Mad Brew Labs

There are multitudes of scales for miniatures. There are micro scale (1:1200, 1:2400, etc.) that allow wargamers to play out large naval or space battles on the dining room table. 15mm is a common size for historical and fantasy battles of epic proportions. And sometimes you may not really care about scale you just want an impressively detailed 90mm resin model to paint and display.

In this installment of Miniatures & Terrain Series, I provide a simple database of manufacturers of miniatures of what I’m calling non-heroic scales (everything but the D&D 25mm-28mm standard). But don’t let the name deceive you, there are some very heroic minis available within these scales.

Non-Heroic Minis Database

Scroll right to see more.

Miniatures & Terrain Article Series

If you’re having trouble finding that [near] perfect mini (or terrain to put it on), visit a few of the manufacturers I have cataloged in Google Spreadsheets in one of these articles:

• Heroic Sized Minis Database (25mm-28mm)
• Terrain, Cardstock, & Tutorials (not Googlized yet, but soon)
• Level-Up Your Miniature Hobby Skills (painting and modeling resources)

Listening to: Testament – The Gathering – Eyes of Wrath

From Cool Mini or Not

So you purchased the perfect mini for your character, but it is currently just a heap of white metal in a plastic blister pack. Oh, and it uses a scimitar instead of that awesome two-handed falchion your character likes to use to split enemies in twain, but it is close enough to perfect… and you can literally picture what it will look like painted and finished in your head.

However, a day and a few paint pots later, your miniature figurine doesn’t even come close to what you wanted. This is probably a familiar scenario for many roleplayers who try their hand at trying to find and paint the perfect miniature. Well today, as part of my series of miniature resources, I am presenting a database of websites that offer tutorials to level up your miniature hobby skills.

The following collection of sites has been tagged with what types of help they offer. Typical examples include painting tips & tricks (like how to paint non-metallic metal), basing (make your mini look like it’s standing on terrain), photography (how to grab an awesome pic of your finished masterpiece), sculpting & conversion (make your own mini or modify an existing one), casting (mass produce a custom mini), and terrain (creature awesome environments to use your mini with).

Miniature Hobby Resources

Scroll right to see the URLs.

Miniatures & Terrain Article Series

If you’re having trouble finding that [near] perfect mini (or terrain to put it on), visit a few of the manufacturers I have cataloged in Google Spreadsheets in one of these articles:

• Heroic Sized Minis Database (25mm-28mm)
• Non-Heroic Scale Minis Database
• Terrain, Cardstock, & Tutorials (not Googlized yet, but soon)

Listening to: Soilwork – Figure Number Five – Rejection Role

Genius Guide to the Death Mage

Any regular Labs readers interested in new Pathfinder supplements should head over to Flames Rising and read my review of The Genius Guide to: The Death Mage.

The Genius Guide to: the Death Mage is a fourteen page supplement from Otherworld Productions & Super Genius Games for the Pathfinder RPG. The Death Mage is a new arcane spellcasting base class that provides players five paths to choose from: Corpse, Ghoul, Tomb, Reaper, and Shadow mages. The Death Mage also introduces some new spells and a new creature subtype, Unbreathing (a not quite undead creature).

What if you could roleplay at a table that actually contained all the game logic? It recognized your mini when you placed on the surface and presented an array of options available to your character and resolved the challenges based upon GM and Player input? In addition, you were not constrained to play within the rules (game logic), but could play “freestyle” any time you wish by simply switching of the rules?

Well, the technology is available today, but it’s real pricey (app. $12,000 USD). However, in about 10 years, I expect the price for such technologies will have dropped into the upper range of affordable and such tables might become something more than an uncommon sight.

