Red Ops: Asylum Kickstarter

Mike Renegar of Rebel Minis fame is running a Kickstarter for a new 28mm skirmish game set in a rough, nasty setting of the Asylum - an island prison of sorts where you must fight for survival.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1117146348/red-ops-5-asylum-a-miniatures-game-of-modern-horro

20 Leagues Under My Belt - The Curse of Apshai

Back in the day I loved the various Apshai adventure games. Even though they never came back in any new form, the memory of Egyptian themed dungeon crawls has never left me.

The various Mummy movies with all their bugs, mummy minions and such were a good example of this and I so, I decided to do this new conversion off another Reaper Bones miniature.

This miniatures represents a tomb guardian who has been cursed by the insect god, Apshai...

My apologies for the blurry back shot. Holding a camera while holding the miniature in the light was a bit tricky. No matter how i shot this figure while it was sitting down, I couldn't capture it well. I also noticed a horrible mold line too late. But when the figure is on the table, it's hardly noticeable, so I didn't bother going back and correcting it.

Here is a list of what was done to the original figure...

1) Reshaped in green stuff the jaw to make it stretched and crooked, adding to the torment of the scarabs pouring forth. The tongue you see is the original jaw line.

2) In addition to the scarabs on the body, several are sculpted erupting from the flesh of this mummy.

3) The abdomen was re-sculpted to show undulating bulges, hinting that this creature is a husk full of scarab beetles. 

4) There are a few lumps added to the surface indicating scarabs moving under the skin.

Enjoy!

-Eli

20 Leagues Under My Belt - Devourer In the Dark

"But Eli, this is just one creature!"

Yes, I realize that this is not a league in the classic sense, but in Pulp Alley there are special rules for what are called Terrors. Terrors are a single model that is powerful enough to take on one or more other leagues. A single terror will often fill the same space on a roster as an entire league. The rules for Terrors also state that the Terror itself is the only permanent member of the league it represents. They may summon creatures and allies, cultists and such if they have the resources to do so, but they are flying solo for the most part.

The Devourer in the Dark is my first Terror. A creature feared by many and not entirely of this world, it hunts sightless, capturing its prey with it tentacles and gulping them down in it wide, toothy maw. It can also squirt a noxious venom, incapacitating its prey. Knobby, scaly hide protects it from harm and its grasping claws allow it to climb the most sheer of surfaces. Most disgusting of all are the undulating, taught blisters that protrude from its back. Some say this is where it traps the souls of its victims, keeping their torment within itself for eternity.

The Devourer in the Dark (Part One)

THE BUILD

I have been wanting something big, nasty, and Lovcraftian in my collection. Unfortunately, much of what I really like is either beyond my current budget or, in many cases, not released yet (Kickstarters). So, I have enlisted my own sculpting/converting skills to bring something to the collection.

Take one cheap, plastic frog, apply green stuff..and...

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I blocked out the details in a quick-curing, horrid smelling putty. It only takes about 5 minutes or so to set, smells like burning hair, but allows me to set the basic forms so I can get on to the fun stuff. You also see some of the early details here, including the fleshy mass in the mouth that I later decided to get rid of.

Here you see the basic form and shape put together. I really should have put the tongue/tentacles and teeth in later, but I have a habit of growing inpatient on conversions and put it all together. This will come back to haunt me when it comes time to paint.

The next step was to blend the putty work into the original frog toy. I applied thin layers of putty over the green putty, except in areas where I wanted the smooth texture to remain. The primary tool for this process was a .05mm mechanical pencil tip with the lead pulled out. This makes a nice, find pock marking. In some areas I used the hollow end of a plastic stir stick (the red kind) for slightly large pocks. Where the patches came together, I pushed them into one another with the tip of my sculpting tool to hide the edges. There were also a few details I enhanced at this time, such as evening out the sensory lobes (top of the head) and the venom sacks (cheeks).

Once all the details had hardened and I was satisfied with the blending, I shot the whole thing in a even spray of black and a spritzing of grey. I find that this always makes a conversion or scratchbuild look better as it unifies the various details. The grey will serves as my basic pallet for what I want as a gaunt, sickly color scheme fitting a Lovecraftian terror.

The next step is to get painting, which I should be able to accomplish over the next couple of days.

-Eli

Check Hell's Thermostat

I actually painted a miniature...

