Video - Louis Zocchi Gamescience Dice 2015!!!

Always love seeing Lou preaching about random number generators! This appears to be from GenCon this year (2015) and i'm glad to see that he's keeping the faith for the dice purist! Preach on Brother! 
 (Daniel Fishers YouTube Channel, Go Subscribe!!)

Hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for stopping by!

FREE: The Uncanny Vault of Deviltry : A dungeon adventure area for an average sized party of level 1 characters.

Deities And Demigods ; Zak's Awesome Take On A Classic!

So over at the blog "Playing D&D With Porn Stars" (need I mention its NSFW?), Zak, artist, published author, porn star, and of course DM Extraordinaire, has an article up on why you should be using the classic book Deities And Demigods of 1st edition Dungeons & Dragons in ALL of your campaigns.


Here is an excerpt from the article:

Let's take a look at the entry for a god we all know......the principle here is: the characteristics of the faith reflect the characteristics of the deity.
So, you pack of mewling quims, take a look at about 3/4s of the way down where it says "Cleric/Druid", "Fighter", "Magic User/Illusionist", etc.
These are actually the chances that a given cultist of Loki will be a member of that class. You start with the highest and work your way down until you get one. So, the highest level is illusionist, and there's a 20% chance. Roll roll...nope. Now we move to assassin--15% chance...roll roll...nope, then Cleric, Druid and Ranger, roll for each in a random order...aaaand bing this Loki cultist is a ranger. If you get no results that means the cultist is an unlevelled schmuck.
This fits the pattern in the book: more powerful gods have more classes and more levels and, therefore, their cultists tend to be classier and more various. 

He's got more goodness about how you can use the book for various purposes, such as rolling up cultists on the spot, how strong a god's pull is in a certain area of a world is, etc.  Its an excellent article all around and one worth bookmarking, or printing out, to have at hand for your next dnd session.

Zak's also the author of Vornheim : The Complete City Kit and for a mere 5 euros you too can own the .pdf masterpiece!

If you have an article you'd like to shine a spotlight on feel free to email me at the link in the contact section above!

Hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for stopping by!

Video : One Ring To SPIN Them All! (or 10!)

A reader, and friend of the blog, Evil Miss Monkey, suggested via email that I check it out this very cool kickstarter project by Aaron and Sam of "Crit Success!"  

It's a set of rings that you can spin for d4 to d20 results!  If you're ever in a pickle and don't have dice on hand, so to speak, you can just look down to yer ring fingers and spin away! 20! Yes! I just crit that Ogre!!!



So this is a new take on an old idea, but with modern tech and manufacturing these guys took the initiative to create a pretty awesome project/product.

There are a few things I'd wish they would have done differently in the design, rather than have the inner band, which spins, ride on top of the ring, I'd rather have it inset to the outer band and flush, similar to various other "gears" and geeky type rings of late, e.g., see images to the left...

Don't get me wrong I really like this idea and can't wait to get my hands on some of these.

Did I mention I love dice? Hehe.  

If you too have a suggestion for and article feel free to email me at the address in the contact section above!

Hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for stopping by!

I'm Between Realms Hehehe...

While I'm actually not "between realms" going back over some old Penny Arcade web strips I found this series. "The Conflux" (click the link to go to the start) 

 [click to embiggen ]

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Video : Announcing Pathfinder Online Tech Demo Kickstarter!

So as some of you might know Bethesda has announced the Elder Scrolls MMO is in development.  World of Warcraft, Eve Online, Warhammer, DDO, and now Star Wars The Old Republic are all entertaining millions of subscribers (where applicable).  


So is the world ready for another MMO?  Paizo is betting it is.  They recently announced the following kickstarter for help in creating a tech demo for the Pathfinder Online MMO, to show investors that the world can handle a new and perhaps radically change(well sort of) the course of MMO gaming forever!  Check out the following video from the kickstarter page:





So do you think Paizo can do it?  I have to admit that the video is light on info, the kickstarter page has a bit more info, but I'm still skeptical.  I would really like for them to succeed but in all honesty either Wizards or Paizo needs to come up with a all in one gaming solution to administer, referee, and play your home rpg game with media agnostic technology (laptops, tablets, cell phones, etc.). (projector included, or not :) )


Hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for stopping by!

