Happy Dominion Day! Another year, another beginning...

Happy Canada Day! or Happy Dominion Day! for the oldschoolers ;)

A first anniversary past, and nearly half-a-year missed. Boot to the head!*

Topics I want to tackle in the coming weeks and months:

Baba Yaga & her Dancing Hut (ongoing project)

Picnic Adventures (my top gaming priority, on the back burner for too long)
- Fluff: setting, story, accessories (minis, maps, tiles, terrain), iconics, adventure, illustrations
- Crunch: character building (& pregens), resolution mechanic (dice), etc.

Song of Blades and Heroes, Song of Fur and Buttons - my first venture into wargaming, about to begin

RPGs for Kids, overviews, reviews, play-thrus

Mapmaking

Inked Adventures & Billiam Babble omniverse

Fantasy Inns & Taverns

The Beauty of Black & White

Fantasy Art inspirations

Best Books in Fantasy & Sci-Fi

Best Films in Fantasy & Sci-Fi


Kids' own RPGs and fantasy games...









"Boot to the head" is a reference to Canadian comic group Four-on-the-Floor... in this case refers to a hard-reboot of the blog. Once more ;)

The Most Wondrous Item: The Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga (Part II)

      More famous than any other fairy-tale dwelling --save perhaps that lowly witch's gingerbread house-- the Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga has a depth and a life of its own beyond its iconic owner/creator. One of my papercraft dreams has been to build it to run my adventurers up against, and now that dream is within reach! For the fantabulous Fat Dragon will be designing it for me (and others too), having listed it as the first stretch goal of his current Kickstarter project, the medieval village Ravenfell. And what do you know, not only did the project fund within a couple of hours yesterday, my chicken-legged wonder was reached by suppertime (and he launched at lunch)!
      Well, now Fat Dragon Tom is wondering what The Hut (Not Pizza, Not Jabba - better, tastier, more ancient, more powerful than both) should look like, having only worked out the tricky chicken leg geometry so far. So I will share a few ideas and illustrations over the next few posts... be sure to share yours in the comments here, and/or at the Kickstarter page, and/or the Fat Dragon forums.

Part I: Fairy-Tale & Folklore
Part II: Dungeons & Dragons
Part III: Pathfinder
Part IV: Hero's Quest / Quest for Glory

Part II: Dungeons & Dragons

The Most Wondrous Item: The Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga (Part III)

      More famous than any other fairy-tale dwelling --save perhaps that lowly witch's gingerbread house-- the Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga has a depth and a life of its own beyond its iconic owner/creator. One of my papercraft dreams has been to build it to run my adventurers up against, and now that dream is within reach! For the fantabulous Fat Dragon will be designing it for me (and others too), having listed it as the first stretch goal of his current Kickstarter project, the medieval village Ravenfell. And what do you know, not only did the project fund within a couple of hours yesterday, my chicken-legged wonder was reached by suppertime (and he launched at lunch)!
      Well, now Fat Dragon Tom is wondering what The Hut (Not Pizza, Not Jabba - better, tastier, more ancient, more powerful than both) should look like, having only worked out the tricky chicken leg geometry so far. So I will share a few ideas and illustrations over the next few posts... be sure to share yours in the comments here, and/or at the Kickstarter page, and/or the Fat Dragon forums.

Part I: Fairy-Tale & Folklore
Part II: Dungeons & Dragons
Part III: Pathfinder
Part IV: Hero's Quest / Quest for Glory

Part III: Pathfinder

The Most Wondrous Item: The Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga (Part IV)

     More famous than any other fairy-tale dwelling --save perhaps that lowly witch's gingerbread house-- the Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga has a depth and a life of its own beyond its iconic owner/creator. One of my papercraft dreams has been to build it to run my adventurers up against, and now that dream is within reach! For the fantabulous Fat Dragon will be designing it for me (and others too), having listed it as the first stretch goal of his current Kickstarter project, the medieval village Ravenfell. And what do you know, not only did the project fund within a couple of hours yesterday, my chicken-legged wonder was reached by suppertime (and he launched at lunch)!
     Well, now Fat Dragon Tom is wondering what The Hut (Not Pizza, Not Jabba - better, tastier, more ancient, more powerful than both) should look like, having only worked out the tricky chicken leg geometry so far. So I will share a few ideas and illustrations over the next few posts... be sure to share yours in the comments here, and/or at the Kickstarter page, and/or the Fat Dragon forums.