Seriously, this is the part of the hobby that I really stink at. It's not so much that I'm no good at painting (I'm not great), but I really just don't enjoy it. I enjoy having painted figures but the process of getting them there isn't as entertaining as it is for some. 

Anyhow, the figure I chose to paint is one that I sculpted myself, back about the time I first started sculpting for real. I was on a zombie kick at the time and wanted to have a big ol' Mega Zed to slap on my table. The resulting figure wasn't really suitable for molding and casting, but it was still cool. I based it up and it sat on my shelf. 

The figure is a nasty one with horribly mutated muscle and bone structure, a talon hand and a giant piercing spike. His face is deformed, exposing crooked teeth and eyes of differing sizes - one bulged out, the other in a deep socket. Oddly enough this mutant freak seems to have found the same amazing line of pants as the Incredible Hulk and as such, I have painted them an appropriate purplish hue. He works wonderfully as a Mega Mutant as much as a Mega Zed and can be seen below menacing a group of post-apocalyptic wastelanders (converted from French Indian Wars figs).

New Sculpt Released by 15mm.co.uk

A while back I sculpted this little beasty in an attemt to see if I could sculpt something like the creature from The Thing. The sculpt isn't quite that gruesome, but it does have a certain "yuck appeal" about it. This miniature was just released by 15mm.co.uk under their SHM miniatures line.

Sculpted with 15mm in mind, there is no reason this creature couldn't appear on 28mm tables as well. It doesn't even need to be scifi or horror as this creature is in line with all manner of slimes and other dungeon nasties found in fantasy settings. 

Original Sculpted Miniature For Sale!

In an effort to raise a little money for my budding miniatures company, I have decided to sell off this one-off sculpt I did. Every little bit helps and it's a great chance to give something fun to the folks who have become a fan of my sculpting or somebody looking for something unique to add to their collection.

The miniature is a big mega-mutant, super zombie, Resident Evil sort of thing with all sorts of freakish appeal. Dire eyes, lolling tongue, extended grasping arm and vicious spiked arm. This sculpt is one of the first I ever did once I took the plunge, but it was not really viable for production as the posing made it too oddly angled and arranged for proper molding. The sculpt has been mounted in a one inch wooden disk textured with grit and some scenic effects (half-buried pipe and barrel) making it suitable for use in zombie apocalypse or post-apocalyptic type games. 

I'm not going to throw this thing up on EBay or anything, and am hoping to get around $50 OBO (I'd love to get more but I know things are tight) for this one of a kind sculpt. I will consider offers until the end of August and then it will either go to the best offer or back into my collection. Shipping will be calculated based on method and where the buyer lives.

As I mentioned at the top of the post, the money from this sale will go toward getting Loud Ninja Games off the ground. I've already got the ball rolling, but this can add a little bit of speed to the roll.

Thanks,

-Eli

Abraham Lincoln - 19th Century Superhero

What can I say? I really, thoroughly enjoyed this film.

As it's so new I won't give a lot of info for fear of spoilers, but this film manages to be a nice period piece, a fun bit of alternate pulp history and a great superhero flick all at the same time.

From costuming, to sets, to effects, it's an over the top ride through a period of history that is compelling, full of political and social tension - just the right setting for a good superhero tale.

I think as a gamer, I could not watch something like this and find myself taking notes and inspiration away from it. After the movie, I began thinking of what other historical figures could be blended with the supernatural for an entertaining ride through untold history. It's been done before both with historical characters and classic literary characters.

Some ideas I had -

1) Davy Crockett: Werewolf Fighter

Davy finds himself forging into a wilderness populated not just with the dangers of the wild and indigenous people, but also with the unspoken unknown of the unexplored in the form of a savage pack of shape-shifters. Unhappy with settlers invading their traditional hunting grounds, these furry fiends assault the newcomers with Davy defending them with his bear-wrestling talents.

2) Lewis and Clark: Explorers into the Unknown

This one would make a great ongoing series or campaign. Drawing on similar themes as the Davy Crockett idea, this story would have the explorers and their retinue moving throughout early America encountering one supernatural mystery and threat after another. This might make for a pretty cool series of connected miniatures scenarios.

3) John Henry: Man vs Machine

In an age of burgeoning industrialism, the unbeatable John Henry must take up his hammer to beat back the less savory side of increasing technological advancement. In a bold fight against an almost Steampunk back drop, the former railroad worker will bash his way through one mad scientist and evil robber baron after another.

