'Barbarism is the natural state of mankind,' the borderer said, still staring somberly at the Cimmerian. 'Civilization is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance. And barbarism must always ultimately triumph.'

-Robert E. Howard
Beyond The Black River

Corrupt Cliffs

Corrupt Cliffs
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Showing posts with label Youtube. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Youtube. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Episode 89: Desert Ruins!

Welcome back! I recently decided to do full terrain at conventions, and because of this, I found myself in need of a few new desert ruin pieces. I decided I should video the build and put out a youtube video for it!


I have provided a table of contents to take you to the pertinent locations in the video you may be interested in.
The ruins will be built from XPS and based on MDF board.

Needed:
  • MDF Base (1/4")
  • XPS Foam
  • PVA GLue.
  • Hot Glue.
  • Sand.
  • Various colors of brown from dark to light.
  • Black paint.
  • Gloss varnish.
  • You will also need Sculptamold,
I mentioned a few other things that I used at the convention that I thought people might be interested in as well.

18" Lazy Susan for Ultimate Dungeon Terrain
Amazon Fire HD 10

These last three links take you to Amazon, which gives me a small commission on each sale, helping to support the blog.

If you liked this article then don't forget to subscribe to get the next exciting installment on pulp gaming both Sci-Fi and Fantasy!

If you have questions or comments don't forget to hit me up on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube or Instagram!

Make sure you don't miss a single post and subscribe by e-mail today!

If you need to check out any of these great games stop on by DriveThruRPG and pick something up through my affiliate link to help support the blog!

Till next time, don't forget to Keep it Weird!

Friday, October 11, 2019

Things that made my game better!

If you have been following me for awhile you might have heard me say that I am pretty new to this gaming scene, or more accurately, newly returned. I played AD&D and Red Box D&D back in the 80s followed by Palladium games and finally wargames before I quite in my early 20s to pursue playing in the SCA. Fast forward approximately 20 years, and in my 40s I found myself picking up the torch again and delving back into the depths of the dungeon. Initially coming back to 15mm sci-fi and finally back into the RPG fold with the release of Modiphius's Conan 2d20 system.

Shortly before the release, I made the decision to stop thinking about running a game and I got some friends together and I started GMing a Conan Game. We ran that game monthly for about 2 years, wrapping up the 25th session last week and deciding to move on to John Carter of Mars

In those two years I started over as a new GM with little relevant experience and went forward. Not only have I GMed Conan for the home Group, but I have also GMed Conan at 3 conventions in the last year, with plans on doing another of these games at the end of the month. In addition to GMing I have tried given back to the community through my small youtube channel and blog, where I have numerous tutorials on basic terrain and playing Conan 2d20.

This article is aimed at that new GM that is nervous or unsure about jumping into the ring of running games. My advice is to do it. The only way to get better is to run games. Do not worry though, you aren't alone. The wealth of information out there for the new GM is mindboggling, which brings us to the reason I am writing this article. Who did I find useful? What tools did I find that elevated my game?

Advice

The easiest and least expensive place to find decent advice on running the game is Youtube, and the following list are my favorite channels for GM advice. There are a lot of good RPG channels out there, especially terrain channels, but for actual game advice, these guys have a lot of excellent content
  • RuneHammer - One of the best. Great videos on encounter design and basic ideas.
  • Matthew Colville - Another indosposable individual on the internet with a great series called, "Running the Game".
  • Dungeon Craft - Relatively new to Youtube, a gentleman with some exceptional ideas on streamlining and making your game better.
  • How to be a Great Game Master - Another series on how to GM well, with several companion series on How to be a Great Player.

I have also put out a little cash here and there and bought a few books from Drivethru to help me along.

Tools

  • Index Cards from RuneHammer - A series of black and white cards that can be used for locations or inspiration.
  • Okum Arts - A wonderful set of printable heros and villians for almost any setting.
  • Printable Heroes - IMHO, one of the best paper-mini collections of D&D/Fantasy monsters
  • Black Scroll Games - one of the best collections of tiles both virtual and real.