Part I: Fairy-Tale & Folklore
Part II: Dungeons & Dragons
Part III: Pathfinder
Part IV: Hero's Quest / Quest for Glory

Part IV: Hero's Quest / Quest for Glory

Extended corn rows for Corn-flagration of Dooooom!

As previously promised, One Monk's Corn Rows modded to 10" lengths, to save work when crafting the corn maze. Four printed copies are necessary for the cornmaze I've designed, at the largest size they will print off (either US Letter or A4). The cornmaze requires 78-79 linear inches, and if you can print each sheet at 10" long you'll just be able to do it. Actual photos of the build should follow tomorrow...

One-Monk-Halloween-Harvest-Props-Cornfield-modded-to-2-10%22-rows-by-WackyAnne.pdf

The illustration is (C) 2008 by Jim Hartman (One Monk), and modded with permission 2013 by Anne Thornton (WackyAnne AKA DungeonMama). For personal use only. Please visit onemonk.com and the Cardboard Warriors forum for more on the art and hobby of gaming papercraft.

Picnic Adventures! Corn-flagration of Doooooom! Halloween Mini-module for Monday...

Just a tease, for now. Hope to have this mini-module of sorts posted tonight, as there are now only 10 days left until Halloween!

Picnic Adventures! Pumpkin Patch Map-Tile

The first official release from Picnic Adventures! For my readers, and especially my friends at the Cardboard Warriors Forum! It will be joining the second part of the Forum Hoard of free minis and models in paper...

A pumpkin patch/garden plot/wheat field/corn field tile for your enjoyment, using the grass and dirt textures from One Monk's bases page (all credit to the mighty Jim Hartman, and thanks to Eric "Squirmydad" Brown for keeping the dream alive!). This ensures that they will work perfectly with One Monk's Halloween Harvest Prop set (download zip file here). The map or terrain tile is designed as 7" x 7", 300 pixels per inch. You'll likely have to test it out on your printer for the most accurate scaling.

Picnic Adventures! Pumpkin Patch Map-Tile (image or pdf)

Why 7" x 7", rather than 6" x 6" or 8" x 8"? Well, this way you can slice off one or more of the grass margins and have a battlemap spanning multiple tiles, yet still have a usuable stand-alone tile. Four tiles will yield a 12" x 12" field, six tiles a 12" x 17" field, nine tiles a 17" x 17" field - and unless you plan on leaving the fields fallow, you'd better stop there  


Since the One Monk crops are 3" long, one page of wheatfield or pumpkins will yield 24 linear inches or 120 linear feet of crops, one page of corn-rows will yield 12 linear inches or 60 linear feet of crops. A single tile can accommodate four (in-line) or five (off-set) rows of crops per page, so plan & print accordingly. 

You can use One Monk's bases that are included in his set; they'll match just about perfectly if you want to place or glue them down onto the tile (see how well they'll blend below). Alternatively, you can glue the tile(s) down onto foamcore board (preferably black), and cut slots to accommodate the crops' tabs, like Okumarts bases his minis. You can also crop (tee hee) the tabs somewhat, so you don't have to slice the whole length into the tile/foamcore.



Preview showing compatibility with One Monk's free Halloween Harvest Prop set (download zip file here)

Picnic Adventures! Picnic Mimic!

What kids ever met up in a tavern? Nope, our bold adventurers begin their heroic journey one simple, sunny summer day, enjoying the fresh air and a delicious picnic. But what is a picnic without ants?

Here is adversary number two for our bold Picnic Adventurers (the first ANTagonist was diplomatically turned into an ally): a baby mimic at play!

The picnic basket is all one piece, folded, and has the following options built-in: food, blanket, mimics (2), and lid to keep it all in!  Dryw the Harper's female cleric from his Imperfect Child Adventurers set is included for scale, and your defense!

[My submission to the Single Figure category for this year's Papercut Awards over at the Cardboard Warriors forum]

I'd not originally planned to include this and my other entry into the Papercuts 2013 contest, but if I don't now, I never will get them done ;D I hope it at least brings a smile to your face, if not admiration for my skill!

Sadly, only camera working is my iPhone, and neither of my printers nor my scanner were in the necessary full working order to assist, so things are a little rough. My mini, therefore, is the original, prior to being scanned and printed. My photo-scan needed too much digital manipulation to restore true colours to make it worth my while for the contest submission.

Picnic Adventures!

