Dragonlance D&D Game Blog

A friend of mine (the same one who did this wonderful custom terrain video ) recently entered a scratch-build mini contest on http://dmscraft.proboards.com and won. Since dmscraft requires registration, he's allowed me to repost his winning entry here... ====== I entered a contest for building a miniature from scratch, and actually won, haha! Contestants had one month to build the mini, and the rules stipulated that entries must include a tutorial. Since this was the first mini contest, there was no specific theme. Here's my entry: SPINAL OOZE This guy is based off one of my favorite World of Warcraft monsters, Blizzard's version of the Black Ooze: I loved how they had a skull, spine and debris stuck in them and could bite. In my version, they collect a couple of spines and connect them together to extend their reach, like a support structure. This explains why the skull is so far from the ribcage in the photos below. Ok, let's get to it... Started with ...

As I've mentioned once or twice before, I'm a big fan of the Dwarven Forge terrain. Unfortunately, like many, the cost of Dwarven Forge is typically outside my budget, limiting my collection to a few basic sets. That's why, when I heard of Dwarven Forge's Kickstarter project I had to check it out and ended up backing the project in the first day. Like any Kickstarter project, there are a number of backer levels, from as little as $1 all the way up to $3500, but the $120 level is the minimum level needed to earn the various stretch goals that continue to be unlocked every few days. Originally the project was looking to raise $50K, a goal reached in just the first few hours of the first day of backing. Now with about 10 days left to go, the project has raised almost $800K, unlocking all manner of stretch goals. Originally the stretch goals were additional pieces (more walls, floors, doors, etc), but after listening to the backers on the Kickstarter forum, they s...

This year, for the second year in a row, I got to attend the Mac Daddy of gaming conventions, Gen Con . If you're not familiar with this legendary convention, you certainly owe it to yourself to do some research, and then, hopefully, plan to attend next year's gathering. This year, due to some real life issues, I wasn't able to head out early for the con. It's typical for folks to start arriving Wed afternoon (or earlier in some cases) even though the convention doesn't start till Thursday. In my case, I didn't arrive until Thur night, having missed most of the first day. I was lucky enough to get over to the convention with plenty of time to get my badge and walk around the con. The Dealer's Room was closed at that time, but everything else was in full gear. That first night I even ended up playing one of the Dungeon Delve scenarios in the Dungeons and Dragons area of the con. Personally, I think the Dungeon Delve is a great way to sample 4e at a ...

Big thanks to WolfStar76, who attended the 2010 Products Seminar at D&D Experience and jotted down some notes on what's coming out this year. 2010 Product Seminar Notes Some things have already been released, like Dragonborn and Underdark, but there's plenty of new items on the horizon, including all of the previously announced hints at GenCon 2009 . Since I'm still running a 3.5 game, my biggest interest is in the tile sets, particularly Harrowing Halls, the first 3D set, as well as the Dark Sun tile set (we can all use more dessert sets!), but I'm also interested in the Hammerfast location/adventure book and The Slaying Stone, a new 1st lv adventure. Maybe I'll be running some 4e before year's end... What new products are you looking forward to? Is there anything that's more interesting now that you might not have been so interested in before? Leave a comment and let me hear from you.

First off, I'm a big fan of anything that really helps portray a scene to the players... from minis and maps, to props and pictures, I try to do whatever I can to showcase an adventure. Needless to say, I'm a big fan of the Dungeon Tile sets (I used the Lost Caverns of the Underdark set to create the mines at Brightstone Keep ). On one hand they help show what an area actually looks like and on the other they can help track what's going on during a battle (when used with some kind of minis, such as those from the Dangerous Delves set). I just read about some new tiles that are a little more above ground than the typical sets (though these new set are not the first to go topside). The first is a special set that's not for sale. It is only for DMs as part of the RPGA DM Rewards program . This year the set is a sheet of tiles that can be used to create a ship, with one side being the top and the flip side being below decks. I know I'll be checking eBay to see what the...

If you are a fan of D&D minis like I am, every time a new collection comes out, I'm anxious to see what the full set looks like, other that the few minis shown on the box. With the latest set of minis, Dangerous Delves , WotC has started something new. Eight of the largest minis are actually displayed through a clear section of the packaging. The remainder of the box is still random and not shown. Additionally WotC has again increased the per mini price by only including 5 minis in the box (including the visible one) for a $15 cost... all the more reason to know what you might be getting in each box. For me, these Gallery pages are important for deciding if I want to by random boxes or look for individual minis on the after market (like Ebay). So what do you think of the new set? Please leave a comment.

I'm a big fan of props at the game table. Even before 3e, I'd been using everything from pennies, to Lego, to metal minis to better illustrate all the details in a combat. With the arrival of 3e (or more accurately the Combat & Tactics Option book from 2e), representing combat on a grid "playing field" became crucial to account for many of the special moves and attacks of opportunity now available in the rules. While I love minis, I'm not a very good or fast painter, and I can't always find the mini I need for a particular encounter. Also, I'm not always playing at my home so I need to pack up "supplies" for the game. Thankfully I found Fiery Dragon's Counter Collection . It's available on CD or as an electronic download and presents almost every D&D creature you need in the form of a flat counter. The counters are also properly sized for the space the appropriate creature takes up and have a blank space for writing a number (for ...