DnD Project: Building a Digital Game Table, Pt. 3

In which a table is stained and a projector is mounted . . . sort of.

I was wracking my brain for a good way to mount the projector inside the table. I considered building a mount and looked for tripods and stands, but none of it really seemed like a good solution, especially since I don't plan on using the same projector forever.

My wife suggested bungee cords - which I initially dismissed as I didn't want the hooks scratching up the edges of the table and preventing the plexiglass from lying flat. Of course, bungee cords were exactly the cheap and easy means of holding the projector I wound up using. I guess it pays to listen to your wife . . . sometimes (love you, honey! :-P). My contribution to the solution was the loop (bracket?) from a couple of cheap hasps wide enough to hold the hooks.

I don't have the receipt with me at the moment, but each hasp was approximately $1.80 and the wide, flat bungee cords (individual pairs of these) I used were just under $4.00 for a pair at Wal-Mart. Initially, I got them 40" long, thinking I would need it for the behemoth of a projector we have, but it turns out that the 30" cords work better.

From above	From below

It's probably evident from the pictures that I attempted to stain and seal the table, as well. I had some leftover Minwax Polyshade from my 40K table, so I thought I use it. Bad idea. The stuff is runny but sets up thick and goop-y, so you have to make sure that you apply just the right amount or you'll have dark runs - especially on edges and corners. It also kills brushes unless you have mineral spirits to clean up with - which I don't.

Also, the stain does not take on the Liquid Nail that got smeared around when assembling the table. As a result, there are light-colored blemishes here and there on the exterior, mainly along the seams. Fortunately, this kind of project doesn't have to be 'showroom perfect.'

Finally, throw in an 18" x 24" mirror ($10.00 from Wal-mart) which will lay flat on the floor and we're ready to roll! From here on out, it's a matter of getting the software synched up and building encounters in MapTool.

At some point, I will probably add fold-down trays to the sides and maybe even some trim to pretty it up, but we need to start saving up for a new house. Priorities!

Video Games: One Man(-child)'s Obsession

Much to the delight of my long-suffering wife, I have decided to revisit and conquer all those classic NES games that defeated and confounded my impressionable elementary school self back in the 8-bit glory days.

I have already beaten Final Fantasy and Metal Gear and now playing Zelda II (currently in the Swamp Palace) and Rockman - that's Megaman 1 for the uninitiated out there (stuck on Elecman's stage).

I'm not above Googling walkthroughs when I get stuck, but I have taken a solemn vow unto myself to not use cheat codes for any reason. I'm also gravitating towards games that allow you to save your progress, rather than having to run through the whole thing in a single sitting.

Here is the list of games I plan on eventually getting around to, and where/how they confounded me as a kid:

• Mike Tyson's Punchout - never got past Super Macho Man
• Bionic Commando - hopefully my grown-up fine motor skillz will help me master swinging
  
• Ninja Gaiden - I may have beaten this one before, but I can't remember
• Metroid - a weekend rental was never enough time to beat this
• Kid Icarus - another rental
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - so. freaking. hard.
• Double Dragon II - I seem to remember ninjas and helicopters, and not much else

There are other games I tried to play, but I'm having trouble getting the roms to work with nintendulator (maybe I need a better emulator?):

• Castlevania
• Blaster Master

Other games I didn't beat and probably won't mess with:

• Karnov
• Ys
• Batman
• Bomberman
• Bubble Bobble
• Tetris - does this even have an ending?
  

40K: My Other Game Table

My current 40K task of batch-painting 3 mobs of Slugga Boyz is going very slow, but I wanted to show a little love to the 40K readers. Here is the first game table (mentioned in the last post) I attempted to build:

The table is 6' x 4' and was 44" tall at the time these pictures were taken. I felt that was a little too tall and cut the legs down to 36". This allows the table to be high enough that you don't spend half the game hunched over, but not so high that you can't sit down and see what's going on.

It was made from 3/4" plywood and framed with 2" x 3"'s. It's incredibly sturdy, but rather heavy. The legs attach to the table via countersunk carriage bolts, as does the 2" x 4" on the end that can be taken off if an extension or even a second table needed to be joined to the first. That is also the end that I stand it on when not in use (ie: all the time :-( ).

The surface is Woodland Scenics ReadyGrass Vinyl Mat. The table legs are simply inverted deck posts, notched with a reciprocating saw (again, thanks to my Dad) and given a hole for the carriage bolts.

