When I originally had the idea to make a couple of standing stones (to accompany the recent swamp/marsh tiles) I thought I’d just put something together quickly using some of the textures that I’ve already got available - and maybe make it into a bonus ‘tips & tricks’ video.
However, as is often the case, I got a little carried away, and it soon became apparent that, if I was going to add some decoration to the stones (by the way of a few different inscriptions/engravings), then I may as well turn it into a full episode :)
So, here it is...
...and, like always, you can find the PDF file HERE (note that if you are a supporting me over on Patreon or as a YouTube Member, then please just put a zero in the little box and download the file for free ;) ).
Furthermore, as I mention in the video, feel free to come and join the Discord or the Facebook Community (and join the chat, share pictures, and so on over there!).
Well, it's time for another of my terrain videos ...and this time I've been making some archways for the dungeon:
- THE INITIAL PROTOTYPE -
- THE FINAL PIECE -
Anyway, there's a (pay-what-you-want) pdf file that contains all of the new textures HERE, and posted below is the video where I show how I put everything together.
As usual, I've been posting my progress with these over on the various social media pages (so there's no real surprises here) - but here's my latest release ...TENTACLES!
The video above shows you how to put them together, and for my own game I'm thinking of using them as some kind of trap/hazard rather than an actual monster (like the 'black tentacles' or 'entangle' spells for example).
Anyway, as I say in the video, this is probably as close as I'm going to get to a Halloween episode (not that I normally do themed episodes) - but it's purely by coincidence :)
Note that the pay-what-you-want pdf file can be found HERE.
It's been over a month since my last video (for 'reasons' :( ) ...but I've finally got another one finished...
...anyway, the idea behind this one is that maybe it was once part of a prison complex - so the prisoners cells would be on one side of the pit, and the guards (and the bridge controls) would be on the other. Thus, should a prisoner escape their cell, they'd still have to find a way to navigate the pit (hopefully that made sense :) ).
Now though, in the hands of the goblins, it could be used as a kind of monster spawner ...with several goblins being transported from one side of the pit to the other each round to harass the players (who find themselves approaching the pit from the old prison area).
So maybe the players stand and fight each new batch of goblins as they appear ...or maybe they use ranged attacks to try and pick off a few of the goblins working the winch ...in either case I think it will make for a fun encounter.
But enough of all that ...if you want to have a go at making one yourself, then the (pay-what-you-want) pdf file can be found HERE.
Hope you like it!
PS. here's a sneak peek at what's coming up in the next video...
No doubt you will have noticed that the videos (over on the YouTube channel) these past couple of months have been focusing on my new 'tiny terrain' system.
If you're not familiar with it, the idea is to make a bunch of modular village tiles (each containing a couple of houses, barns, fields, etc.) that can be pieced together to make little 3D maps of small settlements (i.e. they're not meant to be used with mini's - they're just something that can be used and reused in place of a regular 2D map).
Anyway, as you can see in the above picture, I've finally got to a point where it's actually usable now (as the previous videos in this series have mainly been getting everything ready for this video) ...so it's good to get to the stage where I can start pulling it all together :)
So yeah, if you're interested in making a few of these yourself then please do feel free to head on over to the YouTube channel and check out the 'tiny terrain' playlist ...or if you've been keeping up with all the latest videos, then this latest one (containing the fields & fences) is featured below.
And just like all of the other pdfs in the 'print & paste' range, this one is a pay-what-you-want download over on DriveThruRPG.
Anyway, here's hoping you can put some of this nonsense to use ;)
As you may know, my latest project is to make a bunch of different hex-tiles that can be pieced together to make little 3D village maps (as seen in the prototype image below).
Well, in the previous video I got started on the little houses, and in this latest video I've moved on to little clusters of trees (copse-like clusters if you will):
And as always, you can find the pay-what-you-want pdf file over on DriveThruRPG.
As some of you may know, the YouTube channel has continued to grow and I've recently hit 10,000 subscribers! (which, as far as I'm concerned, means that it's been a big success). As such, I have a few announcements that I'd like to make ...all of which are covered in the following video:
However, if you don't have time for all that nonsense, or would like a bit more information, then here's the breakdown ;)
MERCHANDISE
As I say in the video, I haven't gone overboard with this (as I doubt there'll be much call for socks or shower curtains with the channel's logo on them) ...but a mug and a sticker is the kind of thing I'd put to use myself.
