Sunday, March 1, 2015
Sunday Inspirational Image: The logical choice
Friday, February 27, 2015
How and Where I Prep - February RPG Blog Carnival
This month's RPG Blog Carnival is hosted by Leicester's Ramble, and the topic is about when and where you write and/or do your game prep.
Most of my prep is done in the evenings, usually too late in the evenings, as both my energy and creativity are flagging. But that's usually when I have free time. Free time to write it down, anyway. I spend about 3 hours a day in the car, 4 days a week, and I hate for those to be wasted hours. A lot of the time I listen to audio books, mull over ideas in my head, and even try out NPC voices where no one else can hear me.
My computer is in the corner of my dining/game room, in an overly large corner desk. I usually have one or both of my dogs at my feet, and some movie soundtrack playing in the background. Lately it's been a lot of Tron Legacy, John Carter, Star Trek (various), and of course Conan the Barbarian. Tonight, as I write this, it's Star Trek The Next Generation Best of Both Worlds.
I keep my books handy. In the picture above it's the Rules Cyclopedia and the 5e Monster Manual. Not in the picture, but within easy reach are the DCC core book, the rest of my 5e books, Castles and Crusades PHB, Frank Mentzer's Basic D&D, and a number of zines as well as my dice.
What I work on depends. Sometimes it's just a random (or like this one, not so random) blog post. If it's a session report, I'll have my notes handy. If it's session planning, then it depends on what game I'm prepping for. Standard is whatever rulebook is appropriate. Lately that means 5e.
For my Wednesday night Adventure's League, I'll also have the Horde of the Dragon Queen book handy, as well as the Hack & Slash remix pages up on the computer.
My Friday night Weird New World group, I'll have a couple of Dyson's zine's handy, as well as Vornheim and my copy of Michael Curtis' DCC Adventure The Chained Coffin.
For Saturday's Stonehell game, obviously the main book is Michael Curtis' Stonehell volume 1. I'd have volume 2 handy, but I'm still waiting on Curtis to get the damn thing published!
So how and where do you do your prep?
And if you want to get ahead of the game, March's topic is Best GM Ever, hosted by Creative Mountain Games
Most of my prep is done in the evenings, usually too late in the evenings, as both my energy and creativity are flagging. But that's usually when I have free time. Free time to write it down, anyway. I spend about 3 hours a day in the car, 4 days a week, and I hate for those to be wasted hours. A lot of the time I listen to audio books, mull over ideas in my head, and even try out NPC voices where no one else can hear me.
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| Super helpful Alicemonster the Charismatic |
My computer is in the corner of my dining/game room, in an overly large corner desk. I usually have one or both of my dogs at my feet, and some movie soundtrack playing in the background. Lately it's been a lot of Tron Legacy, John Carter, Star Trek (various), and of course Conan the Barbarian. Tonight, as I write this, it's Star Trek The Next Generation Best of Both Worlds.
I keep my books handy. In the picture above it's the Rules Cyclopedia and the 5e Monster Manual. Not in the picture, but within easy reach are the DCC core book, the rest of my 5e books, Castles and Crusades PHB, Frank Mentzer's Basic D&D, and a number of zines as well as my dice.
What I work on depends. Sometimes it's just a random (or like this one, not so random) blog post. If it's a session report, I'll have my notes handy. If it's session planning, then it depends on what game I'm prepping for. Standard is whatever rulebook is appropriate. Lately that means 5e.
For my Wednesday night Adventure's League, I'll also have the Horde of the Dragon Queen book handy, as well as the Hack & Slash remix pages up on the computer.
My Friday night Weird New World group, I'll have a couple of Dyson's zine's handy, as well as Vornheim and my copy of Michael Curtis' DCC Adventure The Chained Coffin.
For Saturday's Stonehell game, obviously the main book is Michael Curtis' Stonehell volume 1. I'd have volume 2 handy, but I'm still waiting on Curtis to get the damn thing published!
So how and where do you do your prep?
And if you want to get ahead of the game, March's topic is Best GM Ever, hosted by Creative Mountain Games
Thursday, February 26, 2015
New Magic Item: Guild Of Maintainers Lamp
"This is a heavy duty door for a sewer..." Nimble scratched his chin. "But I don't actually think it's locked."