It has only seen action once, for a 40K tournament held by my LGS at a gaming convention. I think there were two games played on it? I couldn't attend . . .

Some lessons learned from this project:

• Trim is freakin' expensive! (Hence the lack of it on my current project).
• Avoid putting the surface down on a windy day - in fact, just avoid the whole month of March.
• Spray adhesive may save time and money, but it does a lousy job of holding the surface to the plywood. A great many staples were put around the sides and covered with trim.
  
• Tables designed to be broken down and moved about are never as sturdy as more permanent fixtures will be.
• The trim really needs to be sanded well before applying a polyurethane stain to it.
• Use mineral spirits to clean your stain brush immediately after using it, else you may as well just throw it away. The polyurethane will essentially glue the bristles together.
  

DnD Project: Building a Digital Game Table, Pt 2

In which a table is built and Paul thinks this might actually turn out kinda nice.

My Memorial Day weekend was spent collecting materials and assembling the table that will house the projector. The weather did its best to frustrate me - being nice and sunny one hour, and rainy the next - but I finally managed to get the thing put together.

The table is going to have a 3'x3' surface that is 32" from the floor - this should allow players to sit on a couch and view the top, or stand and not have to bend too far over. It would also allow me to acheive the 50" minimum distance I decided on after playing around with the digital projector (the dimensions of which are 16" wide, 12.5" deep, 6" tall).

Here is my list of materials from Lowe's:

Part #	Description	Qty	Price	Subtotal
4512	1"x3"x8' Premium Furring Strip	2	$1.48	$2.96
4513	2"x2"x8' Premium Furring Strip	2	$1.86	$3.72
37461	3/4"x49"x97" MDF	1	$19.98	$19.98
100549	Pine Outside Chair Rail	4	$1.78	$7.12
838	Straight Top Plate	4	$1.68	$6.72
43652	14" Traditional Chair Leg	4	$4.64	$18.56
96871	A21Z 2"x1" Angle Zmax	8	$0.51	$4.08
2391	6x1/2" PH FL Wood Screws	1	$3.77	$3.77
TOTAL (before tax)				$66.91

The medium density fiberboard (MDF) panel was a large 4 foot by 8 foot sheet. I had already determined that I wanted the panels on this table to be 18" wide, so I had them cut the panel into four 18" x 4' panels with some extra left over. Having this done at the store is a huge time saver.

I still needed to make four straight 18" cuts to get the panels down to the 3' width I wanted. Unfortunately, MDF is very dense and my poor little jigsaw was taking forever to cut through it.
A quick call to my dad, and he brought his circular saw over - I was already borrowing his miter saw and finisher nailgun, so one more tool wasn't a huge deal. ;-) The miter saw was then used to cut the furring strips of both sizes to fit the panels.


I used Liquid Nail (Heavy Duty) and a cordless Dewalt finish nailer (to which I am very lucky to have access) to secure the furring strips to the MDF panels. I used 6 nails along the bottom strip (the 2"x2"), but only 3 for the top. This was because the 1.5" nails I was using were sticking out of the 1"x3" furring strip. I filed the points down so no one would pucture a hand when moving the table, but they still stick out a tiny fraction of an inch.

The furring strips do not go all the way the both ends of the panel. I decided that I wanted the strips to interlock with each other in the corners. I did not, however, take into account the width of the panel itself and soon found myself faced with the following problem when I tried test-fitting a couple of panels together:

Dylan, my 3-yr old son, was helping me

I had to take a coping saw and a chisel to each of the strips that had been attached to the panels and remove 3/4". This added a lot of time to this phase of the project. Finally, I was able to glue and nail the panels together:

As soon as I would get a corner joined together, I would add the right angle brackets. These help maintain the square shape of the table and take some of the stress off of the nails in the MDF. I put the long side of the bracket against the outside furring strip, and the short side on the strip that sat further back in the corner. I have no basis for this reasoning, but it seemed like it'd be more sturdy that way.


So, finally having gotten the panels fit and joined together, it was time to attach the plates that the table legs would screw into. This would allow the table to use legs of differing height if needed and to be disassembled to a point and moved more easily between rooms. We are also planning to move in the near future, so anything that makes that easier is a plus.

