Wilds - Wet War

OOC: A general note on conditions: this place is a mess. The water is ankle to shin deep most places, and the pools are waist-deep or more. The ground is thick mud. There are a few boulders that stick up from the water, but it's clear the rains have done a good job flooding this place. The structures you see are made from rough-cut timber and elevated a few feet (on boulders and logs). It looks like the roofs are covered in hides, as are the doorways you can see.

PBE Games - New (Mostly) Releases

I really need to set a calendar entry for these. I'm terrible at doing them in a timely fashion. Excuses, excuses. The last update was sometime in June, so there are several things to talk about. On the other hand, my output pace as slowed a bit due to other work, so there's not a huge list. Let's just get on with it.

• First up is a new Uncommon Ground texture: Weaving. This is an upholstery-like pattern in red, green, blue and yellow variants.
• Ash Wood is a new sandbox hex for Hexed Places. Years ago a falling star landed in this densely wooded area, starting a fire that burned away much of the forest. The woods have grown back in many places, but the area around the landing site is still a burned and blackened ruin. It's probably nothing.
• I've also released five new Dungeons in Blue Mega Tiles, numbers 16 to 20. These tiles include a confusing mine complex, two watery cavern complexes, a cave and dungeon complex, and a traditional dungeon that's still under construction. You can get all five of these tiles in the Mega Tile Five Pack #4, or get all twenty Mega Tiles in the Mega Tile Big Deal #1. Both these bundles include discount pricing.

That's it for new released products. Looking ahead, I'll be releasing a couple more Uncommon Ground textures plus several sets of Dungeons in Blue Expansion Tiles. Since the end of the original A to Z tile series I've added a bunch of new corridor and passage styles to Dungeons in Blue. Expansion Tiles are complete tile sets that use all these new features, providing you with even more dungeon-building options. I also have another set of five Mega Tiles in the queue, plus more Hexed Places and One Page products lurking in the background.

That about wraps things up. Here are a few images of new and future products to whet your dungeon appetite. Thanks, as always, for reading. Happy gaming.

Mega Tile Sixteen - One-third scale preview

Mega Tile Nineteen - One-third scale preview

Expansion Pack B - One-third scale preview

The Wilds - Oh Snap!

"But we don't know what's in there," says Durego, for the third or fourth time.

"And there's only one way to find out," answers Raúguey, a hint of exasperation in his voice. "They're holed up, and not moving. Maybe there's no one there, or maybe there are guards. With this mud and rain, we're not going to be able to sit out here and watch, and when night comes, they'll find us for sure if they send out patrols. Best hit them fast and hard, before they can react." He looks around the group and sees nods from Grendor, Strom, Ingvild and Maro. Ohwatoo is peering between the reeds, looking at the lake and the ruined tower on the isle, just visible in the mist.

Tile of the Week #86

Here is today's Tile of the Week entry, a simple little passage with a side branch and a small pool of water.

Player Version

GM Version

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click/save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle if you're feeling lazy.

The Wilds - Camped

Start Date: March 28, dawn
Start Status: No damn good in the mud
Start Location: The Wilds, south of the Maze

The Turn

The clouds on the horizon were a sign. Overnight the weather turns miserable. Gusty wind brings rain, thunder and lightning, turning dawn into a gray and dismal affair. Ava managed to do a quick survey of the surrounding woods before the weather got too bad and tells Mordikarr she did not see anything threatening nearby. The party spends the morning moving camp to their chosen site, the small hill with a spring in a shallow cave near the base. Once there, the thoroughly soaked scouts survey the immediate area while the others attempt to create a reasonably dry and safe campsite. The worst of the wet drains away from the site, so the mud is only a few inches deep atop the hill.

GRAV - A First Look

GRAV, by BitMonster, is a science fiction shooter/sandbox with procedural planets, dungeons, building, crafting and more. It's currently available as an early access title on Steam. I was bored Sunday night, so I decided to check it out. Before we begin, you should take a look at the game's original trailer, right here.

Yes, dancing is a thing, we'll get to that.