I mean, I don't really drink 'hot drinks' - so my own mug will likely get used to hold gluesticks and paintbrushes ...but the sticker will find a good home on the back of my laptop :)
Anyway, HERE is the link to the (tee)spring storefront. If there is anything else you'd like me to consider, just drop me a message.
THE TWISTED STAVE
I've decided that, every now and again (essentially when I have enough material), I'll tidy up some of my own DMing material (or personal / 'for fun' projects), and present it in a 'zine format.
They'll probably not be all that frequent - but this first one is available for free (subsequent ones will be free to Patreon supporters, and $1 for everyone else) - so please do feel free to check it out and see if that kind of thing will be of interest to you. HERE is the link.
Note that I'm presenting it as 5E compatible - but there'll generally be a couple of articles that aren't really tied to any system (though, for the most part, it does assume a fairly traditional fantasy-medieval setting).
(note that there is also a print-on-demand version available over on lulu)
THERE'S GOBLINS IN THEM THERE HILLS
I've mentioned this adventure a couple of times before (as I planned on doing a series of videos showing which pieces of terrain you'll need to build for each encounter area, and so on) - but I figured this would be a good time to release that too.
Now, I do still hope to get around to those videos at some point (as the adventure has been written with the 'print & paste' terrain in mind) - but if you're familiar with most of that stuff, then you should have a good idea of how to go about it.
Anyway, the adventure itself isn't meant to be particularly revolutionary (or all that original) - it's just a fun little dungeon romp that you can get through in a session or two.
It's priced at $2.99, it's 16 pages long, and is available over on DriveThruRPG.
$50 GIFT VOUCHER
For this particular giveaway you will need to go to the video's page over on YouTube (as I am only counting entries over there - just so that I don't have to monitor several different pages for the next month ;) ).
And, as I explain in the video, everyone that picks up one of my pdfs will already have a DriveThruRPG account... so the giveaway should, in theory, be available to everyone (and no-one even has to leave the house to post/receive it - because, you have to admit, we are living in strange times).
So if you do enter - here's wishing you good luck!
AND FINALLY...
I said this at the start of the above video, but I want to say it again here (at the end of this post).
A huge thanks goes out to everyone that supported me over the past few years - I really do appreciate it ...and here's looking forward to the next milestone*
Thanks again!
(*erm... yeah ...not sure if that's ever likely to happen ...but only time will tell :) ).
It's been a while since I last spoke about the VTT tiles that I create each month - but the project is still going strong ...with around 400 tiles available now!
This month I've been working on a request for more cave-to-dungeon transition tiles, and this is what I've come up with:
So, as you can see, there are 4 tiles ...and all of them are slightly different in their design.
Furthermore here is a small encounter map that I've put together that features a few of these new tiles...
...and while I have no idea (yet) what the locals are 'feeding' - you can be sure it's not anything pleasant ;)
Anyway, you can find all of individual tiles in THIS album (they are free for personal use) ...and if you want to help support this (or any of my other projects) please feel free to check out the PATREON PAGE.
I've taken a short break from the cave maps that I've been drawing recently, and have instead been working on a small expansion set for the dungeon tiles... i.e. those pictured below:
And, at first glance, these might seem like a bit of a strange addition - as these maps do not conform to the usual size of 12x12 squares (or multiples thereof), and they don't have the normal '2 squares wide' exits.
However, the idea behind these is to allow us to add some variety to the dungeon in a few places - simply by overlaying one of the special narrow passages on top of an existing tile - i.e. this kind of thing:
Which means that we can turn something like this...
...into something like this!
So, as you can see, this helps to break up the 'modular look' that you can sometimes get with the regular tiles - plus it also allows us to have narrow passages that connect to the main dungeon at any point that we choose.
And if you're looking to get hold of all these tiles (both old and new) - they are freely available from my Patreon home page (i.e. you don't even need to be a patron ;) ).
Anyway, I hope all of that made some kind of sense, and I hope you'll be able to put them to good use!
...and, as you can see, in this one I've been making a bunch of spiral stairways (ones that go up, ones that go down, and ones that go both up and down).