It was at this point that using the MDF for the table panels became a bit of a burden. MDF does not like screws - it tends to split and can break. Most of what I read on the internet suggested using coarse drywall screws. I just used the screws that came with the plates, and you can see the results below - not catastrophic by any means, but annoying (to me, at least). Pre-drilling the holes does help a little, as does going very slow. To compensate, I slathered a generous helping of Titebond II Premium Wood Glue into and over the splits.


One final touch and the table would be ready for a finish (MDF is terrible with moisture and needs to be sealed, else it will flake and disintegrate). Instead of screwing down the plexiglass sheets that would be used for the surface, I thought it would be easier to hold them in place with something - ideally something that might add a little style to the table as well. I found these chair rail exterior corners near the table legs in the store and thought they looked nice:

You can see my poor, forgotten Warhammer table sitting against the wall

I have considered adding decorative trim to the top and bottom edges of the panels, but it is prohibitively expensive and does not add any functionality to the table. Still, I will keep it in mind for the future. Another feature I'm hoping to add, but will probably hold off on are hinged trays on the outside of the panels that would allow players to set their materials on.

The next post in this series will deal with finding a solution to getting the projector into position and supporting its weight. Whatever I use will have to be adjustable to different styles and types of projectors.

Art: An Early Attempt at Sequential Art

One of the items on the multi-volume epic that is my life's to-do list is produce a graphic novel. To that end, I set out to hone my sequential art skills using excerpts from some of my favorite authors. The intent was to do 3-page sets from several prominent - though very different - comics.

I got one page into it before getting distracted with another project.

I happened across this page when I flipped open a long-neglected drawing pad for a new project. It is somewhere between 4 and 5 years old. The page is based on Neil Gaiman's script for The Sandman (issue 24, I think) - Part 3 in the Season of Mists. Comicbookscriptarchive.com has a copy of it on their website, if you're interested in reading it.

View larger version (451 KB)

This was done on an 11" x 14" drawing pad (70 lb paper, moderately rough tooth). Industry standard is 11" x 17" which is then reduced by 60%(?), so I had to try and scale it accordingly (approximately 75%). I enhanced the contrast and lowered the brightness around the edges of the page so you could see the measurements I used.

There are a few things I like about it, and a bunch of others I do not.

DnD Project: Building a Digital Game Table, Pt 1

Thanks to Mad Brew Labs for exposing me to this with his article on the Untapped Potential of Technology for roleplaying games. I have read and re-read Shane DeSeranno's blog entries related to his digital game table and finally came to the conclusion that, yes, I could make one of those.

So, without further ado . . .

Building A Digital Game Table, Part I
In which an infrared pen is built, and various other materials are collected

There are tons of tutorials and YouTube videos on the web. Personally, I found Ken Moore's website (which includes a video clip and printed instructions) to be especially helpful.

It won't win any awards, but it works.

I purchased all my parts at Radio Shack - here's the list, including part numbers and prices:

Item	Part #	Price (USD)
5mm IR LED 940 NM	276-0143	$1.99
1 "N" Battery Holder	270-0405	$0.99
PK2 Submini PB Switch	275-1571	$2.99
PK2 Alkaline N Batteries	2300023	$4.99
1.5 oz solder .062	6400002	$3.49
SUBTOTAL (before tax)		$14.45

It should be noted that I purchased 1 of each item, but the batteries and the switches came in packages of two. Also, if you already have solder and/or an oddly sized 'N' battery, you'll be paying less. For the housing, I used an old furniture repair marker that was used to color in scratched wood with stain.

The lid still fits snugly over the bulb.

A couple of important things I learned: First, The positive wire is red. Seems obvious, I know, but after wiring my basement, I got used to seeing the black (pos) white (neg) color scheme. Second, the switch goes in the negative part of the circuit, between the battery and bulb along the black wire. Finally, and probably most importantly, we can't see infrared light!

Once you get this thing wired together and try it out, you'll have to look through a digital camera to see it light up. I spent a night fuming at a pen I thought was messed up, only to rtfm (or website, in this case) the next day and figure it out.

In addition to the pen, I spent about $110 getting two sheets of 3' x 3' plexiglass for a table surface (one was 1/4" and the other was 1/8" thick). That's been the most expensive thing thus far. I am fortunate to work at a university and was able to get an old digital projector for $1.00. It's not super high-end, but it serves its purpose and I can always upgrade when they swap out projectors each year. ;-) I also purchased a $5.00 mirror from Wal-Mart, but I think it's too small and will have to return it.

