[ArcadiaQuest] Six more

Six more for Will's collection! The two I have a particular story for are in the second group.

The lady in the center looked very much like one of the characters in the Dark Crystal. I gave her a big white dot in her eye to represent the glow of the crystal she holds. The wings came out really nice I think and is another highlight of the mini.

The big guy... He game out MUCH darker than I wanted, and though I liked his skin color. I painted his beard using black, but was completely invisible over the skin. I was faced with a choice: do I repaint the model in a lighter color OR do something. I really liked the dark skin as he really popped when placed with the whole group. So I opted to repaint his beard and eyebrows. The end result is a rather unique-looking character.

[ArcadiaQuest] Six Characters

More from the Inferno set!

The First pic has three character... none of which I have much to say about.

The second group has the two Drow and a mad alchemist. I really find interesting that the male drow's eyebrows and face-dot forms a big eye!

FOE now on the OpenGamingStore!

I am really happy to report that FOE is now (finally) on the OpenGamingStore. John and Debra are both really super awesome with my procrastinating. I still have a LOT of work to enter all of the FOE catalog on the store.

This means that you now have four locations where you can get FOE products! DriveThruRPG.com, RPGNow.com and now the Open Gaming Store!

I will be adding more to their site over the coming days. Check them out!

[ArcadiaQuest] Inferno

I am currently working on Will's collection of ArcadiaQuest - Inferno miniatures. Here are the first three.

The guy on the left is a type of Greco-Roman warrior, a Hercules of sort.

The guy in the middle could be one of several guys. Gandalf or Moses parting the Red Sea. I am particularly happy how the white of his tunic and the white of his hair and beard came out. One is really white/cotton and the other is gray. Nice effect on a simple paint job.

The last character is a Xena lookalike. She has a simple palette but a great sculpt.

September Setting Sale means 33% off FOE products

DriveThru RPG is making a September Setting Sale. This means that all of FOE's setting books are 33% off! Great time to pick up the Rhym Campaign Setting or the Tyrants of Saggakar for Pathfinder or the Tyrants of Saggakar for 5e.

Or you can opt to expand your knowledge of the Tyrants of Saggakar setting with either the ArchDespotate of Faremh, or one of the location books, including the new Markelis: City in the Mists or Randy's awesome Onero: City of Sins.

Perhaps you are looking for something to spice up your own campaign? Check out Service is Eternal, a book on the First Ones or the many tomes and spells of A Shackled Mind is a Clear Mind.

Or maybe you just want to complete your collection of Saggakar by getting the Tyrants of Saggakar Bundle

Paizo fails again

Paizo does many good products, but they do not get the message about one of their really very crappy product. I can safely say that I will not purchase any of Paizo's GM screens.

And I love GM Screens.

Why? Because they make them the "thin and high" rather than "long and wide". Their screen links the long edges together and this make it a product that loses all value to me.

Unlike Paizo, WotC has got it right (one of many things). WotC's GM Screen are linked by the small edge, making their screens lower and much wider.

A lower GM screen allows for the privacy a GM wants and needs when running a game: hide maps, art of what the PCs have yet to encounter, module notes, and a bunch of other things. A GM screen is not merely used to hide dice rolls (though that IS one of its function).

Another great benefit is that when the GM sits down, the low screen makes it so there can be a flow of discussion, it does not completely cover the GM's face. I feel like there is a feeling of community and shared experience rather than the ultimate tower of GMing. If you know me and my GMing style, I encourage discussion not just with the NPCs, but between the party as well and the low screen allows me to fade into the background yet hear everything that is happening.

A low screen makes it easier for me to reach and access miniatures or draw on the map without having to put an armpit in a player's face. Okay I don't do that, but you get the point that I have to reach over or around everything and invade someone else's personal space.

For some GMs and their style the high vs low screen does not matter, either because they simply do not use one or use one off to the side/ on a side table. But I use the screen on the table in front of me and I like to feel included with the players (if only to plot their later demise and backstab them at the right moment).

So although the screen is visually nice and filled with nice and useful information, it will remain on the shelf of my FLGS. I do have a 4e game screen AND a 5e one. Both of which are low and wide and have used both.

I will leave you with a repost of a picture of the Rhym one-shot to show you what I mean. You can see my bald head in the background. The screen is up, but the players can see me move my hands and I can easily reach over... And that is why I will not buy a Paizo screen until they make them useful. And mean low and wide.

Btw, I don't need them wide because I'm a big guy myself... But it helps.

[Rhym] The Awakening a One-Shot Campaign

This past weekend, I ran my first home game in a very long time. I had an interesting idea to bring together a very hodge-podge group of characters. Both as characters and in-person.

After our original plan for Labor Day feel through, I was really bummed, but I bucked up and talking to my players, I visited some local groups and recruited new people. As with any such gathering, you never know who will show up and whether the party will gel together.

