Category: RPGs

Using Floor Tiles for Dungeons

So my 5 Leagues of the Borderlands campaign is ramping up. I’ve got a fair amount of terrain from my Frostgrave stuff, but one type of battle encounter revolves around dungeon delves. I’m sort of kicking myself in the butt as I had a lot of WotC dungeon tiles. However, moving across the world I had to think long and hard on stuff I was going to ship, and felt the boxes of tiles at the time would just be carrying around junk I’d never use. Sigh…

So I set about making up new tiles. I went down to the hardware store and picked up some laminate floor tiles on the cheap. I also bought some non-slip shelf liner to keep the tiles from skidding around. The tiles themselves had an adhesive backing, so it would be a snap to attach the shelf liner to the back.

I cut the tiles, scoring them with a utility knife and breaking them apart. Pretty easy going. The trick was to figure out what size tiles. I ended up having most being oversized at 9×9 inch. I also made a few rectangle rooms. The bigger rooms will allow for more maneuvering and shifting around to accommodate the corridor sections.

The corridors I made a standard 2” wide with sections between 6 and 9 inches long. I had a few smaller pieces I kept to add alcoves to break up some of the sections. Instead of making corridor Tees and angles, I made small 2×2” sections to give me a little more flexibility and will also use a few as stair tiles (writing on them with permanent markers). As the rooms are oversized, I can shift them around to accommodate the corridors. Plus I can use smaller corridor sections overlaid on the room tiles with stair sections to break up the rooms some with different height levels. Overall they look pretty good and weren’t too much of a chore to make up. Now to get some games in!

Getting the Band Back Together

Did a big move a little over a year ago and when I started fishing for a potential RPG game COVID-19 hit. So pretty much any hope of getting a game off the ground was going to be tough. Recently I shot a quick email to my old group wondering if they would be up for a monthly episodic game. I was astounded and pleased everyone was eager to play.

The next pickle would be for us to pick out a game to run. I threw out a few potential genres but was set on running a game using the Apocalypse World system. Heavy on narration and light on book keeping, it looked like a good fit for online play. The group congregated around a modern supernatural setting using Monster of the Week.

We are running the game on Discord which looks like it will work. I am concerned with such a heavy conversation game, using a virtual setup will restrict some of the typical rapid back and forth you’d get sitting around a table. However not having to use maps, roll odd dice, push tokens around, etc. will be a plus making a bare bones system ideal for online gaming.

So the gang will be poking around the fictitious town of Brimstone, TX in the near future. Had our session 0 last week and everyone seemed to get into character. I get the feeling everyone is having fun and a regular monthly game looks like its just the right frequency for their social calendars. Now to sit down and figure out what mystery they’ll be investigating. It’s good to get back into the GM chair again.

Saturday Gaming Spark: Oracle’s Trade House

A nexus of trade on the periphery of an oasis buried deep within a sandstone canyon, this trade house is a place of rest and resupply for desert travelers and merchants alike. While merchants eagerly trade rumors and exotic goods from their respective regions, they also seek to pay their respects and offerings to an elusive, ancient oracle which resides in the upper chambers. She rarely makes an appearance outside her confines. But the merchants eagerly listen to her rasping voice dispensing visions of the future, parsing out her insights, gleaming what information they can on the most fortuitous routes to take through the surrounding inhospitable terrain. Link.

Saturday Gaming Spark: Apothecary Refuge

Deep within the jungle a group of pious researchers in the healing arts have carved out a laboratory and repository of knowledge within cliff walls of the river falls. The surrounding land holds a plethora of herbs and plants, many of which are not fully studied for their medicinal properties. This remote apothecary is a treasure of healing knowledge and a refuge for infrequent travelers that make the trek through the dangerous jungles. It is open to all, but those seeking aid are tasked with a simple request in lieu of payment. The staff of the laboratory only ask that written compilations of their works be deposited in the Grand Arcane Library. The wet and humid jungle climate is simply too harsh an environment for written tomes, and better locales for archiving the results of their medical studies are needed. Link.

Saturday Gaming Spark: Sea hag’s moon

The mangroves are cursed according to locals. A labyrinth of trees filled with saltwater crocodiles, venomous snakes, and dangerous to those who don’t know the shores well. But the most dire horrors are the sea hags. It’s said that during a full moon the hags are the most active. The moon’s rays cast the creatures as lovely nymphs. Many crying and wailing softly, their frail looking forms imploring men to come to their aid, only to transform into their true hideous forms and drag their victims under at the last moment. Woe is the lone fisherman that falls prey to their siren’s call. Link.

Saturday Gaming Spark: Airbarge Tugs

Nearly every port city utilizes air tugships to deftly navigate cargo tankers through crowded docks and neighboring industrial districts. Most are honest workers but a few have links to the underworld, either passing on information about choice targets for theft or stealing cargo themselves. But those well versed in the workings of airships know tugship crews are a key resource for information, and also adept at loading and unloading passengers who want to keep off official travel logs. Link.

Game Nite – Board games in Saint Louis

I’ve gotten some more opportunities to check out the options of board game stores in Saint Louis. Another popular haunt, especially for wargamers, is Game Nite. They carry quite a large selection of board games and miniatures. GW is pretty popular as well as Infinity. But other games like those from Privateer Press are carried also, in addition to paints and modelling supplies.

They have an expansive collection of board games and card games. Interestingly they also offer shelf space for used games. I imagine it’s more of a consignment system, but they allow for folks to unload older games. It seems worth giving them a gander too, as most of the offerings are near mint or lightly played. A great way to pick up on stuff that wanes in light of the ever-changing BGG hotness of the month.

There are also a fair number of tables for in store gaming. Not only are tables set up for miniature wargaming, but there are several tables for card and board games too. Both the weekends and weeknights look to be popular times to visit. I do believe that priority is given to people wanting to run organized events, so plan ahead accordingly if wanting to run a game for just your friends.

They also have a decent sized game library. Combined with ample table space, you’ve got plenty of opportunities to try new games out. Or potentially consider trying a game out before buying it. Pretty nice aspect of the store.

Game Nite is a good place to visit for board and card games (even for the miniature wargamer too), and certainly worth checking out their calendar of events to see if anything tickles your fancy.