Other Things

  • Community - Both virtual and real. People to bounce ideas off of, and get feed back from. Online groups can be excessivley toxis at times, so take your time to lurk and see if the group is correct for you.
  • Give Back - Write some articles, make some content. Put your ideas out there and take the feedback you get and make yourself and your ideas better.
  • Try again - If you feel you failed. Try again. Talk to your group. See what they might like and don't like about your games.
  • Play - Find some games to play in. Don't just GM. Take what you like from games you play in and make it yours.

If you liked this article then don't forget to subscribe to get the next exciting installment on pulp gaming both Sci-Fi and Fantasy! If you have questions or comments don't forget to hit me up on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube or Instagram! Make sure you don't miss a single post and subscribe by e-mail today! If you need to check out any of these great games stop on by DriveThruRPG and pick something up through my affiliate link to help support the blog! (the drivethrurpg.com links in this post are all affiliate links, thank you for your support!) Till next time, don't forget to Keep it Weird!

Monday, December 24, 2018

Battlestar Galactica: Starship Battles. First Look

I finally got my copy of Battlestar Galactica: Starship battles! You can check out my box opening here, BSG Box Opening, but don't worry it's quite short. This blog article is about my first impressions after opening the box and looking at the components. I am not looking to do a direct comparison with X-wing when I talk about this game, but it's hard to not bring it up play wise and component wise, simply because X-wing has been around awhile and I suspect most people reading this will be somewhat aware of it.

First Impressions

I had of course seen pictures of the box online, but this was my first time seeing it and holding it. It's outward basic form is that of most of the games of this type: Sails of Glory, Wings of Glory or X-wing. The little plastic window showed me their cool models, which did not disappoint. I also really liked the inside of the box having the phrase, "SO SAY WE ALL", across the box, one word on each side. Very cool.

Upon opening the box the first thing that made me chuckle was the books having their page edges cut off, just like all the paper we see in the TV show. It was a nice little touch. The insides of the box are nicely laid out with plenty of room for everything. I'll make a note that the cards all fit great when in plastic, but once open they are prone to no longer staying where they belong. This could be an issue with the maneuver decks, as you don't want them getting mixed up.

Models

Excellent. These models are beautiful. I expected that from Ares, as I had played Wings of Glory at a New Years Eve gathering some years ago. They are a little bigger than what we see in X-wing, but I am ok with that. Still I am happy to see them do justice to the Colonial Viper, down to call signs and markings. Very cool. The Cylon raiders are likewise excellent, and I am looking forward to the release of new ships, especially raiders from the original series.

This set comes with two Vipers and two Raiders, just as the windows shows. There isn't any other models in this box, but for $50, I wouldn't expect there to be.


Plastic components

In addition to plotting maneuvers in BSG:SSB, you have a plastic control panel allowing you to plan headings and speeds, as well as a few other things. This control panel is pretty cool and a nice way to track these parts of the game. Unfortunately these are a little stiff. (I'll note that they seem to have loosened up a little over time).

The game also comes, unsurprisingly, with plastic flight stands. These stands are different from what we see in X-wing and I found them to be a little more robust. They also have the ability to select heading, allowing ships to have a heading different than the direction of travel.

Cards

Like most games you get a selection of cards. Like X-wing these include ships and pilots. They also have a selection of cards to personalize your pilots with talents and flaws. Each ship also gets a maneuver deck which is used to plot movements and is the movement template itself, similar to the X-wing maneuver dial. All of the cards are nice, although apart from the ship cards, they are pretty small. The size is in line with the size of the ship add-on cards in X-wing. Downside I see here is the maneuver deck is a set of hexagonal cards. Sleeving them will be difficult.

Card Stock Components

You also get a series of card stock components with the game, basic tokens and range rulers. Nothing fancy here. Everything looks good and inline with the aesthetic of the game. The only standout is the asteroid fields, but it's because it's printed on thin card stock, more like a construction paper weight. They will work, but they aren't as nice as what was in X-wing. Of course I will suggest the game will be prettier with a series of asteroid models....