If you have been following the Labs for any amount of time, then you are probably aware of my love of technology when it is used to enhance or facilitate the playing of roleplaying games. Recently, The Core Mechanic and Mad Brew Labs bounced some ideas about utilizing Social Media as a platform for playing RPGs.^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

Prior to the discussion of Social Media RPGs, I wrote several articles about the Future Technology of roleplaying. These articles focused on current technologies the hobby had yet to use fully^[5], emerging technologies that RPGs could utilize^[6], a look at augmented reality for RPGs[7], and finally a piece about the rise of the digital game table^[8], which included a preview of Dungeons & Dragons being playing on the Microsoft Surface.^[9]

The SurfaceScapes^[10] team at Carnegie Mellon University^[11] has designed the interface and logic for playing D&D on the MS Surface. The MS Surface site has done several interviews with the team, and if you’re interested in the technology, I recommend you read them.^{[12] [13] [14]}

Otherwise, I present three videos that demonstrate the capabilities of the table:

References

[1] Roleplaying Games, Social Media Games, and the Shared Fence. The Core Mechanic. 2010-01-12.

[2] Bridging the Gap: RPGs and Social Media. Mad Brew Labs. 2010-01-14.

[3] Social Media RPG Platform. Mad Brew Labs. 2010-01-15.

[4] Social Media Role Playing Minigames. The Core Mechanic. 2010-01-15.

[5] Untapped Potential of Technology. Mad Brew Labs. 2009-05-06.

[6] Future Potential of Technology. Mad Brew Labs. 2009-08-06.

[7] Augmented Reality “Boardgame”. Mad Brew Labs. 2009-08-07.

[8] Rise of the Digital Game Table. Mad Brew Labs. 2009-10-19.

[9] The Microsoft Surface is a multi-touch table computer.

[10] SurfaceScapes is a student project for Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center.

[11] Carnegie Mellon University is located in Pittsburgh, PA.

[12] Dungeons & Dragons Done Right on MS Surface. MS Surface Blog. 2009-10-19.

[13] SurfaceScapes Follow-up: Bringing D&D to MS Surface. MS Surface Blog. 2009-12-08.

[14] New Gameplay Video with D&D on Surface. MS Surface Blog. 2009-12-16.

Listening to: Monster Magnet – Dopes to Infinity – Negasonic Teenage Warhead

Lich Lord Asphyxious by Privateer Press

Besides dice, miniatures are probably the next most recognizable roleplaying accouterments found at the gaming table. Minis, a vestige of RPGs wargaming roots, are often more than just a physical means for representing characters. For many, the collecting and painting of minis are a hobby within the hobby. For the past month, I have scoured the internet for as many miniature resources that I could, and this week I will be publishing the results of my hard work. I have cataloged and sorted miniature manufacturers by scale and genre. Today, I present what is most likely the scale most used for roleplaying games, the heroic 25mm scale (25mm-28mm). For those unfamiliar with miniature scale, when it is represented in millimeters (which truly isn’t a scale), it expresses what the “toe to eye” measurement of a miniature that represented a 6′ tall man. A 28mm mini uses a 1:60 scale. This is rather convenient for D&D influenced games that use 1″ grids to represent 5′. But there are a ton of scales in use, and one company’s 28mm might be another’s 32mm, sculpting is an art not (usually) an exact science. This means that you might be able to find minis of compatible size for you games from the 30mm-34mm range (which can be found in my next post). You’ll notice that I have included cardstock (or flats) minis. They are definitely worth a look as most of them are free. The website for each manufacturer can be seen if you scroll right.

Heroic Minis Database

If you know any manufacturers of “heroic” sized miniatures or flats that I have overlooked, do not hesitate to link to them in the comments.

Miniatures & Terrain Article Series

If you want minis in other scales, resources to improve your miniature hobby skills (like painting or basing), or looking for some interesting terrain to use your minis on, check out my other articles:

• Non-Heroic Scale Minis Database
• Level-up Your Miniature Hobby Skills
• Terrain, Cardstock, & Tutorials

Listening to: Velvet Revolver – Contraband – Slither

If you haven’t heard about OneBookShelf’s (RPGNow! and DriveThruRPG) charity bundle for the Haiti relief effort then you must only be reading my blog or you have just climbed out of your dungeon.