As usual, I've uploaded the pdf file to DriveThruRPG as a pay-what you-want download ...so feel free to pick it up for free - or pay as much/little as you like :)
Anyway, here's hoping that you can put these to use!
Oh ...and since I always forget to say it in the video - feel free to like/share/subscribe and all that other nonsense ;)
Here's a quick look at the two (large) map tiles that I've drawn this month...
...and here's a small example of them pieced together (with a few of the other VTT tiles) to make a small cave map.
As usual, I've added both of them to the (ever expanding) library of maps in THIS album - as well as organising them slightly better over on GOOGLE DRIVE.
So, here's hoping you like these latest additions!
Back in December, I started playing around with an idea that I had to make a bunch of stirge miniatures (if you've been following me via any of the social media platforms you might have already seen this pic)...
...and a few folks seemed to like them - so I've gone ahead and made another video tutorial (to show you how to put them together)...
...and I've also uploaded the pdf file to DriveThruRPG as a pay-what-you-want download (so feel free to pay as much or as little as you like).
Now, they're obviously not as good (or as durable) as regular/proper miniatures ...but if you need a whole bunch of them for an upcoming encounter/adventure, then they should do the job.
Well, now that 2019 is behind us, I thought I'd write a short article to show off all of the tiles that I created last year - thanks to the support of my kind patrons (without whom, I probably wouldn't have got nearly as much done).
Anyway, the main focus for 2019 was 'caves' (you can find the full size images HERE by the way) ...and over the course of the year I managed to get all of the basic cave tiles finished...
...which, as you can see, includes:
Small chambers with various exits.
Large chambers that can be pieced together from multiple tiles.
Tunnels/passages/dead-ends of various shapes and sizes.
A few cave 'assets' that can be placed on top of the tiles to add a bit more variety.
Plus, if you take a look at the maps on the right hand side of the above picture, I also managed to squeeze in a few 'feature caverns' that can be used for specific encounters.
So, with all those done, we can now build nice 'little' cave maps that look something like this:
However, it's also worth mentioning that I did manage to get a few dungeon tiles (and one transitional tile) done as well ...as can be seen in the image below:
So yeah, that's another year's worth of maps done, and I've added them to the growing library of over 300 tiles (found HERE) ...which contains all of the (VTT style) maps that I've drawn over the past three years.
But what's next I hear you ask? (or is that just the voices in my head ;) ) ...well, to start things off, I think I'm going to concentrate on more 'feature caverns' and 'assets' for a little while - as I think that will really help to add some variance to the type of maps we can piece together.
So, all that's left to do is repeat my thanks to those of you that support this little ongoing project* over on Patreon, and to wish you all a happy new year. Here's hoping that 2020 will be a good one!
If you've been following me via the various social media pages, then you'll have seen that I've been working on some more terrain for the (print & paste) sci-fi tiles.
Well, as usual, these took a lot longer to draw than I originally anticipated (due to all the little details), but I've finally got them finished ...and released the next video:
And, as you can see, in this one I've had a go at making a few consoles/terminals (basically generic technical gubbins), and I'm quite happy with how they've turned out :)
Anyway, if you want to have a go at making a few yourself, you can find the pdf HERE (it's a pay-what-you-want download - so grab it for free, or pay as much as you like), and the instructions can be found in the above video.
So, here's hoping that a few of you can put them to good use!
Just a quick post to say that I've expanded the print & paste range (again ;) ) ...and it now includes a basic fireplace.
As always, you can pick it up from DriveThruRPG as a pay-what-you-want pdf - so grab it for free, or pay a small amount if you feel so inclined (though all donations, no matter how small, really do help).
And here it is pictured alongside some of my other stuff...
...and, I have to admit, I think it turned out quite nice :)
I'm halfway through this year's 'caves' project (i.e. the modular cave tiles that I've been creating for use with virtual table tops), and I'm pleased to say that I've just completed the basic set of small cave tiles :) :) :)
This means that I've finally got all the basic configurations covered (i.e. passages with one exit, passages with two exits, passages with three exits, etc.) - as well as several 'feature caverns that have been suggested by some of my kind Patrons (as seen below).