"And no sign of traps?" Allianora asked.
"Nothing. Just this old writing." He pointed to the ancient script circling the door's wheel. "Feris, do you know what it says?"
Feris closed his eyes and muttered something under his breath. When he opened his eyes, they were solid gold in color. "It's an invocation to order, and a place name... I think."
"You think?" Rathgar asked.
"Have you ever heard of a place called URU?"
"I have." Allianora answered. "It was a great and ancient city of mechanical wonders. According to the old stories even the angels on their cathedrals were animated.
"If the condition of this door is any indication, we can hope some of those wonders are well preserved within." Nimble smiled and reached for the wheel. With a grunt it gave way, and the latches withdrew into the door. Rathgar reached out and helped pull the heavy door open. Within, the small chamber was lit by a single lantern. THe walls were covered in strange colorful drawings tacked up on wooden boards. The only furniture was the table the lamp rested on, it's light as steady as any magelight.
"Hua..." Nimble sighed. "I was hoping for something a little more... more."
URU Guild Of Maintainers Lamp by by *Pirkleations
This magical lamp casts light as a normal lamp, and anything within it's light magically resists the effects of entropy. It is not a full immunity, but food left in it's light will easily last for a century or more without spoiling. In addition the light acts as a protection from Chaos spell. A side effect of the spell, is that games of chance can not be played in it's light. For example, shuffled decks of cards will sort themselves in order from lowest suit and number to highest.
"And no sign of traps?" Allianora asked.
"Nothing. Just this old writing." He pointed to the ancient script circling the door's wheel. "Feris, do you know what it says?"
Feris closed his eyes and muttered something under his breath. When he opened his eyes, they were solid gold in color. "It's an invocation to order, and a place name... I think."
"You think?" Rathgar asked.
"Have you ever heard of a place called URU?"
"I have." Allianora answered. "It was a great and ancient city of mechanical wonders. According to the old stories even the angels on their cathedrals were animated.
"If the condition of this door is any indication, we can hope some of those wonders are well preserved within." Nimble smiled and reached for the wheel. With a grunt it gave way, and the latches withdrew into the door. Rathgar reached out and helped pull the heavy door open. Within, the small chamber was lit by a single lantern. THe walls were covered in strange colorful drawings tacked up on wooden boards. The only furniture was the table the lamp rested on, it's light as steady as any magelight.
"Hua..." Nimble sighed. "I was hoping for something a little more... more."
URU Guild Of Maintainers Lamp by by *Pirkleations
This magical lamp casts light as a normal lamp, and anything within it's light magically resists the effects of entropy. It is not a full immunity, but food left in it's light will easily last for a century or more without spoiling. In addition the light acts as a protection from Chaos spell. A side effect of the spell, is that games of chance can not be played in it's light. For example, shuffled decks of cards will sort themselves in order from lowest suit and number to highest.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Green men
The road plunged into the mist filled gullie. The sides of the path were thick with a wide variety of leafy plants that grew thick, limiting line of sight even more than the mist.
"Are we really going through there?" Feris sighed.
"That's where the road goes, and we need to get on..." Allianora fidgeted in her saddle. "It smells... spicy?"
Nimble breathed deeply "It smells like an opium den"
"Maybe we should go around" Rathgar grumbled. "But according to the map, it's going to add days to the trip."
"I think it's better than going into that, don't you?" Nimble asked.
From within the mist, glassy eyes blinked slowly, and gills breathed out another puff of mist.
Green Men
Armor Class: 8
Hit Dice: 2* (S)
Move: 90' (30')
Attacks: Claw/Claw
Damage: 1d3/1d3
No. Appearing: 2d6 (2d8x4)
Save As: D1
Morale: 7
Treasure Type: C
Intelligence: 8
Alignment: Neutral
XP Value: 25
Green Men are related to lizard men, but like pandas they have abandoned meat eating in favor of a plant based diet. As they did not evolve for a herbivorous life, the digestive repercussions are unique. The Green Men constantly release an intoxicating gas. Any area inhabited by Green Men quickly becomes saturated with the gas, and anyone entering the area must make a saving throw vs poison every turn or spend the turn incapacitated, able only to move at half speed, and suffering a -6 penalty to armor class and any action that would require a roll. Thankfully, Green Men are both cowardly and generally non-violent. That doesn't stop them from gnawing on a hapless mammal that becomes overly intoxicated in their midst.
