7/23/2018

Free GM Resource: Static Grass Applicator (V2) Plans/Build

Free GM Resource: Static Grass Applicator (V2) Plans/Build
My house is still way too packed and I'm in training at my new job, so there's a reason the Frugal GM is behind the curve with posts. My new game room/office is still a work in progress, but I hope to at least have the new desk squared away this weekend. Then I can stop trying to do everything off of my laptop and backup drive.

Of course my 12 readers probably don't care about that...(tough, I'm sure I'll post pics of game room progress because I can!)...they want the freebies.

This week's Free GM Resource is just some information, albeit some (I think) cool information: how to build a static grass applicator. I've seen some DIY static grass applicators a couple of times now and this one is the most DIYest and best finished result that I've seen yet. A lot of GMs make their own terrain, or paint their own miniatures, or more than likely try to make/do these things but.....

Flocking terrain and mini bases really makes home game table efforts look more polished and/or professional. For years my go-to was to just lay down some glue and sprinkle the grass on and call it good. Well, "good" might not be the best adjective, but it beats having to purchase little grass tufts.

B.C.R. Model Scenery Made Easy is a website devoted to model scenery (duh), but in my experience that usually means model trains. This site is well worth poking around, but I'm specifically highlighting the Static Grass Applicator Version 2. The build video is well-made and there are some additional videos highlighting using the applicator.

7/09/2018

Free GM Resource: Beyond Skyrim Bruma OST

Free GM Resource: Beyond Skyrim Bruma OST
This week's Free GM Resource is a freebie soundtrack that I think would find some great use as background "mood music" at any Fantasy RPG table. Beyond Skyrim Bruma is a HUGE add-on/mod for Skyrim. From what I've heard it's basically a huge piece of add-on content that is practically a whole game worth of content unto itself.

The freebie is the soundtrack for the mod and it's huge as well. Sixty (60!) tracks which are mostly background scores, but there are also some bard songs, which I found intriguing because while I've been able to find a decent amount of background music....what I would consider "foreground music".....not so much. Sound effects, yes...music...no.

You should really check out Beyond Skyrim Bruma Original Game Soundtrack. The cool thing is you can preview all the tracks to see if this is a free download you want taking up space on your hard drive. I think you will want it.....

....and We're Back! Did You Miss Me?

....and We're Back! Did You Miss Me?
First off, I know that I pretty much took two whole months off from this blog when I was only expecting to take one off. A short-notice job opportunity popped up and it was pretty much a one-in-a-lifetime good deal that I couldn't pass up. I had to quit one job, pack up and sell my house, move across country, and get settled in.

That was the month of May in a nutshell. The job was to start on June 1st and when I showed up for work......I didn't have a job. It was a bit of a hot mess that got sorted by mid June and now I'm busy with all the required training for the new gig. Most of my household is still in boxes because I couldn't bring most of my furniture and I've been holding off until my old house finally closes so I can buy/build the furniture I need. I will publicly state that I already have a dedicated gaming room and I think it'll rock when it is done.

Even though I don't have my normal elaborate computer setup I can get by with my laptop, so we're back on schedule for regular updates.

5/07/2018

Frugal GM will be a bit quiet for the month of May

Frugal GM will be a bit quiet for the month of May
Just a quick admin post to let all 12 of my readers know that I'm needing to take an unscheduled hiatus pretty much for the month of May.

Got some high-level time sucks that necessitate me being away from this blog and gaming at least (but highly unlikely more than) until the end of May. Since this is personal type stuff I probably won't explain here, but if you know me in real life and HAVE to know what's going on, shoot me an email or text and I'll fill you in.

It's a mix of good & bad stuff that I just have to deal with. I promise this is a temporary thing.

4/29/2018

Get This Awesome Map for Only $1 (Limited Time Offer)

Get This Awesome Map for Only $1 (Limited Time Offer)
Just a quick note that Heroic Maps is selling a cool 20" x 30" battlemap for only $1 in celebration of International Tabletop Day.

I have no clue how long this sale will last, but at a buck you need to jump on this thing. Great for printing off and VTT use!

Click on any of the graphics in this post or use this link.

Get This Awesome Map for Only $1 (Limited Time Offer)
Very Low Rez Preview

4/23/2018

Free GM Resource: Les' Wash Recipe

Free GM Resource: Les' Wash Recipe
I'm being quite selfish with this week's Free GM Resource, which is basically just some free information that will cost you a little bit should you try to use it, but the results are well worth the price.

