It's been quiet here, but never fear, the blog is not dead. In November, having found myself unprepared to take on NaNoWriMo, I decided I needed to focus on a novel project that's been bouncing around in the back of my head. That plus the holidays and a PbP game have been sucking down quite a bit of time. I'll be back in another 65k words or so.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Friday, November 30, 2012
Friday Map - Inkscape
I've been messing around with Inkscape as a mapping tool, and ended up with this as a result this morning. I already have a blank image set up with the grid lines drawn into it, so this didn't take long. I started with the polygon/star tool, and set the rounded and random fields to .100 and .200 respectively. Then I drew a bunch of random polygons, randomly changing the number of corners to values between 3 and 8 as I went. Once I had a bunch of polygons I dragged them around to something that looked good, and drew a few connecting shapes with the freehand line tool to create closed paths. I tweaked the paths using the node tool and simplifying the ones I drew by hand (Path/Simplify).
Once I had something that looked good, I used Path/Union and Path/Difference to turn the collected shapes into a single path. I duplicated the path and applied Path/Outset a few times, giving me an interior path (the caves) and an exterior path (the shading). I applied Filters/Distort/Pixel smear to the caves, and Filters/Scatter/Air spray to the shading. Tweaked down fill alpha a bit and played with colors a little, then exported to png. After a little cropping with Gimp, here it is:
Once I had something that looked good, I used Path/Union and Path/Difference to turn the collected shapes into a single path. I duplicated the path and applied Path/Outset a few times, giving me an interior path (the caves) and an exterior path (the shading). I applied Filters/Distort/Pixel smear to the caves, and Filters/Scatter/Air spray to the shading. Tweaked down fill alpha a bit and played with colors a little, then exported to png. After a little cropping with Gimp, here it is:
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
The Wilds - They're Off
After some starts and stops, the gang in my play by email game is on the road, headed to the Cold Caves to see what's behind the recent attacks on the surrounding farmsteads and settlements. The tea and cakes were delicious. As usual I'll be using TiddlyWiki to manage the game, and writing two main turns a week. We've found this pace gives everyone a chance to participate, including the folks with heavy work schedules.
Monday, November 19, 2012
It's not Friday, and not Five Minutes, Either
This is a quick map I did using Inkscape and GIMP. It's one I'll be using in my play-by-post Labyrinth Lord game, and represents the player's idea of the place they're going to check out. As noted in the Announcement, there are possibly kobolds here.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
The Announcement
In game announcement that is. I'm about to kick off my Labyrinth Lord play-by mail game, and here's the announcement I sent out to the players:
In the name of Thambar the Prudent, Lord of Hembard Wilds, Defender of Highcliff Keep, Recognized Lord of the Peerage of the Kingdom of Jal, Meisterburger of Auslaug, Hustwood, and Brekkevale, TAKE HEED: The following ANNOUNCEMENT has been announced:
In the name of Thambar the Prudent, Lord of Hembard Wilds, Defender of Highcliff Keep, Recognized Lord of the Peerage of the Kingdom of Jal, Meisterburger of Auslaug, Hustwood, and Brekkevale, TAKE HEED: The following ANNOUNCEMENT has been announced:
Friday, November 9, 2012
Better Late Than Never
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Starting Gear
I'm starting up a new play-by-email game, using Labyrinth Lord as a base rule set. The first order of business is setting up new characters, and part of that process is gearing up. Here's the starting gear setup we'll be using:
All characters start with 3d8x10 gold pieces. Each character also begins with a backpack containing two small sacks, a bedroll, a waterskin, flint and steel, a spare cloak, and ten days of trail rations. Roll 1d8 on the following list for additional gear.
1) 8 torches, 50' silk rope
2) 2 oil flasks, lantern
3) 1 scroll case, 5 parchment, ink and quill
4) 1 flask holy water
5) 3 days unpreserved rations, wineskin of good wine
6) 1 grappling hook, 50' hemp rope
7) 1 character-appropriate weapon
8) Roll twice, re-rolling this result
Pretty basic, with some pretty significant variation in value, but hey, it's going to be a somewhat old-school game, so... appropriate.
