A wee bit o' the terrain

 I make it no secret that I think games are swell. Even if I don't play them very often. While I was doing daily doodles (I have since lapsed considerably) I drew a page that was just a couple simple terrain pieces. I was just thinking "Man what terrain would I need to have for a simple game of Cauldron?"

 

a simple taste

 I like the aesthetic of overgrown ruins. Always have, likely always will. There is something very tranquil about nature existing overtop of structures that have fallen to the passage of time. We all know this is Peak Aesthetic so I'll not linger on the Why of it. These are my drawings, I hope you like them.

One day, I decided to make some simple bases for future terrain. A inspired start to be sure! I glued two pieces of cardboard together with PVA glue and arranged with alternating corrugation. The alternating corrugation lends strength to the cardboard that simple layering them will nilly would not. So, two layer of cardboard, glued, then I put a couple of books on top of it and left them alone to dry. About a day later, I removed the books and cut out some round shapes. Let us see the rounded shapes now. 

 

beautiful, with beveled edges too no less!

 

This was the start of something most beautiful. Finally, the beginning of my terraining arc part 2! I set to work a bit later busting up some sticks I had gathered for my Rumpus board (still unfinished) and smacked them down on the cardboard bases using Hot Glue. Let me show you...

perfect scale for my bug eye goblins

Oh yes, we were cooking now. I had intended to glue more sticks to these to add more craggy branches but I opted not to for a few reasons. The first is that they don't really need it. Theater of the mind and all that. You know these trees are craggly because you have a brain. Second, I haven't had a lot of luck doing it in a way that felt durable. On my Rumpus board, the limbs I glued have continuously broken over the months after I made it. Too be fair, I am keeping it propped up vertically in my closet behind my jeans. But regardless, I felt it just wasn't worth the effort of doing it again, especially on these smaller scale trees.

A bit later I decided to make the stone house. My thoughts were I wanted it to be a little small to be a normal persons house. Some kind of gnome or goblin or hobbit lived here. My friend Goob (of goobinsgitz fame) had made a diorama out of cardboard and paper clay and long ago put me onto the magic of that medium, so since I had some I decided I was going to make this house of out cardboard and paperclay. I cut a rough angled house shape out of cardboard, then traced it on a second piece of cardboard giving me a front and back of a house. I next cut two pieces of cardboard into squares matching the sides of the house. I glued it all down onto a cardboard base with HOT GLUE. I thought a bit about what kind of roof to give it. I will of course be going with moss somewhere down the line, but I just went ahead and glue some cardboard to act as a base for flocking material sometime in the future. I glued two piece of cardboard together and made a base for the chimney. Next, I made a small door out of coffee stir sticks and put it on the front of the house. After all of that, I started smooshing and smaching cheap paperclay to the house, then after covering it I sculpted a hodge podge of bricks into it.

 

 
 I kept that momentum rolling and took a round cardboard tube, glued a top to it, glued a bunch of stir sticks to the top of it, made a door, then smooshed more paperclay on the sides using a strikingly similar technique as before. I forgot to take pics of it at any stage before but here it is covered in brown paint next to the house. 

 

 

Moving on, I made a few of the walls from my doodle. I will likely make more. I shaped aluminum foil into the rough form I wanted then hOT gLUED them to the cardboard bases, smooshed on paperclay, etc etc. I also made a boulder with a face. Here, I'll even show them to you. 

 

you can tell I sculpted them because there's a sculpting tool in the shot

 

All of these pieces were then treated to some molding paste on the edges to cover up at least a bit of their cardboard heritage. I have much more work to do but for now this is the work I've done. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to get a game of Cauldron going in the future, wouldn't that be fun? 

 

Oh and as a teaser here's another build I've been working on

 

Blog Time

 Hello been a bit. My mistake! You all missed my birthday again, but at least I didn't make a post on 9/11 titled "The Tower" about it. 

 ...

Anyway, I've done a few things. First, in honor of me Getting Older I have discounted all items on my store forever going forwards into the future. The prices are permanent and I hope people like that.  I've been neglecting finishing sculpts for the next release, as usual I'm not in much of a rush to get anything done. 