4) The Hidden Adventures of Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison uses his fortune and scientific know-how to fight off evil forces threatening to plunge America back into the darkness of myth and terror. Science versus the supernatural prevails as the Wizard of Menlo Park is nothing short of just that, using his secret gizmos and gadgets to bust ghosts, battle demons, and slay the undead.

There are likely dozens more iterations of such stories. Take a historical figure, find their angle and go from there. Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter really is a crafty piece because it really doesn't tie directly into anything the character was known for. It subtly weaves its tale around the real world elements of his life.

-Eli

Creepy Cavern Inspiration

Sometimes all it takes to spark and adventure idea is a couple of cool pictures. While looking at pictures of caves and caverns, I came across the first picture to the right and couldn't help but think that it made a great spooky, but disturbingly unassuming entrance to something greater and more wicked below.

Looking further through the pictures I found the second image and got to thinking, "what if that not just a trick of lighting, but the natural color of that cavern?" With it's hanging stalactites, the red stone would look like dripping blood, a fitting place for a blood cult, a vampire, or even a pack of ghouls.

What sorts of adventures will you find there?

-Eli

Keep it Under Wraps - D30 Mummies

Mummies. Classically depicted as foot dragging, dry-throated mutes with a grudge against the living, these creatures have undergone some very interesting changed in the last couple of decades. Where as a quick step and a sharp eyes would have been enough to escape the mummy of the past, today's mummy is fast, dynamic and often not just a guy in bandages with a serious mobility impairment. In movies and TV, the mummy has become a force to be reckoned with. Possessed of immense power of magic, items of power or even innate natural abilities, the modern mummy sometimes bears little resemblance to his silver screen ancestors.

As a solute to this new breed of mummy, I thought it would be fun to do a D30 chart for it. This chart is designed to provide various abilities and modifiers that can be overlayed onto the classic mummy write-up found in most D&D and similar systems from the OSR era.

1. Bestial. The mummy possesses physical characteristics of some sort of animal giving it appropriate natural attacks for that type of animal.
2. Humanoid. The mummy is not human or demi-human but some form of humanoid (orc, bugbear, goblin).
3. Giant. This mummy was created from some sort of giant humanoid and had physical modifiers and abilities consistent with that sort of creature. Regardless of special abilities, all giant mummies are +3 damage to all physical attacks.
4. Multi-limbed. Possessing an additional set of limbs, this mummy gains +1 attack.
5. Tauric. The lower body of this mummy is that of some sort of animal giving it appropriate abilities and movement for that that animal (burrowing, flying, swimming) as well as +1 attack.
6. Internal swarm. Nestled within the body of the mummy is a swarm of insects, arachnids, worms or other vermin. These creatures can be controlled by the mummy over great distances, functioning as spies and messengers as well as being used to attack opponents.
7. Built-in weapons. Those who made the mummy intended it as a guardian and as such bestowed upon it weapons made part of its body. All attacks made by the mummy now count as weapon attacks doing damage appropriate for the type of weapon.
8. Independent body parts. This mummy can detach its body parts and still use them.
9. Shapechanger. The mummy has the ability to change its shape at will as per the polymorph self spell.
10. Warrior. The mummy was a warrior in life and counts as a fighter of a level equal to his hit dice.
11. Wizard. The mummy is possessed of arcane skills giving him magic-user levels equal to his hit dice.
12. Demonic/Diabolic. The mummy's body is also a prison for a creature from the lower planes. In addition to the mummy's normal powers, it also possesses the powers and spell-like abilities of the demonic/diabolic creature trapped within.
13. Visage of vitality. Despite being a mummified corpse, the mummy has the appearance of life. This appearance is only skin deep however and wounds inflicted upon the mummy will reveal it's true nature.
14. Hypnotic effect. Something about the mummy has a hypnotic effect. Whether it is its gaze, voice, perhaps the sparkle of a jewel in its attire it can mesmerize those it comes in close contact with.
15. Animal control. The mummy has the natural ability to control the animals found in its environment.
16. Weather control. The power of the elements is are at the command of the mummy. Wind, rain, freezing cold, roasting heat, etc all may be summoned up in the home region of the mummy.
17. Life drain. This mummy possesses the same life level drain ability as a Wight.
18. Shadow walk. The mummy may move between any two shadows as if using a dimension door spell.
19. Mirror walk. The mummy may use mirrors and reflective surfaces to travel as if using a dimension door spell.
20. Dust form. The mummy can change to dust and fly through the air at will.
21. Arcane prison. The mummy's powers come from a supernatural being trapped within it. When the mummy is destroyed, the being is released.
22. Slime or fungus infested. In addition to the mummy's usual abilities, it's physical form has also become home to some form of slime, jelly, ooze, or other form of dungeon fungus.
23. Soul devourer. The mummy has the ability to pull the very soul from another being, trapping it within itself. This power works similar to a magic jar spell but the victim has no control over the fate of their soul. Destroying the mummy frees any trapped souls.
24. Elemental. The mummy possess natural control over a particular element with spell-like abilities to match.
25. Tomb control. The very walls and passages that entomb the mummy are at its command. The mummy may freely manipulate the structure that confines it, shifting passages, opening and closing doors, etc..
26. Regeneration. The curse that binds the mummy is so powerful that it will not even allow the physical form to be destroyed. The mummy heals 1d6 hit points of damage every round.
27. Toxic breath. The mummy may belch forth a cloud of poisonous gases that are lethal to the living.
28. Warded mummification. Those who mummified the creature imbued its wrappings, body markings or other mummification treatments with spell wards and protections. 
29. Eldritch ally. The mummy is the thrall of some ancient, otherworldly, cthonic force and may manifest powers appropriate for that alien intelligence. 
30. God corpse. This mummy is no mere mummy. It is the entombed avatar of a god.