Dice

Although I appreciate people liking fancy dice, afterall it's more COOL DICE!, I am not generally as much of a fan. I like the concept of the dice in X-wing, as I like counting successes and fails rather than adding dice. However I dislike having to buy a certain die pack to get more. So depending on where you fall on this side of things you will either love or hate that BSG:SSB uses a simple set of 2d6.



Overall

It is a nice set. Fully worth the $52cad I picked it up for. Four excellent models, 4 plastic control panels and a plethora of cards and punch outs. My initial impressions of the components is easily......
4 out of 5 Skulls of my Enemies!

If you liked this article then don't forget to subscribe to get the next exciting installment on pulp gaming both Sci-Fi and Fantasy!

If you have questions or comments don't forget to hit me up on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube or Instagram!
If you need to check out any of these great games stop on by DriveThruRPG and pick something up through my affiliate link to help support the blog!

Till next time, don't forget to Keep it Weird!

Friday, June 8, 2018

It Came From the Outerdark. Friday June 8, 2018

It has been a little while between posts. Between playing Conan Exiles (WAY TOO MUCH), work and other things I haven't had any really cool ideas to write about. I am pretty sure that has not changed. However that is NOT what this post is about. This post is about telling you what is going on out there in the big bad world! What is cool! What can I spend my hard earned coins on!?

KICKSTARTER!

We shall start with Kickstarters as there are a couple of note that I want to mention.

The first is Monolith's Mythic Battles: Pantheon 1.5. This kickstarter has some rule upgrades, but more importantly it gives you a chance to get in and get a copy of this awesome wargame. The figures are beautiful and range in size from the small to the GIANT. Check out my unboxing video from the original kickstarter to see them in more detail.

This kickstarter also has an add-on teaser for the "YMIR" which will be featured in their follow-up (and I understand compatible under the 1.5 rules) Mythic Battles: Ragnarok.

All in all this is an excellent game full of lovely plastic figures, that I heartily recommend you get on board for if you do any miniature gaming in the 28mm-32mm scale.

The second kickstarter I am watching, or rather will be watching, as it has not quite launched yet is "Solomon Kane" by Mythic Games. Mythic announced this back in February and I have been excited for it since. I am always happy to see more of Howard brought to a larger potential fan base.

It is billed as a game with 35mm figures so I will be interested to see how they stack up vs. the Conan BG and MB: Pantheon (as well as a host of other ranges.) Either way this hits Kickstarter on June 12th, so get your wallets ready!

DriveThruRPG!

There has been a few things cross my social network feeds, but only one has really caught my attention. Not surprisingly it's RuneHammers latest edition of index cards. This time they focus on his Ghost Mountain setting available in ICRPG worlds, but you will find cards in here for any weird west setting. So head on over and grab your copy of INDEX CARDS Vol.4!

Hankerin' over at RuneHammer also just released a combined publication of his three novels called "The Legacy of Mud", which is available over on amazon.ca. Not only is it available, it is listed as "PRIME".


Howard Days!

This weekend is also "Howard Days", a convention of Howard enthusiasts hosted by Project Pride down in Cross Plains, Texas. I had some serious thoughts on attending this year, but never got around to putting my money down for a ticket so it will have to wait for another year.

If you are like me and wish you could be there to see some of the talks or get a feel for the event, I will direct you to a small YouTube channel run by Ben Ben Friberg. Ben has been attending Howard Days and recording many of the talks and posting them to YouTube. I am sure this year will be no different. Check him out and give him a few subscriptions!

That is all for this week! I hope to have some new videos up on YouTube soon, some as companion pieces to my Conan mechanics series, a few box openings and MAYBE even a craft! Have a great weekend and remember to KEEP IT WEIRD!

Thursday, April 19, 2018

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Solomon Kane

The company that brought us Mythic: Battles Pantheon in association with Monolith, is going to bring us a new game. A new setting from the Pulp worlds of the great Robert E Howard.

SOLOMON KANE.

We don't know very much about the game right now, but it looks to be a kickstarter and miniature based(as their last 2 games were.)