Wilds - Circling the Maze

The wooded hills and a nearby stream lead the party to believe that they'll find a good campsite soon. After some debate about direction and distance, the group agrees to explore the current area and to extend their search south a ways to eliminate any possibility of an extant threat to the site they choose.

Tile of the Week #85

Here is today's Tile of the Week entry. This is a cavern tunnel with multiple side passages and a few scattered boulders and stones obstructing the way. There's a small elevation change in the passage too.

Player Version

GM Version

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle if you're feeling lazy.

After you're done checking out the map above, you may want to take a peek at the new Mega Tile Big Deal #1. It contains the first 20 quadruple-sized geomorphs I've done for Dungeons in Blue.

Wilds - Cloudy, with a Chance of Frog Legs

Camping in a swamp, in the pouring rain. What could be finer?

The Wilds - Walkin' in the Rain

The party continues their circumnavigation of Blackpool Maze, both to get the lay of the land and to find a good site for the mules and new guards. Wouldn't do to lose another set so soon.

Early Impression: Skyforge

Skyforge is a new action/RPG/MMO hybrid game from the same development team that created Allods, a traditional WoW-style MMO. I played a fair bit of Allods, so I was interested in the team's Skyforge effort. It went open beta this week, and I jumped in with a couple friends. First impressions follow.

Tile of the Week #84

Here is today's Tile of the Week entry. I decided to do a few random caverns, so this is the first of four similar, quarter-sized tiles.

Player Version

GM Version

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle if you're feeling lazy.

The Wilds - Back to Blackpool. Again.

The party has an easy go of it for the first few days, but as they reach Needle Spire, that changes a bit. Trouble at the Spire? Trouble with the hirelings?

The Wilds - Out and Aboot

Finally! We're back on the road and badder than ever! It took a while to get the group organized and get past the winter doldrums (which were actually work and summer vacation related). Now we're moving! We're also on the 240th turn of this game. That's... a LOT of turns.

Tile of the Week #83

Here is today's Tile of the Week entry. I'm still pet/house sitting so this was done very quickly, 20 minutes start to finish. A nicely fortified hallway/deathtrap. I think it'll be a nice addition to Blackpool Maze.

Player Version

GM Version

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle if you're feeling lazy.

The Wilds - Mostly OOC

This is just a brief interim turn to cover some administrative stuff. The party has their plan worked out, but there are still some supply issues to finalize. Next week should see a return to the usual bi-weekly wilderness and dungeon crawling.

The Wilds - Spring Fever

Well, the around-town activities have mostly wrapped up, real-life time sinks are shrinking, and the party is getting ready for their next expedition. There are still details to work out, but... yay, another turn!

Tile of the Week #82

Here is today's Tileof the Week entry. I'm house- and pet-sitting for my sister this week, and my backlog of maps is empty, so I decided to do a very fast maze-like map to cover this week's entry. I blitzed through this in about 15 minutes.

Tile 82 - Player's version

Tile 82 - GM's version

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle if you're feeling lazy.

Tile of the Week # 81

Here is today's Tile of the Week entry. I did up a few transition tiles with stairs/shafts up and down. This is the last tile in this series. It shows a cave/passage intersection with a nearby staircase.

Player Tile

GM Tile

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle if you're feeling lazy.

Tile of the Week # 80

Here is today's Tile of the Week entry. I did up a few transition tiles with stairs/shafts up and down. This is the third of four such tiles and features a couple of shafts leading up/down in a natural cave system.

Player Tile

GM Tile

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle if you're feeling lazy.

The Wilds - What's Up?

Despite the lack of posts, The Wilds is still moving, but things are barely moving at the moment. We're dealing with some party logistics and some screwy schedules. In the game, it's late December, and the party has decided they're going to spend the winter in town. Here's a quick recap of the last few so-called turns, plus a short history lesson.

Cold Shades

These are the creatures the party in my Labyrinth Lord PBEM game, The Wilds, ran into a few turns back and then again a few turns later. I thought I'd spec them out, LL-style and share. They're similar to wraiths but colder.

