The D6 Generation Reviewed Frostgrave

First of all, if you don't listen to The D6 Generation, you are missing out. Russ and Craig are two of the most entertaining hosts of any podcasts out there. The shows are fun, well-structured and always have interesting topics. Speaking of topics on the show, the most recent one had a long and well-thought-through review of Frostgrave. Check it out:

The D6 Generation Episode 175: Travel Games & Frostgrave Detailed Review

Ptolemina, High Priestess of Aridais, the Forbidden City (Game 2)

This was game two for Ptolemenia's Band. I was pretty excited to see her make it to the table again. A second game means more progress and hopefully a continuing for our multi-part endeavor that is trying out Frostgrave.

My party was the same as last time, with one addition, another thug.

The Necromancer's Troupe:

Necromancer w/ Staff Ptolemina, High Priestess of Aridais, the Forbidden City

Apprentice w/ Staff Renyard Strake,ex-Friar and Acolyte of the High Priestess of Aridais, the Forbidden City

Thief Lady A

Thug Thug Underboss, Big Tom

Thug Thug, Kay Az Thug Thug, Kaz Ay

War Hound Dog

Crossbowman Seth

Apothecary Gorman the Wolf

Man-At-Arms Mr. Holt

Spells

Bone Dart

Raise Zombie

Steal Health

Animal Companion

Fleet Feet

Leap

Push

Teleport

I didn't have any new spells or magic items, due to my rolls last time. But I did advance a level, so I chose to have +1 Fight.

So, first, we rolled up the scenario. "Genie in the Bottle" was to be it. We set up the table with some cool new terrain that Dan made, and some of our normal pieces that hang around the game store. I picked up a lot of trees to use, they made the board look fuller and worked quite well.
We set up the treasure and did our initial rolls, and the game began.


Highlights:
(As sadly I am writing this a week after the fact, the specifics of the game elude me.)

• My Warhound acquired a name. After rolling two natural 20s and taking out two of my opponent's war band in two consecutive rounds, he is now, "Badaz!"
• Dan's group killed the Genie and found, and recovered the Genie bottle. This gave his wizard an instant 250 xp. Seems excessive to me, but thems the rules.
• I think my opponent and I both were maneuvering better than in the previous games.
• I kept my wizard and apprentice out of harm's way, unlike last game.

Results:

• Ptolemina:
• I got a around 300 gold from the encounter.
• Grimoire of Awareness
• Grimoire of Wall
• Dagger +1 Fight
• 1 Level
• My thief was removed from the game, and is out for a game.
• My opponent:
• Some amount of gold (plus the amount for the bottle).
• A magical two handed sword.
• Robes of Arrow Turning
• 3 Levels
• 4 of my opponent's dudes were taken down during the game: 3 were fine, 1 out for a game.

I do think that the fact that a wizard can gain 3 levels in a game is too much and extremely unrealistic. I am used to, and like, games where you can only advance one level per game (or session) - but again, thems the rules.

I wish you could sell grimoires. I get the idea behind why you cannot, but it seems silly to me. I now have 3 grimoires that are not spells that I care about and cannot sell. So, useless treasure... ugh...

Well, on to the next game...

Ptolemina, High Priestess of Aridais, the Forbidden City (Game 1)

We have begun a small Frostgrave campaign in our FLGS, Battleground Games (come out on Monday nights if you want to meet us or play a game). There are three of us that are for sure participating, though a number of other people have shown some interest and might join in as we move along. It would be nice to have at least four or five people.

We are playing random scenarios and just moving along in a linear fashion with our Mages. There has not been a definitive number of games decided on, and as a matter of fact, we have even said it is ok to drop your Mage in favor of just constructing a new Mage and war band. This makes it fun, easy, and no one feels bad if their wizard gets killed early on. Besides, I am sure we will start something more set in stone before someone reaches Level 10 or so, where it might start to matter some. 

I really like the concept behind a number of the mages and schools of magic in Frostgrave. So, choosing one was not easy. But I decided since this is not our "for sure" campaign, that I would play something fun and maybe a bit off the normal path for me. I chose to do a Necromancer.

