The Wilds - Hot. Damn Hot!

A short turn, as commonly happens when exploring a dungeon.

Tile of the Week #91

Here is today's Tile of the Week entry, a simple four-way intersection with stairs leading up/down on three sides. These stairs could go up or down, so there are no direction arrows. I use several different stair types for different situations. Here's a snippet from the Dungeons in Blue FAQ that explains:

What's the deal with stairs? Shaded, unshaded, arrows, no arrows?

Shaded stairs are paths off the current level (up or down). Unshaded stairs are elevation changes within the current level. Arrows indicate direction, and stairs without can be interpreted as either up or down staircases.

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 - Tight Quarters

As the group discusses the plan for getting down in the hole, Saurabh speaks up, "I think Ingvild has a good idea. Let's save the levitation for escape, not for getting down. We have a rope ladder, and these rocks are big enough to serve as a secure tie-off. Use a length of rope to suspend the ladder from the rocks, cover the exposed parts with some of the debris here, and get moving." [Recall that at least some of the previous room occupants have used the crevice as a disposal chute.]

Tile of the Week #90

Here is today's Tile of the Week entry. Number 90 depicts a large chamber surrounded by big pits and stairways. If you've played any Path of Exile, you may recognize the inspiration for this map.

Player Map

GM Map

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 - Nothing Like a bit of Rain

It takes the party over two hours to cover the remaining distance to the Maze. The continued rain has done the imposssible: made the area even more of a mucky mess. As the party gets close to fog-shrouded walls, Ava takes a pass around the ruin. She returns and reports no sign of activity within the walls. The party advances cautiously, well-aware of the steel-jawed traps that might lurk in the mud.

The Wilds - The Kobold Conversations

When the other members of the party see that Ohwatoo is getting answers from Skarg, the questions pour in. "One at a time!" growls the mage, bringing some order to the process. Turning back to the kobold, he asks, "Now then, how many of these swamp walkers have you seen?"
Skarg scowls and looks down at his fingers, muttering. "Skarg remembers seeing more than one pack. Maybe seven or nine. Or eight. Not sure."

Tile of the Week #89

Here is today's Tile of the Week entry, a series of hallways with multiple stairways forming a long descent. Yeah, it's a day late, I thought I had more queued up than I actually did.

Tile 89 - Player Version

Tile 89 - 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.

Also, if you missed the announcement post I made on G+, there's a new triple pack of expansion tiles available too. This is the first three sets of a new tiles series that incorporates all the various water/corridor types I've put out as separate packages: sewers, cross-tile water, mines and grand hallways/caverns.

The Wilds - Tense

When we left our party, they were cleaning up the mess after their fight with the brutes, gnolls and kobolds. The last few lines of the last turn...

As Raúguey gets close, there are squeals and shouts from inside the hut. He pauses a few feet away. "Can anyone make out what they're saying?"

Grendor frowns. "It sounds like 'Don't kill us, we surrender! We will leave this place forever and never come back! Don't kill us!'"

"It's a trick," says Durego. "Light them up!"

And that lead to...

The Wilds - Cleanup, Hut Three

Most enemies are down, but we stuck with combat rounds this turn, because there are still fleeing gnolls and cowering kobolds around. Since there are no visible enemies, initiative isn't really a factor.

Tile of the Week #88

Here is today's Tile of the Week entry, a half-tile river crossing that transitions between classic dungeon corridors and natural caverns.

Player Map

GM Map

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 - Down and Out in Blackpool

Let's just get into the fight, shall we?

Wilds - Mud Show/Blood Show!

The fight continues at the entrance to Blackpool Maze.

Tile of the Week #87

Here is today's Tile of the Week entry, the fourth of four quarter-sized cavern tunnel/intersection tiles. This one includes a set of stairs and a nice little natural drop-off.  There's also a little fire ring at the bottom of the cliff. Guards?

Player Map

GM Map

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. Finally, in case you missed it, I just did a quick recap of all new PBE Games products.

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.

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