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. :-)

LOAD "*" , 8 , 1

Those of you born after the mid 1980s may find it hard to believe, but back in the 1980s the Commodore 64 was a pretty awesome gaming machine.  One of my friends had a cousin in the Air Force who was stationed in Greenland or some such place and had a C-64 with him there.  I guess it was to fight the Russians with, but who knows?  It seems the there wasn't much to do in Greenland though what with all the ice and such, so they played a lot of computer games up there, most of them pirated.  This piracy benefited the American homeland though because several times a year, a shoebox filled with 5.25" floppy disks would arrive at my friend's house.  Each of these disks would be crammed full of games.  Many a Friday night (when we weren't playing Dungeons and Dragons) was spent with four of us huddled around my friend's Commodore 64 trying out all of these wondrous new games.  Of course we had no instructions for any of them, so beyond any on screen clues we may have had we were on our own as far as figuring out how to play.

An impressive opening screen for the 19080s

One of the games that arrived was a game from the impressively named software company ULTIMATE PLAY THE GAME called The Staff of Karnath.  It was an isometric side-scroller where you played some sort of wizard in a castle trying to collect the pieces of a magical pentacle.  You had a number of spells with names like Forthrin and Umphalos, all of which seemed to shoot the same missile out of your hands.  Of course the spells all did something different, and this was no doubt done to thwart potential pirates.  Cough, cough.  The castle was full of all sorts of enemies such was suits of animated armor, witches on brooms, a troll, a floating skull, some weird hopping guy, and many others.  We died a lot, and we only ever figured out that the Forthin spell was the main attack spell.  Beyond that the mystic arts eluded us.  In any case, we played this game a lot without ever getting anywhere, but that didn't really diminish the fun, rather it increased it.  

Beware the skull!

The joy of discovery when we figured out how to play one of these mysterious games (many of which we had never heard of before), was huge.  Those were some good times, and those games, while simplistic by today's standards were still pretty awesome.  The Commodore 64 has passed into history, but it will always have a special place in my heart.  As an aside, I came across a long-play video of the Staff of Karnath on youtube and have included it here in case anyone is interested.

Weird Adventure Wednesday

This week's weird Adventure Idea:

On a steamy day you have a chance meeting with a middle aged entertainer at a gladiator fight.  The entertainer tells you that 2 weeks journey to the west, across The Boiling Sea of Contaminated Mouths lay The Forgotten Island of the Crimson Tower.  It is rumored that there can be found The Chattering Quartz Girdle of the Witch.  But beware, for the entertainer counsels you that The Chelonian Witch of Cannibalism slaughters all who set foot there!

Miniatures Monday

In a bit of a change from the metal miniatures that I normally paint, this week we have a very old miniature molded in plastic.  This is the elf from the 1990 Milton Bradley edition of HeroQuest.  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.

A Grim World of Perilous Adventure.

Heavy metal orcs, punk rock elves, chaos, mutation, and madness.  What's not to love?  Ever since I picked up a copy of the first edition rules to Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay at Phantom of the Attic back in 1989, I've been hooked.

I loved the cover of the first edition.  The image was so evocative and so not D&D.  Trolls and dwarves with mohawks, goblins who looked like they would eat you as well as kill you.  This looked like my kind of game.  I loved the character creation and the fact that you could start as a rat catcher with a stick and some dead rats or some other equally ridiculous and potentially doomed career.  The second edition cleaned up a bit of the game and produced a large quantity of supplements, while still holding onto the feel of the game.  Sadly, the third edition just didn't do it for me.  All of the fiddly pieces just seemed unnecessary, and in fact turned out to be when they published the hardcover books which included rules for not using them.  Still, it just didn't feel right to me, so I sold off my third edition gear.  In any event, I kept first and second edition books and still turn to them frequently when I need some inspiration.  I would like to see an updated edition someday though that returns more to the system's roots, but we shall see.

When does the painting end?

     I don't consider myself to be a "good" painter.  My miniatures come out looking alright, and I'm not embarrassed to put them on the table, but I tend to think of them as "OK".  I like to think though that my skills have improved incrementally over that past 35 years or so that I've been painting, and I like to think that they continue to improve.  All of this leads me to my habit of retouching and adjusting my miniatures over time.  I find that as I learn a new technique, or get better at an old one that I tend to go back to miniatures that I'm fond of and try to improve them.  Eyes are something that have always vexed me, so generally I would avoid them, which goes against the whole "faces and bases" mantra of what makes a good miniature.  I've been practicing on eyes though and just updated the barbarian in the center and the dwarf to the right with new sets of peepers.  The dwarf was finished years ago, and the barbarian much more recently, yet both found themselves in the improvement line.  I had used the Doomreaver to the left in an Iron Kingdoms game for quite some time but was never quite happy with his Fellblade, so I repainted that last week as well.  The improvements have been incremental, but I find myself now much happier with each of these.
     So, do most people find that they adopt a "done is done" attitude toward their miniatures, or do you find yourselves going back for regular touch-ups on your minis to make incremental improvements?