The Necromancer's Troupe:

Necromancer w/ Staff Ptolemina, High Priestess of Aridais, the Forbidden City

Apprentice w/ Staff Renyard Strake, ex-Friar and Acolyte of the High Priestess of Aridais, the Forbidden City

Thief Lady A

Thug Thug Underboss, Big Tom

Thug Thug, Kay Az

War Hound Dog

Crossbowman Seth

Apothecary Gorman the Wolf

Man-At-Arms Mr. Holt

Spells

Bone Dart

Raise Zombie

Steal Health

Animal Companion

Fleet Feet

Leap

Push

Teleport

Back Row Left to Right: Thug, Thief
Middle Row Left to Right: Crossbowman, Man-At-Arms, Apprentice, Thug, Apothecary
Front Row Left to Right: Wizard, War Hound

Date Played: 9/21/2015

Scenario: The Living Museum 

Opponent: Enchanter War Band of Dan

Highlights:

We ended the game after about 4 rounds and about one hour and a half as I had to head home. We hope that our game play gets a little faster as time goes on.

• Four of the Six Statues came alive. One of them ended up killing Dan's archer who was carrying a treasure - DOH! 
• I took out two of Dan's dudes. I believe one was with a Bone Dart and one was with a Crossbow bolt.
• Ptolemina took a crossbow bolt to the throat and came within 2 points of being taken out of action in one shot!
• My guys rushed the treasures and strangely avoided being hurt very much at all, despite being completely exposed. 
• Dan ended up with 1 treasure, that netted him like 3 potions and a ton of gold. 
• I ended up with 2 treasure, giving me a Fast Act Grimiore and 140 gold.
• I made just enough XP to go up a level.

Things we learned:

• If you don't have enough terrain, the game becomes a shooting gallery. Use all the terrain you got!
• Though three of Dan's dudes we taken out of the game, all three ended up surviving. So, although a character can be taken out for the game, the brutality isn't quite what we were fearing - they aren't dead.
• We need to speed up, I guess. The game seemed to move a bit slow, even though I did not think we were really taking all that much time.
• Bone Dart is crazy good.
• The Apothecary is actually worth the points!
• Fog is really good too.
• It was still fun.

So, I don't know if Dan is going to continue with his Enchanter, or if he will drop him for a new wizard. I think I am going to stick with Ptolemina for a few games. I did learn a lot from this particular game - I don't think throwing my wizard directly into the middle of the fray is the best thing I could do, especially considering she got hit so hard that had it been anyone else in the crew, they would have died. I might try to keep her back a little further, I mean come on, Bone Dart is Line of Sight!

I still have not decided what I am going to do as my advancement. I am leaning toward lowering the difficulty on a spell, maybe Leap. Or maybe I'll learn that Fast Act spell... not sure yet. Upping my Fight by 1 would be good too. Too many decisions!!!

I did decide that for my lair I am going with the Laboratory - to get the +20 xp after each game. And that I might actually drop the Warhound and pick up another Apothecary and another Thief. More speed and more healing - woohoo!

I am really looking forward to the next game. I think that this war band has great potential - next game, I'll have to cast my Summon Zombie and Animal Companion spells before I play. We shall see how it goes.

I need to write up a short history of Ptolemina... that coming soon.

Treasure Tokens - Scrolls

This will be a quick tutorial to start off my series on making treasure tokens. 

We are making scrolls today! 

This morning, you might have made coffee the “old-fashioned way”: with a filter.  I recommend unbleached basket filters for crafts.  You can use them straight out of the package, but soaking them in tea or coffee (or just using them to brew) softens any manufactured edges and ages them perfectly.  Set out coffee and filter in the sun outside to dry.

SIDETRACK:  You can wash the coffee grounds and dry them in the oven or outside to use as dirt for basing and terrain work.  Dried, used coffee grounds are great for terrain and bases!

Sorry for getting side-tracked – back to the filter.  Once the filter is dried (likely that night unless it is Summer) you cut pieces from it.  I made my strips 7/16^th of an inch wide, or just under an inch (approx. 2.3 cm).  I made the length 2.5 inches long for each scroll (6.5 cm).  You can cut them longer to make them more bulky, but I wanted these smaller. 

 

 

 

As you can see from the first photo, even after you scrape off the coffee, there is residue.  That side of the filter will be the outside of your scroll, but you still may or may not want the residue on there.  Take a stiff brush or an old toothbrush and sweep your filter with medium pressure until you have the right amount of residue for your project.  My scrolls might have been on the ground, so they would have collected some dirt.  I brush it twice to clear off any large pieces, but the rest of residue clings to the paper.