What kids ever met up in a tavern? Nope, our bold adventurers begin their heroic journey one simple, sunny summer day, enjoying the fresh air and a delicious picnic. But what is a picnic without ants?

Here's what I've been up to all summer. Well, lots of picnics, certainly, with my two boys lil' G (age 7) and lil' L (age 3). And trying to get a game of Pathfinder going with my husband and our friends while having to satisfy my fix diving into this wonderful hobby of papercraft for gaming. The closest I've come this true adventuring has been A Pathfinder Picnic in the Park with lil' G, GMing him as he went through the solo adventure in the Pathfinder Beginner Box, The Skeleton King's Crypt, with help from a couple of paper minis.

The combination of my favourite pastimes inspired me to start designing a kid's game which may one day see the light of day. The pictures below show a glimpse into a couple of adventures I've got planned. The ant is Reivaj's Ant Warriors Standard Bearer, shrunk to 67% and de-weaponized so that he doesn't present a threat to Dryw the Harper's excellent adventurers [Imperfect Child Adventurers]. The background is from The Hobbit Companion book, the ground from a Japanese papercraft site modded in Gimp, the greenery from Oversoul Games (whose Dungeon Plungin' I have yet to read the rules for), and the Picnic Mimic, blanket, and log are all mine. The log, in fact, I've already shared in a previous post, and was my first paper mini, made on the fly for that first photo.

[My submission to the Diorama category for this year's Papercut Awards over at the Cardboard Warriors forum]

Supplemental to the entry, a couple of fun details as I play around with Dryw's amazing little adventurers...

I'd not originally planned to include this and my other entry into the Papercuts 2013 contest, but if I don't now, I never will get them done ;D I hope it at least brings a smile to your face, if not admiration for my skill!

Sadly, only camera working is my iPhone, and neither of my printers nor my scanner were in the necessary full working order to assist, so things are a little rough.

A Dungeon for Dominion Day!

Tomorrow marks Canada's 146th birthday, and I plan on celebrating with A Dungeon for Dominion Day! (A salute to my Dad, who still calls Canada Day by its old name.)

Our good friends will be trudging through this dungeon for our first ever crawl soon enough, but I plan on taking my older gnomelet through tomorrow morning. For now, you get a sneak peek at my plans and secrets while I also showcase my favourite papercraft artist, Billiam Babble of Inked Adventures. Depending on timezones, I may even get this entered into The Frugal GM's Inked Adventures Contest in time. Time's something I've been rather short of, with the gnomelets now out of school for the summer, and a surprise convention that got me gaming for eleven hours yesterday! Anyway, back to The Dungeon!

In our first glimpse, we see two gypsy wagon drivers enjoying a chat and a beer while someone else looks after the horses. The gypsies are from a caravan our hero is helping to protect through a sometimes treacherous route through the woods.

The wagons & drivers are from my second favourite papercraft artist, Dryw the Harper, over on the Cardboard Warriors forums. He has generously provided 100's of free paper minis that he's made for the games he gamemasters (GMs). Our hero is a bargain bin HeroClix figure I picked up from Strange Adventures (my friendly local comic & gaming store or FLC/GS) because he looks remarkably like Montresor: my favourite character I've ever created, from my favourite computer game, Hero's Quest AKA Quest for Glory. Except, I played Montresor as a jack-of-all-trades thief, and this guy (Jericho? whoever that guy is; clearly he's in the bargain bin for his obscurity) looks ready to take on the world with his fists alone. Which is good, because he's going to solo this dungeon for demonstration's sake ;)

Descending into the crypt, our hero will confront a halfling skeleton-come-to-life should he open up the sarcophagus. However, our hero may be smart enough to discover the lever that swings the sarcophagus aside, revealing steps leading into...

The Dungeon Dominions of the Demented Demi-Human!

Our will have to be wary of traps and minor beasties in the hallways.

Every decision will have its consequences.

A Mysterious Chamber?

Or more choices?

A Dead-End Tunnel?

Or a Dozen Dead Demi-Human Knights?

Okay, so only four are shown here. But I have twenty-seven altogether! These were my experiment at crafting paper-minis in a semi-One Monk/Cardboard Warriors style; the artwork is the scale-representative drawing used in Inked Adventures' Skeletal Archway & Portal Large Dungeon Entrance add-on. The artwork here reminds me very much of my favourite comic book artist, Mark Oakley, and his Shadow Knights in Thieves & Kings.

