Gen Con

For the 46th year in a row, I'm missing Gen Con.  Quite the record I've got going. :-(

The Hound of the Baskervilles

For anyone who is in Pittsburgh between now and Sunday 7 August, Kinetic Theater Company is doing a hysterical spoof of Arthur Conan Doyle's: The Hound of the Baskervilles, starring David Whalen as Sherlock Holmes.  We saw it on Saturday and it was a fantastic show.  As always, David Whalen does a marvelous job as Holmes.  James FitzGerlad as Doctor John Watson and Connor McCanlus as Sir Henry Baskerville also turn in splendid performances.  The show runs through this Sunday at the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theater downtown.

Miniatures Monday

All's well in the dungeon? 

Sometimes I like to take a break from painting sentient creatures to paint dungeon scenery.  Here we have an innocuous looking well.  Good for a cool drink perhaps?  Honestly, how many times have wells found in caves or dungeons been just boring old drinking wells? ;-)

A Game of Streets

First Ned Stark, now Bob From Sesame Street?

HBO, seems to have turned its lust for blood on the beloved children's show Sesame Street.  The cable network that brings us the Favorite Character Death Hour otherwise known as Game of Thrones has decided to rid themselves of three of the longest serving members of the Sesame Street cast.  Bob, Gordon and Luis have been fired from the show.  I'm appalled by this.  Supposedly, they felt that they needed to make cast changes to better connect with more tech savvy kids in the 21st century or some crap like that.  Thank a hell of a lot HBO.  I guess Big Bird had better watch his back... :-(

PS: Get off of my lawn.

Batman: The Killing Joke (Spoiler Free)

So, if you are a fan of Batman, you're probably aware that DC released an animated film version of the classic Alan Moore and Brian Bolland 1988 graphic novel The Killing Joke.  I watched the film last night and wanted to provide some spoiler-free thoughts on it.  There are a lot of ways that this could have gone wrong.  The original story was short, so it was necessary to add filler to pad out the run time.  Thankfully, the filler was added entirely at the beginning, leaving Moore's original story intact, although the content from the graphic novel doesn't start until 31 minutes into the film.  The first 31 minutes is spent establishing character relationships and following its own semi-self-contained story, which is going to be pretty controversial in its own right.  After that though things go back to Alan Moore's original story for the rest of the ride.  Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, and Tara Strong reprise their popular roles as Batman, the Joker, and Batgirl.  Conroy and Hamill having been playing these parts since the days of Batman the Animated Series, and Hamill is spot on as the Joker.  Conroy sounded a bit different to me though.  I can't quite put my finger on it, but perhaps Conroy had a cold while they were recording.  He still sounded decent but a bit off.  The animators did a good job of staying faithful to Brian Bolland's original artwork although it's not nearly as detailed, and they chose to go with the darker color pallet that DC has used in newer printings of the graphic novel.  I'm a fan of Bolland's original more vivid colors, but that's a matter of taste, and the darker pallet matches better with the Animated Series and with DC's other recent films.  Overall I enjoyed the film.  I didn't need the first 31 minutes, but I didn't hate them either.  If you're a Batman fan, I recommend watching it, but do yourself a favor and read the graphic novel first.  It's a quick read and well worth the time.  Also, be aware that this film is rated R, so you may want to think twice before watching it with younger kids.  The film was released in digital format on July 26th and will be available on DVD and Blu-Ray on August 2nd.

Weird Adventure Wednesday

This Week's Weird Adventure Idea:

On a rainy afternoon you cross paths with a churlish barbarian mercenary in a smoky gambling den.  The mercenary grudgingly spins you a yarn that 3 weeks walk to the northeast, across The Unfathomable Wastelands of Woe stands The Pulsating Monolith of Mind Warping.  Scholars believe that hidden in the chambers beneath the monolith can be found The Obsidian Insanity Harp of the Horrid Minstrel.  But beware, for the mercenary warns you that The Gruesome Tentacles of Brain Liquefaction are said to dwell in that dreadful place!

Random Table Tuesday: (d100 Crypts and Tombs)

This week for Random Table Tuesday, we have a d100 table of crypts, tombs, and mausoleums.  So the next time you need to send your players of to find something in a mysterious crypt, but can't think of an intriguing name for it, try one of these.  The Skull Crypt of the Incinerating Monkey anyone?

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Miniatures Monday: Wayback Machine

My earliest surviving painted miniatures

I post a lot of pictures on this blog of miniatures that I'm pretty happy with.  These are not those miniatures.  I've been painting RPG miniatures for a long time, ever since I brought my first set of Grenadier Action Art miniature home from Children's Palace on a Friday night in 1982.  Back in those days, I used Testor's oil based model paints because that's what I had, and they were murder to work with.  The tiny pots of acrylics that came with the action art sets were just too limiting from a color choice perspective.  What you see before you are the last remnants of my old painting days.  Most every miniature that I did in those early years has been stripped and repainted or just stripped and left to sit, but for some reason I've left these as they were, frozen in time from a bygone age.  They span the period from around 1983 to about 1992, when I graduated from college and stopped painting for nearly 15 years.  I've put them here for anyone who doesn't think that their miniatures are good enough, for anyone who isn't happy with their painting.  Look at these and persevere.  Your painting will improve.  You just have to practice.  Keep at it.  I wish that I hadn't stopped for those 15 years.  These are my reminders to always keep working on my craft.