Celebrity D&D Game At Gen Con 2010

Yes this is from 2010 not 2011.  We're still all waiting for those videos to appear.  Apparently this is something I missed the first time it was posted to the Wizards of the Coast youtube channel dndwizards. I also gather that many of you might have missed it too, so I've compiled the videos here for you to view at your leisure.   


The videos are after the jump, are of a game of Dungeons and Dragons played gaming celebrities Ed Greenwood creator of The Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, Larry Elmore artist of Snarfquest; also Dragonlance Campaign Setting, Bob Salvatore author of the Dark Elf Trilogy including many others staring Drizzt Do'Urden, and DM'd by none other than the DM to the "stars" Chris Perkins!  


Wow, that's some line up!  Also as you'll see three lucky guests from the audience get to roll the funny multi-sided plastic dice alongside these fantasy illuminaries. (Illuminaries or Illuminati?!)


The encounter itself revolves around the release of the "new" red box, or should I say just after the events of the red box.  Chris Perkins created an adventure that was given as a handout at the event and takes place just after the completion of the adventure in the "new" red box.  


If you would like to DM the encounter you can find and download via this link here.  (If you want to play this adventure then you might want to skip the videos as it would then contain spoilers, so to speak, and certainly don't download and read through the adventure, just forward the link onto your DM).


Here are the videos:

Dungeons And Dragons Is Rubbish!

Well according to Nikolas Llyod that is.  Nikolas has posted a few videos(after the jump) regarding the evolution of Dungeons and Dragons over time and perhaps a better system for "role playing" is Runequest, or so he prefered in his earlier days of gaming.  Nikolas even considers 4th Edition to be nothing more than a "miniatures skirmish game", a view held by many.

FREE - Laboratory or Alchemist Equipment Models for Your RPG!

(click to embiggen)

In the previous post I created a set of easy to construct papercraft tables for you to use with your favorite RPG.  Here is the accompanying accessory which is a set of Jars with ingredients, a alembic (or still), and some laboratory equipment (modern).  You can use these for most all RPG's as decoration in a tavern, alchemist lab, or evil mad scientist lair. 


You can print them out at 300 dpi on 110 lbs cardstock and construct a base, if needed, out of a squished drop of hot glue (or regular glue but then you have to wait forever for it to dry fully) between two pieces of parchment paper.  


What I did was use set my printer to print on a transparency to give a "glass like" effect, which turned out especially well on glass jars but "ok" on the other two.  Experiment and let me know in the comments how you use these in your campaigns or even put up the urls to some action shots!


(click to embiggen and save the image or right click and "save as" the image)

Hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for stopping by!

FREE - Paper Model Tables For Your RPG!

(click to embiggen)

Recently my gaming group was nearing an alchemist lab I had placed in a wizards tower so I needed some tables and alchemist gear to give the idea of a sinister laboratory.  I wanted a basic design and came up with more or less a couple of "boxes", so they are easy to build, and you can knock out a bunch in a sitting or two. Downloads for both a clean set and a grunged up set after the jump...

The Most Kick Ass DnD Commercial Evaaaaa!

Just recently I posted a pure 80's cheeze DnD comercial and was complaining that I really only see Magic the Gathering comercials or advertisements anymore.  So it was a pure awesome to come across this today:


The most kick ass DnD commercial Ever!!!!!!  





Well kinda.  You see I'm not sure if this is going to be an official WOTC TV Ad for the new DnD Essentials Line which features the "new" Red Box Offering, but a few others have indicated they've seen it on hulu, and it goes hand in hand design wise considering the throwback to the old artwork on the redbox and their DnD bus at PAX decked out in all old skewl artwork.  


With that said, the commercial seems to be adapted (cut and paste?) from a 2006 DnD movie competition winner entitled "D&D World of Adventure.  The tv spot uses all the "old skewl" artwork from the AD&D days and especially from the fiend folio.  The World of Adventure video is a full four minutes long and includes additional artwork, some spelljammer spaciness, and two "live" actors dressed as morlocks/starchildren? which are kind of out of place in the whole scheme of things. The full length video is still rock'n and completely has that 80s throwback, if not just a bit cooler.


I'm sure if this was released during the big controversy of devils and demons of the TSR days it would've thrown the Christian right extremists into a full on tisy! hehe.

D&D World of Adventure

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FREE - Bookcase Paper Model

bookcase for rpg's
[click to embiggen]

Hey Everyone, I whipped up this papercraft model last night for use in today's dnd/pathfinder game. Actually I've made a bunch of em! My players have found a "library of sorts" and I needed a papercraft model to elaborate the "stacks" of the library.  I did the usual google search for something that was already available, but I didn't like any of them I found or was unwilling to purchase a .pdf just for a bookcase model.  So I loaded up the graphics app, created a box shape, and found some source material, and applied a few filters and brushes and wa-la, the book case you see before you.  I've included the .jpg below for your building pleasure to use in your own role playing games.  The top shelf are normal books, the second shelf is for scrolls and other parchment rolled up, and the third is a collection of small drawers for specialty storage or components!

The model size is 3 in. x 2 in. x 1 in. and at 300 dpi.  Print it out on some 110 lb card stock and use either regular white glue or hot glue to construct.

Papercraft Bookcase
[click to download]

Hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for stopping by!    

Alternate Red Box Art?

click to embiggen

Found in my RSS Feed for CG GAllery today.  I think this would have been a nice "change" for WOTC to use for the redbox artwork instead of trying for the nostalgia factor (not that I don't love the old artwork, as I do!) 

Artwork is by user Manzanedo

Hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for stopping by!
  

DnD Red Box Mini-Review

Here is my mini-review for the Dungeons and Dragons "Red Box".  Oh did I not mention this is for the 1983 Dungeon and Dragons "Red Box"? Hehe.  Well if you'd like to take a look back at what the original "Red Box" consisted of, not much actually, then read on after the jump!  If you would like to read a review about the 2010 Red Box for 4th Edition, Stargazer's World has a nice little write up!  I don't have the 2010 Red Box so can't give you a review first hand.  I would happly review it if I received a copy from Wizards of course!

Make Your Own Elevation or Depth Game Board

Hey Everyone!  Now that my connection to the "series of tubes" is working again here is one of the articles I've been working on.  Its an article on how you can create your very own Elevation or Depth Game Board out of acrylic pieces on the cheap.  The game boards I made are similar to the commercial product from the nice people over at http://battletier.com/ called Combat Tier.  I believe their basic set is about $29.99 and they have expansions you can use to expand your set.    It appears to be a worth while accessory, however with my budget and my DIY attitude, I figured I could make something similar for a bit cheaper and  more custom for my gaming needs.  If you don't want to spend the time making this yourself then the Combat Tier is right up your ally.

The game boards I created were actually used this past weekend along with my other elevation depth markers.  My players were in a demi-plane of air and were traveling around via fly spells looking for anything that wasn't blue sky and clouds! To make a long story short, pteranodon's were encountered and turned into undead mounts, then griffon's were encountered and they too were turned into undead mounts, then there was a brief battle with one of the "Wizard's Three" (a recent set of villains), a chase through the air, an escape of the Wizard through a portal to yet another demi-plane and the chasing party members almost running head on into an invisible wall of force that was in their flight path.  The boards worked pretty good even if the rules were somewhat clumsy.  I think Gabe from Penny Arcade had it right to make up his own ruleset for his battling free fall into the abyss. (which btw you could use these boards for!)  So if you want to see how to make your own boards, some of the things I did for "expansions", photos and a video on "solvent welding" after the jump!

FREE Sky Tile Texture 8in x 10in

Sky Tile 1in. Grid 8in x 10in
300 dpi

Previously I posted a ocean/deep water tile texture for use as battlemat tiles/hexes and had a request for other terrain types.  My home campaign currently just entered into a demi-plane of air which is why I've been making up "elevation markers" and the soon to be posted "Elevation/Depth" Game Board.  So here are the files for the sky tile texture in a 1in grid, 1.5in grid, as well as a heroscape hex outline and heroscape hex vertices in a 8in x 10in full sheet of paper.  Click on the images and save the full size images and print at 300 dpi from a graphic app instead of from the browser. (rest of the formats after the jump)

Sneak Peak : Elevation Game Board

While previously making my elevation markers I decided to create a elevation game board that was modular and could be configured in a number different ways.  I remembered seeing something out on the market that used acrylic sheets in a 4x4 config and a box tube of varying lengths for various levels.  I think the price was $40.00 for the set up.  

Well my version cost drastically less, or at least I believe I created 4x the amount of space using the same amount of cash.  I'll do a full write up soon but this is just a quick sneak peak(click on the pic below for full view):

The bases are a little more than 1/4 in thick and are very heavy durable acrylic.  I have four of them and they are vary in size (which is why you see the paper doesn't go to the edge, they were from the "ends" box at taps plastic so were very cheap about $2.00 per base.  I used the same dice boxes I used for the other elevation markers as a "sleeve" so another $1.00 the square tubes were just plain and came in 12 in sections (perfect) and cost another $1.00, and I just used a utility knife to mark them into 1 in sections.  The acrylic play surfaces themselves were 5x5 in and cost $1.35 each as i got 8 for about $11 dollars.  So for about the setup you see, its a $10.00 investment.

In the full on post you'll see all of the other different configurations I made.  To glue everything together or actually "plastic weld" i used tap plastics acrylic cement which is water thin and actually melts the two surfaces together and creates a very, very, very, strong bond.  The only thing that is "welded" is the dice boxes to the base and the dice boxes to the 5x5 sheets. I do this so I can slide in various box tubes for various heights (currently have 2 @12in, 2@6in, and 3 @ 4in) or use hollowed out dice boxes as spacers and have other "middle" play surfaces too.  Then put all 4 bases together and you've got a huge 3d play surface.  

Note also the cloud texture i used in the base is just taped on with packing tape so you can put any texture underneath, say water, space, air/clouds/, etc. (might be hard to see in the pic but there is a 1x1 grid on that cloud texture, and I also have a 1x1 in grid on a 5x5 in of transparency which is loose on the lower level.)

Again I'll add more detail in the full post, so keep watching the blog for the post! 

If you have any questions or comments please leave them in the comment section below!  Would love to hear your thoughts on how you work elevation into your games.

Hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for stopping by!

Player Kits

I found this post awhile back and thought it was a great idea!  The post originated on the Heroscapers website  from user winonavampire and he detailed out what a players kit contains for his heroscape games(which can be adapted to dnd/pathfinder or any rpg):

Player Kits:

I wanted to share with you guys something I have had for a while. I am the only one of my gaming group that has 'Scape. I am okay with that because the other guys have their games. I like being able to focus on a couple games so I don't have to buy every game. Anyway, being that I am the one who supplies all fun that is 'Scape, I put together "Player Kits."

They look like this:

They are actually Dentyne Gum Containers that start off like this:

I just peeled all the plastic wrapping off and you get a container like the blank ones you see above.

Lets take a peek into them...

As you can see, there is a bunch of 'Scapey stuff in there.

Here is the contents of each individual kit:

When I am setting up space to play, I set a kit at each seat. That way, everyone has their own set of materials. When the player is finished, they just scoop all their things back into the little jar, close it up and it is ready for the next time to play. I also have a large pool of extra wound counters, in case someone runs out, but 15-20 wound counters in each jar has been plenty so far.

In the case someone needs a special counter (Grenade, Experience Markers etc) those are kept in the individual compartment of the figures that use them. So, the grenade marker is kept in the Airborne Elite compartment etc. When they are done with the marker requirering unit, they just put the counter(s) back with the figs.

Other things I do to make the game easier and flow better:

I have a Reference Binder, which is just a 3 ring binger with top loaders containing every rule rook, scenarios, and the FAQ. (You can kinda see it in the background of the first pic)

Army Cards are kept in a CD Binder separated by General. Obviously commons are stacked together in the same slot. Bonding Squads and Heros are file next to each other, and like units are filed together (All marrow are next to each other, orcs, samurai etc.)

As you can see a pretty slick idea using some tools from around the house.  Depending on how well you know your group you could even customize these containers for each person.  I have a small container with "community dice", though really you should buy a set of your own dice for your character.  These community dice allow my players to grab an extra d6 or 10d6 to use for either back-stabs, fireballs, etc without having to rummage through their collection or ask people for their dice or to sit and roll 10d6 on individual rolls.  So I could see creating a "player kit" for my wizard player and include the extra d6 she needs when casting her fireballs, a few extra d4's for magic missle etc.  For my thief player I could see including a collapsible pen and a mini post it note pad to send me, the DM/GM messages on his alternative activities, etc.  I think that would be a very cool thing to do for players.  Now all I need to do is get rid of all that gum! ;)


If you do this, or have similar ideas I'd love to hear about them!  Feel free to place them in the comments below!

Hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for stopping by!

  

Elevation and Depth Marker : How To

I recently posted a "sneak peek" of what I'm using for an elevation or depth marker when my players either cast a flying or water breathing spell and decide to travel up into the air or down into the depths of the sea.  These are used for single figures and are just a quick way to show that a figure is flying or descending into the depths.  I'm also building (and will document later here) a full elevation platform game board using acrylic sheets similar to some other systems out there but again for significantly cheaper.  

After the jump I've included the instructions and materials list of how you can make your own elevation or depth marker similar to mine.  I'll also show you some alternative methods to indicate height or depth if you don't want to go this route.  Though these elevation markers are some nice gamer bling that your players will absolutely love.

Speaking of gamer bling, I also want to point you to another elevation marker system by one Walter C. Napiorkowski, who sells the Dr. Wizard's Patented Elevation Indicator on the Emerald's Emporiums website.  Walter is the inventor, and patent holder, of his elevation marker which uses an laser etched acrylic rod and some colored elastic bands, similar to hair scrunchies. After some initial concerns with my elevation marker (parties associated with Walter jumped the gun and sent a cease and desist order to me thinking I was selling my elevation or depth marker, which i'm not) were put aside, he explained the process of how he came up with the marker and the materials he uses.  Those materials are why it commands a premium price of $10. I have to agree, as Walter uses premium and durable products in his construction of his device.  Walter uses  optically clear, very dense, light transferring acrylic – the same material used in trophies and engraved awards, and one of the few materials that laser etches in "white" rather than just melts.  As noted he laser etches his acrylic rods and the rods have an indication system for 1 to 1000s of units of measure which is very easy to use and read your current characters elevation.  He also sells add-ons for his product.  You can buy various color bands to color coordinate your figure if you so wish or if you have a larger figure you can get add-ons to accommodate those figures. 

I don't own one of his products, so I've no direct observational data to provide but reviewers seemed to like them and if I didn't have a restricted budget I would have purchased a few of these myself.  Also if you do decide to go for the "golden standard" and pick up one from Walter please go to emerald's emporium's website as other retailers take a "chunk" of Walters profits and we want Walter to continue to do what he's doing!

Now for the tutorial on how to create your own elevation or depth markers or use an alternate method if on a restricted budget like myself...

Make Your Own Resin Water Tiles! - Part 5 and Part 5a

In the previous video, Part 4, I showed you an actual pour of resin into a mold some of the molds I used in creating tiles, along with some results and some mistakes when using that Clear-Lite resin.  Like to point out again that the epoxy I've used, and have had no problems with is the Easy Cast casting resin you can find at Michaels, Jo-Ann Fabrics, Hardware stores, and other craft stores.  

hassle free water tiles

The remaining two videos I show you how to coat the top of your resin tiles with 5 min Epoxy and create that wave pattern or a ripple pattern.  The tile I use  in the video is a tile that was a "mistake", a portent to the hilarity of the other mistake I make in this video when I mix up a little too much resin.  Either way the process is the same with a "good" tile and I'd recommend you only mix up .5 fluid oz or 1 tiles worth of resin at a time.  The second video shows a follow up to my mistake, and how I try to correct the mistake, which I do somewhat.  Eventually I had to do another half coat to blend in the line on the tile (not in the video) but the results are depicted in the 1st post of the series.  This goes to show you however even mistakes can be corrected if  you take the time and learn from them.

Ultimately, however because I was using the Clear-Lite resin, and I can only assume a chemical reaction between the clear-lite resin and the 5 min expoy the tiles are ruined, as the two chemicals caused a crystallizing effect in between the two layers of 5 min epoxy and resin.  I've not seen any of the crystallizing with the easy cast resin which is what I use exclusively for my water tiles.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask them in the comments below!


You can also find the entire series HERE at the d4d6d8d10d12d20 youtube channel!

Hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for stopping by!