So, here's a quick look at the kind of thing that you can make with these now...
...and I have to admit that I'm quite happy with the result :D
However, when you piece them together, you are going to get a slightly unrealistic 'modular tiles' look (which is hard to avoid when using modular tiles ...obviously) - but the plan going forward is to create a few larger caverns (made up of 4 or more tiles themselves), which should help to mix things up a bit.
Basically ...something similar to these old black & white tiles here:
Anyway, a big thank you goes out to everyone who supports my endeavours over on Patreon. As I've always said, the aim has never been to hide any of these tiles/maps behind a paywall or anything like that (as I want them to be available for everyone to use) ...so your continued patronage really helps to keep the project alive. THANK YOU!
For quite some time now, people have been asking if I intend on running a Patreon campaign for the YouTube channel - but I have to admit that I was a little hesitant to do so at first.
The main reasons behind this feeling were:
1) All the pdf files are available as pay-what-you-want downloads - so if you wanted to support the channel financially, there was already a way of doing so.
2) I didn't want to seem too greedy by having this stuff be both PWYW and on Patreon.
3) I already have a Patreon campaign for the VTT maps that I create, and I'm pretty sure that having more than one campaign running at the same time is frowned upon.
However, the requests have kept on coming in, and so I have asked my existing patrons if they would have any objections to me rolling the YouTube stuff into the same Patreon campaign as the VTT maps. And, as you can probably tell by the title of this post, I was encouraged to do so!
So, whether you're interested in the VTT tiles for use in your online games, or if you're a fan of the 2.5D tiles for use on the regular tabletop, the Patreon campaign will now include both of these projects (along with any other random 'dungeon stuff' that I come up with along the way ;) ).
However, just like before, the aim is NOT to hide any of the finished tiles/textures/maps behind a paywall (that has never been my intention for these) - though there are a few benefits/rewards for those that want to join me on Patreon, and it would be great to see more people jump on board.
So yeah, I've put this off for long enough, if you really do want to support me on this journey of mine, then here is an additional way of doing so (though please don't ever feel obliged ...just think of it as a tips jar kind of thing).
Anyway, I hope that's good news for those of you that have been prompting me to do this - I admit that it's taken me a little while to get around to it ...but better late than never :)
I know that the blog has been featuring a lot of the 'print & paste' stuff recently, but I wanted to point out that the smaller (VTT style) maps are still going strong :) ...and that the library of 'cave maps' is steadily growing.
So, here's a quick look at a layout I've just put together that features some of the newer tiles...
...and I have to admit that they do have a bit of a 'tiled look' at the moment ...but this should become less of an issue when I get more 'feature caverns' and multi-tile caves drawn (the latter being similar to THIS).
Furthermore, I've also been trying some of these maps out with this new (at least I think it's new) 'Astral' virtual table top (that DriveThruRPG has teamed up with)...
...and, as long as you change the map to a grid size of 50, all of my tiles snap to the grid without any fuss - plus it seems to have dynamic lighting in the free version (which is nice):
Anyway, as you might already know, I have a Patreon campaign tied to these particular maps (though none of the final maps are hidden behind a paywall or anything like that), which you can find HERE.
Or, if you're not a fan a Patreon (for whatever reason), I'm also compiling them all in THIS lengthy album ...or you can find them (in a slightly more organised fashion) over on GOOGLE DRIVE.
As some of you will know, for the first half of this year (possibly longer) I'm going to be drawing a bunch of cave tiles that you can piece together to create your own cavern layouts.
However, it'll probably be a few months before there's enough variety to make anything other than simplistic layouts ...but I thought I'd post a picture of the kind of thing you can do with just these eight tiles (to give you a better idea of the kind of thing I'm aiming for).
(this map contains 2 T-junction tunnels, and three dead-end caves)
And, all this is being made possible by the kind folks supporting me over on Patreon (thanks guys) ...and it's my hope to eventually add 'feature caverns' to the library (so caves/tunnels with lava or water running through them, giant mushroom groves, goblinoid lairs, and so on) once I've got a working 'core set' complete.
So,here's hoping you like 'em!
Note that you can find links to all of these maps over on the Patreon page ...though I am also compiling all of the cave tiles in THIS FOLDER over on google drive.