All characters start with 3d8x10 gold pieces. Each character also begins with a backpack containing two small sacks, a bedroll, a waterskin, flint and steel, a spare cloak, and ten days of trail rations. Roll 1d8 on the following list for additional gear.
1) 8 torches, 50' silk rope
2) 2 oil flasks, lantern
3) 1 scroll case, 5 parchment, ink and quill
4) 1 flask holy water
5) 3 days unpreserved rations, wineskin of good wine
6) 1 grappling hook, 50' hemp rope
7) 1 character-appropriate weapon
8) Roll twice, re-rolling this result
Pretty basic, with some pretty significant variation in value, but hey, it's going to be a somewhat old-school game, so... appropriate.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Roleplayers Chronicle - Red Cross Sandy Bundle
Roleplayers Chronicle is sponsoring a multi-publisher bundle, with proceeds going to the Red Cross. The product list is, as usual, huge.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Oowombe
The horrific Oowombe are undead creatures, created when corrupt primal energies of foul swamps and marshes reanimate the remains of those trapped and slain by sticky bogs or quicksand.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Daruna - A Brief Update and a Map
The Daruna gang are back in town, and settling out their debts and obligations. After selling off their fat, fat loot, they suddenly find themselves with a lot of money. In fact it's an uncomfortable amount to be lugging around, and in their usual non-subtle way, they've not exactly hidden the fact that they have a lot of money.
So they're buying a house.
So they're buying a house.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
DriveThruRPG.com - Halloween Sale
The sale is on at DriveThruRPG.com. The sale includes some cool scare-themed stuff, like Little Fears 10th Anniversary Edition, a spooky bundle from Necromancers of the Northwest, Pelgrane Press's The Book of Unremitting Horror, a bunch of scary bits from Tabletop Adventures, and a mess of Cthulhu related products from Skirmisher Publishing. There's also a pumpkin hunt offering some free goodies.
Check it out!
Check it out!
Vault of Eternal Sleep
The Vault is cut from a single block of a mysterious, deep-blue stone, origin unknown. It is a perfect nine-foot cube, with a single square opening three feet wide cut in the center of one face.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Ars Magica - Video Game Kickstarter
This looks intriguing. Ars Magica is one of those games that looked very cool, but I never really had a chance to play. Now it's getting turned into a single-player video game, so maybe soon I can change that.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Island Forge - That Next Step
If you've read any of the previous Island Forge tutorials (like this one or this one), you've probably checked out the results on the Isle of Test. If you've been there, you've probably seen this in the wilderness...
Now What? |
Friday, October 19, 2012
Dealing with Coins
Over at the RPG Circus, Jeff questioned the value of encumbrance, specifically with regard to coins. It's a worthy question, with no right or wrong answer, but it's worth thinking about in the context of your campaign.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
The Marionette Glove
This item is a single, gaudy glove, made from a mishmash of red, yellow, and blue silk strips and panels. A dozen or so strands of heavy, black thread hang from the fingertips and palm of the Glove, each about six inches long. The Glove's cuff is decorated with fine embroidery done in black and silver thread, and careful examination will reveal a command word written in ancient script hidden in this stitching.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Island Forge - A Guard Tutorial
This is another tutorial on using Island Forge's Island Builder. This time we're going to create a guardian creature using three actors, the guardian, something to appease it, and the person being guarded. You can see this in game by visiting the Isle of Test, and checking out the Guard Bunny, Sir Robin, and the nearby Pile of Grain. Save the grain for last so you can see the guard functionality.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Guild Wars 2 - The Thrill Is Gone
I really want to love this game, but these days it's getting harder and harder. When the game launched at the end of August, I was very excited by the prospect of dynamic events. Instead of dealing with the typical quest-giver model, dynamic events pop up across the map as you travel about, providing opportunities for interaction and combat. What's more, as events succeed or fail based on player action, the world shifts and changes as a result (within certain limits of course).
Therein lies the problem.
Therein lies the problem.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Island Forge - FedEx Quest Tutorial
I've been feeling guilty about ignoring Island Forge, especially now that the game's developer has run a successful Kickstarter, and moved to a free to play model. I logged back in this morning, poked around my large-scale island project, and realized I had a lot left to do. That's still work in progress, but I decided I'd do something small and useful too, so here's a quick tutorial on how to create a FedEx style quest.
