Quick ruined tower for miniature gaming.

On this project, I just started out with a single layer of cardboard where I glued down the bottom layer of 1"x0.5"x0.5" Styrofoam bricks with Gorilla Glue. All other rows I just used white glue.

I had a few squirts of spray foam left over after some gap-filling in my house, so I just used that for some thickness, then glued down random bricks cut on angles for that collapsed structure feel. After drying I added my favorite terrain standby of spackling compound for added filler and then some sand where the grass has been worn away. I also attacked the bricks with a small cautery to put some crumbly/ancient touches to them.

Base spray-coat black, ftw!

Hit the stones with a thick dry-brush of a medium gray, then a light dry brush of a light gray.

Started adding the flock. I've had the most luck doing small separate sections as it doesn't lead to big balls of fuzzy green goop.

And the finished piece, ready for the characters to discover. A campsite of travelling murderous cultists? A hidden trap door to a Mega Dungeon? Or a defensible position when the Spider hordes attack? Perhaps all three...

Speed -modular- cavern terrain for miniature gaming.

So here's a little half-ass tutorial on making terrain for your games involving miniatures. I grew up reading Conan and Elric and ogling the miniature display at our local hobby shop, so when I think of this type of gaming, I'm thoroughly in the RPG camp, not wargaming, so some of my ideas may be skewed for a certain style of play.

Not being rich, I can't afford all that fancy pre-made terrain stuff, so I grab what's cheap, on hand, or easy to acquire. My raw materials list is fairly short, and the big expense being the insulation and hot wire cutter (but that's pretty much a lifetime supply).

• 1 sheet 2" 'blue' Styrofoam insulation.
• A bunch of cardboard boxes I had left over from my move from Florida to Michigan.
• 1 bottle Elmer's white glue.
• 2 spray cans of cheap flat black pain
• 1 can spray-on ceiling texture
• 1 hot wire cutter.
• Normal cheap modeling/craft paint
• Tools you best already damn have if you call yourself a gamer

The first step is probably the most intensive, that is cutting cardboard into 12" squares and gluing 2 of them together to 'help' against warping and adding extra strength. Note: as I am using my moving boxes, 11.5" is as big as I could get out of them, but I'm able to get 4 per box.

After scoring the insulation and snapping off 12" strips from the insulation, I then snapped them into 12" squares. I laid out 9 of these in a cube to accommodate my gaming table's width of 4 feet, and then sketched out the plan on the surface of the insulation. This particular level I opted for 2 exits per side, while the other level I have planed is only 1 per. I then followed the sketch lines with my hot wire cutter and glued down the pieces with white glue. I kept the negative space pieces for a future Mountain of Doom I'm slowly building.

I then took the can of spray Orange Peel ceiling texture and sprayed the passages and rooms throughout to give a more organic look and to help disguise the cardboards corrugation.

Flat-black spray paint applied. I got the cheapest stuff, hoping for more disintegration of the insulation, but the hoped for effect was minimal.

Note: easy stacking storage or transport!

Big-crappy brush used to apply a liberal dry brush of a medium brown, then a smaller drybrush of a medium green for a sickly, diseased effect. Note: In my campaign this cavern complex is next to the underground sea, so the green, moldy look may not be for you.

The finished 3' by 3' modular cavern complex. Design for this loosely stolen from the creative fellow in this post on Lead Adventure Forum.

A couple of other projects will be posted soon, along with a strip or 2 of Licheville, and my great experience at GameHole Con, plus, my thoughts on what a relative outsider sees in the OSR community and gaming in general. This will all be posted really soon in the within, say, the next 20 or so years if my current posting rate continues.

Don't open 'til Death-mas!

Damnyankis!

A gal with something to offer.

There may be some time in the future where I will post weekly again, either gaming or Licheville, perhaps both!

But it ain't this week!

My RPG gaming wish list.

Above: my possible entry into the One Page Dungeon contest.

My RPG gaming wish list.

Currently we're playing an Basic D&D campaign ran by my buddy John. No complaints, quite enjoyable and definitely satisfies my rpg itch. But we play it on Roll20, and I really have an itch to do some face to face gaming.

Want to play:

Delta Green. I've had the rules since they first came out, but I've never run it. I want to play it first to get a feel for how it's played first. Many, many years ago I attempted to run COC, but the boys (yes, I still game with my buddies from high school!) weren't quite into the horror thing at the time. Also, playing it would help me put together adventures for it as I prefer to make my own adventures.

