Frugal GM Quick Craft Tip: Miniature Weights

Now that the Reaper Miniatures Bones Kickstarter is being shipped out to backers, there are a lot of people that are going to be painting and basing their new miniatures.

I've been hearing that some folks are finding that the minis are so much lighter than they are used to and they are having problems due to the lightweight nature when they are painting or using these figures.

One quick and simple tip is to glue an appropriate sized fender washer to the bottom of your mini base.  Bought in bulk, a box of 100 1" fender washers goes for $6-$10.  They add a good amount of weight and can be used with magnets.  Make sure you get a Fender washer, which has a lot more metal that a regular washer.

Frugal GM Review: Damager from Chaotic Shiny Productions

Damager is a rather limited program from Chaotic Shiny Productions.  In addition to a simple built-in die roller, which is really an add-on more than anything, there is a cool "effect" generator which takes a given amount of damage and adds a sentence of flavor text.

Instead of "You hit your target for 12 damage" or "The monster strikes at you for 12 damage" you can select a damage type (slashing, bludgeoning, and piercing for weapons as well as fire/heat, ice/cold, lightning/electricity, poison, acid, light/radiant, shadow/necrotic, sonic/force/untyped for powers).

Quick examples:

• He gashes your leg with expert accuracy and a vicious blow. (12 damage)
• You hew through his hand with expert accuracy and a complex manouver. (12 damage)
• You blast his stomach with crackling bolts and an electric blast. (12 damage)

The program is just interesting enough that I'd want to use it, but also just clunky enough that I wouldn't use it.  If it was possible to input a single die expression, or even better one or more macro buttons and have that result spit out with the flavor text it would be much more useful.

Being able to line-up a few different die expression & damage types to macro buttons would make this quite useful when dealing with different combatants. It's a good idea, but as-is it is more an idea than a useful tool. 

Free GM Resource: Moleskin Maps & Lapsus Calumni

This week's Free GM Resource comes from Matt Jackson's blog: Lapsus Clumni.  Matt makes some awesome maps available through Chubby Monster Games.

You can get some of Matt's Moleskin Maps online at Drive Thru RPG, and you can get a sample of his work on his blog.

If a couple maps weren't enough, Matt has (at the time of this posting) eleven Zines available for reading and download.  The Zine is called Lapsus Calumni, which is where the name of the blog comes from (or is it the other way around?)

The first couple of Zines are only a few pages, but they do get longer.  Even if they were all only three pages long, they would still be a good read.  I think they are worth checking out, which is why I'm helping spread the word on this wonderful Free GM Resource.

Frugal GM Review: Fantasy Floor Plans Tombs & Tumuli

Another quick review of freebie product from Drive Thru RPG.  This item, Fantasy Floor Plans Tombs & Tumuli, is a short 8 page PDF file with four quick maps of paleolithic tombs that could be useful for a number of RPG genres.  Included are some brief descriptions of the tombs and some flavor-text describing how the tombs might be used.

This is a pretty straight-forward download that isn't bogged down with much more than what you see on the title page.  The author/artist offers some free sample products and downloads for joining their mailing list, which is nice if you want more free stuff in the future.

Free GM Resource: Paper Minis by Ze Bulette

Even though I'm personally moving away from paper minis, they've always had a special place in my heart so I'm quick to point out new collections as I find them.

Ze Bulette, from the Dungeons and Digressions blog likes to make paper minis.  He seems to be on a bit of a hiatus, but I'm sure he'll be back to making posts and minis when the time is right.

One thing I particularly like about his various minis is that he likes to include the base as part of the figure.  With careful cutting and folding you don't require a special holder to keep these figures upright.

Frugal GM Quick Craft Tip: Flexible Cutting Boards

One unusual tool I find exceptionally valuable is one (or more) flexible cutting boards.

Normally sized 12" x 15" or larger, these things usually run about a buck or two a piece and often come in packs of three or four.

I like to use these for the obvious purpose of protecting my work surface from getting cut up, but they also work great as small mobile work surfaces.  You can paint terrain pieces on a board and then pick up and move the piece using the board.  I've also used them to dry tea leaves for flocking, and they work great as stiff, yet flexible templates.  Cut them using a leather scissors or hot knife.  Definitely cheaper and sturdier than using many template acetate sheets out there.

Free GM Resource: Temporary GM Corps

Click for Full-sized Map

There is a common gaming saying that goes, "The Game MUST Go On!"

If your table is down a player, or even a few players, the rest of the group can muddle on, albeit with some difficulty.  If your GM cannot show for the game, for whatever reason, your group is just out of luck.....until now.

For a while there has been a growing cadre of willing GMs that are able to step-in and provide last-minute GMing services for groups missing their home GM for a session or two.

The Temporary GM Corps consists of Level 4 HackMaster GMs that need every opportunity to amass the 2,500 GM hours needed to qualify to sit for the Level 5 HackMaster GM exams.   There are several other requirements to sit for the exam, but the usual stumbling block is the requisite number of hours served as a Level 4 GM.  By volunteering for the Temporary GM Corps, aspiring GMs get their hours, exposed to new styles of play (very helpful for the practical exam), and they get to help build the very organization that can sub for them at their own home table.

Requesting a substitute GM from the Corps is as easy as filing a Form 1326A through the local HackMaster Extension Office.

Volunteering to serve in the Temporary GM Corps is a matter of filing Form 1326B through the same office.  The easiest place to find details is either through your local office or at the Virtual HackMaster Extension Office.

Join Today!

Temporary GM Corps Membership Count

Frugal GM Quick Craft Tip: Scale Model Cloth

When making dioramas, terrain pieces, or in my recent project sails, it is difficult to approximate fabric on a small scale.  One choice is to simply use a light-weight fabric.  I prefer to use tissue paper myself.

Water down some glue (slightly) and paint your fabric well with it.  Adjust the cloth to your liking when wet and as it dries it will set up in your desired shape.

I recommend using lamination glue, but in a pinch you can easily just make a 50/50 mix standard white glue and water.  Experiment using tissue paper laminated to paper or cardstock for strength.