Trinity Knot: Adventurer's Journals

Let's get the obvious out of the way; I'm a sucker for cool gaming related stuff. So when I found out that Trinity Knot were running a Kickstarter for 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons Adventurer Journals I was pretty intrigued.

Character records are very much something of personal taste; over the years I've used hand written notes on A4 sheets and school exercise books, photocopied character sheets from rule books, and even bought packs of character sheets for various systems. I've still got a 1st edition character record hiding somewhere in the recesses of the Vault.

In this more modern age of gaming we've got electronic character records; excel spreadsheets which track various characteristics for us, and sharable "sheets" on D&D Beyond. Whilst the majority of the D&D I play these days is online, I don't like electronic records; they are too intangible for me. 

A simple printed out sheet is fine for one shots; but for a long term campaign with a favourite character, then there is a so much to be said for a character journal. And I think the Trinity Know Journals will be perfect for those occasions.

Disclosure: I backed the Kickstarter with actual coin from the Vault. I know Al from Trinity Knot, but I purchased the Journals as a customer. 

Enough words. Picture time!

Creeper Ooze

Welcome back to the Vault. Today I'm seeking shade within the nooks and crannies of the Vault as the temperature is a lovely 30℃ outside, so suffice it to say my post will be brief.

Regular readers will know I'm a fan of Krakon Games range of miniatures; they are quirky and have a unique charm about them, as shown in the Twisted Fungi. They are great fun to paint, and I've recently completed a Creeper Ooze.

Circle of Wildfire Guide

Welcome back to the Vault! I’ve mentioned in previous posts that I am currently playing a Circle of Wildfire Druid in a weekly Dungeons and Dragons 5E campaign, and I thought it would be fun to write a guide as to why and how I’m playing the character (primarily from a rules/mechanics point of view). I’m by no means stating this is the only way, or best way to play the spec, but rather how I’m using the options available to me.

I’m also not going to debate the merits of the Circle compared to the other Druid subclasses available; there are some good guides out there, and I’m assuming you are comfortable with the decision to play Wildfire. I’m also not getting into the whole “Unearthed Arcana version” vs “Tasha version” debate; Tasha’s is what we have as the final published version, and there’s no point crying over spilt milk.

Thematically a Wildfire Druid understands the natural cycle whereby destruction can be the precursor of creation; a forest fire can destroy existing vegetation yet also promotes later growth. This idea sits well with my character, Immerel, who having seen his previous home destroyed is now contemplating the health of the land in a more holistic manner (I’ve taken the option to re-spec from Circle of the Land to Circle of Wildfire).

Mind Games

 Welcome back to the Vault! Hobby time has been incredibly limited this week, bar the very welcome Friday night D&D shenanigans of Immerel and company. (High level adventurers we may be, but it looks like we've been duped. Again. At least it wasn't by a group of giant monkeys like last time, so that's good I guess.)

I keep a notebook where I can scribble down hobby and gaming ideas; occasionally the muse will strike, and if I don't note it then inevitably I'll forget it. Currently I'm trying to come up with some 5th edition character concepts which may eventually get elaborated into fully fleshed PCs. The aim is to sketch out a character per class, so if the opportunity comes up to play something I've got a head start on what I'd like to try out.

The Bard Stones Part Two

 Welcome back to the Vault! In today's post I'm going to expand on the previous Bard Stones post, again inspired by my friend Chris's blog. We've homebrewed a spell and set of rules for allowing Bards to enchant crystals to store Inspiration dice, so it seems appropriate that there's a poem to help aspiring Bards remember the properties of the various gemstones. Perhaps this verse is the Verbal Component for the Stone Singing spell?

"Lapis blue and turquoise healing,

Amethyst and quartz revealing,

Onyx black will keep from harm,

Hematite to ground the charm,

Quartz of rose for friends and love,

Moonstone is The Lady up above.

Malachite will bring you wealth,

Bloodstone, Agate, Jade for health.

Jet and Amber our delight,

As we meet in darkest night,

Stones of Earth, stones of power,

Serve us in this magick hour…"

Bard Stones

 Welcome back to the Vault! I've been spending some hobby time painting base colours onto another Death Guard unit and I'm pretty sure you don't want to see *more* pictures of half finished 40k models, so today's post is something different.

My friend Chris has been posting some articles about various properties associated with different gemstones. I've been on a bit of a D&D campaign planning kick recently and the articles got me thinking about incorporating some of this information into D&D.