I'm hoping to have the remaining materials purchased and the table constructed next weekend. Stay tuned for updates!

DnD: Idea - Fortified Planar Gate

Background

In the world of fantasy, there are many places where one reality overlaps with another. Often times, crossing through these places comes as an unexpected shock - you're in one place one minute, a few steps later, everything is (perhaps radically) different.

But what of those points of intersection that are perceived and located? Having control over such a resource would provide a significant tactical advantage against potential invaders as well as a healthy profit for adventurous merchants seeking to peddle their wares in an exotic locale.

Description

While gates such as this might come in a variety of shapes and sizes, the gate presented here was surrounded by heavy iron doors set into a stone wall. A three-story tower and small barracks sit on either side of the wall, ready to repel those who would try and force their way through the gate as well as stop those who might try to sneak across from the other side. The structure as a whole is not exceedingly tall nor is it very wide. Were it to exist in a forest, it could easily be bypassed by without ever being seen.

Cutaway view of the (unfurnished) tower and barracks.

Operation

The paths that traverse realities can be fickle, unreliable things. Some are consistently active while others are only usable at certain times of the day or the lunar cycle or some other suitably obscure period of time. Other gates can only be opened with some kind of key that reacts as it passes through the portal.

For example: The Stonewall Gate - as we shall refer to it - is active every full moon for a period of 12 hours. It then closes until the next full moon. The iron doors of the gate can be locked, opened and closed at any point. The doors exist and operate only in the reality in which they were built - if a second set of doors cover the gate in the connected plane, travelers will not be able to pass through without some means of forcing them open.

When a creature passes through the gate, they come out in the new plane on the side opposite of the one they entered. This means that the gate can be used simultaneously from both planes. It also means that when a creature enters on one side, a second creature could return on the opposite side without the first creature's knowledge - hence the importance of the fortifications.

Applications

Two applications for the fortified planar gate immediately spring to mind:

First, both sides of the gate are located in a large, busy cities, the gate is important for allowing trade between two peaceful (or at least somewhat agreeable) civilizations in neighboring planes. Such a gate would probably be active on a daily or weekly basis and the cities on both sides would go to great lengths to protect it. In the event of a siege, the gate could be used to bring in supplies; should the city be overrun, it would become an escape route.

Second, an old forgotten gate exists in obscure corner of large forest. The gate is only ever active once in a long time and has fallen into ruin and disrepair. Any civilized races who happen upon it (and are not well versed in arcane history) might think it an eccentric piece of architecture by some rich noble with more money than sense. Less savory races would be happy to call such a place home, despite it being little more than a wall that doesn't block anything housing a door that doesn't go anywhere.

Art: Lucan, Elven Cleric

Finally got my second PC portrait done. As before, start to finish in Corel Painter X with a Wacom Graphire 4 tablet.

I honestly think this digitally inked/cell-shaded style is harder than a more painterly approach. Also, I need a lot more practice at shading and highlighting - especially faces and wrinkled surfaces.

I "cheated" on the chainmail. Instead of actually inking and coloring it in by hand, I used a variation of a tutorial I found on deviantart.com that uses a Photoshop filter. Here's a close-up:

40K: Customized BA Librarian

Introducing Bellerophon of the Black Blade!

The first 40K model I've finished in far too long. And, by finished, I really mean "still needs a coat of matte finish and some high gloss on the blade and gemstones."


This is a souped-up version of my Blood Angel's HQ done more for modeling enjoyment than for game play - I normally don't equip him with Terminator Armor or with a Thunder Hammer. And, with the Wings of Sanguinius power, maybe Terminator Armor is a viable option . . . ?

Parts Used:

• Axe arm from the Space Marine Librarian in T. Armor (along with some sprue and plastic rod
• Sword arm from a Grey Knight Terminator
• OOP Inquisitor in Terminator Armor (can't find a link to it) which I've always loved, but never really got to use until now

I tried to paint the force sword in a manner similar to Master Darksol's Bloodletters - with the glow emanating from the hilt - but fear it didn't turn out quite as nice.

Still, I'm happy I finally finished a model and reasonably proud of the way it turned out.

DnD: Free PDF's from WotC?

Thanks to Wil Wheaton for posting this info on his blog, where I learned about it.

WotC is offering official, completely free .pdf of their quickstart rules and Keep on the Shadowfell (H1). In addition, you can download a free trial version (Allows for levels 1-3) of their Character Builder. I suggest you get them all now.