Warning: players in my Wilds game keep out!

The Wilds - Some Meta

Since the party is dealing with logistics, levels and such...

When this game started, it was going to be a dungeon-crawl game, and because I run it via email, the pace is slooow. I didn't do a lot of prep for the game before I started it up because I wasn't sure how long it was going to last. I needed a map, because I always need a map. I threw together the current overland map of Hembard Wilds as the area west with minimal thought.

That was 2 1/2 years ago.

Recently, in part because the party has become more interested in town/civilization things, I've been doing some research/work on figuring out exactly how big the place is and how many people live there. Guided by some material gleaned from ACKS discussions and an excellent article on medieval demographics as they relate to gaming...

Behold! The Wilds, realm 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.

• Total area: 6000 square miles, about 3.8 million acres (Connecticut-sized).
• Farmed acreage: 238,000
• Rural population: 81,000
• Urban population: 7500
• Total population: 88,500 (Connecticut: about 3.5 million)
• Average population per square mile: 19
• Overall size of economy: 2.36 million GP annually

Households:

• Tenant Farmers: 11,000
• Freeholds: 1400
• Manors: 59 (essentially super-sized freeholds)
• Wilders: 1000 (trappers, hunters, woodcutters, etc.)

Map-wise, the area claimed by Thambar is the exposed portion from just west of New Town to Highcliff Keep and Auslaug in the east. Now I have a hex by hex breakdown of population to work with and some grasp of the local economy. Doing actual land-area calculations is a bit of an eye-opener. I can see that:

• Thambar has a huge amount of land available, probably too much to be held effectively. I need more second tier nobles around.
• The area is very thinly populated. Overall, about 6% of the land is in use. That makes some sense based on the map and local history. Quite a bit of it is forested/semi-wild land and the inhabitants are doing frontier clear-cut farming. Auslaug, the oldest town, and Highcliff, the main castle, were both founded about 100 years ago. Hustwood and Brekkevale are 80-90 years old. All in all, it's a recently settled area.

One upshot of all this is that the main towns probably have more businesses than I'd thought, and I'll be adding some stuff to the main towns during the course of play going forward. Next time I set up a sandbox I'll definitely be paying more attention to the local economy and demographics before I start.

• Go to game index

Tile of the Week #79

Here is today's Tile of the Week entry. I did up a few transition tiles with stairs/shafts up and down. This is the second in the series, an intersection with connection stairs.

Tile 79 Player

Tile 79 GM

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle if you're feeling lazy.

Wilds - R&R

Back in town, the party takes care of business. It was a profitable, if costly, trip, and quite a few characters gained a level. Most of the group is 4th level now. The loss of Jonquil, Tesso and Gorvil has inspired Saurabh. He has asked to join the group as a full-fledged adventurer, leaving behind his hireling role.

The party is giving serious thought to holing up in town for the remainder of the winter. None of them see the appeal of spending January and February out in the ice and snow.

Wilds - Townies

Ingvar the reeve does his job quickly and efficiently, haggling a bit over some of the jeweled items, but willing to set a fair value. As you progress through the various piles of furs, gold, and jewelry he makes careful notations on his tablet. Ohwatoo does the same on a piece of parchment. The whole process takes over an hour, and the light is all but gone by the time you're done. Ingvar glances at the sky, then at the long list of items on his tablet. "It will take some time to transcribe this and create the import manifest." As he speaks, several guards approach, and trade off with the pair who are hanging around you. Those two head toward the bridge, and as Ingvar continues to speak, they close and lock the gate. "The clerk is gone for the night. This will be on his desk first thing tomorrow. I'm sure you'll want to take care of your beasts and find a place to camp for the night." He gives a nod and goes back into the building.

Tile of the Week #78

Here is today's Tile of the Week entry. I did up a few transition tiles with stairs/shafts up and down. This is the first of four such tiles.