 

I've released Lies That Wizards Will Tell You Volume 2 to my itch.io page. It's another short and sweet'n, six pages of what I hope is entertaining. Bit illegible though, I might switch the font on Volume 3. I have a document with ideas ready for the next one, it's just a matter of doing it. Also apologies for the lack of the usual "Here's how I made this Thing" post that usually accompanyies a multipage project. I just kind of made it on my own without cataloguing the process. I just didn't catalogue the process.

 

 

 

I recently finished playing the original Legend of Zelda. While it is an achievement, I felt empty by the end of it. Even using save states didn't save me from the frustrations of Old School Video Games. Not all that came from it is negative. I've started a document called "Dope Quest." It isn't much to look at now and might never be much to look at, but it's existence has begun and I hope to continue working on it. It will likely be a Gameboy manual sized zine going over the classic game DopeQuest and offering details about the features within it.

 

in case you forgot about these guys

 

 An no dear reader, DopeQuest is not a real game. But it is inspired by some! 

 

I've got another post likely to come out eventually enough. I made some terrain, I need to make some more. Please look forward to it! Now dump that glass of water out and go stand in the sun before it's gone for the winter! 

Update before inevitable Seasonal Burnout

Maybe it's already starting, but let's do a little post before it really sinks in. Hello y'all happy almost done with August. I had a pumpkin spice latte today so you have to understand that it now feels like fall. When it feels like fall I stop wanting to hobby, which is dreadful. I must now admit, I started this blog post without a goal in mind other than to say blog posts are likely to slow down. I actually haven't been un-busy hobbying it's just been different kinds of busy. I bet you want me to talk about it... Most of my creative time has been spent doodling. Over on the Wanted! Reward CC10k discord we have been attempting to doodle daily every day, fill a page with doodles keep it simple, keep it loose, keep it secret keep it safe! stupid! It's both a massive source of inspiration and anxiety. I'm doing my damnedest to do it every day though I've lagged a few times (cue my broken knees.) There's something magical about freeform doodling. Maybe you know this. Maybe you don't. Maybe you're one of these people who doesn't think you can doodle or can't even draw a stick figure. If that's the case, that sucks, maybe you should doodle more often. Anyway, there's a world that exists on paper that you can explore as far as you'd like for very cheap and I think it's awesome. I'm gonna share some of the doodles now, and I'll talk about the last one I share in a bit more depth with some fun anecdotes.

Tanner wanted people to draw Slumlord Covers

we were drawing fps game screens and I been thinky bout chess

barbar

been on a GWAR kick

GWAR made me think about barbarians

doodles of 5mm minis

our legendary club membership badge on a sketchbookie Chao put together

 

You get the gist. Oh, two more images and then the anecdotes. 

 

 "A wretched troll has taken residence at the tippy top of my stone tower! He throws stones at anyone who comes over! It's ruining my life!"

 

"You've risked great personal sacrifice to arrive at my door. Prithee, choose a coveted price to make your own."

 

Posting these doodles led to some funny responses from other members.

 

 Everyone who arrived at the tower keeper's door proceeded to be crushed by giant rocks. idunno. I was thinking of taking this idea further as an adventure zine supplement thing. We shall see!

 

Well tha- oh. wait. I should share something else.

 

 

did I already share these idk

These are the next sculpts I plan to get produced. I need to add a sword to my champion (bottom right) and maybe sculpt one more thing. Hopefully before the year is out! They will be sold as individual figures and it will be preorder style. Hopefully I don't have to sit on stock.

 

Speaking of that, my BIRTHDAY is next month. I will put everything in my store on sale for that week! By a decent amount, either 25% or 30%. Look forward to giving me money! thank you!

 

Ok and at that I'm done talking 

Dope Quest

 Now is the time of 5mm guys

 

Not really, but I figured I'd give it a shot. It's kind of endearing to sculpt some stuff this small. I don't know if he's got socials, but one of the members of the esteemed WRCC10k discord members was sculpting some 6mm skeletons and then my friend Lex sculpted a lil 2mm sculpt and I just had to at least try sculpting something tiny. Turns out it's both harder and a lot easier than I thought it would be. I took some process pics but it's very difficult to take good pics show I ain't sharing them here. I ended up sculpting 4 little figures and I thought they'd look good on a tab so I did that. 

 

 I've been playing a bit of Flying Ostriches and Floating Castles, so I have quests on my mind. I feel like it would be very satisfying to move little 5-6mm guys around on a hex map. Maybe not, but it feels kind of nice to put these four little dudes together and say "Think about adventure!"