Gemstones have long established associations with magic in table top RPGs:

• As expensive components (e.g. diamonds and pearls) for powerful spells in D&D
• To power and store magic (Power Crystals and True Stone) in Runequest

These gemstones are rare and/or expensive (no doubt because of such uses!) and I'd like to explore something more "every day" that makes use of more accessible stones and crystals. By making the material more common place it helps build flavour into a campaign setting, but also gives those boring "semi-precious stones" worth X gold which turn up in loot piles much more interest. So let's get cracking!

Wildfire Spirit

 Welcome back to the Vault once again! This week's hobby time has been split between playing the regular D&D game and some painting. I've started work on the next squad of Plague Marines, but was also inspired by the D&D session to paint a fantasy mini that's been in the shame pile for some time.

I've been playing Immerel the half elven Druid in our Dark Sun-esque adventures. He originally started as a Desert Druid but circumstances of the campaign have seen him recently re-spec to the Circle of Wildfire.  This Circle allows the Druid to summon a Phoenix-like spirit which provides the summoner with a variety of amazing abilities.  

Although we are playing online and not using miniatures, I have a Phoenix familiar model from Wiz Kids which I decided to paint up to mark the occasion of Immerel's rebirth.

Dungeons and Dragons Campaign Inspiration

 Welcome back to the Vault once more! Hobby time has been pretty limited this week; I've played in the weekly 5th edition D&D game and the players have been plotting an upcoming battle (which I must blog about some time), but I really haven't felt any motivation to pick up a paint brush.

Having been a player in a regular game for almost a year has got my creative juices for D&D flowing again, and I've been toying with a few ideas for a new campaign/adventure setting. Nothing serious beyond some initial notes (a kind of mood board) at this point, but I'm thinking about committing some effort to it.

So a Dark Ages Arthurian-esque Albion campaign with plenty of opportunity to explore related mythology and influences:

• Last vestiges of the preceding Roman-esque civilisation.
• Invading Viking inspired Raiders/Settlers
• Seelie and Unseelie Fey 
• Undead from the Shadow Realm

Not a lot of originality so far, but plenty of fun and something different to the usual D&D medieval backdrop. 

Why mention this now? Having written these initial notes some time ago my recent media consumption has brought the project to the fore again. First up is the (quite frankly amazing) Valheim PC game:

Because who doesn't want to adventure in the shadow of Yggdrasil the World Tree?

The Planar Winds

Welcome to the Vault! Today's post is a new subject for the blog; 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons. I've been involved in a campaign for a year or so now and really enjoying the play experience.

One of the aspects of 5th ed I like is how overt extra-planar influences have been baked into the core game; Celestials and Tieflings (extra-planar lineage species) are available for players, and Sorcerers and Warlocks have a variety of multidimensional bloodlines and patrons to choose from.

None of your treasure is safe!

 Welcome back to the Vault! I had intended to start painting some Plague Marines over the weekend, but the weather conspired against me and I was unable to prime the models.  Not to be undone I decided to chip away at one of the myriad of other projects; in this case my D&D bestiary.

I had been very kindly gifted some Wiz Kids pre-primed miniatures for my birthday and so some of these jumped to the top of the painting queue. First up is Rusty the Rust Monster.

Tales from Benchleydale: Anders Freesword

Welcome to the Vault once more!  My studies at the Benchleydale Academy have continued with a fun interactive character generation systems via Zoom and I've rolled my "back up" character. 

Our erstwhile DM has also provided us with insight into various locales within the realm as we've all rolled up "current events" for our character's home locations via a series of random tables.  This is quite a fun addition to character generation and something I'll consider adding to my own campaigns.

So let's introduce; Anders Freesword

Half Orc for hire by Conquistador (Deviant Art) (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) 

Father's Day Loot: RBC Spell Tracker

Welcome back to the Vault!  As I've indicated in recent posts I'm participating in several online RPGs to get my gaming fix and that includes a weekly 5th edition D&D campaign.

I'm really enjoying the adventures of Immerel the druid as he and his comrades battle a force of giants and the ogre-ish allies.  5th edition uses a different magic system compared to my more familiar "go to" 3rd edition.  In essence Immerel "prepares" a number of spells from his possible selection each day and can then cast any combination using his spell slots of different levels.

My daughters are obviously aware of my enjoyment of this game as they've given me the perfect present for Father's Day; a spell tracker peg board!