 

Take a toothpick and press it to on the inside edge of the cut paper.  Then, roll the paper up on the toothpick like a spool (see image below).  Pinch lightly so it does not unravel and slide the tooth pick out.  Take a small dab of white glue and apply it to the inside of the edge and then light press so it sticks together.  You can unroll a part of the scroll and glue it farther down the length to give it the look of the scroll unraveling, exposing its arcane symbols and esoteric text.  That can be applied with a fine point pen – I do not recommend ballpoint.  I really like Uniball pens. The gel ink offers sharp edges and the thinner tip means less to smear for those left-handers like myself.

 After the glue dries, you have your scrolls, ready to be added to Treasure Tokens, onto bases, or attached somewhere on your miniatures.  You can wrap some twine around a single scroll to give it the look it is being stored or transported; you can tie together a  whole bundle of them an put them on a cart, in a crate, or on a bookshelf.  You can also get some thin satin ribbon to make the scroll/bundle look more precious, regal, or official.   The ones I made are going to be the scrolls belonging to a learned wizard and were left behind in the wizard's haste to flee , so they are not bundled, one has partially unrolled where it lies.

 

There are more tutorials to come in this series on treasure.  We will making chests, sacks, books, potions, and anything else catches our eye.  Any suggestions?

I hope this sparked some imagination and I wish you a great day as you enjoy your journey!

The Well Takes Shape

Now, we want to start adding filler to shape the well and create a mood that fits its potential environments.  I want it fairly weathered and asymmetrical; I am thinking abandoned towns, ancient cities, and dank dungeons.   So, I am only going to add enough spackle to fill in the gaps and make it appear the mortar has either eroded away or only a small amount was used in the original project.  This is what we are starting with:

 

You can see quite a bit of gaps allowing light to shine through - that's ok; I think of these gaps as room for the model to develop personality.  Let's get those gaps filled and see what becomes of our mysterious well.
Normally, I always add a bit of water and a bit of paint to prepare the spackle for application.  When the spackle is wet, it is easier to work.  Adding a little bit of water, the spackle still holds it shape and has some spring to it; good for vertical fills and connecting two points.  Adding more water creates a slurry, good for when you want gravity to work for you and have the spackle settle into low areas.  I advise starting with a bit of water, as I almost always do, because you will be wetting your tools and fingers as you go, so the spackle will get wetter as you need it o without turning to soup.

I also recommend acrylic paint being mixed into the spackle.  The paint will make the spackle crack less when it dries, gives it some springiness once dry (resists chipping….a bit), as well as helps in the later painting stages if your spackle is supposed to be some other color than bright white.

I wanted to use up some spackle I was using for my desert terrain before it dries, so this spackle in the photos will be reddish in color because I had used a burnt sienna acrylic paint to tint it.  I would recommend using two drops of black and four drops of brown paint because it makes a nice “dirty” base.  The reddish color needed a lot more work than I had thought.  It was not as bad as  if i left it bright white, but it still required an extra few steps of inking after the spackle dried before the painting began.   I carved a popsicle stick and toothpick so I could get the spackle into every single gap, no matter how small or inaccessible.

Next step is adding the spackle.  I start with the inside gaps.  Any place light shines through (hold the well up to a lamp or shine a flashlight onto it) gets spackle pushed in.  I use my hands, but you can use a popsicle stick, too.  Either way, remember to dip your finger/tool in water periodically so the spackle releases easily.  You want the spackle to fill all the holes.  Below is a snapshot of the inside filled.  You do not need to worry too much if it cover your stones.  The next step is when you determine how much of the stone ends up exposed.  The amount of coverage depends upon the look you want to achieve. 

 

Now, get a sponge or some foam.  I use the foam that I pulled out of my miniatures carriers.  You can also use the foam that is packed in most miniatures when they ship.  Grab a cup of water.   Wear some clothes you don’t mind getting splashed (just in case) and put down some plastic or paper.  With the wet sponge, wipe across the spackle-covered stones with medium pressure.  This will smooth the spackle, push it into the lower crevices, and remove it from the upper part of the stone, leaving it exposed.  Again, you will wash as much or as little to get your desired look.  Keep the sponge wet and continuously clean it out with fresh water so you are not just smearing spackle everywhere.   I used medium pressure and I did the entire inside well once, let it dry, went back to that night and wiped it again to get my final look that I liked. 

 I wanted a look where the mortar has worn away and the only remaining mortar holds the stones, for only a few more years.  If I didn't remove enough spackle, I would wash it again for a third time.  If I remove too much, I have to add some spackle and then wash again.  I like the inside so I repeat the same steps for the outside.  This is what it looks like after the outside is done:

 

I then let the well dry for the night.  In the morning, I will begin the staining of the spackle and then the painting of my well.  Until then, make your miniature world in your image!