A Haunting We Will Go - D30 Haunted House Effects

In the last post I offered up a random chart for characterizing those odd abodes that you find in the world. This post is more along the lines of traditional hauntings and ghostly apparitions one might encounter in a haunted house. Some are minor atmospheric effects while others might constitute an encounter, hazard, or trap of some sort. Still others might be couple with an encounter to complicate matters for the characters unfortunate enough to find themselves in the house.

1. Disembodied whispers.
2. The giggling of small children fluttering through the air
3. Recitation of a poem, nursery rhyme or song emanating from beyond.
4. A sudden shuddering quake withing the floor and walls around you.
5. A phantom procession playing out some event.
6. Your path is crossed by a phantasm of a person.
7. A toy comes to life.
8. A toy or other personal item appears where it had not been before.
9. Paintings, tapestries, photos etc come to life, animating the events they portray in haunting or horrifying ways.
10. The rattling of chains.
11. The squeaking of a door or gate.
12. Lights dim and/or flicker.
13. Sudden drop in temperature to a bone-biting chill.
14. Phantom writing on the walls.
15. Blood, slime, mold, or some other disgusting stuff seeps from walls and/or ceilings.
16. Doors or windows disappear.
17. Door or windows appear where there were none before.
18. Sudden vertigo.
19. Hallways seems to lengthen on their own making it impossible to reach their end.
20. The sounds of something horrible coming toward you through the house.
21. Floors warp and wobble, making footing difficult.
22. A swarm of some sort of vermin spews forth from a door, cupboard, or out of the very floors and walls.
23. Body parts appear from the walls, floors, and/or ceiling with appropriate hazards (hands grab, mouths bite, eyes see).
24. Items attack.
25. A sucking wind pulls you toward a door or other opening.
26. A blowing wind forces against you, making movement difficult.
27. An item possesses you with the memories of its former owner.
28. A sudden, uncontrollable dread washes over you associated with some place or item in the house.
29. Food, flowers, or other perishables spoil and putrefy before your eyes.
30. Roll twice.

This is just what I was able to fit into a D30 table and is by no means intended to be an exhaustive

That Old House Down the Lane - D30 Spooky Houses

Every town has one, sometimes more than one; that house at the end of the lane, at the top of the hill, back in the woods, or sometimes right next door. Even the most mundane of them get our imaginations racing. Rumors fly around the school yards and playgrounds, maybe even whispered from the corners of our own parent's mouth.

"Did you hear the story..."

"Don't go into that old house or else..."

"I heard that..."

These same sorts of places can easily be inserted into any game setting to add a bit of spice and local color or even as an entire adventure unto themselves. They don't all have to be houses either, but there is something incredibly haunting about the humble home becoming an object of fear, suspicion, horror, or terror. Below are thirty things that might be wrong with that old house down the way. 

