What's in the flask, Egg? Magic potion?

Thirty years ago today Big Trouble in Little China was released.  Sadly, it didn't do as well as John Carpenter had hoped.  Of course that was the same summer that Aliens came out, and that was a bit tough to compete with.  It's still one of my favorite films, but then I can see things no one else can see.  Why are you dressed like that? ;-)

The Battle of the Somme: 1 July 1916

It's 7:28 BST (British Summer Time).  100 years ago it was two minute to zero hour, and the mines beneath the trenches of the German 2nd Army were detonated.  Two minutes later the British 3rd and 4th Armies along with the French 6th Army went "over the top".  It was the worst day in the history of the British Army.  The British 4th Army suffered 57,470 casualties that day, of which 19,240 were killed.  When the battle ended over four months later, the Allies has lost 623,907 men of which 146,431 were killed or missing. had taken.  The Central Powers had taken around 465,000 casualties, of which 164,055 were killed or missing.  Those number are mind boggling, all for a few miles of blasted land.  The British are observing two minutes of silence at 7:28 BST to honor all of those who were forever silenced on that day.

Frazetta Inspired Barbarian Miniatures (W.I.P.)

Following up on my recent post about the upcoming release of five Death Dealer Miniatures by Bronze Age Miniatures, I figured that I would post some photos of four barbarian miniatures from them that I just finished assembling.  They make some very cool miniatures, and these have a definite Frazetta vibe to them.  I'm really looking forward to painting these guys and getting them on the table.  About the only downside to these guys is that they don't ship with bases, so you'll have to provide your own.  Standard slotted bases work fine.

Weird Adventure Wednesday

I wonder if the hands got Long Neck....

This Week's Weird Adventure Idea:

On a pleasant morning you are confronted by a drunken wizard at a fork in the road.  The wizard tells you an intriguing tale that 6 days journey to the west, beneath The Puzzling Burial Ground of Nightmares lies the Flooded Crypt of the Hands.  Legends hold that there can be found The Emerald Flask of Midnight.  But beware, for the wizard warns you that The Barbarous Phantasm of Bones dwells there!

Death Dealer Miniatures! (Coming Soon)

Death Dealer 3 from Bronze Age Miniatures

I'm a huge fan of Frank Frazetta, particularly his Conan and Death Dealer paintings.  So I was really excite to learn that Bronze Age Miniatures, who have always made some pretty cool Frazetta inspired figure, is releasing a line of five 32mm Death Dealer Miniatures.  The expected  release date for these is 11 July 2016, and I have to say that they look pretty good.  They range between $15 and $25 each, but based on my past experience with Bronze Age, they will be worth it.  It goes without saying that I've already pre-ordered mine.

Random Table Tuesday (d100 Swords)

This week's Random Table is a d100 table of magic swords.  As with most of my random tables, these weapons don't have stats, but who wouldn't have fun making up stats for the Blessed Basalt Sword of Offenses?  These are intended as ideas to get your creative juices flowing.  Also as usual, these mostly sound as if they are cursed. :-)

Download

Miniatures Monday

A Gun Mage

This week for Miniature's Monday, we return to the Iron Kingdoms.  I painted this miniature for the Gun Mage in our current IK campaign.  Overall I think that it turned out rather well, but it started out a bit rough.  There is a lot of small detail on this one, and my eyes aren't getting any younger.  I also tried experimenting with a different photographic background, but I'm still not sure what I think of it. The miniature is an official Iron Kingdoms miniature from the Hordes line and is available from Privateer Press for $9.99.

Massive Darkness Board Game Kickstarter

Massive Darkness KickStarter

I'm a sucker for miniatures, and I always have been.  I've been buying miniatures since around 1980 and have far more than I will ever be able to paint in the maybe 30 years that I have left.  In recent years, I've even been trying (with little success) to reduce the number of miniatures that I have to by giving some of them away.  Then along comes something like the latest KickStarter from +Cool Mini or Not Inc.  Massive Darkness.  It's a dungeon crawling board game (which I love), and it has a ton of cool looking miniatures (which I also love).  The game is fully cooperative, so unlike Descent, it doesn't require one of the players to act as a game master.  That really hits a sweet spot for me because I've never been that keen on one player versus everyone else type games.  Plus that barbarian miniature looks awesome!  There are several other videos on the page, and the miniature count is already well past 100 with the stretch goals.  There are also several add-on expansions available which add more characters, monsters, and board pieces.  Overall, it's a really cool looking game.  I've got to admit that this one is going to be tough to resist...