Friday, October 12, 2012
Homicide - The Truth of the Matter
Gabe Babbett. Our two detectives, Evan Stacy and Jeff Long, were finally sitting across the interrogation-room table from their primary suspect. They know quite a bit about Babbett already; felony record, parole violation, lied on his job application, fingerprints on the murder weapon, witnessed fighting with Marin, ID'd trying to sell the stolen documents. In short, he's screwed.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Island Forge - Now Free to Play
I just received a note from Nyhm, the developer of Island Forge. He's just moved Island Forge to a free to play model, so if you've tried the game out, or didn't because it was fee-based, now's the time to give it a chance!
I wrote a couple of posts about this game a while back. You can read them:
Now I really have no excuse to not finish the island I started...
I wrote a couple of posts about this game a while back. You can read them:
Now I really have no excuse to not finish the island I started...
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Guild Wars 2 - Karma Food Vendors
The following is a concise listing of known renown heart vendors that sell food items in bulk. It also lists the food items available from crafting master chefs and city karma vendors. This list should provide access to all karma-based items, though it may not list all vendors (yet). Each entry lists the item and its karma cost, then each vendor, their zone, and the nearest waypoint to their location. As always, corrections and additions are welcome. Just leave a comment!
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Homicide - Remote Control
Last time, we had a pretty good lock on the events surrounding our two murders. We still have some loose ends to tie up though. Let's get to it!
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Gaming Paper - Better than Expected
During my last Daruna game session I finally had the opportunity to use the roll of Gaming Paper I had received as a gift a while back. If you're unfamiliar with the product, it's a one-inch grid printed on coated paper in a 30-inch wide, 12-foot long roll. It has the same feel as a nice-quality wrapping paper.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Blade of Reflection
The Blade of Reflection is a long, broad-bladed bastard sword. It is fitted with an unadorned, straight guard of blueish steel and a pommel of the same material. The grip is rough black leather wrapped with copper wire. The blade is fashioned from an unknown material, a substance that appears to be pure, polished silver, but rings like fine crystal when tapped. The Blade's cross-section is a flattened hexagon, and its edges never show any sign of wear or damage. The weapon is about 55 inches from tip to pommel.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Homicide - The Devil's in the Details
Our prime suspect Gabe Babbett, is looking more and more like our man. When we left he was in custody in Chicago, and his truck had been impounded. We have a witness reporting he was involved in an altercation with our two murder victims near the site of a theft, and testimony indicating he was trying to sell stolen property on his trip to Delaware. We'll flash forward a bit, and allow some forensics work to get done in the background. The two things we're most interested in are the crime scene at the church and Babbett's truck. Specifically we're looking for fingerprints at the former, and blood evidence at the latter.
Monday, September 24, 2012
The Hidden Guild
Every city has its shady side, thieves, pimps, assassins, smugglers, and drug dealers who provide illegal goods and services to anyone who can pay. The Hidden Guild is the black heart of illicit commerce, providing stability and security to both its members and its customers. The Guild does not operate at the street level. Instead it works behind the scenes through intermediaries and hired agents, selling bulk product and commercial services to those that live on the edge.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Halloween Demons Already
Bogleech breaks the ice with their Top Ten "Dictionnaire Infernal" Demons. As always Bogleech is a great source for random weird stuff, be it the hell of nature's own creations or the site's own bizarre finds and creations, it's always worth a read.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Torchlight II - Original Soundtrack
Runic has made the entire Torchlight II soundtrack available as free mp3 download. As usual, Matt Uelmen does a fantastic job with the music. Well worth a download, even if you're not a video-game player. The tunes on this soundtrack could easily work as background/theme music for a tabletop RPG.
Deadly Blows - Critical Hits Tables
Over the years my regular gaming group has oscillated between using and not using critical hits tables. Our original tables dated from the late 70s/early 80s and were type-written copies from The Arduin Grimoire. Later we expanded these tables with new entries, and finally created multiple tables linked to various damage types.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Homicide - Sins Discovered
When we left our investigators, they had just finished up their interrogations of Albert Burns and Rose Marie Orr, the roommates of our murder victim, Scott Marin. Both had alibis for the night of the murder, and our primary suspect, Gabe Babbett, is looking better and better. Evan and Jeff's next move was to head over to Michelle Allen's place of work, a local religious center, and poke into the stolen property that seems to be the core motive for these murders.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
One Page Dungeons 2012 - Preorder Now
Precis Intermedia now has the complete One Page Dungeon Contest 2012 softcover available for preorder. 208 pages of dungeon crawl goodness for $29.95 sounds like a pretty good deal.