"Are we really going through there?" Feris sighed.
"That's where the road goes, and we need to get on..." Allianora fidgeted in her saddle. "It smells... spicy?"
Nimble breathed deeply "It smells like an opium den"
"Maybe we should go around" Rathgar grumbled. "But according to the map, it's going to add days to the trip."
"I think it's better than going into that, don't you?" Nimble asked.
From within the mist, glassy eyes blinked slowly, and gills breathed out another puff of mist.
Green Men
Armor Class: 8
Hit Dice: 2* (S)
Move: 90' (30')
Attacks: Claw/Claw
Damage: 1d3/1d3
No. Appearing: 2d6 (2d8x4)
Save As: D1
Morale: 7
Treasure Type: C
Intelligence: 8
Alignment: Neutral
XP Value: 25
Green Men are related to lizard men, but like pandas they have abandoned meat eating in favor of a plant based diet. As they did not evolve for a herbivorous life, the digestive repercussions are unique. The Green Men constantly release an intoxicating gas. Any area inhabited by Green Men quickly becomes saturated with the gas, and anyone entering the area must make a saving throw vs poison every turn or spend the turn incapacitated, able only to move at half speed, and suffering a -6 penalty to armor class and any action that would require a roll. Thankfully, Green Men are both cowardly and generally non-violent. That doesn't stop them from gnawing on a hapless mammal that becomes overly intoxicated in their midst.
Monday, February 23, 2015
#6MMRPC Were-shark Nun and Gorgon
With the arrival of Bones II I've been feeling a little more motivated to actually make some progress. I guess the addition of 207 new minis will do that... and on top of that Friday night my usual game got canceled, so I asked over on G+ what mini I should work on next. The answers were Nun with the gun, Were-Shark, and Gorgon.
So this is what I accomplished:
Doing a bit of color blocking here.
For the Nun, I painted her outfit in walnut brown and bone as the base colors. Linen will go over the bone.
The Gorgon got a heavy drybrush of gunmetal over walnut brown.
The were-shark got the most attention with a base coat of Stone grey followed by a blue-grey mix (Denim and Stone) for the upper half, and bone over the lower half. The bottom is going to need some more smoothing out, and lightening. I might even try the same linen over the bone as I'll be doing for the nun.
I had a bit left over Old Rose Pink from the sharks mouth, so rather than waste it I pulled out the brain monster and added him to the mix. It then got the same blue-grey and bone colors I used on the were-shark.
So this is what I accomplished:
The Gorgon got a heavy drybrush of gunmetal over walnut brown.
The were-shark got the most attention with a base coat of Stone grey followed by a blue-grey mix (Denim and Stone) for the upper half, and bone over the lower half. The bottom is going to need some more smoothing out, and lightening. I might even try the same linen over the bone as I'll be doing for the nun.
I had a bit left over Old Rose Pink from the sharks mouth, so rather than waste it I pulled out the brain monster and added him to the mix. It then got the same blue-grey and bone colors I used on the were-shark.
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Friday, February 20, 2015
1 week until Charm City Gameday!
Next weekend will be my 4th Charm City Gameday event at Games and Stuff in Glen Burnie and I can't wait. I'm going to be trying out Mongoose's Traveller, and getting to play in a 5e D&D game. If you're local, there's still time to sign up and get in on a game!
If those don't tickle your fancy, there's also Lamentations of the Flame Princess, Shadowrun, Dragon Age, C&C, DCC, Marvel Heroic RPG, , Godlike, Hollow Earth, Dresden Files, Danger Patrol, and Torchbearer, so there's something for everyone!
So sign up and get your game on!
If those don't tickle your fancy, there's also Lamentations of the Flame Princess, Shadowrun, Dragon Age, C&C, DCC, Marvel Heroic RPG, , Godlike, Hollow Earth, Dresden Files, Danger Patrol, and Torchbearer, so there's something for everyone!
So sign up and get your game on!
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