It's been a while since I last talked about the 'print & paste' videos and pdfs that I've been releasing... and so I thought it was time to remedy that!
So, I started the year off with a couple of encounter/puzzle ideas (complete with the terrain to go with them):
Now, in my opinion, the first video is a much better encounter than the second one - but as luck would have it, the second one has had more than four times the views so far (go figure).
I actually used both of them in an adventure I run a while back (once in person, and once online), and I'm happy/relieved to say that they worked reasonably well both times :)
* * *
After those I've been working on some more sci-fi stuff (as I plan on trying out the 'five parsecs from home' game) - which has mostly been focusing on buildings, greebles, and the like:
And, I have to admit that I'm pretty pleased with how they've turned out!
Some of the (optional) bits can be a bit fiddly - but I think it's a great way to get some passable sci-fi terrain to the table relatively quickly (plus, I've tried to keep it fairly generic looking - so that it will fit in with a number of different games and settings).
Though I'm not quite done with this current sci-fi phase that I'm going through, and I have at least one more video in the works...
...which, as you can see, will be for some quick and easy barricades.
So yeah, that's what I've been up to this year so far (terrain wise)... and I think 5 videos in (slightly less than) four months isn't too bad (though I've also been getting a lot of mini's painted too - but that's a post for another time ;) ).
It’s been a while (or, at least, it seems that way) since I last released a regular ‘print & paste’ terrain video – because if I ignore the giveaway stuff, the 2D tiles & cards, and the dungeon box (as all of these are kinda their own separate thing)…
...I have to go back 4 months to find the last piece of scatter terrain… or five months if I’m just including ‘dungeon’ stuff.
So, it’s been good to get back to more dungeon related scatter terrain (as that seems to be the core content for the channel)… and coincidentally, it’s turned out to be not too dissimilar to the last one I did:
However, despite having an encounter in mind for these (just like the previous ‘traps’ episode), I’ve not included it in the video this time – as I haven’t got it to the table myself yet, and I don’t want to give away the solution just yet (though, to be fair, it’s not super complicated).
Anyway, as usual, you can find the (pay-what-you-want) pdf file over on DriveThruRPG… and I hope that you can get some good use out of them!
As of today the YouTube channel has surpassed the 25k subscribers mark… which might not be much when compared to the big channels out there – but it’s a pretty huge milestone for someone like me :) :) :)
So, as you’d expect, I’ve made a short video to acknowledge that fact…
...and in that video I also announce another giveaway.
Now, the giveaway isn’t anything special (mainly just a $100 gift certificate for DriveThruRPG)… but it’s a small token of my appreciation nonetheless.
I’ve also used this as an opportunity to (re)release the ‘modifications & requests’ pdf…
...as I removed that from google drive a while back – due to the fact that (apparently) my exclusive deal with DriveThruRPG means I shouldn’t really be sharing modified versions of the files in other places. As such, it’s now available over on DriveThru instead (though I did spend a bit of time making it look a bit more presentable before doing so – hence the delay ;) ).
Anyway, I’ll finish this post by saying thank you to everyone for their support over the years (it really is appreciated), and here’s hoping you’ve managed to get some good use out of some of this nonsense of mine :)
Well, I’ve finally got them done… the dungeon cards & tokens (that I first tested out in THIS old blog post) are now available for download :)
As you can see in the video, there’s also a sample solo dungeon included with the cards – but the encounters detailed in the pdf could just as easily be used in regular (i.e. a GM plus several players) game as well.
I’ll also add that, if anyone does give the solo adventure a run through (using the cards and the 2D dungeon tiles), I’d love to hear how it goes!
In addition to the new video, I’ve also started up an e-mail newsletter – one where I can do monthly recaps of stuff I’ve released, things I’m working on, purchases made, and other gaming nonsense. I also hope to share pictures of projects that people in the community have built using some of my textures too – as those are always cool to see.
So, if that sounds like it might be of interest, you can sign up for it HERE.
And that’s it for now… for my next project I’ll probably getting back to making more terrain… but more on that if the prototypes work out as planned :)
I’ve been neglecting the blog of late (as you might have noticed)… so here’s a quick round up of what’s been going on in my own little hobby world (and some ‘behind the scenes’ commentary ;) ).
VIDEO CATCH-UP
First up is the truck that I talked about in my last post…
...the video went live back in May – but didn’t do very well compared to my other videos (which is fine – that’s just how it goes sometimes).