An Opportunity to Support Purple Sorcerer Games

Purple Sorcerer Games provides some awesome free RPG tools.  Now is your chance to help support them and help them to keep up the good work.  Plus, any donation will get you a PDF copy of their adventure Perils of the Sunken City.  Donations of $25 or more will get you even more of their PDFs.  I absolutely love their Android/iOS app The Crawler's Companion, and while it's got a lot of stuff in it specifically for Dungeon Crawl Classics, I think it makes a great dice roller for any game.

Weird Adventure Wednesday

This week's weird Adventure Idea:

On a summer day you meet a shifty bandit at a disreputable inn.  The bandit discloses to you that 3 weeks travel to the west, across The Seething Moors of the Howling Moon stands The Shameful Church of Amputation.  It is rumored that hidden there is The Dislocated Emerald Pickaxe of Death.  But beware, for the bandit warns you that The Melting Surgeon of Blight prowls that site!

Appendix N: Three Hearts and Three Lions $1.99 in the Kindle Store

Poul Anderson's Three Hearts and Three Lions is for sale for $1.99 in the Kindle Store.  There is a lot of old school goodness in this book, and it's clear how much of an influence it had on some aspects of early Dungeons & Dragons.  I don't want to spoil anything, but you can really see the origins of the Paladin class here, and the troll has a very D&D feel to it.  I remember needing to get this through inter-library loan in order to read it back when it was out of print.  I'm really glad to see more old titles getting new life as e-books.  At under 200 pages, it makes for a quick and worthwhile summer read, plus it's a pretty good deal for just $1.99 if you have a Kindle.

Miniatures Monday

This week for Miniatures Monday, we make a return to Reaper Miniatures.  This one is 03397: Raging Barbarian and was sculpted by Bobby Jackson.  Overall I don't think the results are bad, but my decision to go with a bronze color for his shoulder armor makes the overall effect of the miniature a bit brown.  Also, I think that his eyes need to be redone as I painted them before the final flesh wash, and they seem a bit dark.  I'm happy with his teeth since they turned out to be fairly noticeable. I have another copy of this miniature that I was planning to do a bit of modding on.  We'll see how that one turns out.

More Conan the Barbarian (1982) Trivia

Last night while I was straightening out my games shelf, I had the first episode of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys running on Netflix.  At 11 minutes and 01 second in (33 minutes and 22 seconds left), this shot appeared as the exterior of a tavern where Iolaus is arguing with a villager who came to seek the help of Hercules.

A tavern exterior in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys

There was something very familiar about that exterior, and I paused the show and stared at the screen for a few moments.  Then it hit me.  I loaded up Conan the Barbarian (1982) to confirm, and sure enough it was the exterior of the witch's hut!

The Witch's Hut in Conan the Barbarian

I think it's kind of cool that they slipped something like that in there, since Hercules:  The Legendary Journeys really was more sword & sorcery than Greek mythology.  Less interesting then Conan's father's sword, but still neat.

Suffer No Guilt Yee Who Wield This In the Name of Crom

Holy crap it actually does say that. I've been watching the 1982 Conan the Barbarian film at least twice a year for the last 34 years, and until I flipped the frame, I never realized what the runes on Conan's father sword said (or in fact that they said anything at all).  SUFFER NO GUILT YEE WHO WIELD THIS IN THE NAME OF CROM.  It's nice to find that I can still be surprised. :-)

I've stared at those runes for many years an never got it.  I'm really impressed that they thought to put this kind of detail into the film.  Just one more reason that Conan the Barbarian remains my favorite S&S film of all time.  I really can't wait for the Modiphius Conan RPG.  Crom!

Far Away Land Stories on Patreon

Far Away Land Patreon. 'nuff said. For real.

Seriously though, Simian Circle Games is launching a Patreon.  They put out a great game and are fantastic about supporting it.  If you have a few extra dollars each month, you should really think about donating.  I know that I'm planning too!

100th Anniversary of the Battle of Jutland

The Destruction of the British Battlecruiser HMS Invincible

100 years ago today, on May 31 1916,  The German High Seas Fleet attempted to destroy a portion of the British Grand Fleet by luring them into a trap.  The British turned the table on the trap, and what resulted was the largest Battleship engagement of the First World War, known to the British as the Battle of Jutland and to the Germans as the Skagerrakschlacht.  Despite being outnumbered, the German High Seas Fleet made a good accounting of itself, due in part to superior gunnery.  In the end, the British lost 14 ships and over 6,000 men, while the Germans lost 11 ship and over 2500 men.  The result was a strategic victory for the British, and the German High Seas Fleet spent most of the rest of the war in port acting as a fleet in being.  

The German Battlecruiser SMS Seydlitz in port after the battle

Today only one ship from that battle survives.  The British Light Cruiser HMS Caroline is docked in Belfast and is currently being restored for the 100th anniversary of the battle.

The HMS Caroline in Belfast

There is plenty of more information about the battle available in many other locations.  I just like ships.