPC Cleric 2)


Stayed in town

Back in town Orpheus throws a massive party, and somehow managed to get into the wizards guild, and break the guildmistress’ orary!

Deciding that getting out of town is a good thing, the party grabs some beer for the run to the Kobold Korners, and then heads to the dungeon. They forget to go straight to the Korners, and instead take the stairs down to the Asylum, and then remember. Unfortunately a swarm of stirges descends on them. After killing off the pests, they swap the beer, and head back to the Asylum.

Checking out some of the more easterly rooms of the Asylum, they first check a room covered completely in strange writing. They make note of it, but don’t spend any time examining the room. The next couple of rooms are abandoned, but for the body of a long dead dwarf. They snag the silver gambling bars he had tucked in his money belt.

A chamber of barrels and crates turns up a surprising amount of treasure, and Matthias makes a mess smashing everything open. The smell of vinegar and other rank fluids will linger a while. Thankfully gold and silver don’t hold onto scents very well.

Beyond a door marked “Disturb Not The Slumber of IT!” They find a coffin wrapped in heavy chains, draped with cloves of garlic. Because, of course they opened the door… Passing around stakes and torches, they get ready to face whatever (vampire) might be within… And then light the coffin up with Power Thirst!

The black smoke that billows up from the dry wood of the coffin quickly fills the room. They close the door, and move on.

The next chamber visited whispers madness in the ears of all who enter the room. Sarin, Matthias, and Orpheus all seem to speak with some otherworldly voice that answers 3 questions…

Sarin
Q: Are we in danger?
Yes
Q: Can we make it out of this room alive?
Yes
Am I a fighter?
Yes

Matthias
Q: Do I have to kill you?
No
Q: Do I have to kill the vampire?
No
Is there treasure to be found in this room?
Yes

Orpheus
Q: Can we just walk out of the room?
Yes
Q: Are you evil
Ehh….
Q: Secret Doors?
Yes

The party searches the room but finds no treasure or secret doors. Moving on back toward the auditorium where the evil faries live, the party checks out another empty room covered in scrawled writing, and then into a large chamber covered with a mural of a mass of people. The painting seemed to subtly shift as they looked at it, and they started to see people they knew in the crowd. This bent the minds of several party members, including D, PP, Namish, JJ all of whom attacked either the walls of the rest of the party. C, Herrick, Nnnn, and Ood all just stood around dumbly. Those significantly unaffected grabbed the others and dragged them out of the room. Deciding that was enough for one day, the party headed back to Kobold Korners for some food and rest.

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Stonehell: Feeling Cocky, and Suffering For It

Session 36(a) was played on 5/3

Eiric, wizard 3 (Kat)
Orpheus, Human Fighter 3 (Henchman)
- torch bearers (A A Ron, JJ Swats)
- men at arms (C, D)
- Namish (dog)
Matthias, Dwarf 4 (Julia)
- men at arms (M&M, Nnnn, Ood, P.P.)
- Herrick (dog)
Sarin the Ugly, Human Fighter 1 (Josh)
Menchi, Human Cleric 1 (Laurel)
Darryl (NPC Cleric 2)

Stayed in town
Bisimwa, Human Fighter 1 (Jordan)
Kili, Dwarf Cleric (Matt)
Leroy, human fighter 3 (Mike)
Unnamed, Elf 1 (Nicole)
Karlaih, Human Thief 5 (Mollie)
Tink, a pretentious Elf (but I repeat myself) and former barkeep (Hanna)
Shelly, a vegetarian recovering alcoholic halfling Thief 3 (Nadia)
Frank, halfling 1 (Emily)
Yaqen, elf 1 (Shaun)

Feeling a sense of purpose (mapping every room in the dungeon! Or at least level 1...) the party gathers everyone together and enter the benighted halls… And Darryl decides that being an active member of the party might be better than being tied up and dragged along.

Going straight for the (un)Contested Corridors and directly to the dilapidated hall, then bank over toward the chamber of the desert where a small group of goblins lurks beyond the portcullis with bows. While they get a few shots off, the party barrels through both the gate and the goblins, catching them in the hall as they ran, and cutting most of them down.

Continuing down the corridor they zig-zag around the chamber of jungles, to the east hall, and then back around to the chamber of meadows. Heading up out of the chamber, Matthias notes that there’s a secret door in the hallway, and they find it connects to the old empty guard room.

Once in the chamber of the mountains, the party banks toward the hall leading to Kobold Corners, and stops at an unchecked door. Eiric opens it up to reveal a large dusty kitchen. He doesn’t notice the footprints in the dust, and is bashed in the head by a goblin with a frying pan, dropping hard to the ground. The rest of the party swarmed into the room, and slaughtered the goblins before they landed another solid blow. Daryll rushes over and uses his divine gift to heal Eiric.

Feeling confident in her party Eiric checks out the next room (this time not alone) but still manages to stumble into danger. This time literally, as she puts her foot in a rusty old bear trap! Whether from the trauma or the shock, she again drops. The trap is pried from her leg, and again Daryll calls upon his divine gift.

As the Korners were so near, the party returned there to rest. Trustee Sniv met up with them in the tavern, and seeing Sarin told him that he was cut out of the deal, and that if he didn’t perform a task for the kobolds, he wasn’t welcome. He agreed immediately, and was handed a mop, and taken down the hall. The party followed to see what would result. The midden stunk to high heaven! And he got to mop the whole area. The grime covered reliefs carved into the walls were only of interest in that he had to clean them. Thankfully he didn’t have to get into the pit in the middle of the room.