WFRP. I always tend to run it rather than play it. Before I moved to Florida I got in on a session of John's, and that ended up lasting for years.  He's thinking about restarting it, so I try to be subtle and nudge hin towards that.

Battletech/Mechwarrior. Another of a friend's campaigns, Dave also started this one after I was gone. If I'm nudging John, I'm damn well pushing Dave. Imagine a Star League combat team sent to investigate where Kernesky went, waking from hypersleep in 3050. We all know what happens then, don't we?

DCC/MCC. Past the funnel for once. Fucking unending GenCon funnels!

What I want to run:
A fallout-like post-apocalyptic campaign using either Grim Hack or my current favorite rendition of the COX/RQ/D100 rulest: the new Delta green.

My Corporate Space campaign using one of the afore mentioned rules. Think hard sci fi with a teeny tiny touch of horror. The Expanse would be a good representation. Taking place in our solar system after significant exploration and settlement.

Crown's Hold original campaign map

The original map I whipped up for my last (not dead yet even though I've taken an extended hiatus due to, you know-life) campaign. The funny part is that I had envisioned the campaign to be an explorative/hex crawl one, but no plan lasts after contact with a good gaming group. I'd designed a few faction/politics hooks, and that's what really got them. They maybe explored 20% of the area around them, and it lasted a year before I moved! But everybody had fun, and that is the only thing that matters.

Dangers of Automation in Modern Society.

The Boys

My regular gaming group who are currently adventuring through Quasqueton and the Caves of Chaos (depicted through a Licheville lens). We each have 2 characters a piece at this time, thus the doubled features. Also included are Dave, who's computer isn't letting him game with us right now, and John, the DM (hidden by the mace head on the left).

The Importance of Research.

Managing Stress

Sorry, haven't posted in some time. Let's just say when you work in the healthcare field, it's pretty hard not to get sick over and over again during flu season. And yes, I got the flu shot.

Planet of the Liches!

Grimmer Hack: A slight refining of the core rules.

GRIMMER HACK

Attributes:

Attributes act much the same as they do in Grim Hack and WFRP, but there are some differences as they have two distinct roles.

1.        Being the target number for a successful use of the attribute.

2.        The first digit of the attribute being the resistance (used as Toughness is in GH and WFRP) against the attacks from opponents using the same attribute.

Trying to keep the number of attributes low and only ‘active’ abilities rather than passive/reactive ones, it’s why I’m having trouble with having a Defensive Skill despite the cool armor skills I’m writing up. I may also change the Stealth skills to Agility skills adding movement and initiative as integral to it along with the sneaky stealthy stuff, but it may force me to add the locks/traps stuff to Mental specialties. It may come down to do I want a pure (say fighter-type) character, to only focus on one attribute (CS) or 2 (CS and DS).

CS - Close Combat Skill: Combat with melee weapons or martial arts. Specialties so far: two-handed weapons, two-weapons, dueling, unarmed).

RS - Ranged Skill: Using ranged weapons in combat. Use of a particular weapon may be limited to the genre it belongs to, but with training may become usable in the future. Specialties so far: Firearms, missile weapons, thrown weapons).

MS - Mental Skill: Magical, mental, manufacturing, mechanical. Ex: specialties: Healing (combat heal, regeneration, curing, etc.), damage, defense (force fields, summoning, etc. Note: Magical effects in one genre may be equivalent to Technological effects of another. Requires research of some sort, i.e.: magical: learning the spell, technological: developing the tool/device. This will be an ‘effects’ list rather than a ‘spell’ list. -1^st digit = magic/Tech points for casting spells, creating nanite attacks?

SS - Stealth Skill: Sneaking, trapping, Lockpicking, assassinations, traps, etc.

DS - Defense Skill/Wounds: -1^st digit = Wounds? Parry/Dodge skills? Acts as a ‘Saving Throw’ skill? Still deciding on this one. Specialties will include armor use (unarmored/agility, light, med, heavy, power armor, shields, etc.)

PS - Personality Skill: negotiation, bartering, interrogation, seduction

Movement tied to turn order/initiative?

Number of attacks start at 1 and additional attacks gained by specialties.

Attribute gain: (as in Grim Hack)

While adventuring, make note of any meaningful successes (i.e. rolls that actually have negative repercussions if they are failed) made from rolls off of characteristics, only a single success counts for any particular statistic. Multiple successes only count for one advancement attempt. At the end of the session or adventure, roll d100 for each of these noted characteristics. If the roll is higher than the characteristic’s current value, add d6 points to it, up to the max value allowed.

