Frugal GM Review: Fat Dragon Games Copper Dragon Set (now 25% off!)

I was organizing some of my paper model files and realized I was missing about 2/3rd of my Fat Dragon Games Copper Dragon Set (say that 5 times real fast!). I've been on a bit of a terrain kick as of late and was going to cut out some of my basic dungeon tiles.

After my big computer crash where I discovered that my "automatic" RPG backup wasn't working as it should I've been a bit more thorough in checking on my files as I go through things.

Anyway, a quick pop on over to DriveThruRPG gets me fresh downloads of my missing files and I noticed that Fat Dragon is having a 25% sale!

GM Prep Tip: S2 Adventure Planning

There are several, actually quite a few, ways that a GM can plan out an adventure for their players. I've used a variety of styles before and will go into a couple of different options that may or may not prove beneficial to you.

The first of these GM planning styles is the subject of today's GM Prep Tip and is what I'll simply call the S2 style.

What is the S2 style you might ask? Well, when I was in the Air Force I worked in the Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) as an Enlisted Terminal Attack Controller (ETAC, now called JTAC). I know, a lot of words and acronyms most people don't care about, but the point is that a big part of my job, especially during training events, was interfacing with the Army staff in planning for the upcoming battle. The S2 is the staff position for intelligence and when it came to planning for combat it was the S2 that took on the role of the enemy......again, just for planning purposes.

Now I'm not advocating for an adversarial relationship between the GM and the players, although I do believe their should be some level of "GM vs. the Players", but that is a topic for another time.

Free GM Resource: Star Wreck RPG

You know, sometimes you just need to take a break and cut loose a bit. I think this is true in life and true at the gaming table. Now I normally play a pretty serious game at the table and any humor is interjected by the players, but every once in a while I just want a different kind of fun.

The Star Wreck Roleplaying Game immediately brought to mind the funny card game of Red Shirts. In that game you are basically trying to help other people's away teams succeed so yours is the first to fail...and by fail I mean get killed off.

In Star Wrek, you are trying to succeed in spite of yourself. Your PCs don't have ability scores, but instead have disability scores. The scores initially range from 1 to 10, but you roll a 1d6 for each stat and add 2 before modifying for race and class (called class and culture). As you gain experience your characters get to add a disability point, making them worse off, but you get to also add a special talent that can hopefully hide your increasing ineptitude.

The same general group of people looks to have put out a fan film and hopefully you are familiar with their next project, which was Iron Sky. Now I liked Iron Sky, but in my opinion the Director's Cut was the one that should have been released.  Luckily both versions are on Netflix, but I think you should just sit back for the extra 18 minutes of the Director's Cut......

Frugal GM Review: Inked Adventures Hand Drawn Large Geomorph Tiles

OK this review might seem to have a couple of issues with it.......

1st of all, I reviewed some of Inked Adventures other offerings last week. 2nd, this product looks eerily similar to a review from a year ago last February.

As for back-to-back reviews from Inked Adventures.....remember last week when I stated I had "reams" of printed paper waiting to be assembled? Well I also has some self-stick Elmers foam core I picked up at the art store specifically for this project and it has been basically blocking my access to my office closet for months now. I already the tiles printed and just needed to get off my duff and get things assembled.

Now as to the similar review, well it is a similar product. Some time after that review Mr. Babble re-did the geomorph tiles and released it as a much larger product. While this essentially "fixes" every single minor issue I had with these tiles, I basically went and used this larger tile set to print off essentially the same sized tiles I would have gotten had I used the original files from the set I reviewed the first time around......

Free GM Resource: Fantasy Paper Miniature Blog

Well, the Kickstarter for the Decks minis didn't pan out, which is regrettable, but not a total loss as I'm sure we'll see them back again in another format (at least I hope we do!).

Now I've used paper minis in the past and while I don't really use them anymore outside of maybe for my PC, I still have a bit of a soft spot for them. I still drag out HeroMachine to make up a super customized mini. I've had my minis scoffed at by some (I'm looking you you D-Team!) but the ability to make an "accurate" mini is sometimes too good a thing to pass up.

Of course, let us not forget that I am not the best paper modeler in the world, so my stuff is always 2D. This is why I liked the 2.5D Decks minis. While I don't have a set of Decks minis, I can try to make up my own using the awesome minis from Eddnic over at the Fantasy Paper Miniature blog. 1st off......holy crap is this guy talented. I don't know if I could pull putting these together, much less making them.

The only downside is that he doesn't host the numerous free files himself, but uses the 4shared service. You have to register for an account or try to log in using social media. Personally I'd go with an account. I actually already had an account....didn't realize that.

The files are pretty much just the art. There aren't any cut, score, or glue markings so they are not for the beginning paper modeler....or someone of my dubious talents. If you have even a modicum of skill however, you should be fine.

Frugal GM Review: Inked Adventures Crypts, Tombs, & Catacombs

One of the few folks I "follow" over at DriveThruRPG is Billiam Babble, creator of the Inked Adventures line. His newest tile product, Crypts, Tombs, & Catacombs,  has been years in the making and I've been watching in earnest over in his G+ feed.

Needless to say I was quite stoked to get my hands on this product and give it a whirl. If you saw the reams (literally reams) of printed paper tiles and terrain I had lying in nice little bins waiting for me to assemble them you'd realize that I may have a problem. You'd also realize the simple fact that I actually put these together is quite significant on its own.

Free Map(s) 037: A Natural Obstacle

It has been far too long since I put a map up. I'd gotten some consulting work that kind of pushed some of the "fun stuff" out of the way for a while.

Of course it didn't help me losing my beautiful widescreen monitor either.....but at least I have a small backup until the new one arrives. I might be able to fix the old one, but if I do it'll have to find another good project, like a portable digital battleboard.

I wanted to create some shapes that I could pull out of the scan for use individually later. As this wild doodle of a map started coming together I decided to deliberately avoid filling large sections of the map. To me it looked like maybe a twisty series of paths running through a large amount of rock....maybe underground or a layer of a mountain. I did go in an backfill those sections, but I didn't try to tie it into the central series of paths.

Free GM Resource: The Mad Irishman PC Sheets

This week's Free GM Resource is a few large huge collection of custom PC/Game sheets from Patrick Murphy (AKA the Mad Irishman). Now he doesn't have any HackMaster sheets listed, but if you need that for the current edition I already have you covered.

Holy crap there are a lot of sheets. I started looking at the lengthy list in the menu and soon discovered that isn't an exhaustive list.....it is just a list of systems he has sheets for.

For example, if you check out the 1st Edition AD&D sheet, it is actually a collection of seven different sheets...

If you poke around a bit you are bound to find a few goodies....I especially like the Top Secret database. I don't play Top Secret (but I want to), but I can only imaging how useful having that information would be if you were running a game.

Now it looks like he hasn't had an update since 2011, but the site is up and if you are playing a game that came out earlier than that I suggest taking a look and seeing if there is something you can use.