Wilds - Civilized

The party comes over the ridge with Maro, Grendor and Durego in the lead. The others follow, spread out in case of trouble. They're half-way down the ridge before they draw attention from the people among the tents. Someone nudges an armored guard (?) and points. She looks up, studies the group for a moment, then whistles. A few other guards join her, and move to meet the group as they reach the west end of the settlement. A handful of other folk gather behind the guards, and Maro notes that many of them are armed, a mix of daggers, hand axes, cudgels and other common weapons. "Hold there!" calls the woman in mail, who seems to be in charge. In the fading evening light you can see her shield is emblazoned with the seal of Highcliff Keep. "Who are you and where are you from?"

Tile of the Week #77

Here is today's Tile of the Week entry. This is the fourth of four quarter-sized, dead-end tiles, each with a different connecting passage type. This is a dead-end sewer complex with a couple small side chambers.

Tile 77 - Player version

Tile 77 - GM version

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle if you're feeling lazy.

The Wilds - On the Border

After spotting horse, hound and human tracks in the abandoned village, the party proceeds with more caution. As they continue along the roadway, they note the horsemen came and went the same way. "Could be good, could be bad," muttered Durego. "Maybe Lord Thambar is just beefing up patrols."

"If he's still in charge," answeres Grendor.

The Wilds - The Road Home

Time for a travelogue!

Tile of the Week #76

Here is today's Tile of the Week entry. This is the third of four quarter-sized, dead-end tiles, each with a different connecting passage type. This is a double-wide cavern that ends in a large worked mine area or under construction cave.

Tile 76 - Player version

Tile 76 - GM version

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle if you're feeling lazy.

Wilds - East Bound

With the crypts cleared, there is little left to do in Pillar Vale. The collapsed entrances hold some interest, but the party has few tools for excavation, and the wiser party members have finally realized the dire state of their supplies. Even Raúguey's pleas to pick up the cached supplies the group left near Hill Hole fall on deaf ears. Durego says, "We need to head straight back. Odds are we're going to lose at least one mule. If we start losing mules, we can't haul the food we need or the loot we've recovered. We've scored big. Let's get it to safety."

Tile of the Week #75

Here is today's Tile of the Week entry. This is the second of four quarter-sized, dead-end tiles, each with a different connecting passage type. This is a typical 10-foot hall that ends in a couple of small rooms.

Tile 75 - Player version

Tile 75 - GM version

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle if you're feeling lazy.

Wilds - Jackpot

With the shades defeated, the party turns its attention to the usual subject, grave-robbing.

The Wilds - Keep your Dead, Really

The party continues to fight the undead shades they encountered in the crypts beneath Pillar Vale

PBE Games - Dungeons in Blue Mines Packs

There are now three new Dungeons in Blue geomorph packs available on DriveThruRPG / RPGNow. The Mines #1, The Mines #2 and The Mines #3 all depict rough-hewn, unfinished corridors and chambers supported by irregular pillars and posts. You can use these tiles to represent mine tunnels or areas that are under construction. All three map tile sets are also available in a discount triple pack.

Since I have a bit of a technical issue getting the preview for #3 posted to DTRPG, I thought I'd share it here. It's fairly representative of all three geomorph sets.

As you can see, there are crossover tiles that connect mines-style tunnels to other room and passage types.

That's it for this update, thanks for checking it out!

Tile of the Week #74

Here's the latest Tile of the Week entry. This is the first of four quarter-sized, dead-end tiles, each with a different connecting passage type.

Tile #74 - Player version

Tile #74 - GM version

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle if you're feeling lazy.

Wilds - A Chilling Development

Durego shoves his way past the front ranks and strides into the room with his holy symbol raised before him. "Begone foul evil. You have no power here. You have no power over my companions. Begone from this place in the name of Erlinga. Begone."

Wilds - [Insert Title Here]

As the others move around the pit, some east, some south, Durego casts a spell (find traps). Rawon waits at the edge of the trap while Maro keeps watch on the north passage at the rear of the group.

Wilds - Back with a Plan

After a night's rest, the group is ready to head back to the crypts, better prepared for their chilling foes.