 I really can't imagine how people write solo hex crawls btw. FOaFC got an astounding amount of tables.  

gomblins

 

gomblins

 

I finally did something with my polymer heads. I should make more of them because wow this really works for me. It's like, chibi proportions but with wretched gomblin features. Truly innovative!

 

Apparently it's gencon this weekend, I might go on saturday idk. don't look for me but I might go on saturday.  

Getting Heads

 I did a playthrough of THE Blindman of The Flagellant and the Fool's game (printed by Grub-Grub press) "HEADS". I'm not sure if I can get across how good this game is. Maybe I won't bother trying. It's a game inspired by wandering Samurai movies. You draw up a character on a notecard, give them a mantra following some very open ended but inspiring prompts, then you draw an opponent and follow prompts to give them "memories". The combat mechanic is incredibly slick and tense (even if you're bad at interpreting rules like me". You have four stances you can choose (dice) which you then roll at the same time as your opponents entire dice pool. After rolling you roll a d8 to determine which stance your opponent actually picked, you find the difference and follow the list that tells you what happens etc. It's a bit dry to explain but it works fantastically well. When you're not dueling, picking corpse pockets and lopping off heads, you travel roads, find warm hearths to rest at, and look at the stars. Every day after doing your travel action, you journal. I found the journaling to be an incredible way to find insight in a character I drew with very little effort. 

 

Here's the Journal of my character "Gang"

 

I decided any character I played as I would paint. 

 

Heads by The Flagellant and The Fool 

Playthrough

Gang, a Rogue and Killer. 

I met another swordsman on the road. As soon as we locked eyes I knew I was going to kill him. I don't think he knew he was going to die. It was obvious he would try to pierce me. Precisely pointed flickering blade. I left mine sheathed until I could almost smell the stink of his breath. And when I drew it, he fell limp, blood spraying my face. I barely got a look at him. He won't be worth remembering. I take his bloodied bandana and dig through the pockets of his cloak. I take four silver. It's weight has an emptiness in my hand. My stomach tightens, but I take it all the same. Once a Thief always a Thief. I'm going to try and rest a little further into the woods and travel tomorrow. 

Walking down the road I couldn't help but think about the past. The family I found who opened their hearts to me. Gentle nights watching the stars and talking about nothing. A joke, an observation. They didn't know not to trust me. I didn't know not to betray them. A few golden coins and jewels to bring them to that city. They all were hung while I was left to wander this world alone. When I bed down for the night, my eyes sting with tears. 

I'm a coward. A tired coward. Travel is taking it's toll on me. All I want is peace. The stink of this head is becoming noticeable. I don't know how far I am from that cities walls. I spent everything they I got trying to forget what I'd done. I can't escape it though. I know that now. I'll sleep here tonight. Or maybe I'll just watch the stars. 

Enough. I wandered into a Swordsman with wild eyes and a smile that seemed pained. In his white knuckled grip, a sword I knew must have enchanted. Without a word, I drew my sword. I expected to die. I think in his heart he was seeking death, for despite his strength I opened his belly. As he died, the smile on his face softened. He looked almost pleasant in the end. About his neck, I notice a Guilded Gorget. I kept his head to remember that perhaps not all I do with my evil is bad. Though, who can say. 

I lose track of my path somehow. The road went alongside a stream, without even realizing it I had followed the sound o fwater instead of my own eyes and when I realized it I was thick in bramble and grass. I decided, as warm a day as it was and as shallow a stream as it was I might as well walk within the water, for no other reason than to cool off. As I stepped towards it, I couldn't help but see my face. Tired, tight. I see why so many on the road are quick to want to draw their steel when they see me. An easy mark or perhaps a sick animal who needs put down. I couldn't help but feel a kinship to the man I killed yesterday. He was ensorcelled by a sword, me by my past.

I continued walking the stream the ext day. In the middle of it, I met a swordsman wielding a strange blade like a spiral with a helmet covered in strange lumps. An eight legged creature clung to his arm and his belt was held up with a star. He looked strong and resolved, so I took the Hawk stance and swung with all my might. I overshot and left myself open. He took advantage and took a bit of my flesh and blood. I am not a strong man, I am not suited for mighty battles. My way is treachery, and so I Feinted with the next strike. And in so doing, I dug my dagger into his belly, slipping it through his scale mail. He gurgled more than gasped. Water spilled from his mouth. When I withdrew my dagger, a fish leapt from the wound. I pick 5 silver off his corpse. Then I watch the star and the eight legged creature dislodge themselves and float down the stream, before removing his head. Thinking about it, I should have died. I really should have. When I looked in my pack, I noticed my Duelist's Bandana was missing. 