Next was the hedgerows (which I also mentioned last time)…
...and that episode performed about as well as my usual stuff (which is always nice to see for a pretty niche video).
Some time after that came another of my ‘dungeon in a box’ style of videos…
…and, as I had hoped, this video did rather well (which was also a bit of a relief – as I spent a lot of time on this one – essentially all of June… and then some :) ).
And finally, yesterday saw the release of some more 2D dungeon tiles…
...which isn’t doing terrible.. but it is on the lower side of average.
So, as you can see, quite a mixed bag in terms of content and performance – and while I don’t usually stress too much about the latter (as it’s largely out of my control, and I prefer to make stuff I’m excited about, rather than what I think might be popular/trending), I thought I’d include the briefest of overviews for anyone that might be interested in that kind of thing.
MINIATURES CATCH-UP
Most of the stuff I’ve been painting recently has been skaven related (you’ll see why later)… but this has involved a mix of sorting through some old models…
…painting some that I’d already got assembled (and, of course, buying and assembling a few more)...
...then splashing some paint on the new models too.
Now, there was a bit of a challenge here, as I’ve been trying to match the colours I painted my old skaven (with my original Army Painter paint) to my new Vallejo paint range – but I think I’ve got them pretty close.
GAMING CATCH-UP
I haven’t done much in-person gaming this year – but I did get to run a ShadowDark one-shot the other day (note that the chocolates box actually contains a bunch of scatter terrain).
And, of course, I forgot to take pictures during the game (though it was mostly a dry erase layout with some of my terrain pieces scatted here and there to liven it up a bit) – but I think it went OK (despite making a few mistakes).
It was also my first time running (or indeed playing) ShadowDark (and this particular game was a sort of funnel/gauntlet scenario that I’d written – but for a bunch of level 1 characters rather than zero level) – and, like I say I think it went down well*
*I’m also planning on running it for my online group as well – so here’s hoping they like it too.
Another game I’ve been messing around with is the old classic Advanced HeroQuest.
And, as you might have guessed, this is one of the reasons for all the skaven miniatures I’ve been trying to get finished.
It’s also more than a little responsible for me wanting the make more 2D dungeon tiles – as well as providing the incentive I needed to finish off the random dungeon cards (and tokens) that I started working on a while back.
And, since I just mentioned the cards and tokens, there does seem to be some interest in me sharing those – so I think I’m gonna go ahead and make that my next video.
Though please be aware that it’s a fairly simple idea – it only really generates the layout of the dungeon – you’ll need to make the random tables/charts yourself (which will vary depending upon the system you’re running, and the type of adventure you want to have).
Anyway, this has been a rather long post, so I think I’ll leave it there for now.
As always, thanks for reading, watching, and all that – and (with any luck) I’ll try to not leave it quite so long between updates going forward!
EDIT: I almost forgot - I also went on a solo adventure to the UK Games Expo this year...
It's been a while since I last talked about what I've been doing (terrain-wise) over on my YouTube channel - so I thought now might be a good time for a quick recap!
OK then, earlier in the year I announced another 'community challenge' - i.e. just a fun little project where I put together a bunch of random textures, and then 'challenged' everyone to make something with them (you can see the blog post I made about it HERE).
Anyway, I was very pleased to have nearly thirty people take part... and you can see all of their entries in the following video:
So, I want to say thanks (again) to everyone that took part - it was really great to see how inventive/creative everyone was!
Anyway, after the 'challenge' I've also released another three videos - the first being a sci-fi shuttle (which I'm quite proud of)...
...the next was a bunch of pedestals (to add to 'the dungeon')... ...and the most recent was a 'fun' idea for a trap... ...which also had a little encounter to go along with it :)
Anyway, if I go back to the 'shuttle' episode - in that video I asked if folks would like to see if I could make similar vehicles using the same chassis/fuselage/hull. And, seeing as how a lot of folks said yes, that has inspired the next video - in which, I'll be showing how to make a 6-wheeled truck.
Here's a picture of an early prototype:
And here's how it ended up looking (note the smaller one is printed at 75% - just to illustrate that you can easily change the size of most of this stuff within your pdf reader):
So, that's the video I'm working on at the moment, and with any luck I'll get that out later this week!
* * *
In other news, I seem to have been bitten by the World War II bug again... and, since I have a couple of Wargames Atlantic sprues lying around, I thought I would assemble a little (early war) British force:
And, I'm thinking that I could use the One Page Rules 'firefight' game (using the 'human defence force' list and a bit of common sense) to play a few skirmish games with them.