1. Strange bestial sounds are heard emanating from the house in the wee hours of the night.
2. A suspicious man visits the house occasionally, carrying large, awkward sacks into the house.
3. The house has a collection of graves in the backyard.
4. Everyone knows the house is lived in, but nobody sees who lives there.
5. Every night the same haunting music plays loudly from inside the house.
6. Several unusually large dogs roam freely over the property, but never leave the grounds.
7. Children's toys litter the yard but there has never been any sign of a child in the house.
8. Strange lights move about the inside (pulsing, odd color, moving in an unnatural way, etc.)
9. The mailbox reads "Doctor" but doctor of what?
10. The topiary in the yard seem to change position, follow you with their heads, and make low, quiet animal noises.
11. Random screams come from the house but nobody else seems to hear or care.
12. The house receives regular visits from important looking people in expensive vehicles.
13. New statues appear on the house's grounds without delivery or any other explanation.
14. The house is home to an old man who dresses as a priest and has a wild expression and broken and disheveled appearance. 
15. The house is decorated with strange charms and totems.
16. The house bears a subtle resemblance to a face, skull, or animal visage.
17. The house seems to "breathe".
18. Chittering sounds can be heard from inside the house if you get close.
19. At certain times of the year ritual chanting, prayers, or other strange recitations can be heard from within the home.
20. The yard is marked by odd footprints or other tracks leading in and out of the house.
21. Ghostly figures can be seen in the windows of the house.
22. Though the house is abandoned, the flag on the mailbox is up every morning.
23. Phantasmal scenes can be glimpsed through the slats in the fence as you walk by but not from any other angle or when you stand still to get a good look.
24. The grounds seem infested by countless numbers of a type of animal - cats, crows, rats, worms, etc..
25. The family living there is always dressed in funeral attire.
26. An electrical hum and static charge seems to constantly surround the house.
27. Children are seen playing in the yard, going to school, and even interacting in the neighborhood, but no parents are ever seen.
28. A kindly woman constantly comes from the house to borrow household items but nobody ever seems home should you visit.
29. The trees in the yard, though appearing long dead, seem to move against the wind and track the movement of those that pass nearby.
30. Roll twice.

Survival Horror as a Role-Playing Genre

Over the years I have played just about every genre or at least made a go of it. Some of them, like fantasy adventure or pulp pretty much flow like water with game play coming simply and with little effort from players and GMs alike. Others are a bit tougher to pull off effectively and require a higher level of ability and/or commitment from the players and GM. Games involving deep plot, mystery and horror are definitely among this latter sort. Still, I have managed to play them on both sides of the GM's screen but one sub-genre seems a bit a bit trickier to pull off than the others - survival horror.

For me the survival horror genre seems to be characterized by a horrific situation that is overcome through a combination of thought and physical actions. Not just the realm of new video games, we see survival horror in some movies like Night of the Living Dead, 13 Ghosts and Alien. The tough part of this genre seems to come from balancing out the horrific setting with the characters' abilities to deal with it. If either of these two elements is out of balance then the game either turns into more of a horror/mystery game or spooky action adventure.

When designing a survival horror setting, I find it is best to isolate the characters in some way. This does not mean that such games need to take place in the middle of nowhere but more that the ability to reach out for help or to utilize resources beyond those immediately available is greatly hindered or done away with altogether. This can be accomplished through physical isolation (the easy way) or through plot driven isolation such as a communications blackout or government quarantine. In some cases isolation can be achieved by simply limiting the number of people involved in the plot. If you have a small group of survivors in a big area they will likely find themselves isolated if they intend to accomplish their goals simply by spreading themselves out.

As an example, in the movie "Alien" Ripley and her crew have a vast spaceship with all sorts of high tech equipment at their disposal. There situation does include physical isolation in that they are stuck on that ship in the vastness of space, but they are also isolated by their limited numbers. A larger crew would have been able to spread out and track the alien creature without undo vulnerability to any single crewman. However, Ripley's crew of under a dozen does not have this option. Their situation requires them to break apart and to work in smaller groups isolating individuals from the greater whole.

The other part of a survival horror game that often proves difficult is that of the characters' ability to deal with the situation they are placed in. If the characters are either too capable whether through their own abilities or due to the resources available to them, then they will not feel they are trying to survive as much as they are trying to beat another encounter. This is particularly difficult when running survival horror scenarios in established campaigns but is really handled the same way. This is where careful manipulation of the characters comes into play.