OBS and the small press publishers they partnered with, like my own Nevermet Press, are doing a great thing. And the gamers that have contributed, well, I am simply in awe at what we’ve been able to do. Besides crashing the OBS sites with our massive response, we also managed to raise more than $50,000 dollars in a single day. As I write this, OneBookShelf, publishers, and gamers have raised $85,560 that will go to Doctors without Borders. That’s damn impressive!

OBS is matching $5 and $10 donations but have also supplied a charity bundle for those who donate $20. The bundle retails for $1,481.31 and consists of more than 150 products.

Even if you’re not the charitable type, how can you pass on a deal like that?

DONATE NOW!

Gamers Helping Haiti

Listening to: In Flames – Clayman – Only for the Weak

Games & Tavel Carnival

The Gamer Traveler is hosting this month’s blog carnival, Games & Travel. I don’t have much to say about travel within a game, except that sometimes the journey is more important than the destination. However, I do have a lot I can say about traveling as a gamer, because I have probably traveled more than the average gamer. As many of my readers know, I am a former Marine, having spent four honorable years in service to the United States (and another four on inactive reserve).

During my enlistment I visited more than 40 major cities in more than 20 countries from Amsterdam to Tunis and from Sevilla to Manama. I was stationed in Southwest Asia (aka The Middle East) for more than a year and I also did a 6 month deployment in the Mediterranean, so I have had the pleasure of experiencing a diverse amount of culture.

It was a grand adventure, in the way that real adventures are truly awful bouts of torturous events interrupted by short intermissions of cool and awesome. A lot of my time in service was in no way what most would consider fun, if they actually had to do it themselves. It is this reality of adventure that I experienced along my travels that has given me some important insight for my games.

Adventure is Horrific

Most gamers never truly appreciate what we put our imaginary characters through. This is because we really don’t have anything at stake (besides needing to make a replacement character). This is a good thing; otherwise, roleplaying games wouldn’t be much fun. Believe me, combat (epic or not) and exploring dangerous locations is not fun, it’s horrific and terrifying and when you are done you are mentally and physically drained.

The promise of riches might draw a few naïve adventurers once, but I bet 99.9% of them would retire after their first adventure. Which is why in most of the games I run, I try giving characters a motivation beyond untold riches. While I love the freedom of old school influenced sandbox style of exploring hexes, the reality of a sane individual exploring dangerous locations for the sake of exploring and amassing wealth is absurd to me.

Culture Shock

I also find that many gamers don’t fully comprehend what it is like when their characters must function in a strange locale where the inhabitants’ social mores, or customs, are vastly different from their own. Not to mention the communication barrier from not being able to speak the native language. Sure, many settings have given us an easy, if a bit unbelievable, way out through the Common tongue.

English might be the closest thing we have in the real world to Common, but it is still very difficult to function abroad when that is the only language you know. Add to this that the average fantasy setting has not evolved like our own world has (with global conquests, technology, and widespread commerce), which led to English being so widespread.

RPG Blog Carnival

Not Simulations

Though my travels have shown me that most gamers ignore (or don’t understand) that roleplaying games don’t truly reflect what adventure is really like, my experience has strengthened my appreciation for roleplaying games. How can that be? Well, roleplaying games are not meant to be adventure simulators. They are vehicles for the imagination that allow us to share experiences with our friends. They are games that encourage people to connect with each other. And my travels and experience has taught me that RPGs ability to facilitate these connections is very important.

Listening to: Rammstein – Liebe ist für alle da – Pussy

These feats are inspired by some ideas I have had about reach weapons (which probably are not new) and some feats I encountered while playing in my first Conan RPG game this last weekend (which was pretty fun I should add).

Infantry Tactics

You have been trained to fight in formation and function as a unit. Such training instructs combatants to protect the soldiers next to them and to move in unison.

Benefit: If you and an ally with this feat are adjacent to one another, you both receive a +1 circumstance bonus to your AC as well as to attack rolls. Multiple adjacent allies with this feat do not provide additional bonuses.

Improved Infantry Tactics

You have mastered the technique of fighting in formation.