Tile of the Week #73 - Not a Corridor!

The latest Tile of the Week entry. I decided to do a mega-tile geomorph as a change of pace from the many pillared corridor tiles that I've been doing. It shows a natural cave with a river running through it. A few mineshaft corridors and chambers connect up to the cave.

Wilds - So Cold

Sorely wounded, the party regroups and immediately decides a retreat is in order. Those affected by the chilling aura try to warm themselves while the others gather their arrows and darts. Strom reaches into pale Durego's pack and pulls out the kettle. "Let's make use of this quickly, then get moving!"

Tile of the Week #71 and #72

The latest Tile of the Week entry. This is the final pair of tiles from the ongoing corridor set I'm doing. Each pair of player tiles contains a corridor piece with a tileable pillar layout, so you can make long passages that look right. No tricks or traps here, unless you add your own.

Tile #71

Tile #72

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle, if you're feeling lazy.

Wilds - The Icy Hand of...

Faced with a shadowy undead creature, the party reacts swiftly.

Wilds - Death's Door?

After watching Ohwatoo check the three sarcophagi in the last chamber for magic [none], Maro says, "You know, it's odd there are no inscriptions or writing anywhere in here."

Durego shrugs. "Maybe, maybe not. Most tombs of Erlinga's faithful have little in the way of markings or writing either. Perhaps the statues are markers for those entombed here."

"But we've found many more sarcophagi than statues," says the elf.

"Maybe they're the important people. The others... retainers? Slaves? Guards? Who knows what these people believed," Grendor is keeping watch as Ingvild examines the next set of doors for traps. "We ready to open this door?"

Tile of the Week #69 and #70

The latest Tile of the Week entry. This is another pair of tiles from the ongoing corridor set I'm doing. Each pair of player tiles contains a corridor piece with a tileable pillar layout, so you can make long passages that look right. No tricks or traps here, unless you add your own.

Tile #69

Tile #70

All Tile of the Week images are free for private use. You can download the images above using right-click / save as. Each tile is a 100px per five-foot square image, sized for compatibility with Dungeons in Blue geomorphs. The entire Tile of the Week Collection is also available as a pay what you want bundle, if you're feeling lazy.

Wilds - Turn About

As the others debate where to go next, Raúguey takes an interest in the statues while Strom Maro,
Ingvild, and Ohwatoo examine the open sarcophagus.

PBE Games Update

Time for another update on new PBE Games releases. This post covers late March and early April releases. Most of these are Dungeons in Blue related:

• Mega Tile Eleven is a traditional dungeon complex with a fortified exterior entrance.
• Mega Tile Twelve depicts a surface location, a small church with outbuildings and a graveyard. It has stairs / passages down too.
• Mega Tile Thirteen has stairs and passages that link up with Mega Tile Twelve, so you can use the two tiles as a complete dungeon complex.
• Mega Tile Fourteen is a large cavern cut by several chasms. Walls and drawbridges protect the crossing points.
• Mega Tile Fifteen shows a watery cave with a few signs of occupation: a dock, a magical circle, and a few boards along the coastline.
• Mega Tile Five Pack #3 is a discount bundle that includes these five Mega Tiles.
• Transitions Two is a set of sixteen 50 x 50 foot tiles that show transitions between various corridor and cave types.
• Sanded is an Uncommon Ground texture that depicts a smooth grainy stone texture.

Here's a look at a few preview images (one-third scale). You can see previews for all these new products on DriveThruRPG or RPGNow.

Mega Tile Twelve preview

Mega Tile Fifteen preview

Transitions Two preview

You may have noticed some rough, pillared passages in the Transitions Two preview. That's a new style of tunnel / chamber I've added to Dungeons in Blue. I use it for new construction and rough mineshafts. I have three sets of tiles in this style Coming Soon (TM). I'll also be putting out some full mixed tile sets in the near future. These expansion sets will make use of all tunnel, cave, and room formats. Again, Coming Soon (TM).

That's it for now. Thanks, as always for reading.