In many cases the isolation of the character's situation will do this work for you, but when it doesn't, you will have to find ways to either limit or nullify their characters' abilities so that they do not totally eclipse any sense of threat. Of course the power of the encounters is one way to do this. Though they may be able to fight their way through a few individual zombies or alien critters, will a straight up fight be the answer to stopping the threat as a whole. Is fighting them even an option such as when presented with a never ending hoard of zombies or some sort of haunting or demonic host. These situations will often have to be overcome by the accomplishment of a specific task or set of tasks which will fall to the characters' abilities to overcome.

Like any RPG scenario, a GM trying to balance out the scenario must take caution. Making the solution to specific to one character's abilities will lead to failure if that player is taken out of commission. but you also want to make sure that the characters do not have too much at hand or find ways to take out what they do have. If your group is a hard as nails military team with a ship in orbit, a gunship, and an APC, get rid of them all (yes, that was Aliens). I do find, however, that it is best to make any sort of limitations clear earlier in the scenario. Do not pull the rug out from under your players too often or you will come across as a bully. Doing this once or twice can help to establish a sense of desperation and isolation, but you don't want it to turn into frustration.

Limiting character abilities, powers and personal equipment can be a bit tougher. I usually find that setting a few ground rules early in the story helps with this and spares the players some frustration. If your zombies need a shot to the head to stop them, then a few early encounters with them should establish this. This works for nearly any combat ability whether it is weapon invulnerability, incorporeal, a psionic dampening field, etc.. Once these rules have been established, it's important for you to stick to the rules or, if you need to bend them, have it make a lot of sense. This brings up another concept that helps with both the first and second points here.

A sequential and systematic reduction of the characters resources will serve to remind them of the dire circumstances they are in as well as serve as a bit of a timer for the adventure never allowing them to settle too much. As mentioned above you don't want to go around ripping all hope out from under your players, but done correctly it can be quite effect. You can remove one after another of their escape routes or resources, especially when the group decides to or ends up being static. This should push them along.

So, as you can see it's a delicate dance riding the line between a spooky dungeon crawl and a deep mystery of foreboding doom, but the survival horror genre can be run as an RPG. You need to keep your players and their characters on the edge, blending action and desperate horror until they finally figure out what makes it all tick and find their way out.

Take care and remember that in space no one can hear you scream...

-Eli

Hoo? Uhul...

The silent trees cast their skeletal shadows across the still, winter snows blanketing the forest floor. Clear sky and a nearly full moon allowed his eyes to see near as well as daylight, but the pallor of the land at this time of year and the confused crosshatch of shadows broke any shape into an unintelligible jumble. Arnkor, The Hunter tightened his grip on his spear and took his next few steps forward, followed by Nikapik and the dwarf Skafor.

The tracks and remains of their missing herd had led to this place but it was no place he or his fellows wished to be. At the sight of a tree, naked except for the tussle of trophies, scalps, bones and charms, Skafor let out a low whistle of amazement.

“Curse you, dwarf,” spat Arnkor. He knew of the creatures who called this place home and it was just such sounds he had been taught to listen for before they came.

Skafor grumble out a misty series of muttered curses and drew his oaken shield in close, the silver inlays sparkling in the moonlight.

Nikapik, a lanky youth and a member of Arnkor’s hunting band drew up close to his elder’s side and whispered, “This is their place.” His eyes darted about to make sure his words had not carried and been noticed, “We should not stay here.”

Arnkor understood the youth’s hesitation and respected his fear, but if anything remained of the missing score of reindeer, he owed it to his people to find them. Winter had already been harsh and deadly. People starved in other villages and stories moved, with travelers, of villages reduced to unspeakable means of survival. He would not see his children and kin reduced to ghoulery. He would brave the tangled wood that was their hunting ground and home knowing that they too must be starving and hungry.

A shrill, scraping shriek broke the still and sent the trio spinning to find its origin. Casting eyes from one limitless shadow to the next, fighting hard to not lose their focus in the tangled thicket of mooncast shading, Arnkor and his party froze as they finally saw what they feared so much.

