These termagaunts are low-powered tyranids creatures armed with a variety of shooting weapons.
In SpaceFOE, they are called spitters and they carry venom weapons dealing poison damage.
And my always-loved larvae swarms. These larvae evolve into gnashers or spitters.
Many planets have a great disparity of wealth and access to resources, creating a class of gangs, thugs and punks. They gather in gangs and commit all sorts of crimes and rackets.
These gangers were pressed into service by richer people or drafted into the Army.
The Reds is a rival gang to the Greens. They have officers to serve in the Local Defense Force (LDF).
These plague marines are vile, plague-infected creatures. The last two pictures show all my plague marines together in a group shot (the ones that took part in this battle report)
In SpaceFOE, the Rot is a disease that affects everything, from living creatures to metallic structures. The Rot seeks to spread across the galaxy.
Drones come from Ivlae IV, a planet filled with construct that serve a Collective Intelligence. The Collective is part of the Empire. Rogue Drones is a playable character race.
NB I thought I had posted this but that it is published in November means I did not.
On Sunday October 8th, at the TEC center in Murfreesboro TN, FOE invaded the regular campaign day. On offer: two introductory adventures.
ActionMan ran "Ghosts of Kurogawa" (which appears in the Ozaka Campaign Setting). This is the same adventure we ran multiple times previously, it was designed to use not only
The only sad thing is that neither of us thought of taking any picture of his game - and I forgot to remind him to take any. So this adventure will live on only in the memory of the brave adventurers who faced the wilds of Ozaka.
I reached out to some of his players and they gave him some great feedback AND provided constructive criticism.
I'm so proud to see a new generation of GMs starting to see a new generation taking up our mantle. It is so crucial for a hobby to have a new crop of GMs to run games and grow. And what's the only way for them to become good? Why, they must GM of course!
Meanwhile, I ran a new adventure introduction adventure set in Olympia, built on a similar frame as "Ghosts" and simply named "Bandits of Mytenia". This showcase adventure is designed to be easily alterable, making it so what the PCs are doing or looking for can be changed easily. Not fully modular but not far from it.
This adventure also uses a map with 3e terrain as a focal point for the game.
Xenomorphs are great creatures. They were the antagonist of the greatest RPG game I ever played... So many memories with these dudes.
Plus, whenever they appear on the table, the players cower with fear.
The law is always present. However, since they are always short-handed and they often deal with heavily armored individuals. Therefore many officers command squads of heavy armored robots.
The picture show a lizardman officer surrounded by arrest robots and a canine robot. The last one show the giant robots.
These three guys are security personnel to reinforce the heavier security forces above. I painted them taking inspiration from the security forces from the movie Logan's Run.
This week, I will be running a few early "alpha" version of SpaceFOE. This is an evolution to 5e I have been thinking about since the OGL debacle. Nothing overwhelming or crazy but it needs to be playtested and tried out to see if it breaks the game.
This week, I'll be running three sessions and reassess. One thing about that is that by having different players try out the iconics to uncover issues with the sheet, but different people approach characters and play differently, which will help me determine how well the system runs and uncover unexpected kinks.
The characters below are made very simple with easy archetypes and classes. No special FOE stuff. At this time, my focus is on the rules and how they run. Too fast, too slow, broken. And generally get some feedback.
SpaceFOE is an evolution of 5e, not a whole new game. I've taken into account things that annoyed me and things
Male Blue Praetorian Fighter
As a child, you only dreamed of become one of the Praetorians, one of the Emperor’s elite genetically-altered soldiers. You dreamed of glory and battles. When you were of age, you signed up and were chosen. After a long process, you were accepted as one of the Blue Cohort. You are currently on extended leave.
Male White Praetorian Cleric
You remember little of your childhood except occasional glimpses of a pastoral landscape and your mother’s smile. You grew up in one of the orphanages and were recruited into the White Cohort because of your unshakable faith in the Benevolent light of the Emperor and the Imperial Cause. You are currently on a missionary tour to bring the faith to the far corners of the Empire.
Male Mutant Sorcerer
Your family comes from the lowest dregs of society. You decided to pull yourself out of this squalor and become someone important. You hold no illusion that it will be difficult for a mutant, but it can be done. You drunk the blood of the sacred dragon and now share its power. Only by amassing power and wealth can you reach your goals.
Drone Rogue
R1-K0 aka Rico spent the last few years among the wonder halls of the Tekno-Lodges across the galaxy researching all sorts of inventions. However, you have something of a reputation for taking items that are not yours “for later study.”
Female Human Bard
Born to a family of Navy officers, including many admirals and ship’s captains, you followed in their footsteps.However the strict regimen wore on you. You took an extended leave of absence to seek your fortune and make a name for yourself. You have a knack for commanding others and spur them on to greatness.
Male Human Wizard
Born on a planet where magic was common, you became an illusion with the intention to be rich. When the Empire conquered your planet, you defected without a second though. This whole universe of potential discoveries is filled with possibility to become wealthy beyond reason. You joined the Merchant Consortium to be with others sharing similar interest.
The following creatures are the first batch of miniatures I painted for SpaceFOE, the work-in-progress title for First Ones' Entertainment's Sci-fi setting.
Created by a dying race as a way to prevent their ultimate defeat, they now fight as mercenaries for other entities. Their armies are slow but methodical. Their War Maidens serve as leaders armed with scythes.
