Post COVID Retro Review

 Retroactive Review.

I opened my blog today. The last post is dated as Jun 26, 2020. Wow I just wanted to catch my blog up to where I am today in 2023. This feels eerily like time travel.

I am going to list off writing/gaming/hobby milestones/events that have happened since the Covid pandemic (Spring of 2020).

Full Disclosure: I have worked with Arcane Minis before and I hope to do so in the future. A sizable portion of my efforts (DMing/writing/art) goes into the work I do for them. The Sordane campaign I am running is super fun and gives a lot of player choice.

First off here are my new partys for my main home game set in Sordane, created by Arcane Minis.

NOTE: The minis below are from a whole gaggle of modelmakers from across the interwebs.

Post Covid Milstones (Achieved)

• I created more than a dozen posts. 
• I have painted 1000+ minatures in that time. I posted most of them on Instagram. Not all for myself, but at least 500 of those were for me.
• My game Went from DnD to Pathfinder, and even investigaing other systems again (I'm looking at you Candela Obscura!).
• I have created hundreds of "flavor cards" on mtgcardsmith.com
• I have sampled ChaptGPT and Nightcafe. They make me dream of tools like these without the controversy. I'm not linking to them because I don't know where I stand here yet.
• My campaign in Ravnica by WOTC eneded (as planned for... a 3 year game suypporting 3 parties at the same time) and now I am running my game in Soradane by Arcane Minis (In year 2 of  3 for this story...still with 3 groups).
• And I am running a short campaign (3 sessions) in my scifi world (Nak) using a totally homebrewed version of Candela Obscura.
• I wrote content for Sordane.
• I have had 5 of my short stories published on the web by Arcane Minis. My stories are located HERE.
• I registered as a DM with Startplaying.games (DM Jeb)
• I have converted over to online play so I have access to all my resources.
• Corporate DMing. It has it perks (new brushes on a good month).
• I slow the cadence of DMing in the summer.
• I put my games (but not my players) on pause through the holiday season (Thanksgiving through 'after New Years')
• I am a patron (On Patreon) of Arcane Minis. The team there makes so many cool Arcanapunk themed characters, VTT, STLs,  Music, Terrain, Airships, and creatures not to mention their Sordane setting AND 2 upcoming board games! Am I biased? Yes. I also like fun and quality content with depth. I get that with this world every month, its like crazy. All of the amenities (Short Stories, Music, VTT, ART, Minis, Airships) that Arcane Minis offers are more opportunities for players to latch on to, and make the world memorable for themselves and then bring that energy back to the table. I have had players just look at all the minis on Myminifactory for hours they look for their 'backup' character, but also familiarizing themselves with the game world. And getting their first sourcebook PDF HERE.
• I have a Nexus account now. It seems like it is still young in ites development cycle, but I have hope it will be something groundbreakingly cool in the future.
• I have sent 2 novels to editors. Still tweaking them. I'm looking to self-publish.
• I have fallen in love with Legend Keeper. Such a neat app.

Future Milestones

• Maybe looking for Beta Readers soon. 
• Finish painting Ben's Orcs.
• I want to hire someone to do an audible version of one of my scifi short stories to find out how that process works.
• I need to figure out how to do book layouts
• I would like to do my own cover design, at least for the first version of the book.
• Finish 1st Sordane campaign ( Late Fall, 2024)
• Put images and locations of all of my miniatures in a database of some sort, like my IG account, but with reliable search results not tweaked out by an algorithm.
• Get a few of my minis submitted for the Arcane Minis painting contest...But Ben's Orcs first. 

Digital Art Updates

Trying my hand at something a bit different for me. Digital art rather than painting minis. Still doing that, but I need a few images than the minis are unable to provide. Building them into Ravnican card forms to tell my sessions with...

CBS DND Cartoon Miniatures

I backed a kickstarter a while back created by Antediluvian Miniatures. It had a series of models that were grown-up version of the kids from the DND Cartoon that I watched as a kid during the 80's. I loved that show, even thought the censors had gutted it of any violence, which, let's just admit it here is part and parcel of a typical DND game.

I also picked up a Unicorn from reaper Minitures to be Uni. Bobbi's mini has a unicorn skull as a shoulder pad, but that seemed harsh, so I bought the Unicorn.

I have not found anything that states what the name for the kid's name for there adventuring company, so I have take to calling them "The Homelost".

The Nightmare King

    It's been a while since my last post. Here is where we are at now. We (Cap and I) have done over 25+ sessions for the first DND Story arc of the 'Oracle of the City' campaign, called 'The Nightmare King'. We have 4 session left and then we are taking a hiatus from DMing for a few months, due to the impossibility for keeping a group together through the holiday season.