Looming unseen save for the glowing circlets of their unblinking eyes they surrounded the party. Whistles and ghostly hoots passed from one hidden foe to another, shining eyes bobbing and wavering like bedeviled fireflies. Though he knew they drew closer, Arnkor could hear nothing that marked their passing. Even his best hunters could not pass so close without some sort of noise.

As they grew ever closer, Arnkor braced himself, setting his eyes on a cluster of glowing eyes that marked three of them. He felt Skafor and Nikapik close in behind him, forming as close as they could manage to a circular formation. It was as he feared. They were surrounded. He gritted his teeth, filled his chest with cold night air, muttered words to his totem spirits and ancestors, hearing his fellows do the same. Skafor grunted something in his people’s tongue that almost sounded insulting in its tone and directness.

“Do not let them wear my bones…” whimpered Nikapik.

Unexpected Inspiration

We've all had them - those moments of unexpected gaming inspiration that strike a chord from the oddest of sources. Who would have thought that a perfectly good game setting would come from an episode of "American Dad". Not I.

I rarely watch this show. It's not that I don't like it but it's not high on my priority of shows to watch. I catch it when I can and last night was just such an occasion. Having stayed home from my regular Friday game night I was watching TV when I'd normally be rolling dice, sweating my next move and figuring out how to fight for 2nd place after Derek had claimed his usual 1st place spot. This particular episode centers around the biblical concept of The Rapture and the battle between the second coming of Jesus and the Antichrist. Let's skip over the obvious debate that could be had here and go on to how this is relevant to gaming.

In the episode The Rapture occurs and lays waste to the world, turning it into a post-apocalyptic setting filled with sinners, madmen, monsters, angels, demons and wasteland warriors. This alone is just a great idea though I will admit the McFarland-esque artwork used to spin the tale of the Rapture and Armagedon were pretty darned cool. I found myself considering the concept as a gaming setting where pockets of humanity, left behind, were caught in the middle of a battle between Heaven and Hell.

All the usual PA concepts are there with perhaps the notable exception of super-tech, though this would depend on when The Rapture occured in your universe. You have freakish mutants and creatures in the form of demons and the hosts of Hell. There is also the posibility of possessed or corrupted humanity to pad the list of antagonists. Then there is the consideration that the forces of Light may nit exactly be much more friendly to humanity that has been left behind. This all sets up quite a morality play and survival story for players who will have to consider which side they are on and make difficult choices to survive their war-torn planet.

I'm pretty sure this basic premise isn't new and thereh ave been RPGs down with the theme of the battle between Heaven and Hell but I am not sure if they have been done, using that battle as the background for a post-apocalyptic world. This is one of those ideas going into my big notebook of things to try to play some day.

Take care,

-Eli

What Weighs Two Tons and Has Dead Bodies in The Trunk?

A Zombie Elephant!

Yes, you have heard me go on about it, threaten it, promise it, but I finally did it. Two days of converting and painting while at work and it came out better than I could have imagined. This was a big project and though it used the same techniques I had figured out on the pigs and dogs, the size of the model really meant I had to do some serious deconstruction on the miniatures before I could get to the rebuild.

For this model, I really had to be a bit more specific about the gore effects. The pigs and dogs were small and I could cover up accidents and failed bits with a little creative paint, but with the elephant, affectionately named "Ztampey" by my buddies, the gore had to look like something specific.

One of the first things I considered is the size of this particular zombie and how that total bulk would decay in ways that smaller animals do not. For this I drew on my childhood as a farm boy where I saw too many dead animals, many of them killed by other animals. I also looked at pictures of hunting trips, even beached whales and such that had been picked at. The idea was to get a good idea of what a large decaying animal would look like.

Because of this, the holes and gouges and Ztampey are much more ragged and tattered than on the pigs and dogs. The layers of skin, muscle and bulky flesh draping around the wounds. Some other details used to add flare to the model were to place a few bite holes on the legs, stripping the flesh from one side of the face to create a skull eye effect, and dripping gore from the mouth of the beast which demonstrates the perversion of nature in this vegetarian creature now gnawing on people. I am not sure if it shows all that well in the picture, but the remaining eye on the elephant is nice and milky.

So, there you have it, a zombie elephant. This model was fun and inspiring and I may have to do other zombie beasts later. I have a cookie idea for a zombie outbreak game that takes place in a zoo.

-Eli

They Got Joe! - Zombie Army Men

Zombies...

Yes, more zombies.