If you're unfamiliar with the One Page Dungeon Contest, it's pretty much what it sounds like, an open contest to create a dungeon on a single sheet of paper. That includes maps, notes, room details, monsters, well, the works. It's been running for several years now, and I regularly mine the various archives for ideas. Check it out!
If you're unfamiliar with the One Page Dungeon Contest, it's pretty much what it sounds like, an open contest to create a dungeon on a single sheet of paper. That includes maps, notes, room details, monsters, well, the works. It's been running for several years now, and I regularly mine the various archives for ideas. Check it out!
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Guild Wars 2 - Food Farms
This is a concise listing of the various cooking material farms in Guild Wars 2. It's currently incomplete, but I'll be adding entries as I find them. Zones are listed in alphabetic order. As always if you have an update or correction, feel free to leave a comment. I've tried to verify all these sites, but when it's 3:00 AM and you're running from trolls... well, you get the idea.
- Update Sept 29, 2012: Sparkfly Fen, Straits of Devestation
- Update Sept 27, 2012: Diessa Plateau, Field of Ruin, Brisban Wildlands
- Updated Sept 23, 2012: Dredgehaunt Cliffs
- Updated: Sept 21, 2012: Blazeridge Steppes
- Updated: Sept 17, 2012: Harathi Hinterlands, Metrica Province
- Updated: Sept 9, 2012: Fireheart Rise, Iron Marches, Mount Maelstrom
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Players Do Cool Things
This past weekend I ran my Daruna game. One of the best parts of this semi-annual event is not the game, it's the people. I've been gaming with some of these guys since the beginning, and since I'm officially old, that's a long time. In fact one of the players in this game is the person I first played D&D with way back in the 70s. He ran a dungeon adventure for my first-level party on the bus during a school field trip to the Smithsonian Museums in Washington DC. We killed a Balrog.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Daruna - It's About Time
Well the weekend is over, and the task is done. The party fixed time. Here's how my most recent Daruna game went down...
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Guild Wars 2 - That was Fast
I finally pre-purchased this game and installed the client last week. I have friends who are serious Guild Wars fans, so this is likely our Next Big Thing (TM). Today there was a one hour stress test, so I jumped on to check things out. These are *really* quick impressions, because you can't really do much in an hour.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Daruna - Lost in Time
I finally get to run the next session of my Daruna game in a week or so. When we ended the last session, the party had survived a weird cross-time combat involving a flying serpent creature, lion-like golems, magicians engaged in some sort of ritual, and warriors of unknown affiliation. By the time the battle was done, the party had obtained a number of time-stabilizing pendants and a massive golden seal, the result of the magicians's ritual. Unfortunately the entire world had gone nuts outside. Time was broken and none of the party's support crew or gear was to be found.
Here's a look at what's coming...
Note to my players: KEEP OUT. Spoilers ahead!
Here's a look at what's coming...
Note to my players: KEEP OUT. Spoilers ahead!
Monday, August 6, 2012
Diablo 3 - Special Snowflakes and Beyond
This list contains information on all the rare creatures used in the following Diablo 3 achievements:
- Never Seen That Before
- Special Snowflakes
- A Unique Collection
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Homicide - Motives
Last session our detectives had pretty well wrapped up the two murders they were faced with, with all evidence pointing to Gabe Babbett, our parole-violating ex-con. Based on Kevin Woods's interrogation, we think the following is a reasonable scenario:
- Michelle Allen, our second victim, steals something from her place of employment, a religious organization associated with the college campus.
- Scott Marin, our first victim, either discovers or was involved in the theft, leading to some sort of confrontation or conflict with Allen.
- Gabe Babbett, our main suspect, becomes involved, either as a way to fence the item, as protection against Marin, or in some other capacity.
- Babbett steals the item from Allen, involving Kevin Woods in the theft. Babbett also steals Allen's handgun, the murder weapon.