Combat:

Combat: Appropriate skill needed to hit. Weapon/magic damage rating + d6, - attribute resistance (its 1st digit), - armor, subtract remainder from WOUNDS? Melee weapons: Light 2dmg, Medium 3dmg, Large 4dmg Magical damage = spell level +1 Armor=full sets Light:1-2, Med:2-3, Heavy: 3-4, Shield:1 (Different types of armor may have special attributes)

Crits=general, not location specific.

Specialties:

List for each attribute.

Pick either 2 or 3 at creation (haven’t decided yet).

Each will have 6 levels of progression.

Gaining specialty points:

At the end of any event/adventure wherein an attribute gain roll could be attempted for an attribute, 1 specialty point may be taken instead, but it must be used for a specialty that is related to that attribute.

Paladark?

Children should be seen and not heard...

Will someone please give me a hand!?!

Fear my words!

Grimmer Hack, or: the Mess that is my Brain

So, as my quest for modification and streamlining continues to spin around in my twisted little brain and, despite being quite happy with how the Grim Hack was turning out, I just couldn’t let shit go. Here I present my seminal ramblings on my Grimmer Hack. It started out by just trying to shrink the amount of attributes needed, but I got some bug in my brain for specialty skills for more interest and varying character build possibilities.

The following is very brief, and I have conflicting ideas on Strength, Toughness, and Initiative which you will see scattered below.

I am currently working on the specialty lists. These will have the added bonus of being able to be used in Grim Hack, or even WFRP, also, as chances of me taking Grimmer Hack any farther is probably slim unless I get some feedback...

GRIMMER HACK

Attributes:

CS - Close Combat Skill: Sword and board, 2 weapons, large weapons (all usually adding to damage, speed)

RS - Ranged Skill: bows, x-bows, pistols, rifles, SMGs, thrown (usu:  damage, speed, effects)

MS - Mental Skill: Magical, mental, manufacturing, mechanical. Ex: specialties: Healing (combat heal, regeneration, curing, etc), damage, defense (force fields, , summoning, etc. Note: Magical effects in one genre may be equivalent to Technological effects of another. Requires research of some sort, ie: magical: learning the spell, technological: developing the tool/device. This will be an ‘effects’ list rather than a ‘spell’ list. -1^st digit = magic/Tech points

SS - Stealth Skill: Sneaking, trapping, Lockpicking, assassinations, traps, initiative?

DS - Defense Skill/Wounds: -1^st digit = Wounds? Would act as a ‘Saving Throw’ skill.

PS - Personality Skill: negotiation, bartering, interrogation, seduction

Strength, Toughness, Movement, Attacks, all a base of 2, 2, 4, 1 respectively? Or see combat below for 2 different options completely ignoring Strength and Toughness as separate attributes.

Attribute gain: (as in Grim Hack)

While adventuring, make note of any meaningful successes (i.e. rolls that actually have negative repercussions if they are failed) made from rolls off of characteristics, only a single success counts for any particular statistic. Multiple successes only count for one advancement attempt. At the end of the session or adventure, roll d100 for each of these noted characteristics. If the roll is higher than the characteristic’s current value, add d6 points to it, up to the max value allowed.

Specialties:

List for each attribute.

Pick either 2 or 3 at creation.

Each will have 6 levels of progression.

Gaining specialty points:

At the end of any event/adventure wherein an attribute gain roll is attempted, 1 specialty point is given.

~or~

At the end of any event/adventure wherein an attribute gain roll could be attempted, 1 specialty point may be taken instead.

Specialty example:

Firearms:

1.        +10% to hit with firearms

2.        +10% faster with firearms, -50% reload time

3.        Increased chance of crit

4.        1 round of Aiming = +2 Dmg on next shot

5.        Wield 2 pistols with no penalty.

6.        +1 Dmg. Opponent save or die on crit.

Combat:

Option 1: Combat: Appropriate skill needed to hit. Weapon/magic damage rating + d6 – armor, subtract remainder from WOUNDS? Melee weapons: Light 2dmg, Medium 3dmg, Large 4dmg Armor=full sets Light:3-4, Med:5-6, Heavy: 7-8, Shield:1 (Different types of armor may have special attributes)

Option 2: CS-1st digit = Melee damage? DS-1st digit = Dmg reduction?

Crits=general, not location specific