Heavy Metal

Back so soon?  Well, this latest mini is again a Ral Partha figure.  Another 3-Stage Player Character, catalog number 01-315 Fighter.  This is the 'Lord', presumably a high level dude by the looks of his plate armor and HUGE sword.  This guy is ready to charge in and kick some butt!

I wanted the armor to look like iron, worn from adventuring as well.  Since there was no fancy fluting or decorations, simple metal was the way to go.  Painted with a mixture of Vallejo Tinny Tin, Chainmail Silver and a touch of Brown, then washed a bit to accentuate certain areas.  Sword gems were painted using Apple Barrel colors with a layer of Citadel Bloodletter glaze.  Hit with dab of Citadel Gloss Varnish and the stones were complete.

Now, to do something about those bases...

Reaper Miniature

Dicarus Darksword, Halfling.  Ready to hit the gaming board and do some adventuring.

Mo' Minis Mo' Minis!

A little Ral Partha Gnome I painted up.  Still working out the kinks and getting used to Vallejo paints!  I think I need to get a few more colors...Anyway, here is the little bug-eyed fella.  Dont look directly into his eyes!

Painting Minis Again!

After a hiatus of approximately 12 years from painting figures (and months of posting!), I decided to pick up a brush and give it another go.  Having bought a few minis off eBay to practice on, my first victim is a Ral Partha figure from the '3 Stage Character' sets sculpted by Tom Meier.  I really liked these sets, they included 3 minis with varying gear and detail to represent your character as you advanced in levels.  Very cool idea!

This figure was the Elf Thief #01-319, produced around 1991, I think.  The mini is the stage 1 figure, with basic cloak/bow/small sword.  The little fella has a few fancy bits, but otherwise it represents a low level thief or fighter pretty well.  

To start, I washed the figure (evidently it had been painted before) to get any residue that might be on it.  Cleaned up, I realized that the sword had seen better days and had a small crack in it.  I re-profiled it with a small file and emery board and a wee drop of good ol' super glue.  His lead blade was reforged!

Next, I did what every mini painter does and put primer on it.  To be honest, these old Partha figs dont seem to take well to primer, my elf thief looks like he gained some weight afterwards...oh well.  Here is where it gets a bit fuzzy.  I should have taken pictures of the base coat, the blending, blah blah but I got all jiggy painting, while watching Captain America on Netflix and blitzed right through to the finish.  I still need to spray it with some matte coat and do something to the base.

So, for what its worth, that's the result after breaking off the rust and working out the kinks.  I would say its good enough for play, certainly not up to standards of most of the stuff out there...Yet.  :)

Thanks for looking!

Tavern Encounters Table

So, your party is kicking back between adventures at the local tavern, now what?  Of course you can fluff off a rich role-playing setting with the ol' 'You get a nice meal, drink some beer or wine and book a room...Take off a couple of gold'.  Wow.  Exciting!  You can practically hear the yawns already.

Or, you can take the bull by the horns and use the 'Fun Things That Can Happen In Taverns' table!

Now, I know you have noticed that there are 50 entries, certainly not the end-all-be-all list of lists, but hey, the price is right.  Go ahead and choose a couple and have a little fun with your group.  Some of the entries may not be safe for all ages, so look things over before you pick and make adjustments as needed.

For those that game over the internet or use a computer in their sessions, there are websites with random d50 generators out there if you wanted to leave the selection to chance.  You could also modify the chart to fit a d100 roll.

What, do I have to do all the work for you?  Sheesh.

D&D Next Playtest

Don't Cry Boo-Boo!!!

I signed up to playtest D&D Next and today I received an email with a link to download the play-test packet.  Woo hoo!

Sadly, after many many MANY tries, I gave up.  Evidently they forgot to install a few more hamsters to meet the server demands.  Beware!  The Wizards forums are a rage-filled and angry place at the moment.  I recommend you go watch Sweet Genius on the Food Network instead.

1st Level Blogger

A curious inspiration unfolded late at night that fostered the need to put together a spot on the internet for my varied RPG related interests.  Even more curious is the fact that it materialized with relative ease on Blogger.  I have to admit, the interface leaves a lot to be desired, but its free and it only took a few hours of fiddling to get things up and running.

My plan is to have an all-in-one spot to park pictures, doodles, rambling posts and maybe even something creative in the form of a gaming map, module or supplement.  Enjoy your stay, keep your feet off the furniture and remember to mention the URL to your friends...Or your enemies.

Cheers!

Glenn Collier