- Things go south and Allen, Marin, and Babbett are involved in some sort of confrontation in Allen's car.
- Babbett shoots them both, then dumps Marin's body in his old apartment and Allen's body in hers.
- For reasons unknown Babbett gets Woods to steal rental records from the apartment office, perhaps to slow the identification of Marin and his roommates?
- Babbett takes off for Delaware to arrange the sale of the stolen item and to put some distance between the crime scene and himself, violating his parole in the process.
Minecraft - Daylight!
I've finally gotten around to snapping a day time screen shot of this arch so you can actually see it. Without further ado...
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Path of Exile - Beta Weekend Thoughts
Path of Exile is an online action RPG for Windows, being developed by Grinding Gear Games. They recently held an open beta weekend, and since my friends have been playing, I decided to check it out. I didn't have a huge amount of time to play, so this is really a quick look, not a detailed review.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Minecraft - The Arch
A quick screenshot of the next phase of construction. I really need to stop taking night pictures, but usually I snap these after completing a day's work. This is the arch framework and part of a tower build out that's going to be the structure surrounding the giant tower in the center of this build.
Click to embiggen |
Friday, July 27, 2012
Ground Rules - Live
Ground Rules is a web-based implementation of the hex map generation tables I've been writing about here. After running the beta version for a while, it's now live on the PBE Games site. Using Ground Rules is straight-forward, and there's a full set of directions on the page. You'll need to provide your own mapping medium, be it hex paper or something like Hexographer.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Minecraft - New Construction
Been a quiet stretch here, but I'm not dead yet. Here's a new screenshot of my mega-tower Minecraft. I had to clip the top off to get everything in view, but that's OK, the top hasn't changed much. I've been focused on clearing around the base and starting the new, smaller towers that are going up around the main spire. Here you go!
I still have quite a bit of clearing to do -- there's also a cave to explore and clear that's been exposed by this excavation. One of the problems with clearing ground like this is... it just isn't all that interesting to post about. This progress has taken a few days of off and on play to accomplish, and I've filled about 4 chests with stacks of dirt from the destroyed hills. Yawn.
Ah well, so goes the mining.
I still have quite a bit of clearing to do -- there's also a cave to explore and clear that's been exposed by this excavation. One of the problems with clearing ground like this is... it just isn't all that interesting to post about. This progress has taken a few days of off and on play to accomplish, and I've filled about 4 chests with stacks of dirt from the destroyed hills. Yawn.
Ah well, so goes the mining.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Ground Rules - Hex Map Generator Beta
If you read this blog, you've probably seen the articles I've been posting about hex maps. I've just finished off the beta release of Ground Rules, a web-based hex map generator based on the tables I've been talking about. It's a bit rough around the edges, and not fully tested yet (thus the beta designation), but if you're interested, it's available here:
There's a fairly complete set of instructions on the page. The system isn't particularly complex, but it probably won't make sense without at least a quick read of these.
I'd greatly appreciate hearing from anyone who tries out the system. Feedback here as comments, or via the web comment form on the PBE Games site.
There's a fairly complete set of instructions on the page. The system isn't particularly complex, but it probably won't make sense without at least a quick read of these.
I'd greatly appreciate hearing from anyone who tries out the system. Feedback here as comments, or via the web comment form on the PBE Games site.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Hexmap Speed Test I
I decided to run a test using the hexmap tables I've been working on to create a terrain-only map from scratch. Starting with a blank map, I dropped a few predetermined hexes into the grid, then started working. This is the starting map.
After 20 minutes of random generation, this is what I ended up with.
Not too bad.
After 20 minutes of random generation, this is what I ended up with.
Not too bad.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Minecraft - Towering Tower
I've been putting work into my mega tower off and on over the last week or so. I now have the bottom level of the top of the spire complete. It's a glass bowl-shaped room, sort of an observation level.
Homicide - Pursuit of Justice
After a bit of clean up last session, it's time to move forward. When we left, we had pretty strong suspicions that Gabe Babbett is our murderer. His prints are on the gun, he knew both victims, and he's apparently on the run. We've issued a warrant for his arrest on suspicion of murder, and alerted the State Police in Delaware and surrounding jurisdictions. Since we can't just run off to Delaware, let's chase some leads here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)