600th Post +1

600 posts and counting!

In all of my excitement yesterday around the start of the Mutant Crawl Classics KickStarter campaign, I missed that fact that my post about MCC was my 600th posting to this blog.  Now I know that 600 posts isn't really a very big deal, but I'm still impressed that I reached that number, so I drew this picture to commemorate it.  I'm not really sure what this guy has to do with 600 blog posts, but I felt like drawing a dude in robes with a shield.  :-) This isn't a very focused blog, which mirrors its author quite well.  I started this blog as a place for me to post photos of my painted miniatures, and hit as slowly grown to cover more things like maps, board games, adventure ideas, and occasionally fiction.  Many of the posts are still miniatures related, but it has been fun and interesting to branch out, and I've discovered that while I'm not good at drawing, I really enjoy it.  To everyone who has read along, I would like to extend my sincerest thanks as I look forward to my next 600 posts.

Mutant Crawl Classics! (Links and video included)

It's here!  It's here!  The KickStarter for Mutant Crawl Classics is finally live!  There are 3 options, PDF only, PDF + Color Hardcover, and PDF + Foil Hardcover.  I've been waiting for this ever since the game was announced.  I'm a huge Dungeon Crawl Classics fan and a big fan of the old Gamma World system, so this one was a no-brainer for me.  Awesome +Doug Kovacs artwork certainly doesn't hurt!  Delivery isn't estimated until June 2017, so I guess that I'll need to be patient.  I got mine, who else has pledged?

Thought for the Day

There is no requirement that we grow up
No requirement that we grow wiser
There is only the requirement that we grow older
And even that requirement has its limitations

Weird Adventure Wednesday

I wonder what he wished for?

This Week's Weird Adventure Idea:

On an autumn evening you have a chance meeting with a sallow magus in a whorehouse.  The magus discloses to you that 14 days travel to the northwest, beneath The Misty Forest of Ordeals were dug The Stinking Tunnels of the Shaved Mystic.  It is alleged that there is hidden The Tentacle Well of Dismemberment.  But beware, for the magus counsels you that it is believed The Tremendous Occultist of Emasculation makes its abode there!

Random Table Tuesday (d100 Helmets)

The Horned Emerald Helm of Liquification

Since I modified my Random Adventure generator to create tables, I've decided to start posting random tables of items.  This week we have helmets.  They don't have any stats associated with them and thus are system neutral.  They are intended to be inspiration for magic/cursed items...mostly cursed. ;-)

Miniatures Monday

This week we again have a very old miniature molded in plastic, and once more it is from the 1990 Milton Bradley edition of HeroQuest.  This is the barbarian, and again for those of you who might not be familiar, HeroQuest was a dungeon crawling board game that was a joint effort between Games Workshop and Milton Bradley.  It was played by played by up to four players and a referee.  Imagine an older simpler version of Descent: Journeys in the Dark.  There were four available characters in the base game, the elf, the dwarf, the barbarian, and the wizard.  The casts are fairly simplistic, but I thought that it would be fun to paint them, and they will certainly look better on the board.  Anyone familiar with this blog knows that I paint a lot of barbarians, so this one was a no-brainer. :-)

Free RPG Day 2016 (1,001 Free Adventure Ideas)

In honor of Free RPG Day, I'm reposting a link to my free 1,001 More Weird and Wacky Adventure Ideas, a collection of adventure seeds that are in many cases just plain weird.  I figure that not everyone has access to somewhere that is participating in Free RPG Day, and those folks should't miss out on getting something free, even if it is kind of crappy. :-)

The PDF version can be downloaded from here.
The ePub version can be downloaded from here.

I hope that people find as much enjoyment from reading and using this as I had creating it.  Happy Adventuring!

Also, don't forget to check back at this blog every Wednesday for a new adventure idea on Weird Adventure Wednesday. :-)