I was inspired by Daarken's painting on the MtG card "Dream Eater" to be the Nightmare King, but I needed a miniature for it and I saw Atlantis Miniature's Sphinx and saw how similar they were to one another and a BBEG (Big Bad Evil Guy) was born.



So without further adieu, I present to you The Nightmare King;

What is a Pact Team

What is a Pact Team?

As I was doing the Ravnica Research I had a few of my players go throughthe GGoR and choose their Guild by way of flowchart.

What I got was a Boros, a Dimir, and a Gruul. I nicknamed them the "Judge Executioners"

So I worked with the players to find miniatures and I painted them up. Fast forward six months or so, Life/ Schedules have changed so now I am looking at running a game at a local game store. I have a few in mind. I am really excited now that I have a story written up, some maps and 200 painted minis with which to tell a story.

So I am running two groups. a group of six (The Impartial Party) and a group of two (Scions of the Streets). I know I have five people, maybe seven that might be interested in gaming at a store, before I even put up a poster in the store. Really I am hoping to just get three people to show up consistently.

Now to the title.

If you are familiar w/ MtG then you should be aware that this story is set three years prior to the events of the "War of the Spark".

The Guildmasters at this point know that there are real issues. They have appointed individuals that now have the title "Guilder". There is one Guilder for each of the ten Ravinican guild. They are able to assign missions/ tasks for these pact teams to resolve, so peace will be kept and open war amongst the guilds put off for another day.

The Guilders gather these teams and then begin to assign tasks to them. Missions that no one guild wants to be blamed for.

Each group of players are going to get their own web page written up about them.

I will be buying and painting a mini for my collection to represent each character, in the livery of the Guild that the character is in.

Thus far there are four Pact Teams:
1) Judge Executioners (Sessions:01)
2) The Impartial Party (Sessions:02)
3) The Knick Knacks (Sessions:02) DM: Cap
4) Scions of the Streets (Sessions:01)
5) TBD

Well if you got this far you get a treat. Here is the website with all of the minis painted up and lots of other goodies added and more coming.

Enjoy!
https://sites.google.com/view/oracle-of-the-city/home

Rakdos Troupe 04: We have a Troupe: Cultists

So Everything fell together. Yay!

I have the Troupe done, but not the terrain. It's good, don't get me wrong, it really is...It's just that well, I want a stage!

But first what we all have been waiting for... I give you...

Horryhost's Band of Thieves and Vagabonds

Yep, that's really their name.

The troupe consists of five cultists (Including the ringleader), one familiar, Three Rakdos Ogres, and eight Cacklers. And one "transformed state.", which is part of the story-line. I have minis to support each of these "slots".  

So that is a grand total of 18 minis.

I need to begin to focus more on the "audience". I have a storyline in my head, and the audience will consist of an additional ten or so minis. but we can get back to these guys later.

HBoTtV: The Cultists of Rakdos:

The Narrator, Horryhost

Don Fuego Master of Beasts and Flame

Juggler of Pain, Bonita Cortar

Jahowen Vidalus, Necrosinger

Lady Kopesh, Swallower of Blades

Syn Triff the Spikewheel Acrobat

HBoTtV: The Minions

--Rakdos Ogre-- (x2)

--Cackler-- (x8)

"Peeker" the --Krenshar-- (x1)

Original Post: 6/18/2019

Rakdos Troupe 03: Tent Poles and All

Alright so I have the minis, It took some time but I got them.

Now, I really want a themed terrain set to go with them.

The best terrain I have found is located... here

The link (above) is to PlastCaft Games with the "Circus" Keyword.

I feel like I should mention a few things at this point...
1-I don't need terrain, in fact I usually shy away from it. I am going to make an exception in this case.
2- Some of the sets I want I won't be using all of the pieces for for this particular band of Rakdos.
3- I have never ordered from this company before, nor have I done the "cut-out" terrain before. So we will be learning together.
4-These are not in USD, so that means an extra expense for shipping (as I am here in the US)
5- They are colored already and I won't have to paint them (score!).

So at this point (With the search parameters I have set) there are 6 items in this list:
1-Circus Prop Set
2-Circus Entrance
3- Circus Stage
4- Circus Stand Set
5- Circus Wagon Set
6- Big Top Stage
NOTE: there is a seventh on in this series called "Passage of Terror" that does NOT have Circus in the title. But I am not interested in it anyway, although I thought I would at least mention it.

Buy List (And Reasons Why):
I am only buying that which I feel is absolutely needed for a small troupe like the one I am designing, and those items are:
1- Circus Prop Set- I want the tables for the Audience members to sit at. and the big "dartboard" for juggler act.
2-Circus Wagon Set- I think it would be neat for the Rakdos Ogres to pull these around Ravnica from place to place.

That's it. 2 sets.

Let's see how this plays out. Hopefully I will have the minis painted before the terrain arrives.