And now, the cynic in me will take the reins from the helpful plagarist.

I smell . . . well, I'm not sure what the term is. It's not a scam, it's not necessarily a compromise for discontinuing all .pdf sales either. It's bait. That's what it is.

I'm sure the Character Builder will be cool to play with, but my party is already at level 4, so it's useless at the moment and certainly will not get me to subscribe to D&D Insider. Wonder if it can be cracked . . .

As for the .pdf's, I just don't see this as being quite enough to deflect the ire among their fans and customers. Additionally, there is no information - at least not on the 'news' page where you can download all these freebies - about getting more .pdf's. Maybe some of the more hardcore RPG-newshounds will have a lead on that.

So the bait appears to be there, tied to the end of a string - but no hook. May as well eat while the eatin's good, I guess.

Announcement: Guest Post on The Core Mechanic

I would be surprised if any DnD-interested visitors to this site did not already know about The Core Mechanic. It is an excellent blog dedicated to improving the roleplaying experience by approaching it in new and unique perspectives.

I was invited to do a guest post, which has now been posted. Check it out!

DnD: Player Reference Sheet for DM's

I can't speak for the more experienced DM's out there, but it is tough for me to create an rich, immersive session where my players forget that they are playing a game and fall fully into their characters. It's so irritating, having to ask "What's your AC?" every time I roll during an encounter, rather than just knowing it and being able to say "The Orc connects with a mighty blow, doing [x] damage."

Especially frustrating is when I'm starting to build up some momentum which I then loose when I have to interrupt myself to ask "What's your passive Insight/Perception?" Not only does this ruin the narrative momentum, but it tips the players off to something that I either don't want them to notice, or want them to take initiative and discover on their own.

In a brief discussion with Jonathan from The Core Mechanic, I found out that his players have folded cards with their essential stats written on the side facing the DM. For myself, being primarily a laptop DM, I created a spreadsheet for myself on Google Docs:

Click to view the larger sample

Not to leave anyone out, I have also created a sheet for DM's that can be printed out. It has entries enough for five characters, and uses the following layout:

Click here for the full-size sheet (1.9 MB .jpg - fits 8.5 x 11 paper)

How do other DM's manage this information? How do they use it to convey details to their players? Would you rather hear "You failed to notice something." or not be told anything on a failed Passive Insight/Perception check? Does it take something away from the players to have a DM tell them when they're hit, rather than continually asking for their defensive stats?

DnD: A Monotheistic Approach to the DnD Pantheon

Back in the 80's, conservative Christian kids all over the US (myself included) were being taught why DnD was evil and should be avoided at all costs. The reason mainly centered around players using magic and interaction with demons, devils and (possibly worst of all) a bunch of pagan gods.

Fast forward to today and, thankfully, most of us have a mature understanding of the game and can distinguish between fantasy and reality. However, an undercurrent of unease towards DnD still exists, especially among those who have never really had any interest in or exposure to fantasy works. The popular Lord of the Rings and Narnia movies - prominent fantasy works by Christian authors - certainly helped to bridge that gap, but the doubt and stigma remain to varying degrees.

When I decided I wanted to run a game of DnD, I wanted to include those people close to me - people who knew I was a fantasy/sci-fi geek (albeit a somewhat closeted one), but hung out with me anyway - people I also happen to share a faith with. As I tried to guide them through the character creation process, there was a definite interest in playing Divine characters - protecting the weak and healing the sick being noble callings - but also an understated anxiety at having to choose only one deity out of many to follow.

To make things easier, I created the following bit of fluff around which the theology of our campaign world would be built (It should be noted that this was written well before PHB2 and the release of the newer divine classes):

God, the D&D Pantheon and the Divine Classes

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth. When He had finished creating, God decided to rest – but before he rested, He created 20 powerful servants to oversee His new creation and the proliferation of Man, his most cherished creation.

Before long, as mankind spread across the face of the Earth, his memories of God faded and he began to venerate the mighty servants of the Most High as gods. The 20, recognizing their God-given power and might over creation, allowed the worship to take place. Eventually, they come to think of themselves as the gods that the simple mortals who now swarmed across the surface of the Earth believed they were.

Of the 20, nearly half of them became harsh and unforgiving tyrants. Over time, those who followed them became as twisted physically as their master’s now-dark and scheming desires. Others remained distant and aloof, occasionally taking an interest in mortal affairs, but finding them, for the most part, pointless and irrelevant. But a few tried to remain true to the purpose and intent for which they were created, despite not quite remembering why it was they held those convictions in the first place.

