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Showing posts from 2016

Blogging and Painting

It's been quite awhile since I posted here, and almost as long since I've done any miniature painting. Let's try to change that starting today! During an email exchange with some of the players in my current campaign, one of the more experienced mini painters gave out some handy painting guidelines, tips, and tricks. But I just had to add my own commentary to the discussion... Use an Xacto knife to clean up any flashing.   [Use Xacto. Cut yourself and scream.] Wash the miniature with soap and water; rinse thoroughly and allow to dry completely.   [Wash your cut in soapy water and reuse it to clean the mini.] I use a pair of small vise grips to hold the tab at the bottom to avoid touching the miniature while painting it. Paint the whole thing black; I spray the black base coat. Make sure you didn't miss any, touch up as required. Pick 3 major colors; more than 4 looks busy. [ Pick three colors, then realize they dried out since the last time y

Terrain - Dwarven Forge Castle

Dwarven Forge recently launched their latest Kickstarter, Castles terrain. Like their previous campaigns, they have a variety of options to choose from, and have already achieved a number of stretch goals. Like previous Kickstarter campaigns, parts of this new one are easily compatible with previous offerings, like the mixing the new castle offering with the city streets from the previous Kickstarter, or mixing the mountain add-ons with the caverns pieces from the second Kickstarter. If you're interested in seeing just what they have to offer, check out the Kickstarter here . And if you missed out on the previous Kickstarter offerings, you can still pick up some sets here on the Dwarven Forge website .

D&D Comics - The (Almost) Complete History

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As you can tell from my posts, I'm a big fan of the various Dungeons and Dragons comics released over the years. Starting with the TSR/DC comics released back in 1988 through the latest IDW comic that wrapped up in 2012. I thought I knew of all/most of the D&D related comics, until I found this site: http://kuronons.blogspot.com/ Here, you can find a full chronological list of comics, including the original D&D comic ads as well as plenty of one-shots and promos that I never heard of. While the information is complete, as of 2012, sadly, it seems not to have been updated since then to include the few new D&D comics that have come out in the last few years. If you have some time, check out the site. Not only does it detail plenty of D&D comic goodness, but there's also information on some unusual treasures (like the Dragonlance baseball cap!) that I was completely unaware of.

Game Session: Pilgrimage (Part 1)

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Some time after the events of the previous game session , Duncan is given a task by Lady Miranda, his superior in the Church of Kiri-Jolith. It seems a group of lay followers of the church have recently gone missing during a pilgrimage to the shrine of Arden Brightheart. The party is several days overdue, and Lady Miranda would like Duncan and his friends to quietly check out the shrine and its caretaker, Jarson Tender, and find what happened to the missing people. At this point, the party consists of: Duncan - Cleric of Kiri-Jolith Ataraxia - Monk Rainos - Apprentice mage Arden Brightheart was a legendary Knight of Solamnia around the time of Huma Dragonbane. His shrine sits on the sight of his greatest battle, destroying the necro-lich Dread Watcher. The site also serves as his tomb, as the brave knight did not survive the battle. To aid the party, she acquired the services of Rainos, a local apprentice mage. Rainos' mentor, Santos, is a powerful and well respected mem

D&D Goes Bump in the Night

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Wizards of the Coast made an interesting announcement Monday, the ripples of which affect much of the official gaming content to be coming out over the next several months. First, and foremost is the announcement that the next D&D module will be called Curse of Strahd . This represents the forth module to come out for 5th Edition since its launch (not including the module that was included in the Starter Set). Those previous modules have all touched on classic D&D adventures/themes, including Tyranny of Dragons/Rise of Tiamat (the evil dragon goddess Tiamat), Princes of the Apocalypse (Elemental Evil), and Out of the Abyss (Demons). Therefore it shouldn't come as a surprise that Strahd, the main villain of one of the most popular modules of any edition ( I6 Ravenloft ) should be the center of the latest offering. While the original I6 module has been updated several times before for various editions of Dungeons and Dragons, see House of Strahd (2e) and Expedition to

5 Reasons You Should be Watching Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated

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As I've mentioned from time to time , I often look for inspiration as a Dungeon Master from a variety of different sources, and I'm always on the lookout for inspiration from unlikely channels. Recently, as I was trying to introduce my 5yr old son to Scooby Doo, one of the cartoons I loved as a kid, and I found myself seeing the show as a wonderfully plotted long term Dungeons and Dragons campaign. Now, just to clarify. When I was growing up, I was watching reruns of the original Scooby Doo, Where Are You! show, which, while good for its time, had some shortcomings in terms of story and animation. The show I was trying to introduce to my son to was the 2010 Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated (henceforth abbreviated as SDMI). After the first episode, I was hooked, not just as a TV fan, but also for the story telling techniques that I could borrow for my own D&D games. Now, here are a few reasons you should be watching Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated right now! Easy