Graph Paper Games

Boy, it feels good to see a project through to completion.  The color scheme looks really good.  It was a good first run, especially in getting an idea about much terrain a single box can hold. So what's next?  A dungeon?  A crypt?  Science fiction?

For all you 80's kids out there, do you remember the idea of "playsets," like Castle Grayskull or the GI Joe Command Center or the Death Star where you could set it up like a action-move dollhouse and create story after story? So here's what I am doing: Creating kits using the boxes that PLA filament comes in to hold thematic terrain for roleplaying games. For those of you who do not know, PLA filament is the plastic thread a lot of 3D printers use to make stuff.  The box is roughly 8" by 8" by 3".  Half of the box can hold about 48 floor tiles that are 2" square while the other half can hold walls, corners, and other assorted pieces.  Fully assembled, the kit would hold enough terrain to cover a square roughly 16" to 18" on a side, which for a small table is a pretty good layout.  It can also handle three or four small rooms easily.  By re-configuring the kit once or twice, you could theoretically handle eight to twelve encounters,...

For a while I was really getting into Kickstarter for various 3D printing options, and while there are still some out there, I found myself often getting more than I could ever reasonably print, but still paying for the files. To compromise between being practical and still enjoying the thrill of finding new things to do with my printer to support my hobbies, I decided to explore Patreon instead, finding a couple of artists who do work I like who could then keep me in a steady flow of new material for a reasonable rate. Four artists I support are Aaron Mulder , Rocket Pig Games , Pinyo , and PrintYourMonsters .  Of those four, Aaron Mulder tends to make items to use with Fat Dragon Games' modular dungeons and Pinyo tends to make buildings (incredible ones). It's Rocket Pig and PYM that ship out monthly designs of miniatures, which I want to incorporate into my games somehow. In August, Rocket Pig released a ton of undersea creatures.  I'm not entirely sure how those get ...

I've managed to get some painting time in, and it's going pretty well. Designed by Brayan Nafarrate Designed by Pinyo All of these were 3D printed on my Ender 3.  The "flameskull" was painted using the new GW contrast paints, literally only two of them, in about twenty minutes.  More on those paints later. In addition, I'm still running a game weekly: every other Tuesday for my "house group" and every other Monday for my campus ministry group.  Here's a shot from the latest session of my house group. Thanks for reading.  Comments always welcome.

It's been a bit, but I've been keeping busy. The new D&D campaign has been going very well.  It's been nice being able to work with a different group with new personalities and styles. That's in addition to the regular campaign, which has been getting back into the swing of things with some solid gameplay.  They managed to clear most of the first level of the Dungeon of the Mad Mage , and are now making serious headway into the second. Finally, I've been printing and painting a bit.  Here are some examples: So lots of good gaming and more stuff than I have time to paint.  Thanks for reading!

Last Christmas, I was given a 3D printer as a present and began immediately building the type of gaming items I used to use Hirst Arts molds to create: terrain for wargaming and modular dungeons for roleplaying games.  When I researched the topic, going online and talking to friends, I found first one company, then a second who provided the "patterns" for making modular dungeons. The first was Fat Dragon Games , which makes not only files for modular dungeons but also fantasy buildings, the odd sci-fi terrain pieces, and most recently a huge batch of fantasy monsters to be printed out on your printer.  In addition, the owner of the company, Tom Tullis, created a huge support network through social media and YouTube on maintaining and getting the most out of your printer, tips and tricks, painting guides, etc.  Recently FDG participated in a great Humble Bundle charity program where you could buy a significant amount of their product for a ridiculously low price, of all o...