Obviously, that then leads me down the rabbit hole of WW2 terrain... and while I'm not fully committed to it yet... the ideas have begun:
(though things like 'hedgerows' and 'emplacements' will likely have a wider use than just WW2 gaming).
Anyway, I think that covers most of what I've been up to (aside from painting several more undead models to test out my new paint set)... though I have also given my hobby area a bit of a tidy/makeover - to accommodate this new(ish) Vallejo range of paint (that I recently bought - due to having problems with some of the Army Painter 'fanatic' range):
So yeah... that's it for this post. As I say, the next video should follow along in a day or two (or three)... so hopefully you'll tune in for that!
As
I’ve recently mentioned over on Patreon, I didn’t really plan on
releasing any new videos until this year’s ‘community challenge’
was over (see my previous entry)… just so that folks (myself
included) could focus on that, and not be sidetracked by yet another
new project.
However,
as you can tell by the title of this post – all of that has gone
out of the window, and since I’ve just finished this...
...I
thought I’d share it :) (as I’m not a huge fan of holding things
back once they’re done).
Anyway…
HERE is a link to the pdf file over on DriveThruRPG (as usual it’s
a pay-what-you-want files), and here’s hoping you like ‘em!
Anyway, over on the YouTube channel, I’ve decided to start the year off with a (month long) community challenge!
All of the details are outlined in the video above… but all it really boils down to is – here’s a bunch of random textures…
...lets see what we can make with them :)
The hope is that several people will take part (I’m looking at you, gentle reader ;) ) and then send me pictures of what they have built – so that I can make a follow up video at the beginning of February that showcases everyone’s projects :)
So that’s the plan!
I will, of course, be taking part myself… and while it’s not a competition (there’s no prizes or anything like that), it should be a fun project to get the year started!
As is usual with most of my projects, I’ve been posting WIP pictures of these on the various social media sites… and I even ‘streamed’ on discord for a couple of hours while I was drawing some of the textures (I say streamed – but it was just me and a couple of guys in the chat :) ).
Anyway, they’re finally finished…
...and while I’ve labelled the video as ‘orc/goblin huts’ they could be used for a wide variety of humanoid creatures (including humans).
So here’s hoping you can find a use for them in some of your own games!
October has been a bit of a sci-fi month for me - both in regard to the miniatures I've been painting, and the terrain that I've been making... and in this post I'm going to focus on the terrain (I'll talk more about the mini's tomorrow).
Anyway, I've been meaning to make some 'pipes' for a while now - you know, big industrial looking pipelines that can be scattered around the table to create some line-of-sight blocking terrain - and also to make things look a bit more... well... industrial :)
- an early prototype -
So, as you can see in the above picture, I set to work on making these with empty toilet roll tubes (as I do try to keep my crafting materials as simple as possible)... and I had to watch a couple of 'plumbing' style videos to figure out how to get the T junctions to work :)
I'd also realised that the table tennis balls that I got for the 'dungeon box' build were the perfect size to fit into the end of those toilet roll tubes...
...so I thought that needed to be taken advantage of as well :)
And, after a lot of trial and error, here's what I came up with:
(you can find the accompanying pdf file over on DriveThruRPG)
Anyway, despite being a 15 minute long video (I don't like making overly long tutorial videos - as I think too much information can quickly get a bit overwhelming), I still had more ideas that I wanted to try out - like these bases to rest larger pipes on top of... and the steps that go over the top:
And, as you might have guessed, that led to a second video...
...plus another pdf file (as usual, they are both pay-what-you-want downloads ;) ).
And, as I say in the video, if you combine both of these with some of the other sci-fi stuff that I have available, you/we should be able to make some pretty interesting layouts... something like this perhaps...
...which should work well enough for several different games and settings :)
So yeah, that's what I've been up to terrain-wise this month... and it also marks 99 video tutorials over on the channel (there's actually closer to 200 videos when you include the tips, build along projects, and so on - but only 99 'proper' episodes). And that makes me think I should maybe do something special for the 100th episode (or a follow up video after it)... so I need to get my thinking cap on I suppose :D
As some of you might have noticed, it's been a while since I last mentioned any of my terrain projects here on the blog... and that's because the latest batch of videos kinda follow on from one another in a similar way to the 'build along' series. And, as such, I wanted to wait until I'd got everything finished before talking about them here.