Then, without warning, God spoke.

The 20 were called together. They were reminded of their creator and the purpose of their existence. They were given a chance to repent of their arrogance and for accepting worship they themselves were not worthy of. Four of the 20 repented immediately and swore fealty to their creator. Nine of the 20 stormed from the Golden Throne in anger, unwilling to humble themselves to a God who had, in their opinion, abandoned the world He had given to them. The remaining seven went their separate ways, undecided on how they should respond or what their course of action would be.

War erupted in heaven. The self-proclaimed gods, seeking to depose the creator they thought weak and distant found themselves cast out of heaven’s radiance and into the darkness. But even in this forsaken place, the fallen gods refused to admit defeat. They used what power and influence still left to them to take their war to the mortal plane – drawing all creation into their futile rebellion. Darkness spread through all the races that now populated the world, and monstrosities of every imaginable description were loosed upon the Earth.

It was at this point that God did something unheard of in the history of creation – to those among His followers who were faithful and pure of heart, He gifted a portion of His own Spirit.

These frail mortals now had within them the ability to stand against the darkness and bring hope to their fellow man - The newly empowered children of God taking up arms and placing themselves squarely between the darkness and a world that, in many instances, was still unsure of itself in the ongoing war of powers it could barely comprehend.

Early on, two distinct groups of light warriors emerged in the wake of God’s gifting of His Spirit: The clerics, who focused on healing and undoing the harm wrought by the fell powers upon the world; and the Paladins, who fought to prevent any further destruction or corruption by the forces of darkness and evil from occurring.

In terms of gameplay, this meant that all good-aligned gods now fell under the banner of 'God' - players with Channel Divinity can choose any divine feat as long as it was from a good-aligned god. Since Channel Divinity can only ever be used once per encounter, I didn't think this would cause problems. (In practice, it would seem that the non-class related Channel Divinity feats aren't that great anyway - IMHO).

Also, it streamlines things now that all good divine characters can go to a single temple when they visit a city, rather than having to travel between multiple locations.

Rage Against the Machine

The video card on my laptop (Toshiba Satellite P105-S6227) died on Friday. The very same laptop where all my work, art, and project files are stored. This happened one day before a new freelance client I've been working with sent me a bunch a files to put on her site, and two days before a former client asked me to make a 'quick change' to his site.

The manufacturer's warranty on the laptop ran out a year ago, good thing I paid $200 for that extended warranty from Circuit Ci- . . . oh, right. F$@%! That's what I get for breaking my own rule: Never ever, ever, EVER buy an extended warranty - especially on electronics that will be obsolete in 2 years.

So I called Toshiba to see if the video card was integrated into the motherboard or if it could be replaced/upgraded. I was told that the 256 MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600 was replaceable, but had to be purchased through some official vendor in New York.

Here's how the call to the distributor went:

Me: So, you can send me a new video card?

Sales Rep (in a noticeable New Yawker accent): It should arrive by Tuesday.

Me: I'll get it Tuesday, then?

Rep: No, we'll get it Tuesday. You should get it Thursday.

Me: Wait, I thought you sold the part.

Rep: We distribute the parts - that's what distributors do?

Me: Lemme get this straight - I call Toshiba, and they tell me to call you. You tell me that you
will order the part from Toshiba, they send it to you, then you'll send it to me?

Rep: . . . yes.

Me: Why can't Toshiba just send me the part?

Rep: Well, they have a store, but they don't sell parts, just accessories. But if you want them ship it to you it'll be . . . $30.00 S&H; If we send it to you, it's only $12.00 S&H.

Me: So it costs me less to have Toshiba send it you and then you send it to me, than for Toshiba to send it directly to me.

Rep: That's correct.

Me: Fine, whatever, I just need it ASAP.

So, couple this with an extended holiday weekend that provided my 1 and 3 year olds with copious amounts of sugar and one might imagine what sort of a mood I'm in. Just have to hang in there 'till Thursday . . . Oh well, hopefully I can get caught up painting the 36 Slugga Boyz that have been patiently waiting their turn for some attention.

40K: Blood Angel Hellstorm - a VDR Conversion

The first serious conversion I ever made, beyond a simple mix-n-match. It's been sitting on the shelf for so long, I actually had to glue the turret back together for the updated pics. This was my anti-infantry solution before we had Baal Predators.