The "Z" word seems pretty popular these days and I have to admit that I love the shambley, smelly bastards. But I have also been trying to find ways to spice these menaces up. It all started with zombies pigs and dogs but now I have a new angle - zombie army men. Why do all the zombies have to be civilians? Certainly there are zombie cops, so why not the poor grunts who get thrown against the undead hordes and don't make it?

For this project, I turned to my vast collection of failed or forgotten minis projects and turned up several 'Nam era command and support minis. These were all pretty easily converted with a snip here and a bit of creative painting and bending.

The command figures really just needed the pistols cut out of their hands and their limbs repositioned a bit so they looked menacing, instead of commanding. For the support troops, I had to cut mortar shells out of their hands. This ended up creating quite a zombie-esque pose really. The hands positioned unnaturally in front of the body and bent posture make these fellows really look like they are shifting and shuffling through the warzone.

One thing I found that helped a lot was clipping at the torsos and bending the head and body at odd angles. These subtle changes added to the zombie look.

Now I have a few zombies wearing helmets and flak jackets to spice up the horde.

Take care,

-Eli

Return of My Living Dead

Howdy all,

I have finally finished up the zombies I had started on ages ago. (see here) They had been pretty much painted up but I was never happy with the way they looked and never got around to surfacing their bases. The solution seems to have been a couple of different colored washes and a little garden fill dirt from the landscaping at work.

The first step was to dull down the awful whitish green "mint ice cream" cream color they had dried to. This was accomplished by a couple layers of brown wash. Not only did this seem to darken up the flesh, but it also darkened up the blood and made it look less like Hollywood "ketchup".

Next, I gave the bases a good painting with an uneven mix of brown and grey that hadn't been completely mixed together, producing a mottled, dirty pavement effect. While this was still partially wet, I sprinkled dirt grabbed from the landscaping at work. The little particles of this and that in the dirt gave the ground a nice debris littered effect that looked like a nice neutral mix of urban decay and scattered leaves. On a couple of bases, I experimented with signs cut from paper, but this didn't work out well, so I won't go into that too far.

The final step was to apply a black wash to the whole deal - figure and base. This worked with the previous brown wash on the figure to create deeper shades. On the bases it really worked nicely and soaked into some of the dirt in uneven patches that looked like oil stains and scorch marks.

The figures were finally sealed to lock on the gritty surfacing material on the base. I had to apply a couple of layers of flat sealing spray but that seems to have gone a bit glossy on me. Still, they look nice.

I now have an updated set of the All Things Zombie rules and am thinking of picking up the Undead States of America rules as well. These figs should serve me well enough for starters. I have to say that there is a certain satisfaction in having turned old "rubish" miniatures that were languishing in my collection, never to be used again, into something that I can see myself using. Sure, I could have bought new zombie figures. But this was very fun and fulfilling and I even learned a thing or two along the way.

Hope you had fun,

-Eli

Return of the Zombie Beasties

Hey all,

While my buddy at work had his camera out I had him snap a few pics of a few my older conversions that I wished I could get a better look at and so I've decideed to post them here.

The first set are my zombie piggies. I love these guys. Pigs are nasty enough as it is without having them be crazed undead creatures. The one on the right is my favorite as he is dragging his inside under and behind him.



The next few pics are of my zombie pooches. These guys were fun and rather easy to convert. In both cases mistakes turned out to make for really good gore. A good example of this is the hanging jaw on the Dalmatian. Also on both the pigs and the dogs, the ribs were a byproduct of the knife work to gouge out the metal to make the cavities.



I have plans for more undead animals as the minis present themselves.

Have fun,

-Eli

Was There a Cthulhu Cult in Hawaii?

It would appear that their might have been and still is.

Not really but when I found pictures of Hawaiian war helmets made from gourds, I could not help but have this amusing thought. The way these helmets are made, many of them actually look like stylized Cthulhu visages. Round head, large orb-like eyes and dangling tentacles at the mouth, one has to wonder if Lovecraft himself ever saw these artifacts before he wrote of his own elder evils.



There is also some interesting fuel here for RPGs and miniatures gaming. It would be easy enough to morph these striking gourd helmets into ceremonial garb worn by warriors who took blood and glory in the name of their lord who slumbers in the deep. Add to this the whole island location and the you really could have something. I'll likely dodge this angle for my Hawaii project, but it was worth noting.

Have fun,

-Eli