Ancient Well

This will be my first Malifaux/Frostgrave crossover terrain piece.
This piece will be used for the Scenario: The Well of Dreams and Sorrows

 Supplies Suggested:

Small lid -- the lids from mini cups are perfect. Diamond sells a bagof 50 cups with lids are the greatest for various projects.  If you can’t find a bag of mini cups, the local take-out or salad bar has them.  Order a salad with dressing on the side and you will have what you need after a healthy lunch! (Make sure you wash the cup and lid well if repurposing)

Wax paper  -- Protects your work surface and allows your glue to dry evenly.  I like the results much better than newspaper, but reusing the flyers they endless stuff in your mailbox are an ok substitute.

Small stones – I bought a bag of gravel from the local hardware store.  The gravel is various sizes, but for this project I pick out stones that are big enough to fit 3-4 onto a penny.  This creates a scale where it seems feasible the stones were hand carried to site and manually assembled.  This well is going to look ancient, but can also be used in settings where it looks like the denizens did the best they could with the material at hand.

Wood Glue – Flexible and strong.  A little more expensive than White glue, but a bit cheaper than Hot glue and I prefer than either when it comes to gravel.

Paint --  I am picturing this being used for Frostgrave mostly, so I imagine grey stone.  Inexpensive, Craft acrylic paints in Black, White and Grey. 

Spackle – This is the mortar.  Get a tub of spackling paste from your hardware store, you will use a lot of it in your coming terrain projects (great for hills, cliffs, cabins, water features and basing, too!)

 

1.   Find a lid that is slightly smaller than you want your finished product.  Cut a piece of wax paper that will be slightly larger than your finished product.  Place the lid centered on the wax paper, with the inside facing up.  The lid is not only going to serve as the guide for your well’s circumference, but it also  holds your “water”.

2.       Squeeze your glue (I recommend wood glue over the other options) onto the wax paper around the outer edge of the lid.  This glue will not only connect the stones, but it will also bond the stones to the lids.

 

3.       Start placing your stones around the base, flush against the outside of the lid and to one another.  Do not worry about spacing them, there will be enough gaps and space due to irregular shape and roundness of the gravel.  I create an irregular base, randomly alternating between large  and medium –sized gravel pieces.  You can create a more uniformed look by just using medium -, or even two small, –sized gravel pieces deep, but I like the irregular profile and it allows the second and third level of stones to settle in interesting ways.

 

4.       Once you get the initial base surrounded with gravel so it looks how you want it, let the glue set. 

 

 

 

5.     Now comes the fun part….. Well, fun in a fiddly  I-hate-gravity way.  The second level is you finding the stones that naturally settle into the gaps created by the base layer of stones.  It doesn’t have to be perfect because you are adding the “mortar” later to fill gaps and smooth the outer and inner profile.  The second and third level are your chance to create your well’s personality.  Will the stones be of uniform size, shape, and spacing, or are some going jut out, tilt, or even be missing in places?  It all depends on the story you want the well to tell.  I went for the middle ground.  Most of my stones are the same size, but some stick out more than others and some are rounded and others have sharp points.  I want the look that the builders had to use available material which might not have been ideal, but it was still useful and had a lasting result.  I also wanted to give the impression that the stonework was starting to shift from over the centuries so I allowed my pieces to sometimes move how gravity wanted them to settle.  I suggest letting each level settle and for the glue to set before going to the next level.  This is the project that will take a few days, but each day is only 30 minutes or so of gluing.

This is what my well looks like after the final level.  I went with 3 levels.  For 28-32 mm scale, I think anything higher seems impractical from the fluff of citizens getting water and also from a terrain perspective of giving cover, but not blocking LOS.

 

Next entry will discuss the addition of mortar and paint.

Let me know if I skipped anything, you have any questions, or was unclear about a step.

Have fun building your miniature world!

 

Fun with modifying models (or making a Frostgrave Warband on a budget) - part 3

Some progress on the mods for the minis...

Some progress on my Necromancer's apprentice. Coming along nicely.

Had to use a flash on Harlan to see how it was coming along.

The new Master Holt is looking alright. I think I might need to go a little lighter on the overcoat.

Seth is coming along nicely.

All of them still need some clean-up and details, but so far, so bad.

Next update will be the finished products. Looking forward to getting these guys on the table!