It's selfish because I had completely lost track of this information so when I needed to use it I was back to square one and not having a clue how to use the materials I had acquired.

The free info is how to make some awesome mini/terrain washes. The details can be located at a couple of different places, but if you don't save/print them you can be totally lost when the time comes.....much like I was.


These washes were for sale and then they weren't and then maybe they were, but the links I checked were no good....

WASH RECIPE:

You will need:
  • Distilled Water (grocery store)
  • Liquitex Matte Medium
  • Liquitex Flow-Aid Fluid Additive
  • Plastic Squeeze Bottle
  • Daler-Rowney FW Acrylic Water-Resistant Artist's Ink
  • Large Plastic Squeeze Filler Bottles
  • Recipe notebook so you can write down custom mixes
  • All recipes use 1 oz bottles. Adjust to whatever size you decide to go with.


Preparation:
  1. Fill 1 filler bottle with Matte Medium, the other with a 10:1 Distilled Water and Flow Aid.
  2. Fill the 1oz Dropper Bottle half way with Matte Medium then fill the rest of the way with the Water/Flow Aid mix leaving a little room for the ink drops so you dont over flow.
  3. Every bottle uses this combination to start with.
  4. Shake inks well before adding them to the mix.

Colors:
  • Soft Body Black: 20 drops Black
  • Heavy Body Black: 60 drops Black
  • Parchment: 40 Drops Flesh Tint
  • Flesh Wash: 40 Drops Burnt Umber
  • Dark Sepia: 40 Drops Sepia
  • Blue: 40 Drops Rowney Blue
  • Green: 40 Drops Dark Green
  • Purple: 40 Drops Purple Lake
  • Stone - 60 Raw Sienna: 20 Black
  • Ruby - 60 Flame Red: 20 Black
  • Armor Wash - 60 Sepia: 20 Black
  • Sapphire - 60 Rowney Blue: 20 Black
  • Baby Poop - 60 Flame Orange: 20 Black
  • Alagae - 60 Dark Green: 20 Black
  • Sewer Water - 60 Burnt Umber: 20 Black
  • Amethyst - 60 Purple Lake: 20 Black
  • Concrete - 60 Flesh Tint: 20 Black
  • Storm Cloud - 60 Turquoise: 20 Black
If you want to see examples of these colors, check out this page (this is the guy's blog, so poke around for some other awesomeness while you are there).

4/16/2018

Free GM Resource: Swords & Wizardry Light

Free GM Resource: Swords & Wizardry Light
This week's Free GM Resource is a companion to another Free GM Resource from back in 2015...over three years ago.

Swords & Wizardry Light is a labor of love from none other that Eric Tenkar (of Tenkar's Tavern fame).

Technically this "freebie" is a PWYW and a bit of a twofer. 1st you have the 4 page Fast-Play Rules and then you have these Character Cards.

The whole ruleset is already "out there" and featured back in March, 2015, but the cool thing about these two products is that they are really stripped down versions of the game, perfect for introducing to newbs or running a real quick one-off.

4/09/2018

My "Work-In-Progress" Wizard's Tower

My "Work-In-Progress" Wizard's Tower
Wonky Wizard's Tower with a Crappy RoofFor the last few months I've been collecting supplies to build some towers for terrain pieces. The idea was to make them out of pink insulation foam and to use old booze bottle tubes (they probably have a proper name that escapes me) as the base. I currently work at a liquor store, so these basic supplies are easy enough to get.

While I was collecting supplies I went and built...and rebuilt...a hot wire foam cutter that works pretty decent. I think I'll probably save up to buy a proper cutter only because I think it'll be faster and even more precise than what I have now.

This morning I finally finished my 1st tower and I'm calling it very much a "work-in-progress" build, even though this stage is done. The idea was to have a somewhat "wonky" wizard tower. I think I accomplished that with the tower, although the way I did the build proved difficult to paint & seal properly. It doesn't show up that bad in normal light, but there were a lot of cracks and crevices that still show pink foam. The top of the tower was definitely "wonky" before I started tiling it, but the tiles covered it up too much. The tiles themselves are too think and didn't paint up the way I wanted them to, so it's back to the drawing board on them. I already have another idea to try out. I was going more for wood shingles, so there is a brownish base (unpainted cardstock), greyish/weathered parts, and a light coating of green to represent moss.

The top actually comes off fairly easy and the inside could be used for storage. What I'll probably end up doing is figuring out the new roof and simply replacing this roof with one I like better.