I sit under the stars tonight. Memories of good times lull me into an easy sleep. I have no nightmares. I awoke refreshed. 

A lit flame. A breath of smoke. I imagine myself as a dragon breathing smoke. Every inhale is like the stoking of the hearth in my heart. I'm sure I will feel ill from this tomorrow. 

Another night under the stars. Is this the peace I've been seeking? Have I found it in these woods, idling?

I come across a small hut. With payment, the couple it belongs let me in. They treated my kindly, though I don't deserve it. I sidestep every question they ask me. It's best not to be known. In my dreams I am stalked by the reaper. A labyrinth stretching infinitely, it feels like he is closing in though I never see him. Before I wake, I hear the sound of boots on cobblestone getting louder, and louder, and louder.

Another duelist. I lunge and hear the sound of shattering. I could swear his sword broke but when I turn I see him standing in the Hawk stance,. When he swings whatever chip was in his blade rends the thing stardust, as I pierce what I have to assume is his heart. It takes me a bit to remove the glass helmet mounted to his suit. When I finally do I take his head as another reminder of my sins. 

This sowrdsman looks strong. Too strong for me to win against. His sword has "1 ton" etched into it's blade, though he doesn't lift it to swing. I feint. He feints, making it clear he had no intention of lfting the blade to do his damage. It was a ruse. But it doesn't pay off. I bury my dagger in his heart, as he sputters his last words through a spray of blood. "At least I won't have to hear their laughter anymore"

AsI wandered down the road, I saw something peculiar. Though, not as peculiar as some of the swordsmen I've fought I suppose. I remember making things like this as a child, though I used snow and not dirt and moss. For the first time in a while I smiled. I laughed. For the first time in a while the tears in my eyes were from joy. 

I met my end. 

 

 It's worth noting the swordsman that ended up killing me is my friend Erick. I joked that I was hastening Gang to his doom (he clearly was suffering) and told him I would fight him next. The duel ended in mutual destruction which I think is pretty funny.

 

gang and all his opponents, save for the first one which I forgot to draw

Gang's Mantra and his Enemies Memories

I can't recommend you play it yourself enough. You can find it on his itch.io, or wait until it's available in print again. 

Tower Playtesti

 Hello just blogging. I'm doing a test of my worldbuildy game which you are welcome to look at. I wanted to get a feel for the new dice mechanics I added when I decided that unpaid Envoys can settle and interacted with in a way other than cards. It seems to work in a satisfying enough way. The following is basically what my playtest looked like. At the end of it I wrote a couple of notes about what needs adjustment. Also I should note that some of the rules I'm following are currently handwritten on a printed copy I made of the rules and I will need to go in and type them out in the rules doc. 

 Another thing. I was doing a bit of study of Tarot reading to try and figure out satisfying ways to actually make use of the visuals of Tarot cards and had this blogpost hit me in the face with such an obvious realization that I felt the need to implement it immediately, though it's not really apparent here it will be a more obvious inclusion in the future. I am using the Pamela Coleman Smith deck because it's the classic. 

 

When a Court Card is named, followed by a numbered card of Suite, that indicates a vision is had. If an envoy is declared to Arrive that suggests a number of days relating to their Questing card have passed.

 

Playtest: 

King of Cups, V of Swords. Name a mythical creature. The Baron's Hound, an oily creature said to worm it's way into the minds of innocent people and turn them into cruel wretches. It slithers in through the ears and can only be expelled by boiled honey water. Faire: The Lovers VI

F:d20
C:d6
S:d12
W:d10
P:d8
F: +

Knight of Pentacles, V of Cups: Name a mythical creature. Ivory Thing. Like a crane but yellowed like bone, resembling a carved and aged tusk but larger than a true bird. It is said to live in birch forests. It's story tells of it feeding it's young fingerbones and building their nests from ribs. Faire: The Devil XV

F:d20
C:d12
S:d6
W:d10
P:d8
F: 

Envoy King of Cups arrives. Settled for now, with an unpaid Faire. Rolled for interactions. Faire dice roll was 14, spent it on paying off the Faire. Good Favor. Swords roll is a 3, I will spend the Pentacles dice to flip the one added facedown card (need a name for this maybe?). The facedown card is a cup. Maybe I get to add it to my hand? 