Anyway, the idea was to build a basic self contained dungeon adventure (and everything you'd need to run it) that packs away into a small box (making it ideal for the traveling GM - or for someone that might want to run a one-shot at a game store or a con for example).
So the obvious place to start was with the dungeon itself... and here's what I came up with:
And, as you can hopefully see, despite having to overcome a few issues along the way, it turned out rather nice (at least in my opinion).
So, if you'd like to have a go at making something like that yourself, then the YouTube tutorial can be found HERE (there's a link to the 'pay-what-you-want' pdf file in the video's description).
In addition to the dungeon - the adventure also requires a few player handouts in the form of some old copper rings and a rusty amulet...
...well, I say 'requires' - you don't really need any of this stuff - so they're not essential, but they are fun to have. Therefore, there is a second video HERE that shows you how to put them together (with another pdf file to go along with it).
But a dungeon adventure wouldn't be much of a dungeon adventure without some monsters to battle (at least in my opinion) - so I had a go at making those too... starting off with some ghostly creatures...
...and then with some slimy oozes:
So, as you might have guessed, there are video tutorials for these as well. One for the GHOSTS and another for the OOZES.
And that's pretty much two months of video updates condensed into one blog post :)
However, in the first video, I did say that I would try and tidy up my adventure notes for this dungeon (once I'd run it a couple of times - once for my online group, and once for my in-person group), and share them online... and so that's what I've done.
But like I said at the beginning of this post, it's not meant to be anything special (in fact that was the complete opposite of what I was trying to achieve - as the aim was to have it be a simple one-shot that could be run with minimal fuss), so please keep that in mind.
Anyway, HERE is the link to those notes (it's just a google doc at the moment).
So yeah - that's my little 'dungeon in a box' adventure that I've put together. I'm not gonna lie, it is quite a bit of work to make - considering it might only get used once or twice - but I enjoy the whole creative process of putting this kind of thing together, so it has been a fun project to work on nevertheless (plus I now have a little boxed adventure to run if I ever get the chance to do something like that at a con, or a store, or similar).
And now that I've got it finished... I'm in the mood for some sci-fi - so I think that's gonna be my focus for the next couple of videos - so stay tuned for those :)
- here's a quick example of the kind of thing I've been experimenting on this past week -
For
my next foray into Five Leagues from the Borderlands, my party of
‘brave heroes’ will be venturing into their first ‘delve’ (in
this game, a delve is essentially a multi-level dungeon scenario).
As
such, I’ve continued with the dwarven/Moria theme in my latest
terrain project - and, as you can see, this time I’ve added some
doors/doorways/arches.
As
always, there is a pay-what-you-want file available over on
DriveThruRPG if you want to have a go at making some yourself, and an
accompanying video (showing how everything goes together) posted
below.
As you might know if you’ve been following some of my recent posts, I’m about to start a Moria-style game – one where I’ll be playing as the orcs (using the Five Leagues from the Borderlands solo rules).
And, while I could just use my regular dungeon tiles for this (and I probably will to be honest), I also want to make a few pieces that have a bit of a dwarven theme… and I thought a good place to get things started would be with these pillars:
So, as always, there’s a (pay-what-you-want) pdf file that goes along with them (you can find it HERE)... and I hope you agree that, considering they’re just made from bits of card with a paper texture glued on top, they don’t look too bad at all :)
Furthermore, I forgot to post about the river tiles that I made earlier this month…
...so there’s the video (and HERE’s the pdf) for that as well.
So, yeah… it’s been quite a productive month. Now I just need to set some time aside to play!
Sometime ago, Wargames Atlantic sent me three boxes of some of their models to take a look at (perhaps to appear in the finished pictures I include at the end of my videos)… one of which was this box of horses:
Now, the models from the first two boxes have already featured in a few episodes, but at the time, I didn’t really have anything suitable that I could include the horses in… until now that is. Because, if you have been following my Discord/Community posts, then you’ll know that I’ve been working on some carts and wagons recently… the video for which has just gone live:
And, as you can see, these horses are the perfect fit for this latest episode.
So, since I’ve now had time to put a few together, and splash on some paint – I thought I’d share my thoughts.
* * *
First up, here’s a picture of the sprue (there are 6 of these in the box)…
...and while that might seem a bit limiting to begin with, any left half of the torso can be stuck to any right half – making for a nice variety of poses (plus, you can also swap the heads and tails around for even more variation).
