Tag: D&D

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Blog D&D

Ultimate GM Screen of Win

I was kinda browsing and saw the ULTIMATE GM SCREEN which I thought was the coolest thing ever! (Sorry for the CAPS-shouting, but I thought it deserved it). Okay so it’s kinda a cut-out and put together yourself, but I’m crafty and that sort of thing appeals to me. What you get is a Castle Wall that sits in front of the GM with two Dice Towers (basically you drop the dice in the top and they roll out at the bottom).

It’s very solid so it won’t fall over (a common problem with GMs screens) not to mention it looks absolutely fantastic! The idea of Dice Towers is new to me but I kinda like them; it adds a drama to rolling the dice plus makes it less likely for players to cheat by hiding/fudging their rolls. There’s also space on the back for the GM to stick all the gaming tables and handy info s/he needs to run the game. And there are little shelves for figures! How cute! And they can stand on top of the turrets! Overall I think it is very deserving of it’s title as the ULTIMATE GMs screen.

I’ve stuck a video below which really shows the GMs Screen in all its glory. You may want to skip to half way as that’s when you start getting a really good look at it. And it is reduced by 25% this week as part of the GMs Day Sale! Click here to go to a list of all the reduced items at DriveThruRPG.


In case the video is not showing up here’s a link to it.

Happy GMs Day! …week.

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Blog D&D Funny/Cool

New Baldur’s Gate Sequel? Raise Dead!

There has been a great deal of excitement on the rumor-mill concerning a new Baldur’s Gate Website that has popped up at www.baldursgate.com and whether this heralds the release of a new Baldur’s Gate game. At the moment the website shows a ‘teaser’ with the Baldur’s Gate Skull emblem, character portraits tiling the background and the Baldur’s Gate theme playing in the background making our geeky hearts swell with nostalgia. Aside from this there is only the quote:

“The Lord of Murder shall perish, but in his doom he shall spawn a score of mortal progeny, chaos will be sown by their passage.”

So sayeth the wise Alaundo.

The tiled character portraits fairly standard layout which gaming companies use as teasers for sequels – harking back to the games past. So should we get excited yet?

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Blog Movie Reviews Movies/Film

Movie Review: Mazes & Monsters

This is a 1980’s made-for-tv movie and fulfills all the expectations that come with that description, namely poor quality scripting, acting and special effects. It stars a young Tom Hanks and notably contains footage of the World Trade Center. Based on the novel by the same name Mazes & Monsters is interesting mainly because of it’s social context. During it’s heyday role-play gaming was a much maligned hobby purported to be a form of satanism and blaimed for criminal activities, mental illness and suicides. Players were persecuted, ostricised and anti-D&D groups established to try and ban the game. It’s hard to imagine nowadays that a harmless game of make-believe could provoke such a reaction, but these attitudes were widespread and some still persist to this day. I remember as late as the 1990’s being forbidden from buying a D&D book because it was ‘Devil-worship.’

mazes and monsters - Tom Hanks goes bat shit crazy!

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Blog D&D Funny/Cool

D&D Fantasy Miniatures – in Origami!

Origami Goblin - Fantasy Gaming Miniature by Joseph WuDungeons and Dragons is a role-play game – a game of the imagination – so most of the action goes on inside your head; however, in a big, confusing battle visual repressentation can be useful. Among other things, it stops the characters from spontaneously teleporting from one side of the room to the other (without the use of a spell)! Aside from that it’s nice to see what you’re up against once in a while, to react in genuine horror as the GM reveals the hideous visage of the monster you have to fight (even if it is only 3cm high).

But miniatures are expensive, right? WRONG! You’ve got a piece of paper haven’t you? Well then – get folding and you can have your very own miniature army for mere cost of a bajillion papercuts!

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Pg 53: A Closed Book

This week in Epic Fail: Tinuvielle thinks she may be able to open the sealed spell-book with magic, but it remains stubbornly shut.

Creator’s Commentary: Grr. I think the hardest part of doing this comic is thinking up titles for the pages! I know they don’t exactly need titles, but I think it’s useful for people who are flicking through the archives to know more-or-less where they are.

YAY! The first bit of real magic. I hope you like the special effects. I think they are cool!

Tinuvielle is supposed to be a very beautiful Elf, so I’ve been working on her face to make her more attractive. In D&D terms I think her Comeliness is 19 or something like that.

