Return Of The Spooky Ghost Pants!

It's been a busy holiday season this year and I've fallen behind on a few hobby projects but I did manage to get one more model done that's going to do double duty in my Age Of Sigmar and Ravenloft games.

The Dread Warden!

The Dread Warden is a unit champion for my Age Of Sigmar army, and he also ticks two boxes for my upcoming Ravenloft game; he's ghosty, and he's got a magical light....more on that soon.

I'm hoping this isn't my last post of 2019 just yet but the passage of time seems distorted in both the lands of the mists and the lands of southern Ontario so we'll see how quickly the next three days go by.

-Jay

Review - There's Snow Place Like Home

I have a pile of new winter holiday themed adventures sitting on my desk right now, and am hoping to address 3 of them over the next 3 days.  I have to say the one I choose to review first may have set a really high bar for our next 2 books.

There's Snow Place Like Home by D&D Duet team Jonathan & Beth Ball reads and plays almost like Rankin & Bass produced a D&D adventure to be played while watching their classic Christmas stop-motion holiday specials.

There's Snow Place Like Home lays out a classic 'Christmas in jeopardy' type of narrative with familiar feeling characters and set pieces while still feeling new and fresh.  As I've mentioned in some previous reviews I think certain players really like a balance between a scenario feeling familiar without becoming predictable and this adventure achieves that balance flawlessly.

The character or characters are drawn into a demi-plane in a very (although much less sinister) similar fashion to characters in a Ravenloft game.  What's nice about this is it doesn't require that this whimsical setting and fanciful cast of characters fit into whatever existing gaming world you're using.  In my particular case my intention is to snatch one player from our regular ongoing game who has had to miss out on playing due to real world nonsense and plan this as a solitary game when they can play to get them back to the table and having some D&D fun over the  Christmas/New Years break.  The narrative itself is excellent, starting off with a mystery in a town under a spell, followed by a journey through a winter wonderland, and concluding in the exploration of a magical fantasy toy workshop.  The characters and monsters range from a snowman, to gingerbread men, reindeer, a polar bear, gnomes, and something even more sinister towards the end.

For anyone who wants a D&D game that feels like Christmas, and/or a Christmas story that feels like D&D; There's Snow Place Like Home sets a perfect tone and feels like a potential new holiday tradition for me and my gaming friends.

There's Snow Place Like Home is currently available from DMsGuild at https://www.dmsguild.com/product/297390/Theres-Snow-Place-Like-Home-A-Christmas-Holiday-Adventure?term=there%27s+snow and failure to add it to your collection may indicate you are the Grinch of your gaming group!

-Jay

More odds and ends for Dungeons & Dragons

My painting has been fairly focused on actual (rather than theoretical) games that I have upcoming but last night I finished up a few odd figures for no particular reason.

First up is an awesome looking human paladin with a flaming sword by WizKids.

This figure was included in a two-pack with the figure I used for Sir Donnegal.  So although I had no immediate use for the figure the pack was open and sitting on my desk so I decided to slap some paint on him.  He's a fairly classic looking heroic holy fighter type and I'm sure I'll have a use for him in a game at some point in the future.  He also feels like he'll mix well with the small collection of paladins and clerics I've painted this year.

In the same vein I had gotten WizKids Imp & Quasit because I needed an Imp and ended up with the Quasit sitting on my desk waiting for paint.

I don't think I've ever used a Quasit in a game as the Imp has always seemed more iconic to me but it's nice to add another classic monster to my collection.  The Quasit is actually a really nice miniature (that I had a hard time photographing) with quite a lot of detail for a figure of it's tiny size.

Unlike the first two models I actually got this Reaper Halfling model with the intention of using it the next time I decide to play a halfling in a game.

I have a fair number of Lord Of The Rings hobbit miniatures but I can never get past the idea that they are the named character they represent.  I was really happy to find a halfling model that blended really well with the hobbit miniatures but was none-the-less not a unique character.  I seldom play halflings but when I saw this featured as one of the new Reaper Bones models I knew I wanted it for the next time I play one.

Well that's it for now, I will probably be painting one miniature for a holiday themed game before the weekend and then back to Ravenloft for some small scenery bits.

-Jay

Arkhan The Cruel

Being a late-comer to the world of Twitch and streaming D&D games in general I was genuinely stunned a year-ish ago when I started discovering all this crazy content on YouTube.  I was also fairly surprised to see a number of celebrities involved in steaming D&D games but viewed most of those appearances as an extension of an acting profession or a set of improv skills.

But...then you see a celebrity player play the same character across two campaigns and a variety of one-shots and realise; nope, this person is pretty serious about their D&D.

Meet Arkhan The Cruel.

Arkhan is the Dragonborn Oath-breaker Paladin played by Joe Manganiello across a number of different games and now appearing as an NPC in the newly released Baldur's Gate Descent Into Avernus.

This miniature is by Gale Force 9 and depicts Arkhan immediately after severing his own hand and replacing it with the hand of Vecna.  Initially I acquired this model with the intention of running Descent Into Avernus, but it now looks like that won't be happening.  I'm still stoked to have a really nice Dragonborn model to add to my collection and I have begun thinking lately; maybe Arkhan would make a good Darklord for Ravenloft?

I have a feeling Arkhan will be making an appearance in a game soon, I just have to decide what game and in what capacity.