And, as for the assembly itself, they go together really well – I really like how the reins around the neck hide that particular join… in fact the only join that’s mildly visible is on the rump – and even then I just gave it a light sanding… and now it’s all but gone (i.e. I didn’t do any greenstuff work on these at all).
Now, I will admit, that I’ve only ever painted a couple of horses before (as I generally prefer painting human-sized infantry miniatures) – but I have to say, I enjoyed painting these (which was a bit of a surprise to be sure)…
...I mean, as you can see, I didn’t attempt anything particularly complicated (i.e. I wasn’t brave enough to try any fancy markings or anything like that) – but I’m pretty pleased with the results (I especially like how the white one has turned out).
However, I should point out that you have to provide your own bases (they do have a small integral base – but I mounted mine on some 2mm mdf ovals that I have, for a more consistent look) – but aside from that, it’s another great set!
And if you’re wondering about their actual size – then here’s a pic on my cutting matt:
(note that the squares are 1cm, but I’ve added a few rulers so you can see the imperial measurements too)
So yeah, if you can’t tell, I rather like them – I mean I’m no horse expert, but they look fine to me, they go together easily, and they paint up well – so there’s not much more to say really.
I suppose if I really wanted to be a bit nit-picky, then I might have preferred it if each sprue ditched the fourth (spare) head, and included some baggage instead (to make a couple of pack horses) – but that’s just me wanting to tailor the sprue to my own specific needs.
But, like I say, these are nice models, and are a perfect accompaniment to my new carts and wagons!
And, as you'll see, the idea for these is to have a bunch of steps/stairs that are quick to build, easy to store/transport, and that conform to the original 2.5D design/philosophy.
For the past few years, I've had a bit of a tradition of creating a small dungeon level from scratch (i.e. making the terrain, painting the mini's, and writing the adventure) throughout the month of January, and releasing one video a week over on YouTube to show how I put it all together.
And, as you've probably guessed, this year has been no different - so, to cut a long story short, here's a list of all the videos that I've made over the course of this month:
- note that you can get the pdf for this level HERE -
And, while these videos usually only deal with the terrain side of things (though I do quickly run through the encounter ideas - but they're fleshed out a bit more in THIS document), this time I've also had a go at making some miniatures for one of the encounters...
- four DIY elementals pictured next to a reaper bones miniature -
...which doesn't really fit with my usual 'print & paste' approach - but I thought I'd include them nonetheless (so here's hoping you like them :) ).
Anyway, now that level 3 is complete, I think that's going to be it for the Dungeon Build Along series (at least for a while). I'll not go into too much detail - but (generally speaking) multi-part videos don't do very well on YouTube... and it's a ton of work to get one video out a week (I really don't know how other folks manage it :S ) - which, when you think about it, doesn't seem like time well spent (i.e. knowing full well that each 'part' is going to be less popular than the last).
Now, that kind of thing doesn't usually bother me too much (chasing the algorithm isn't really my thing) - but this time things started to feel a bit like a chore towards the end (the needless pressure I put on myself to get 5 videos out this month was starting to build up). So, when you combine all of those factors, I think it's time to call the Dungeon Build Along done!
Don't get me wrong though, I'm really happy with it now that it's finished - and I'm looking forward to running level 2 and 3 with my new(ish) IRL group. In fact, I've managed to get the whole thing packed into this one box...
...so it's ready to go if we need a filler game of dungeon crawling one evening :) (we currently play at a friends house - so having something on the shelf that I can just pick up and take with me with little or no warning should be quite handy).
And speaking of 'the whole thing' - here's a picture off all three levels...
...and when you think that all of this fits inside that one small box (which doesn't weigh that much at all), that really does show how the 2.5D style of (cardboard) tiles is great for folks that play away from home (or that don't have much room to store all of this stuff).
But yeah, I hope you've enjoyed the series, and now that it's done I'm looking forward to getting back to the usual kind of content... as there's still a ton of stuff I want to get around to making... and the to-do list keeps on getting longer rather than shorter :D
So, here's hoping that 2024 is going to be a good year on the gaming front... and in my next post I'll be talking about it being a year of 'getting stuff painted' (as I have a massive pile of shame that I need to do something about - so this year I'm also hoping to put a dent in that).
Anyway, if you've got this far, thanks for reading to the end - and, like I say in the last video - if you use any of the ideas from the 'build along' in your own games... it would be great to hear how it goes!