I bought myself book 2 of the sertorius scroll by Vernon B Davis. I read the first tome previously and it left me with a positive impression.
Now tome 2 starts shortly after tome 1 ends with Sertorius gravely wounded, having lost an eye during the finale. As I read it, I kept worrying this would turn into a long presentation of a man suffering from ptsd. And believe me, there are many reasons for him to suffer from that. The first half was pretty bleak and depressing. It fit the story but it was not what I wanted to read. It turned me off more than a little.
However not so much as to want to quit reading.
Perseverance paid off and the story picked up steam as the plot unfolded. It had a number of interesting twist, namely how he got into his spying mission and the mission itself was an interesting twist.
There are so many bad things happening to our man... again.
What about a rating... I will give this a 4/5. It lost points for the depressing tone of the first half. But the writing is good and the topic interesting.
I'm not surprised to find I rated this second tome the same as the first one... consistent, I guess.
Earlier this year, I posted about the first 3 chapters of this saga. This tome is the final entry of the first cycle.
The story culminates with Nero struggling for power with his mother, Agrippina. The longer Nero is in power, the more used to wielding it he becomes. Throughout the story, the two struggle for control. Eventually, seeing she is losing, she even tries to seduce Nero (!) but he spurns her.
Eventually, he has no choice but to rid himself of her. But Agrippina is a master politician and plots his downfall by selecting Poppea Sabina, a women whose heart is as hers. Thus she knows she will die, but strikes at him from beyond the grave. I really loved this entire segment when she realizes she is lost.
Then the accident Nero plotted to rid himself of her, her ship mutinied and sunk, failed when she jumped and swam to shore. Nero had to order her assassination. Brutal. Again the scene of her death brings us Mercury ordering Nero to stand and watch the sun. Nero falls in love with the flames.
The side story of Murena and the vengeance for the death of his mother (which Agrippina ordered) gets resolved here.
There is also a very well-illustrated battle between gladiators, Agrippina's and Nero's. That scene is, once again, awesome.
So many powerful and good scenes. Characters using every advantage they may have to come out on top. Good plot. Good characters. This is what I love of this series.
So in case you didn't guess, this is a solid 5/5.
This book tells the tale of Ulrich, a germanic warrior in the 4th century. He lives near the border of the Roman Empire which lies beyond the Rhine.
We meet a variety of interesting characters with backgrounds that help the plot. Ulrich is a German prince whose throne is stolen by his covetous uncle. He escapes and is raised by a blacksmith, plotting to reclaim his kingdom.
One of the most interesting one Tau, a prince of Ghana, who ends up in Germania. His background makes it interesting. Another interesting non-main character is future Emperor Julian (the Apostate). Here, Julian is still junior emperor of the West.
The highlight is really in the relation and evolution of each character as their circumstances change. Their integration into the auxilia was an fun.
Now, this story is fine but not particularly unique. It follows the elements of history with the main battles. The crew does participate in the events but I never got a feel they had much agency. They felt, reactionary to everything that happened.
Another thing I disliked, though this one was minor: use of modern-day places and names.
Oh... And a map would've been nice. I'm not as up-to-date as I'd like with German geography.
This book has been on my list for a while. I saw the movie many times. It is excellent
The book tho... "The book is better" is not something I will use here. Most of the stories are very short, a few pages, and are not particularly interesting. In fact, the stories are mostly pointless or just end without a resolution. I really wanted to love this but... I did not.
I guess the worse part is that half the book is taken by the author's treatise on insects. There is no point to it and is just filler.
It has historical value but I expected so much more. I'll settle for a 2/5. Watch the movie instead.
It is with great joy that I report that Ravenloft: Apple of a mother's eye has just been certified Electrum Best Seller on DM's Guild! Yay!
This adventure is a retelling of the rather bland and overly simple chapter in the otherwise awesome Curse of Strahd.
Berez here become the site of adventure that provide an alternate take on the characters of the "Strahd Mythos": Strahd, Ravenovia, Barov, Sergei, and Tatiana among others. Prepare to have fun giving your party something different to think about.
I cannot tell you all how grateful I am to everyone who has no only purchased it, but also spent some time to review and play it.
Big Thanks to everyone.
Oh! And this product along with others is part of the FOE Ravenloft Bundle, also available on the DM's Guild.
Let's not forget the many art pieces from the British Shark! Big thanks to him!
This past Labor Day Weekend, I put together a game of D&D inspired by a classic adventure. This time, I ran an adapted version of The Citadel by the Sea by Sid Fisher from Dragon Magazine #78 (October 1983). While looking at many classic adventures, I wanted something that could be completed in about 8 hours.
The biggest change I made to the adventure was to move it from "Generic Setting" to Olympia. This is a story of a cursed location abandoned, conquered by barbarians, then abandoned again. The adventure has a few different twists that made it interesting: diversions and a backstory that can be uncovered (none of my players could read the language but they had enough information that it did not really matter).
To fit into my timeframe, I had to remove a whole dungeon level. It was a tough decision because it has a few cool things, but I wanted to make sure we could get through everything.
In the end, the PCs returned with the spearhead they were sent to fetch and received their payment, but angered their employer. I used a number of my 3d printed models to use, including the warehouse boxes and bags. Those things looked really good.