-Jay

A Forlorn Hope Part 1 of ?

I've begun work on my series of Ravenloft one-shots kicking off on YouTube in 2020.

In my case "work" means writing, mapping, and plotting but also painting and building.

The adventures will kick off with our characters freshly escaped from the lands of Barovia and seeking a way through or out of the mists of Ravenloft.  This should allow for a variety of quests looking for key items and clues to help the characters move through various locations with the eventual goal of escaping from the domains of dread.  (Think Quantum Leap if it was directed by George Romero).

For our first of three planned adventures the group will find itself in the haunted lands of Forfar, the Ravenloft domain originally detailed in the outstanding Castles Forlorn by Lisa Smedman.

I've gotten my models done for 2 NPCs the group might meet in their first adventure, as well as 2 NPCs they will definitely meet.  Also some monsters, because; what's D&D without monsters?

The guide.

Bondi is survivor living off the lands in Forfar that the group will definitely encounter early on.  Her primary role will be to set the group on their path as well as potentially providing some knowledge about the area and depending on how the group relates to her being a useful ally further down the road.

The mysterious stranger.

This fellow will have yet more information for the PCs but the group will likely be left wondering what master he serves.  The stranger may or may not have a larger role to play as the narrative develops but regardless will not lose interest in the PCs.  He will also somehow seem to have eyes and ears throughout the land.

The warrior.

Michael is engaged on a quest of his own, unrelated but potentially running parallel to the group's goals.  Whether he will be an ally or an enemy will depend highly on the choices the group makes.

The knight.

Sir Donnegal will be encountered by the group near the end of the first session.  Is he a stranger, or have they met before?  Sir Donnegal may be the answer to some of the players' questions, but he will likewise be the starting point for many new questions.

The Goblyns.

I needed some Ravenloft Goblyns for this and my third adventure and once more my Escape From Goblintown goblins seemed fit for the job!

That's my first batch of hobbying for this project.  Another batch of scenery making lies ahead and then in January I'll update with DMsGuild and YouTube links for where you can find more Forlorn Hope content.

-Jay

A sudden odd realization about the Wardlings line

As part of my 'catch-up' on sharing what I've been working on I have another batch of the awesome Wardlings minis by WizKids I wanted to share.

I've spoken about the Wardlings in the past and my opinion on the many things that make them great has not changed in any way but apparently while prepping and basing up these figures I became slightly more aware of something.  As awesome as the character models are, I'm clearly buying these figures for the little animals and familiars.  I have historically struggled to paint extremely small figures and maintain the same quality of paint jobs that I've been able to get on larger figures so some of these tiny creatures have remained out of my collection for decades.  The Wardlings line has provided some excellent small companions and familiars at a high level of detail for (in my opinion) a really reasonable price.

I can always use another properly scaled dog miniature (those are harder to come by then you may think), and the tiny genie is great, but the best model in this grouping for me is the winged snake.  This has long been one of those 'I wish I had...' models for me so I'm stoked to add one to my collection.

In addition I got a few more of the PC models based up.

The young fighter feels like the EXACT model I wish I had when I was 11-12 and first got into D&D to use as my own character model.  The chainmail and sword and shield combo would have been perfect for the first hundred or so characters I played in D&D.  Two more young girl figures fill out the mix and are ready to support a game if my daughter ever wants to jump in. I particularly like the Druid as the spell effect and the antlers make her look pretty bad-ass in my opinion.

Tomorrow, it's time to reveal the first batches of models for my up coming Forlorn Hope campaign!

-Jay

Bugbears and some odds and ends

Over the past couple of weeks I've been steadily getting some models done for two upcoming games.  In that same time however I've been fairly poor at posting those models.  Over the remainder of this week I'm hoping to show off some of what I've gotten done.

First up; Bugbears!

Bugbears are a classic and iconic D&D humanoid species that looking back I've barely ever used in my home games.  I had wanted to add some to my collection for a long time and when I saw the two different packs WizKids had available the time was now.  There's two options I particularly like about these figures, both of which were featured on the same model.  First up, there is a female.  Most RPG miniature companies currently offer a good selection of female PC models but there tend to be very few female monster options.  Secondly; there is a spell-caster.  Most humanoid NPC models tend to be fighty characters so it's nice when a caster gets thrown into the mix.  I'm really happy to have these in my collection and I hope WizKids does another pack or two of Bugbears down the road.

Pixies!

Another WizKids pack.  I'm currently playing in a game set in the Margreve setting by Kobold Press and the Warlock character I started off playing needed a familiar miniature.  A Pixie felt like the right choice.  I initially painted the Pixie with the earth and grass base as I felt that worked best for the setting, but then realised the basing didn't match my character model who I had used cobblestones on.  I did a second Pixie with matching basing but ironically ended up switching to a new character before the model ever hit the table.  I have enough wilderness adventures planned that I'm sure my Pixies will still get some use in the near future.

The goodest boy!

Quite awhile back (over a year ago?) I backed the Dungeons & Doggos kickstarter thinking that those were models my daughter might be excited about painting.  I was wrong but that doesn't detract from the fact that they are really cool models.  I painted this dog up to be a companion animal for my Saltmarsh campaign character Garkas.

That's the first few new additions, check back tomorrow for more!

-Jay