Prerequisite: Infantry Tactics.

Benefit: The bonus gained from having adjacent allies with the Infantry Tactics feat improves to +2.

Pole & Shield

Elite phalanx units have been trained to control their shield while wielding polearms and spears.

Prerequisite: Str 13, Infantry Tactics, Shield Proficiency, Weapon Proficiency (chosen polearm).

Benefit: You may wear a heavy shield and gain half its shield bonus to your AC when wielding glaives, guisarmes, halberds, longspears, pikes, ranseurs, or spears.

Normal: Without this feat, you cannot wear shields while using a two-handed weapon.

Rebuffing Reach

You have learned to keep opponents from getting within the reach of your polearm.

Prerequisite: Weapon Focus (chosen polearm).

Benefit: Anytime you are wielding a glaive, guisarme, halberd, longspear, pike, ranseur, or spear and succeed with an Attack of Opportunity for an enemy moving through spaces you threaten, instead of dealing full damage, you may choose to deal half damage and push the target 5 feet away from you.

Listening to: Demons & Wizards – Touched by the Crimson King – Terror Train

Washburn Dimebag Signature Guitar

Zach from the RPG Blog II asked for some assistance in gathering data about gamers’ favorite rock bands and whether or not they use their favorite music for inspiration (at or beyond the table). So our mutual blogger pal, Michael Wolf of Stargazer’s World, and I have agreed to the word out about his short survey.

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that the definition of rock is pretty fluid, so please fill out the survey even if you don’t consider your preferred genre as actually being rock. My current favorite band is probably Fear Factory, which isn’t exactly mainstream rock,  but that’s what I answered the survey with anyways.

Zach mentioning his idea for a survey was very timely, because I myself had been thinking about music and gamers. For much of my gaming career, particularly before the last few years, most everyone I played with listened to some form of heavy metal or derivative. I can only really think of two people who I gamed with regularly that didn’t listen to metal.

Of course, I broadcast my musical interests at the bottom of [most of] my posts, so my regular readers are probably pretty aware of my preferences. I think I’ll revisit music and gaming in the near future, but for now I encourage everyone to participate in Zach’s short (3 questions) survey:

Favorite Rock Band Survey

Listening to: White Zombie – Astro Creep: 2000 – I, Zombie

I colored a bit outside the lines with this wondrous item for Pathfinder RPG.  It has some rather complex rules going on and I’m not sure how game breaking it is. It’s a risky item to introduce for sure, unless you don’t have any aspiring necromancers.

Obsidian Ossuary

Aura strong necromancy; CL 16th
Slot –; Price 180,000 gp; Weight 1 lb.

DESCRIPTION

This foot long cylinder is fashioned from the blackest obsidian about three inches in diameter and is capped by two small infernal skulls of silver. It is also embossed with intricate silver filigree that contains imagery of two skeletal hands gripping the cylinder from opposite directions. It is filled with the powdered remains of an osyluth (bone devil) skull.

The ossuary may be used as the focus to cast animate dead. When an animate dead spell is cast using the ossuary, the caster does not need the material component and there is no longer a 25 gold piece restriction per Hit Die limitation. The spell is also treated as if it were cast within an area affected by desecrate (doubling amount of Hit Dice worth of undead created).

Additionally, while the caster is in physical possession of the ossuary, the Hit Dice worth of undead he can control is doubled. However, the additional amount allowed may only be applied towards undead created with an animate dead cast with the ossuary as the focus. Furthermore, all undead under the control of someone physically possessing the ossuary gain a +2 profane bonus to attack rolls, damage roll, and saving throws as well as +2 hit points per Hit Die.

The ossuary gains its strength from those who possess it. Anyone in physical possession of the ossuary has his current and maximum Hit Points are reduced by half. Upon the moment someone gives up physical possession of the ossuary, their original maximum (but not current) Hit Points are restored.

CONSTRUCTION

Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, desecrate, unhallow; Cost 90,000 gp

Listening to: In Flames – A Sense of Purpose – Disconnected