The last two weeks was great at the post box!

Not only did my leatherbound Dungeon Crawl Classics rulebook arrive, but also my Sons of Gygax t-shirt (which sadly no longer seems to be available), an absolutely fabulous Patreon installment by +Tim Shorts (if you haven't check out his Patreon, you really should), and the latest edition of Crawling Under a Broken Moon by +Reid San Filippo .    Hooray for January!

Weird Adventure Wednesday

It's been quite some time since we've had a Weird Adventure Wednesday around these parts, so let's fix that!

This week's weird adventure idea:

On a wintry day you are confronted by a down on his luck swordsman near an ancient shrine.  The swordsman tells you a rumor that 4 weeks ride to the east, Beneath The Ruined City of the Final Oracle lay The Labyrinthine Sewers of Tainted Dreams.  Rumors say that there is hidden The Destructive Vanadium Stabbing Sword of Emasculation.  The Swordsman tells you that he knows a buyer who will pay 10,000 gold coins for that sword.  But beware, for the swordsman warns you that The Radiant Pain Maiden of Harm feasts upon those that dare enter those sewers!

If you enjoy Weird Adventure Idea Wednesday, be sure to check out these free resources:

1,001 Weird and Wacky Adventure Ideas

and

1,001 More Weird and Wacky Adventure Ideas

New Kickstarter: Delvers Lost in the Dungeons of Doom 2!

Well, just as I finally finished my review for the Delvers Lost in The Dungeons of Doom Kickstarter,  +Darcy Perry has launched the next one!  Honestly, the first one was fantastic, and I expect the second will be even better.  So, if you like miniatures, consider throwing some coin at this one guys!

I can't wait to paint Kroag!

No need to say it, but I'm in!

Miniatures Monday (Two photos and some thoughts)

Evil Cleric: Front View

This week, Miniatures Monday goes way back to the very early 1980s and to one of the earliest sets of miniatures that I owned.  I'd been playing D&D for a good while at that point, but the only miniatures that I had gotten were the Grenadier Dwarves boxed set (#2003), so I was pretty excited to get the Grenadier Action Art Monsters set (#8002) for Christmas one year.  That set contained two of my all time favorite miniatures, the Assassin, and the Lawful Evil Cleric.  I loved the cleric because of his awesome demon shield.  That things is just fantastic.  Heck, I even made several magic items for some of my games from it.  In one game the shield acted as a bag of holding that was large enough for the PCs to crawl into.  In another, the shield could exhale wind from its mouth and knock enemies down.  I was fascinated with the miniature, but I just never got around to painting it.  For over 35 years it sat unpainted until recently I decided to finally give it the full color treatment.  To some extent, I guess 35 years of expectation was too much to ever live up to.  This clearly isn't among my best work.  I could claim that it's an old miniature, and the detail isn't that great, or that my eyes just aren't what they were, but the end result is that I just didn't do as good a job on this one as I'd hoped.  I don't think that it's bad, but rather just disappointing.  At least the shield turned out OK, and that was my favorite part of the figure anyway.  Man, I love that shield. :-)

Evil Cleric: Rear View (The Shield!)

And for those of you who may not remember the Grenadier Action Art sets, here is a box photo.

That Drider is probably still around here somewhere...

Kickstarter Review: Delvers Lost in the Dungeons of Doom!

Amazon, Wizard ,and Dark Cleric

Every year, I institute a moratorium on miniatures purchases, and every year something happens to make me buy more miniatures.  In 2016 , the big thing was the Kickstarter for Delvers Lost in the Dungeons of Doom! by +Darcy Perry and Star Hat Miniatures.  I came across this Kickstarter, and one look at the preview sculpts had me hooked.  I have to say that I was not disappointed in the results. Not only did they show up early (November instead of December), but I love the sculpts.

Berserker, Knight, and Barbarian

The first thing that you notice about these miniatures is that they have HEFT in your hand.  They are solid with excellently sculpted bases.  No slotted plastic bases here, or thin metal bases to save on casting material like companies such as Reaper have been doing in recent years.  These guys are meant to stand firmly on your gaming table!

Dwarf Lord, Druid, and Crusader

There is a ton of character in these sculpts with a bit of whimsy thrown in for good measure.  Just check out the mindflayer janitor.  :-)   In a market filled with miniatures, these are really something special.  The Miniatures are heroic scale at around 35-38mm, so they will stand out from many of your other miniatures, but as they are primarily PC miniatures that's a good thing.  Your PCs should be easily distinguishable from the other miniatures on the table.  They are the heroes after all!  The added bonus is that, being a little bigger, they are easier to paint for old guys like me. :-)

Janitor, Bard, and Alchemist

If I had to single out my favorites from this wonderful collection, I'd have to go with the Wizard and the Barbarian.  The wizard because he reminds me of the most bad-ass Gandalf in down, and the barbarian because he's a barbarian (and he has a mohawk).  I managed to get some of these guys primed before the weather turned too cold here, and I'm really looking forward to starting to paint them.  It's a long weekend here in the U.S. so I may just start today!

Thief, Ranger, and Assassin

I believe that +Darcy Perry  is working on another set for a future Kickstarter, so if you missed out on the first one, do yourself a favor and keep your eyes open for the next one.  Check out Star Hat Miniatures to keep up on the progress.  Also, if you live in New Zealand, I think that some gaming stores are carrying individual figures for sale from this set.

Monk, and Kobold Thuamatologist

Excellent miniatures.  Keep up the good work!  As a postscript, I meant to post this review months ago.

UPDATE: It looks like the new Kickstarter is in a draft state!  I can't wait.  Kroag looks amazing...