Page of Cups, IV Pentacles. Learn of trade: From the plains a new crop is finding it's way East. While it closely resembles wheat, it is touted as being medicinal and even as causing visions. People in the City of Salary are skeptical, though it is being offered in huge quantity in the market vendors and for reasonable prices. Faire: The Hanged Man XII

F:d20
C:d6
S:d10
W:d8
P:d12
F:

Visit the Envoy of Cups again. Dice are cast. Sword die rolls a 2. Not enough. I debate spending one of the other die to reveal the facedown card. I spend The cups die revealing X of Pentacles. I pocket it. The Favor becomes negative since the Envoy hasn't been paid yet. (maybe favor flips after a certain amount of days without interacting. Let's make it 2 based on vibes.) 

Knight of Pentacles Arrives. Faire is paid with VIII of cups. Roll d6 to determine how the vision manifests. Rolled a 6 which is above the 2 required of a knight. People are wary of the birch forests. Some villages are close enough that the townspeople take cautionary measures in fear of the Ivory Thing. The most effective thing people swear by is deboned, salted and spiced fish left by entryways, spiced to keep the stray cats from stealing it in the night. 

This Envoy's Journey was five cards: VIII of S, Ace of W, VII of W, 9 of S, V of P (interpret as wished). It ended in leasure (spent X of cups) and they do not settle at all, save for a long drink with the Tower's Ward, before heading off to continue their journey. 

Visit with the King of Cups again, their Favour has turned to positive again after two days left alone. Dice are rolled. Swords die rolls 6, though I spend both dice to flip the stacked cards on the settled Envoy and pick two to use or add to my current hand. Cards are II of P, X of W, and The Magician ( a mistake on my part) so I pick the first two cards to add to my current hand. Having no dice to use as a card, I spend The VIII of S to pay off this Envoy. I roll a 4 to manifest the Vision which matches the King's requirement. The vision is adjusted thusly: It is rumoured that palace sorcerers have captured Baron's Hounds in wine bottles, corked and bound with spells written in wax and ichor. The Envoy thanks you for your hospitality and will be leaving shortly to return home. (The Faire that has been paid should effect something about this, I'm still not sure how that will look.) VIII of Swords should also flavor how the Envoy left, forgot to decide that but will make note to do it in the future.

Hand and Journey cards combined then pared down to 5 cards.

The Fool: X of Swords. An unexpected Visitor comes to the Tower. In this vision, they tell you of the Grain from the Plains and how it is rending the city to madness. Faire:

Page of Cups Arrives. Their Journey is VI of S, II of C, IX of C, VI of W, IV of S (interpret as desired in order). Hanged man is swords. Faire paid with IX and IV of Swords. Envoy is paid with V of Pentacles. Dice is rolled above a 1 so the Status quo is undisturbed, their story matches your vision perfectly (paid Faire modifies in some way, etc). They return on their Quest in some way based on cards spent (again, must make a note of this.)

End of this Tower playtest. 

Things to note:

1. Faire unpaid and settled should have some effect. Faire paid should have some effect on vision or Envoy's character. Ex. The Devil could suggest the Envoy had some sort of ensorcellment, The Lovers could suggest the Envoy is leaving to return to someone special to them etc.
2. Flesh out Journey based on Journey cards arranged chronologically. There is a story in this Journey, it is based on vibes. 
3. Cards used to pay Faire and Envoy should add flavor. In the case of the Faire, it should suggest how the Faire was overcome, or how the Envoy has come to terms with this Faire. In the case of Paying the Envoy, the cards should suggest how the envoy was convinced to tell you things in relation to the vision. 
4. Note should be taken of the Journey cards in hand and who they were received from. This is getting tedious but it is an interesting idea of continuity. Ex. Using a X of Swords you received from another envoy to pay off an Envoy could be you recounting their sight of bandits on the road to offer comradery as a caution in their future travels. 
5. Gotta be a better way to take notes of these playtests.