After recovering a bit the party headed back to town.

Gains: Darryl
Kills: 10 goblins
Losses:

Monday, July 3, 2017

Black Orc Sharpshooter

June’s Reaper Forum Hangout Figure of the Month was the Orc Sharpshooter. In continuing the theme of filling the more common slots of a Frostgrave Warband with various humanoid monsters, this guy can serve as either an archer or ranger. I got this mini originally with my Bones I kickstarter, and painted him up years ago. This version I ordered and painted at the same time as Blacktongue, so there’s a lot of overlap. Also, because I was trying to keep my orcs all themed, color-wise, he looks a lot like the Orc Shaman and the black orcs I painted before.









After washing, scraping mold lines, and attaching to the cork with hot glue, I base coated him with Reaper’s Brown Liner. I started the the flesh with Void Blue, working in some Royal Purple and Icy Violet. The purple is most noticeable around the nose, lips, and knuckles. The finger nails are Icy Violet, while the teeth are linen white.



The fur vest and boot cuffs started with mountain grey, working up to cloudy grey, then up with linen white. The armor and skirt/undershirt were both base coated with Dragon Red. The armor was then painted with scorched metal, then shadowed steel. The skirt was highlighted with a mix of Dragon Red and Marigold Yellow. The bindings on the bow were painted with scorched metal. The dagger cross guard and pommel were painted with Dragon Brass.



Unlike the gnolls, the orc’s leather was done with Ebony Flesh, lightened up a bit with polished leather for highlighting. The main part of the quiver was I think a mix of nut brown with polished leather with the upper cuff, bottom cup(?) and lacing was mostly polished leather. The fletching was Cloudy Grey, followed by a Linen White dry brush. The bow was also painted with polished leather, eventually. I had started with a darker color, but it just didn’t work, and it looks better with the lighter color. I figure it’s a horn blow maybe? The boots and dagger sheath are nut brown with some polished leather/nut brown mix highlighting.





The base so far is Mountain Grey, and like the gnolls, and most of the other minis I’ve been doing lately, will wait until my Base Boss kickstarter to come in before being finished off.

Once the warband is all put together, I’m not sure how he’s gonna feel about being potentially bossed around by either the goblin apprentice or captain… Somehow I think it’ll be easier with Blacktongue than it will be with this guy. He’s too smart for his own good.

Anyway, here he is finished with the version I painted before! Definitely an improvement!!







Saturday, July 1, 2017

Month In Review: June

Gonna try to do a “monthly wrap-up and goals for next month” post every month. This will mostly focus on minis, but we’ll see how it goes.

For June, I completed May’s Hangout Figure of the Month, the gnoll archer, along with a gnoll trooper from Bones II. I also completed the Black Orc Archer June Hangout Figure of the Month (which will be posted about on Monday)
Bones 3 arrived, and my lovely bride picked the werebat for me to paint first. It's just about done.

He's more done than this, but I haven't taken any more recent pics.

I haven't worked on the Roman Centurion at all, but with the release of 40K 8th edition, I was inspired to paint something from that line. It turns out the only figure I have with me though is a limited edition Witch Hunter from... the early 2000's? Anyway, he doesn't have much paint on him yet.


I'm also cleaning up mold lines on these ladies for a ReaperCon entry.


As this is the halfway point in the year, it’s also a good time to figure out just how many minis I’ve painted… And a quick could the total comes to 20! Goblins, Orcs & half orcs, Gnolls, Elves, and Time Lords & phone box. Plus I made a ship.

Not bad! If I can keep up this rate I should be able to paint upwards of 40 minis by the end of the year. According to my calculations, that should mean that I’ll run out of minis sometime around 2080! If I don't buy anymore. Heh... I'm hoping that I'll actually come closer, or even break 52 minis by the end of the year. With a bit of a push I should be able to make it.

I also got to play a game of Frostgrave, and kicked some serious ass (more thoughts on that on Tuesday). And I've got 2 weekly D&D games going, which is a little crazy, and a lot great!

Next month’s minis goals
Finish the Mailees, the Roman, and the Witch Hunter
Paint the July Hangout Figure of the Month: Ogre
Make a decent dent on at least 1 ReaperCon entry (the ladies above)


Books Read: 29 (so far this year, not this month)
Since moving I’ve gotten a whole bunch more reading done. Just getting the time during my commute and at lunch time, plus sometimes reading at the park with the girls in the afternoon has made a huge difference! Definitely going to hit my goal of 60 books this year. And for the first time in years, it isn’t going to be mostly audiobooks!

I’ve been on a bit of a Bujold Vorkosigan Saga kick, plowing through the series. Going back into May, I’ve ready everything through Memory, and only stopped there because I didn’t have it on the kindle.

I also read one of the Supernatural books I picked up at Balticon (it was okay)

The Arabian Nights: Their Best-Known Tales, published in 1909, and free on the kindle. Of the 200+ stories in the traditional tales, this slim e-volume only has 10, and while I’m no scholar of fairy tales or the Arabian Nights, nor very experienced in translations of Arabian to English literary works, I can tell you that this free e-book was maybe worth the price.

I'm currently reading The Best of Charles de Lint and Star Trek The Lost Era 2298 The Sundered.