Finally, our hero seems to be getting somewhere worthwhile. But who would be crazy enough to live down here?

It is the Demented Demi-Human! (AKA Lem the Halfling Bard, Iconic Pathfinder character, gone rogue... err... evil summoner) summoning a creature from a bizarre dominion...

He also appears to have an equally demented pet goblin, ready to toss a bomb or two at our intrepid hero!

Will our hero's fists-of-fury prevail?!

Naturally. After all, I'm going to be running this for a seven-year-old gnomelet, as his first-ever dungeon delve ;)

My elder gnomelet may, however, need his lil' brother gnomelet's miraculous finding skill to discover the hidden treasure hoard off the summoner's bedchamber. Someone roll him a Nat 20! Stat!

THE END

FYI

All terrain used for this dungeon is Inked Adventures from RPGNow, as noted below:

Forest
Encounter Lairs #3 Forest Ambush ($3.25 sale $2.50), the encounter tile is printed twice
Modular Dungeon | Cut-Up Sections | Basic Pack ($5.50 sale $4.50), p.40 "Entrance amidst overgrown ruins" [also available in the Free Sample Pack of same]

Crypt
Modular Dungeon | Crypt Room & Door (FREE)

Entry Stairs, Corridors, Stand-up doors, Dual-level Chamber
Modular Dungeon | Cut-Up Sections | Basic Pack ($5.50 sale $4.50) [some pieces may also be available in the Free Sample Pack of same]

Summoner's Bedroom, Staircase, Summoning Chamber, Prison Cell, and Secret Treasure Chamber
Modular Dungeon | Evil Summonings ($2.50) [all proceeds go to charity! Woohoo!]


A mixture of minis:

Gypsies & Wagons: Imperfect People's Imperfect Wagons, by Dryw the Harper @ Cardboard Warriors

*Log*: my first ever paper mini/terrain. Surprise!

Our Hero, Montresor: Jericho, DC Team Crisis, HeroClix, from Strange Adventures in Fredericton

Halfling Shadow Knights: paper minis I crafted from a scale-representative drawing in Inked Adventures' Skeletal Archway & Portal  Large Dungeon Entrance ($1.50 sale $0.95)

Halfling Summoner: Lem the Halfling Bard (iconic Pathfinder hero repurposed), from WizKids' Pathfinder Battles: Shattered Star random booster pack (MSRP $15.99, or on his own for $10.00 from Paizo), from Strange Adventures in Halifax.

Goblin Pet/Prisoner: Mogmurch the Alchemist, from WizKids' Pathfinder Battles' Builder Series: We Be Goblins (random single pack, MSRP $2.99). He was my character from my first-ever-as-an-adult tabletop RPG, on Free RPG Day 2013, from Gamezilla in Fredericton.

Summoned Creature: A patriotic maple leaf eraser from one of my elder gnomelet's pencils ;D

The dice, too, are patriotic in Canada's Red & White; they are from the Pathfinder Beginner Box. The shimmery yellow d20 die is a loose Chessex from the bin @ Strange Adventures in Fredericton, bought especially for my GMing.

Hope you've enjoyed the adventure, and that you have a Happy Dominion Day! 

err... Happy Canada Day! err... Happy Fourth of July! or just Happy Summer Gaming!

- WackyAnne AKA Dungeon Mama

P.S. Always share your stories (& your treasure) with your friends afterwards ;D

Mini Mondays!

Okay, I know I said in my original Mini Mondays/Module Mondays post that I'd be alternating Mini Mondays (odd days) with Module Mondays (even days). However, our at-long-last-we-are-going-to-actually-PLAY! group didn't actually play Dungeons & Dragons this weekend. Instead... we played Dungeon! a dungeon-crawling board game put out by Dungeons & Dragons. Close enough... especially since we got more than enough plurality in the Daiquiris half of our Dungeons & Daiquiris Saturday evening...

So without further ado, Mini Monday! (I'm odd - close enough?).

While last week I posted a review of the Pathfinder Battles Builder Series: We Be Goblins, today I'll be focusing on something completely different: Paper Minis!

In particular, a spectacular freebie, sure to add lots of flavour to many a campaign, especially any of the number of Pathfinder adventures set in gypsy-inspired Varisia.

Imperfect Wagons: Gypsy Wagons by D. Caraley (AKA Dryw the Harper), from the Cardboard Warriors forum.