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Blog Movie Reviews

Movie Review: The Gamers 2 – Dorkness Rising

A Sequel to The Gamers, Dorkness Rising is even better, like the first with all it’s rough edges smoothed off. From the first few seconds Dorkness Rising gleams with professionalism – it’s still an Indie production, for sure, but Dead Gentleman Productions have teamed up with Epic Level Entertainment to produce something to easily rival a cinematic release.

Still from The Gamers 2 - Dorkness Rising, Flyyn's 2nd death

Dorkness Rising uses the same style of storytelling established in the first, switching between in-game and out-of-game perspectives to great comic effect, but this time with a different group of gamers. The plot is entirely separate from it’s predecessor so there is no requirement to watch The Gamers first. A couple of characters recur: Lodge, played by Nathan Rice, is now the DM and originally played Newmoon. Mark (the Red) also makes a cameo appearance. (Hooray!)

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Blog

D&D Christmas Tree Ornaments

OMG! This is just too cool: hand-made Christmas tree ornaments that look like D20s!

I know you’re all wondering “what do D20’s have to do with the birth of Christ?” The answer to that is JESUS SAVES! Just like rolling a 20. See what I did there? All Christians now have a perfectly valid reason to decorate their trees with D20s 🙂

D&D Christmas Tree Ornaments D20s

I really want to make some of these. They are made of felt out of two hexagons sewn together and then stuffed. They’re hand sewn using three different kinds of stitch: oversewing for the edges, chain stitch for the lines (sewn straight from point-to-point) and running-stitch for the numbers, probably with embroidery thread.

The other decorations are retro-style nintendo controllers (also totally relevant). They’re all made by breemonkey on Craftster.org – here’s the original thread with more pictures.

Pg 48: Shocking Language

This week in Epic Fail: Amuletts is taken aback by Yoru’s monstrous heritage and says things to offend both him and Tinuvielle.

Creator’s Commentary: Now the party are all back together again I feel like splitting them up again; there are far too many characters on this page!

I liked showing the reactions of the people in the Bar to the Heroes conversation. Although they take demons and such in their stride most people are shit scared of ’em. Yes, even little ones.

The Duergar joke is one only D&D folk will understand. Although I try to make the humour as accesible as possible I think it’s fair to slip a niche joke in now and then if it’s funny enough. A Duergar is basically a evil, dark-skinned type of Dwarf that lives underground and is rarely seen.

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Blog Webcomic Interviews Webcomics

Prepare to Die Interview – Part 1

Michael Dellheim, creator of the RPG webcomic Prepare to Die takes the hot seat.

What’s your webcomic Prepare to Die about?

In the simplest terms, “Prepare to Die” is a webcomic about three tabletop roleplayers who somehow get sucked into their own gaming campaign. Inside the game we find a world that was created by Mike, the Game Master, for his two friends Bill and Manda to play in… however the world they enter isn’t exactly the way that it should be, and over time the details of the original campaign continue to change.

Prepare to Die. Get it? 'Cos it's a die...

As the plot progresses, the story is also about the NPCs native to the campaign and how they deal with the changing world around them.

I think of it a little like ‘Alice in Wonderland’ but with more puns and geek references than true madness.

Prepare To Die’s art style appears to be a collage of techniques. How do you create the comic?

When developing the style of the comic, I created what I call a “puppet” in PhotoShop, which is essentially a poseable figure made of different body parts created in layers and grouped in folders which are then colored and shaded using Layer Styles. That way, whenever I move or rotate a body part to pose one of my puppets, PhotoShop will automatically create the bevels and shading for the overall figure for me on the fly. When the pose looks right, I then save out a “sprite” and move a copy out into the main strip scene. The addition of edited photographic backgrounds, special effects for light and shadows, and text bubbles complete a comic.

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Blog Movie Reviews

Movie Review: Dungeons & Dragons 2 – Wrath of the Dragon God

After the atrocity of Dungeons & Dragons the Movie it’s doubtful whether any sequel ever had lower expectations than this. Fortunately things could only get better. Wrath of the Dragon God could not be more different from its predecessor, and it’s gratifying to see criticism being used constructively.

Mages casting spells

Set in Ismer a century on the city is unrecognisable, but Damodar, the blue-lipped henchman (minus the blue lips) and only recurring character (played by Bruce Payne), plans to destroy it. It seems Jeremy Irons cursed him with undeath (justification for blue lips if ever I heard one) so Damodar, seeking revenge, locks him in a room with the first movie playing on a continual loop recovers the magical Orb of Thingamabob to awaken the sleeping Dragon God.

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