Batman Action Figure Repaint

Batman Original

Batman Repainted

So, I didn't end up hating the Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice movie as much as I expected.  Admittedly though, I've only seen the three hour extended cut, but that's a story for a different post.  This is about the DC Multiverse 6 inch Batman action figure from the film.  I picked up one of these for $10 and while the sculpt was fine, the colors seemed off.  Batman's costume was way too metallic and shiny, so of course I decided to repaint it.  I think that the results were fairly decent.

Revised Swords & Wizardry Armor Table (For more Conan-like armor)

So one of the issues that I've had with armor in D&D like games has been that I never felt it did a particularly good job of emulating the loincloth or battle harness wearing barbarians.  I like armor in my games to be more Hyborian Age and less Medieval Times.  Of course, I guess I could always just say that they are wearing leather armor, but I've always wanted something a bit different.  So I decided to put together a quick revised armor table.  My goal was to separate armor into 3 parts, Helmets, Gloves and Greaves, and Chest Armor, while still keeping the overall armor protections close so that it's not necessary to adjust the armor class of monsters as well.  Below is what I came up with.  Leather become a bit more powerful when worn with a Helmet and Gloves and Greaves, but this can be handled in the case of thieves by not allowing them to wear helmets but not Gloves and Greaves.  Like I said, I just whipped this together, and I'm sure that someone else has already done this (probably better), but I think that I'll give it a whirl and see how it works out.  If it works out, I'm planning to do the same thing for Dungeon Crawl Classics and Lamentations of the Flame Princess.

Armor Type	Effect on AC from a base of 9[10]	Weight (pounds)	Cost
Shield	-1 [+1]	10	15g
Helmet	-1 [+1]	5	10g
Gauntlets and Greaves	-1 [+1]	5	10g
Battle Harness	-1 [+1]	5	5g
Leather Cuirass	-2 [+2]	10	10g
Chain or Scale Hauberk	-3 [+3]	30	65g
Steel Breastplate	-4 [+4]	40	90g

Weird Adventure Wednesday

This Week's Weird Adventure Idea:

On a bone chilling afternoon you are hailed by a crippled soldier who is resting near an icy lake.  The soldier discloses to you that 4 weeks hike to the south, across The Whispering Wastelands of the Deranged Magician is found The Monumental Menhir of Soul Rending.  Legends say that there is hidden The  Unnerving Book of the Sleepless Adventurer.  But beware, for the soldier tells you that The Degenerate Devourer of Corpses attacks any that dare approach!

Random Table Tuesday (d100 Castles)

For this week's we have a d100 Table of Castle Names (with a few fortresses and keeps thrown in for good measure).  The next time you're drawing a map and you find yourself stuck for a name or an idea for a Castle, try one of these.  Enjoy!

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Miniatures Monday - Works in Progress and Step-by-step links

Some miniatures in various states of completion

This week for Miniatures Monday, I thought that I would do something a bit different and show some works in progress.  The stage where a miniature is partially painted is one of the most challenging for me.  When the miniature is just being prepped, I generally have an idea in my mind about what it will look like.  Midway through painting though, I often find that nothing seems to look right.  I tend to lose a bit of my initial vision and start to worry that the miniature is going to look bad.  The key here is just to push on.  A few weeks ago, I had been working on a miniature for a friend of mine and had become convinced that the end result were going to be bad.  Nothing seemed to be going as planned, but then I got to the shading and highlighting stage and everything came together resulting in a pretty nice miniature.
For those of you who might be interested in my painting process, I'm including links to a step-by-step series on a Thrud the Barbarian miniature that I did back in 2012.  It takes you from preparation through sealing and shows how the miniature develops throughout the process.

Step 1: Preparation
Step 2: Assembly and Basing
Step 3: Priming
Step 4: Painting
Step 5: Shading
Step 6: Highlighting and Sealing

While my painting skills have improved since 2012, my painting process remains essentially unchanged.

Mutant Crawl Classics Kickstarter: Less Than 42 hours left

+Doug Kovacs Cover

There are less than 42 hour left in the KickStarter for Mutant Crawl Classics.  Just $40 gets you a hardcover edition with some fantastic +Doug Kovacs artwork plus 7 stretch goal adventure modules in PDF form.  There is also a print option for an additional $50 that will get you the stretch goals in printed form.  If you are a fan of games like Gamma World or Metamorphosis Alpha you owe it to yourself to at least take a look.  The clock is running!

Stranger Things (Spoiler Free!)

So admittedly, I only started watching Stranger Things on Netflix because I had heard that the show opened with a scene of kids playing Dungeons & Dragons.  I intended to watch those first few minutes an be done with it because I'm always fascinated with how television and movies portray gaming sessions.  Well, I watched those first few minutes and then a few minutes more, and then I was hooked.  I ended up watching six of the eight 54 minute episodes yesterday, and I expect that I will watch the last two today.  I need to know how it ends.  The I will probably go back and re-watch it at a less frenzied pace.  I can't talk much about the plot without spoiling it, but it centers around the disappearance of one of the D&D players and the efforts of various people in the town to find him.  The missing boy's gaming buddies make up one of the groups that is searching for him, and it becomes somewhat of a real life D&D adventure for them making the show feel like kind of a cross between the Goonies and several Stephen King novels, particularly Firestarter and IT.  The show is set in Indiana in 1983 and there is a wealth of geekery to be seen beyond the story itself.  Gold boxes of old Grenadier miniatures, an old copy of the board game Dungeon!, the classic Kenner Millennium Falcon.  There are also a lot of great 80s songs in the soundtrack.  I recommend that anyone who has Netflix and enjoys gaming, the Goonies, Stephen King, or the 1980s give this show a look.  So, who else is watching, and what do you think?