Tales from Benchleydale: Torvik Quicksilver

Welcome back to the Vault once more my fellow Adventurers.  The primary source of my gaming fix over lock down (apart from the family board games) has come by playing D&D online with friends from the First Founding club. I'm enjoying playing Immerel the Druid in a 5th edition game (my first real exposure to this version), and running an introductory adventure using Swords and Wizardry Light.

I've also been very lucky to be invited to participate in a gaming experience over the summer called the Benchleydale Academy.  The Academy is focused on a 1st edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons sandbox setting called Benchleydale and Beyond comprising over 100 classic adventures set in a campaign backdrop created in part by the collaboration of Academy participants.

 

Simple Online Fantasy Role Playing Game Guide

Welcome back to the Vault my fellow Venturers! One of the joys of the smart phone age is the Group Chat, and like a lot of gamers/hobbyists I belong to a number of such groups dedicated to various gaming and modelling topics.

One of the smaller 40k group chats was lamenting the lack of face to face gaming due to lock down and social distancing, and the suggestion of running an online role playing game came up.  Most of the players are relative novices to RPGs so I volunteered to organise a very simple introductory game using easily accessibly materials.

First up was the choice of rule set; this was an easy decision to make as I've had Swords and Wizardry Light (S&WL) in mind to try out for a while.  S&WL is a free product (well technically Pay What You Want), and provides a stripped back D&D-like system over  an easy to digest 4 pages. For me the rules have a very Basic D&D vibe to them, and preparing the adventure was something of a nostalgia trip for me.

The Dead Shall Rise

I see you have ventured back to the Vault once more. Whilst the warm summer sun tempts us away from the painting desks, there is dread chill in the crypts.  I've spent a couple of hours applying more paint to my Wraith diorama, and the model is now at a point I'm happy to call it done.

The Dead Shall Rise: Work In Progess

Welcome back to the Vault! The hobby butterfly seems to have settled in the fantasy realms as I've started on another "terrain" project.  This is a little different as it's an entry for the Frostgrave Facebook group's monthly hobby competition under the theme of "Wraith".  The brief is deliberately vague to allow the creative juices to flow!

I purchased the first issue of the Age of Sigmar "Mortal Realms" magazine when it appeared as two quid for a dozen or so miniatures was just too much of a bargain to pass up. And luckily a bunch of those were wraiths.

A number of other people on the group have made the same purchase so I've decided to do something a little bit different and incorporate some of the spectres into a diorama/terrain piece.  A quick dive into the bitz box and the hobby supplies found some useful pieces allowing me to knock this up:

Ruined Wizards Tower

Welcome back to the Vault!  Even though we are still in lock down I've been lucky to get some gaming in over the last week or so, having played in an online Dark Suns-esque D&D session, and my eldest daughter and I took on the Writhing Fumes solo Frostgrave scenario running a Warband between us.

Hobby wise I'm still firmly in the thrall of painting models for my fantasy based games, and I've been tackling a more significant project; the forgotten Wizard's Tower, now fallen into ruin.

Frostgrave: The Arcane Ruins

Welcome back to the Vault once more! Today's post is a brief interlude from the Living Spells as I've been spending some of my lock down time revisiting old fantasy gaming material; D&D modules, miniatures and so on.  In doing so I've come across a half finished terrain project that I thought would be fun to complete; the venerable Arcane Ruin kit.

New Games and New Projects

Welcome back to the Vault! Regular readers will know that I'm lucky to belong to a local club called First Founding which has a lot of different systems and games on offer.  Last year I hardly strayed out of my 40K comfort zone on club nights with a rare foray into Kill Team. 

At the start of this year I made a resolution to actively seek out and play some different games, and I've dived in head first.

First up is a Necromunda campaign, where in player controls a gang of thugs and scummers to control the lawless regions of the Underhive. I've never played this sci fi skirmish game before, but it seems very well regarded, and so I've thrown my hat in the ring to fight leading the high tech goons of House Van Saar.

I've assembled my gang according to the rule of cool (i.e. chucked the coolest looking guns onto the models), and painted the first Mook!

The Black Iron Fonts

Hail and welcome to the Vault my fellow Venturers!  Today's post is courtesy of a dig into the Vault's dark recesses for another painting project.  A few years ago I chanced upon a company called Infinity Engine who produce a variety of quirky miniatures and terrain pieces.  I really like their aesthetic and have purchased a few pieces with Frostgrave and D&D in mind.

My first purchase was a set of braziers, intended for use as some scatter terrain or objective markers. I've painted these up as arcane flames: