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Post by tauster on Apr 23, 2015 6:14:35 GMT
put a big pile of treasure int he middle. i can swear they will get there eventually. The PC who are the most likely* to do that campaign are between level 9 and 12 (2nd edition ADND), so they have access to all kinds of spells that let them get treasure from afar without being there physically * My group's players have several PC, so we can have sidetrek adventures whenever only a few us them have time to play. In theory this ensures we can play more often, at the price of having several story strands at different points of the timeline which can cause a huge mess. Should they decide to let their 2nd tier characters (mid-level) ask their main PCs (high-level), then baiting them with treasure will probably not work... |
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Post by DnDPaladin on Apr 24, 2015 4:01:05 GMT
who said they could take it by magic ?
if you let your players use magic to get out of tight spot all the times. then something is seriously wrong in your game.
its like the kid that plays my game, always openning doors looks inside, nothing closes the door. i told him many times that doors can be trapped. and seriously one day it will explode in his face.
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Post by tauster on May 3, 2015 6:37:40 GMT
I found on Jay's youtube channel a neat idea how to use zip ties. They got some interesting technical-looking texture that fits in any SciFi theme but is also good in a dwarven environment: How to Create a Space Hulk Themed Base |
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Post by tauster on May 13, 2015 18:28:41 GMT
I found a nice lump of gypsum or something similar at my neighbor's construction site that went strait to the crafting table - there's always more room for old, rusted metal slag (or dross, as we dwarven metalworkers say) in an abandoned dwarven mine! Primed with cheap silver color (not the expensive miniature colors) and washed twice with thinned-down black  Drybrushed with Boltgun Metal, an iron color that has a very nice hint of golden sheen. Totally love that one!  I usually drybrush the rust effect simply with orange, but since I never mixed miniature colors, this was a good opportunity. No real new insights there, only that the amount of color was way too much for a little bit of drybrushing, so I saved the remainders in a screw tube. Btw: These tubes were one of the best crafting investments I ever made. They're worth every cent.  I'll glue it on a strong cardboard base to keep it from breaking, and call it finished.  |
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Post by tauster on May 15, 2015 18:46:39 GMT
Found some more of the same stuff, and this time I remembered taking a shot before painting it:  This stuff would probably look great when painted as flesh terrain or in a skin tone, but rusted metal slag is more useful to me at the moment. Primed in silver  |
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Post by teazia on May 15, 2015 23:21:46 GMT
Lookin great T. Happy to see my red neck resin being put to such good use.  |
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Post by tauster on May 25, 2015 15:26:10 GMT
One piece finished, two to go...  |
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Post by tauster on Jun 22, 2015 20:27:05 GMT
Just as I wanted to throw away that empty box of chocolates, I got that familiar urge to keep it because of those shapes: It's a perfect mould for making machine parts for the dwarven mine.  But then again... I don't need so many of those pieces. Maybe i can save myself the casting by simply cutting out the individual pieces and use them as is?  Sure, the flimsy thin plastic needs to be reinforced, but that's easily done by stuffing something inside. Cut 'em out, glue 'em on cardboard bases, paint 'em up. Sounds easy and quick. But then again...again: They're way too smooth. So casting is probably the better way to go. I see a new paper maché project in the making. Decisions, decisions...  |
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sotf
Advice Guru
Posts: 1,084 
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Post by sotf on Jun 24, 2015 4:21:31 GMT
If you're still looking for ideas on the look of things, Lord of the Rings Online is free to play, and Moria is a place that is particularly well done in it.
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Post by chiefsgtbradley on Jun 24, 2015 21:56:40 GMT
Hey i have these boxes, too. Coincidence? I think not^^
I've poured some plaster in it (only cover a couple milimeters thick) for bases, techy aplications, blast doors, vents and stuff like that.
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Post by tauster on Jun 25, 2015 15:14:45 GMT
If you're still looking for ideas on the look of things, Lord of the Rings Online is free to play, and Moria is a place that is particularly well done in it. Thanks for the tip! I have no time for actually playing the game just to walk through Moria, but I can try looking for in-game screenshots... |
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Post by tauster on Oct 22, 2015 19:46:09 GMT
Just got a call from one of my players: The crew hasn't got anything to do tomorrow, so they were asking for a Combat Room session. Of course I said yes. I'll wing an (almost-)all-dwarven adventure for them: They are he leaders of a small dwarven army called the Mithril Legion. Yes, they will command a small army, lets say 50 dwarves, which is a dozen for each player. Won't help them much though...  They will have successfuly stormed one of the goblin-and-orc-infested former dwarven kingdom's gates, only to stumble through a portal that leads them into the deepest reaches of the Mines. That's where the night's adventure wil start: They find themselves in the heart of their former kingdom, amidst the ruins of the fabled forge of Thetyamar. They will quickly discover that there are creatures far worse living down there than the goblinoid rubble they fought until then. I'll send some planetouched Worghest against them (got a couple of Rackham's Wolfen minis I want to use for months - these giant werewolf minis are about double the size of a standard human mini!), plus a wildcard fraction of shadar kai (shadow fey with a sadistic hit and run fighting style) that attack both sides (depending on the drama of the situation). I might throw in some undead and some slimes, plus a few crazy derro mages. And if it goes south with them too fast, there's a human order of Tempus or Lathander (haven't decided yet) that will come through the portal to their help. The overall goal is to steadily whittle their army down, so that in the end of the evening, the last of them dies within sight of the gates. Sounds cruel, but that story is basically an obscure part of the background history of our campaign. I have written a handout (translated from one of the Forgotten Realms books, really) featuring Thetyamar's history yome years ago and I'm pretty sure they will have all but forgotten about it. Can't blame them - heck, I would have myself too. So after the game is over, I'll simply read them that handout again. Can't wait to see their faces when they realize that they just wrote history.  |
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Post by tauster on Oct 24, 2015 13:01:34 GMT
Dont have the time for a large session report, but here are some pictures and some a few notes... 3 players with 2 PCs each, plus about 45 fighter NPCs around lvl 4-5. That's the Mithril Legion. - The leader of the party was a lvl 10 fighter, then we had... - a lvl 8 barbarian, - a lvl 8 fire mage/alchimist - a lvl 8 cleric of dugmaren brightmantle - a lvl 6 thief - a lvl 6 earth elementalist mage. The conquered entry hall. where the session's fighting took place. We didn't make it further down into the mine as the 1sthalf of the game night was spent statting out the party (which was fun too).  Orks on a flying weapon platform. Fun!  A mysterious headless figure (dark blue mini in the right lower corner) summons slimes that surround the NPC dwarves and kill more than a dozen. A shock moment for the players! ...and a cool way to use a damaged mini I had bought completely painted but without a head.    The barbarian finds a worthy opponent, after killing orcs left and right with single blows (Strength 20 --> +8 damage!)  After clearing out the hall, they stormed down the dungeon to clean out a still-undiscovered secret door behind which is a dwarven armory full with precious weapons and armor, much of it supposedly magical. So they stormed down the tunnel. After clearing out the blackouts, they discovered they they had run into foul orcish circle magic with a demonic taint... that teleported them into a vast natural cavern in the underdark, way below the Kingdom of Tethyamar.  Half a dozen leaders (the PC), plus ten dwarven followers. at least nobody seemed to attack them on the spot. Which was all of the good news: The have no clue where they are and how to get back. Their supplies are only what they hae in their backpacks. Now they have to find a way back, and hope to somehow still succeed in their mission... We had a fun night, and sneaking that much background in means that the players are motivated to follow the session up asap to see how the story develops. |
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Post by curufin on Oct 24, 2015 13:37:46 GMT
Love it! It's great to see some pics of crafted terrain and minis on the table and to hear bits and pieces of the story. Dammed orcish circle magic with a demonic taint! Running low on supplies, fending off mosters, not knowing where they are or how to get out.....that is the stuff of legends....at least they can see in the dark!
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Post by tauster on Oct 24, 2015 13:40:46 GMT
When I started writing up the game reports, I figured that sharing pics of the stuff I crafted used in action would add a little bonus, as would adding some of the story. Nice to see that I seem to have been on the right track. |
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Post by tauster on Oct 25, 2015 8:14:04 GMT
When preparing the terrain for the amesession, I remembered that I don't have any kind of stairs. I had that on my to do list for ages, but never really came around to do some. We didn't need them on friday, but it brought that project again to the top of the list. Here's a very quick build. It's a prototype, so there's probably much room for improvements. If you have any idea, please fire away! I used strips of plywood as a base and planned to simply glue triangular blocks of pink foam on to make the steps.  I used the texture rod to make them look like stonework, which takes almost no time at all. These rods are awesome.   I cut the ends on one side of the triangle to take some of the step's height away.  Lady Forscale descends down the stairs. It's definitely not proportional, but functional - which is more important than having the right scale.  I'll let them dry and then give them a generous protective coating of whiteglue before painting it up. I guess it took about 20 to 30 min up to that stage. |
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Post by bluecloud2k2 on Oct 25, 2015 18:11:16 GMT
I'd be nervous about minis tipping forward on that...
But looks great!
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eldong
Cardboard Collector
Posts: 5
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Post by eldong on Oct 29, 2015 3:56:20 GMT
That texture rod thing looks fantastic! Where do you find them?
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Post by bluecloud2k2 on Oct 29, 2015 5:57:00 GMT
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Post by tauster on Oct 29, 2015 6:00:45 GMT
I simply used a 10-15 cm long piece of a branch (diameter about 8 cm I guess) of willow that had a nice bark structure. I can post a pic or two later. |
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