It was made primarily from an older Predator Tank, a gun from a generic action figure, the chassis of a military-style cannon, and the sidecar gunner from a Space Marine Attack Bike. Additionally, bits were taken from a firetruck and a helicopter to give it more detail.



The point cost was checked against an online VDR calculator from Age of Strife.

40K: Dark Eldar Webway Portal Templates

Another port over from the old site: Select the color and style you like, print 'em off and cut 'em out. They are (supposed to be) the same size as the small blast template (if not, please let me know ASAP).

DnD: Gear Lock & Tiled Floor

I have put a disturbing amount of effort towards getting the details right on this, so I hope the end result was worth it.

Description
A bare or sparsely furnished room with two distinctive features: The first feature is a solid iron door with a large recessed gear located in the middle. There are no handles or keyholes visible and the hinges are set on the opposite side of the door, indicating that it opens inwards. The door cannot be broken down and is constructed of an alloy that will not yield to magical manipulation. Also, due to the lack of any conventional locking mechanism, it cannot be picked. The door is framed in stone which has been decorated with plates that have been hammered directly into the stone to form a simple geometric pattern (see below), part of which is comprised of a bone-like shape.

The second feature is the floor which is covered in metal tiles, each in the shaped of a stylized, spiked skull that forms a regular tessellation. The eyes and nose are filled with small, dark triangular pieces of metal that are hinged to the tile along one edge - a detail that is not observed under normal circumstances.

Unlocking the Door
The door can only be unlocked by turning the gear. To accomplish this, there are two tiles that differ from the others which, once located, can be picked up from the floor and placed - end to end - in the gear. These key-tiles are missing the triangular piece of metal in the nose, and are cut off shorter than the other tiles. To hide this fact, the tiles are placed against a wall or other flat, perpendicular surface. Exactly where in the room they are located doesn't matter, but practicality suggests they would be close to the door.

In addition to the two tiles, one of the metal shapes in the door frame is actually a handle that can be pulled loose - a fact that can be discovered upon close inspection. The handle is then fit into the two nose openings of the key-tiles, allowing them to be turned, unlocking the door.

Above: Layout of the doorframe pattern and floor tiles. Suggested locations for key elements are shown in red.

The key-tiles placed in the lock. The handle, shown from the back.

Hidden Dangers
Any melee or lightning based attacks that strike the floor not only cause lighting damage to any creature standing on the metal tiles equal to half the value of the original attack (Ex: A Wizard casts Shock Sphere on a section of the tiles and rolls 10 damage for the attack, any creatures/individuals standing on the tiles will take 5 lightning damage).

Such an attack will also cause the hinged metal triangles to flip open, point up, for the remainder of the encounter. While open, the metal spikes are considered difficult terrain. Any movement across the floor will result in an level-appropriate Acrobatics check. If failed, the individual takes 1d4 damage and is slowed (save ends).

Suggested Applications
DM's will probably get the most mileage out of flying/hover creatures as well as any that can use a lightning-based attack from a position of relative safety. Grell Philosophers (MM pg. 144) hover and can cast lightning, making them excellent choices.

Another approach would be to use a trap that does lightning damage - such as a crystal mounted on a podium in the center of the room - to activate the floor spikes. The podium could be raised but hard to stand on, requiring an Acrobatics check while attempting to disable or break the trap.

The style of construction is grim, but displays the kind of detail and efficiency found in Dwarven stone- and metalwork. However, enemy magic-users with even a moderate level of intelligence could be expected to figure out how lightning attacks activate the floor trap.

DnD: Follow Our Campaign on Obsidian Portal

If you're a hopeless insomniac or just obsessed with reading stories based around DnD sessions, check out my campaign on Obsidian Portal.

Our group is made up of 4 players - including a School Psychologist, a Public Defender, and a University Professor - all brand new to DnD and RPG's in general. Last, and probably least, little ol' me as DM, which is a role I've never played. Due to schedules, we are only able to get together about once per three weeks, but I'm trying to flesh out the NPC's and the locales in between Adventure Log updates.

The campaign started as an old homegrown adventure I found in some obscure corner of the internet - a murder-mystery - that I modified and updated to work in 4th edition. When my PC's are done with it, I'm considering bundling up all the files and maps and making it available on here.

As with this blog, constructive critiques and suggestions are welcomed.