I will be watching this one with keen interest.

Check out the teaser here:

Thursday, October 5, 2017

Pillar of Skulls!

New terrain project up on the YouTube channel. This week we are building a marble pillar adorned with 4 skulls and chains. It is a cool craft and great addition to any dungeon! Check it out!


Thursday, September 21, 2017

Episode 41: Portals of Doom!

New video on the youtube channel on building wall sections with removable panels.  I hope you find it useful!


Thursday, August 10, 2017

3d Printing useful or not?

Awhile ago I picked up a 3d printer from Gearbest. It was the Anet A8, an inexpensive/cheap acrylic frame printer below $300cad. It is a basic FDM model, a clone of the Prusa system.

I have printed in ABS and PLA, and frankly I have gotten nicer prints with the ABS, but it is trickier to work with and has nastier fumes, so I am now working largely with PLA.

My latest video is an overview of printing miniatures (I needed 8) for a scenario using statues/golems.

For me the answer to the question, is that it is useful, though not a replacement to regular modeling and miniatures.

Have a watch and don't forget to leave a comment.


Thursday, August 3, 2017

Episode 34: The Rope Bridge.

The rope bridge is a classic in adventure scenes. It even has it's own entry on tvtropes.org, have a look, http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RopeBridge



Do you have one or two built for your D&D, Pathfinder or other RPGs? If not you have come to the right place. I am going to show you how to build a pretty simple bridge from basic materials: a bamboo matt, some XPS Styrofoam, chipboard and glue.

You can build it exactly like I did, or you can use this as inspiration and go your own way. The sky is the limit, or maybe the depth of the chasm is limited only by your imagination.

The video is available now on my YouTube channel, so swing by and have a watch!


Thursday, June 1, 2017

YouTube going stong, ICRPG & Robert E Howard


Just a quick blog update with my latest video over on the youtube channel.  Reached 100 subscribers and am now sitting at around 220, which is amazing and awesome! 

I also do a quick overview of RuneHammer's new offering ICRPG and discuss a little of Howard's non Conan stories.  Enjoy!



Monday, April 24, 2017

Sorcery in Conan 2d20




Been pretty busy, so I haven't had a chance to get much gaming oriented stuff accomplished, but I will be putting together, what I hope is an, interesting process video on my last project.

Until then, I have put together a video on Sorcery and Magic within the Modiphius's 2d20 Conan System, as well as a link to a quick guideline on Sorcerous complications.  Enjoy!



Friday, April 7, 2017

Black Walls of Khemi

If you play any Conan RPGs and use terrain, you will probably come across the Black Walls of Khemi eventually.

This is my take on those black walls with a simple construction tutorial.

Enjoy!

Saturday, March 18, 2017

Black Obelisks of Stygia

New how to video on Starships and Steel. This time we are building some Black Obelisks.

 Enjoy!


Monday, March 13, 2017

YouTube Updates & Potential Things to Come

Wow.  It has been a little while since I have posted here.  I thought I had fallen behind on the YouTube stuff!
I'll start the post with a couple of photos of some miscellaneous things I have been working on.

Reaper bones ship captain.  Base colors & wash, need to highlight still
Finally added a pen shelf to my Ikea drawing table.  So much nicer now.

Besides those I am thinking pretty hard about an entry level 3d printer, reading reviews and getting a handle on the tech and it's capabilities. May buy an inexpensive kit during the next pay period.
On the YouTube front I have posted a few videos since I last updated the blog.

Episode 14: Prison Cells & Cowbell
Episode 15: 15mm Sci-fi Overview & Blacksmith
Episode 16: Explosion Markers & Traditional

I also backed this Kickstarter for dungeon accessories on it's last day so I will be sure to do a review on those when they show up.

That is everything for now, I hope everyone is awesome out there!

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Monday, January 23, 2017

Conan 2d20 - Part 2: Basic Mechanics

Part 2 of my series on basic mechanics for the game. Rolling dice and making skill checks!

Monday, December 5, 2016