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The Forgotten Smugglers' Cave: Index of Posts

An index of posts describing the Forgotten Smugglers' Cave, an adventure for Holmes Basic characters levels 2-4.                    ...

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Monster Face Montage


A new drawing begun as a possible cover illustration for Holmes Ref. But I have some other ideas for that I want to try out, so I decided to stop this one before it filled up the page.

I started with the tower in the center (possibly Zenopus' tower) and expanded outward from there. I can draw the faces sort of endlessly (and do so in the margins of papers), and have to remind myself to incorporate other elements. The castle in the center is underwater; note the fish and seaweed around it. There are few hexes in there as well.

For this one I used a new mechanical pencil I picked up recently (nothing fancy, just a Pentel Click 0.7). For others I've gone over pencil with ink, but this time I just scanned the pencil and increased the contrast. It worked well enough, and certainly saved time. 

If you are on G+, I was flattered when The Secret DM asked if he could turn this drawing into a map. To this end he had Christian Kessler of the Popular Enchanting blog color it into zones and asked G+ for help with keying it. See here.

See also Monster Face Dungeon and Monster Face Mountain.

Thursday, August 11, 2016

Fantastic Worlds of Grenadier Kickstarter


If you've been watching Stranger Things summer and are interested in learning more about the miniatures company that made "The Demogorgon" mini featured prominently on the show, check out this kickstarter for an expanded edition of the book The Fantastic Worlds of Grenadier.

From the "About" page:
"The Fantastic Worlds of Grenadier is not only a book about a fantastic company that produced fantastic miniatures for fantastic worlds, but is also an insightful journey through many of the gaming and gaming miniatures trends and creations of the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s. A tremendous source of reference, an informative read, and full of ‘eye-candy’, The Fantastic Worlds of Grenadier is a must-have for all fans of Grenadier Models, gamers and gaming miniature collectors alike."

I'm in for a printed copy ($35 plus shipping). 10 days left until the Kickstarter ends.

By the way, "The Demogorgon" from Stranger Things was released in two different packages by Grenadier, first as part of the Fantasy Lords line, set 102 Demons, and then
then re-packaged as Fantasy Classics #321 Demon (1984). A picture of the latter in the original packaging was posted over at the Acaeum by grodog.