Well... Things went really well from the time they woke up in their cells... The players were awesome and they really got into the madness of the story (which married a dungeon crawl with more intrigue).

The characters were:
- Sister Atusa, A human life cleric (Order of the Eye)
- Belladonus/Belladona, A Haver bard
- Hyree, An Amazon Ranger
- Keevin, A Ptahn Monk
- Om-za, A Kynean sorcerer
- Togg, A Hareen (feral halfling) fighter

I created these characters to both showcase FOE products, but also cover a wide variety of character types. Each character had different abilities than the other iconics from either Saggakar or Rhym.

Ashe drew the following character, who plays Sister Atusa cleric of Knowledge. The awesome drawing depict Sister Atusa hiding behind the large Amazon, Hyree. It seems that she has a growing phobia of the written word. Whenever she hears "There is something written", she now hides... Or they send the illiterate hareen ahead of them. Funny what a few glyphs can do..

Here are a few action pics.

Markelis: City in the Mists released!

I just finished Markelis: City in the Mists for Tyrants of Saggakar, I am reminded of the amount of work that must be done on a product AFTER the writing is done. This include: layout and pagination, editing and correcting, and the art selection.

When I first started as a writer, I did not do much about that, but with time, I do it more and more. The editing in particular is time-consuming but makes the final product so much better. For that phase of the product I print the PDF and go about covering the page in red rewrites and tightening the text.

What is Markelis? It is the city swallowed in the Mists, former capital of the ArchDespotate. I had most of the details I would need for it written before the Origins special. From that skeleton, I grew the locations and clarified things. I mean the Origins version was very workable for an adventure, but not enough for a full book.

The product is one that will be a first for FOE. It is published for BOTH 5e and Pathfinder at the same time! It includes new magical items and artefacts to be found in Markelis and new monsters, including some NPCs (an anuka ghast called King-Of-Mists).

Markelis, City in the Mists Twenty years ago the Mists came over the city and took more than half its population. The former capital of the ArchDespotate of Faremh was abandoned in a hurry, its treasures left behind. This book contains: - A history of the city of Markelis - Detailed descriptions of its most important sites, such as the Spire of Skulls, the Temple of Man, and the cemetary. - Adventure locations and plot hooks - Three new monsters: Ethrereal Worms, the Tar Mummies and the Warrior Daemons. - Two fully-statted out NPCs: the ghast King-of-Mists and the blind erinyes Rodwenza. - A city that will be used extensively for the Legacies Organized Play Campaign

This book is a great addition to the Tyrants of Saggakar setting. I am really excited to see this one come out!

You can get this new book from the usual sources: DriveThruRPG or RpgNOW

New Art: The Monsters

I said it before, and I will say it again, every time I get new art, it is like a mini-Christmas. Opening the message and looking at what I will find inside. I have been blessed with working with so many great artists in my time at FOE. I never worked with artists before, so that was one of the many things I had to learn when I started working at FOE.

These new pieces are from Zamy Zam, a new artist I am working with. I really like her work. For her first commission, I asked her to draw my kids as adventurers.

[Review] Gundam F-91

Another one I got while in college.

This one takes place much in the future of the UC - to the point where it has nothing to do with it. A space colony is attacked by a group of... huh... I guess "space pirate" is the closest thing. This group, the Crossbone Vanguard has vague undertone of Zion or the Titans, but not really, but kinda. They are led by a poor imitation of Darth Vader.

Turns out one of the local kids was really a secret princess of this group and Vader's daughter. The Vanguard launch a major offensive where they retake the girl and take over the colony.

A group of kids manages to escape the colony with a Gundam they take in a museum (!) They go on to fight against the Vanguard, whom the girl above has since joined-ish. Guhhh.

Then there are many fights, culminating with Vader-Mobile-Suit-Of-Doom and its destruction. Awesome.

This movie bored me to tears. The adults are all so stupid, deciding to send kids to fight against MS. I mean this whole movie makes no sense in the Gundam UC timeline. The plot is a gathering of bad cliches from the series. And this movie dates back to 1991...

But perhaps the worse is the ending where it says "The End... or is it the beginning?" Trying to be cute, but it failed big time.

Story: The story is a bad re-hashing of Star Wars and Gundam, but coming on the weak side of both. You learn nothing here and the potential threads for the future lead nowhere. 2/5 Really just doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

Characters: The characters aren't very bright all around, other than Cecily (the girl) who shows some flashes of brilliance. I would not want to see any of them again, and guess what... I never did!

Animation: The animation is bad, even for something of that time. 1/5, there is nothing to write home about here.

Overall: Overall this is a 2/5. Watch this only if you are completionnist fan of the Gundam Universal Century. You won't miss a thing if you skip it.