Tag Archives: Art

Laminating My Hommlet Map

In February, I ran Village of Hommlet at Marmalade Dog 20. I was very much over prepared. The map in my original module is very faint, and the blue of the ink is the kind that does not copy well. I purchased the PDF from DriveThruRPG, but the map did not print very clearly. So I got a couple sheets of tracing paper and traced it. I then ran by Kinko’s and made copies to regular paper and taped them together. The map did not feature very much in play, but since I put so much time into it, I wanted to preserve it, in case I ever need it. I am sure I will run Hommlet again someday.

Note on this process. Make sure the ink side of the tracing paper is facing down when you go to make copies. I didn’t realize the error of my ways until I got to the con and the map didn’t line up right. One page was correct and the other was not. I had to find a back lit window by the doors to trace the other side of the paper so that it was legible. I then ran by Kinko’s and made a correct copy of that part of the map for the last two days of the con. I later grabbed my colored pencils and colored my map.

01Hommlet
Colored and ready to be preserved.
02HommletBack
My map face down on the Contact Paper. Center it and apply pressure from the center out.

 

So I made a trip to the craft store and bought some clear contact paper. I cut some off a bit longer than the map.

Contact Paper
Contact Paper

After getting the backing off, I spread the contact paper on my table sticky side up.

I then laid the map ink side down. I cut out the corners of the contact paper and folded it over to wrap around the back of map. I used the scraps to cover the seam where I stitched the paper map together into one.

Map Face Down On Contact Paper
Map Face Down On Contact Paper with the edges folded over.

Rather than try to cut a piece of contact paper to fit, I used packing tape to cover the bare paper on the back of the map. (I know some might cringe at this. However, this is copy paper. It is NOT acid free paper, so using packing tape plus keeping it out of the light, will make it last longer. Unless I get a light table and acid free paper to trace a new map, I can’t make it last any longer. This is just a tool, even faded it will still work, and that might add a bit of character to it.)

Packing Tape Dispenser
Packing Tape Dispenser
06BackOfMapWhenDone
Clear Packing tape on the back so all the paper is covered.

04EdgesFoldedOver

Now, other than sitting in a spill, someone being deliberately destructive, or a disaster, I have a map that I can write on with dry erase markers and use for years to come.

08Finished
Finished
09RolledUp
Rolls up nicely.
10UnrollsWell
A couple of angled views.

07Finished

Grimtooth’s Ultimate Traps Kickstarter Update

I came home from running some errands to find this announcement in my email. This Kickstarter was funded at just over ten times its initial goal, and all of its stretch goals were funded.

Hello, Grimtooth backers! Just wanted to give you a quick status update on one fun part of the project: the DCC/Grimtooth crossover adventure module. Jobe Bittman has finished the manuscript and Doug Kovacs has finished the cover art. Here is a preview of the current cover design! We are still playing with the typesetting so the final font details may change a bit, but I thought you might enjoy seeing Grimtina in action!

If art and typesetting is the only fiddly bits they have, it won’t be long now. Estimated delivery is July, 2015, and unless something totally out of the blue happens, there is no reason to think that this won’t ship on time.

Art Supplies

I stopped by the art supply store and snagged some things I have had on my list for a while, but not had the time to get until now.

10ArtSupplies

Paints and brushes for my Hero Forge Miniature, and my other miniatures. I will show the process of that later.

11-64Crayons

Crayons for a project in the works. I remember when the 64 box came out. Now they have huge boxes. 64 is enough for me. Coincidentally, I graduated from high school with the current president of Crayola. (We are almost related. My great-grand uncle was his grandfather’s step father. Small world.)

12ContactPaper

Finally, Contact Paper to laminate maps and things. I’ll soon have a posting on that.

Latest From Amazon – Desk Pads and Wiz Dice

Last Monday a new package arrived from Amazon with three Tops Quadrille Desk Pads and a package of 100+ Wiz Dice.

I wrote about the quadrille desk pad I once had when I shared the map of a town, for a character in my brother’s campaign. I was reminded of this by the Dungeon Deskpad Kickstarter. I had been toying with the idea of getting quad ruled desk pads for over a year, and I decided to get them, and to joining the Dungeon Deskpad Kickstarter. Once I get my overseas shipment I will take pictures to compare..

The brand of desk pads I got are the Tops. Each is individually wrapped in plastic. They were the least expensive. They are not all square and not all the same exact size. That’s OK. I plan on using them for mapping out an abandoned ancient city/megadungeon. I can also use a sheet for a single sheet map of the town that is the current home base of the players in my campaign. The rough map I have for the town of Larenda is two quad ruled sheets taped together. I can even get a roll of clear plastic “shelf-paper”, and laminate some of these sheets for a quick and cheap dry erase surface. I usually only use maps and such to show relative position. Even if it is an exercise only for me, it will be fun. The one draw back to paper this size for maps is that it is too big for my scanners. I will have o do better than a quick picture with my cellphone. I’ll have to put my cheap camera on one of my cheap tripods, to get good pictures for online.

02TopsPad-Closeup 03TopsPad-Back 01DeskPads&Dice

After ordering the two sets of Koplow Who Knew Dice that arrived last week, I ran across an article on Imagur about Wiz Dice and their bag of 100+ dice vs. the Chessex Pound’O Dice, and I ordered the Wiz Dice based on that article. I am always needing more d4’s and d8’s in play. The Wiz Dice 100+ pack includes a fancy drawstring bag with complete matched seven dice set. I ended up with 103 dice plus the set in the bag, for 110 new dice. I received 15 of each die, except for the d12 and d20, which I received 14 of each of those. So I ended up with 14 matched sets of seven dice, 15 counting the drawstring bad, and one partial set missing the d12 and d20. I have matched sets of solid colors and then the “gem” style dice of the same color: green, blue, red, yellow, purple, and red. Then a solid black, swirled black, and a white set. I have one complete orange set and the other orange set is incomplete. I don’t think most people get that many matched sets. I think it is cool that I have enough dice for 15 players from one order of dice, not counting how many ever sets I had before.

One idea I had with this package of dice is making multiple dice tables using different colors of the same die. For example, if I need a table for 14 different results of a d20, or 15 results of a d8, I can do it.

Magic missile is resolved quicker with more d4’s. Lots of monsters taking their attack is resolved quicker with more d20’s.

Blue is my favorite color, but in dice, I find black and red to be my preference. For some reason, it is the same way for me with Risk. For some colors, I prefer the gem style over the solid style.

I guess I need to have a post with a picture of all my dice. They are not all in one place at the moment, so I will have to defer that for a bit.

I also realized that having so many d10’s makes it easy to roll a d1,000 or a d10,000, etc. just specify which color is which digit. I know that they make custom d10,000 dice for such a thing, but I have to tone it down a bit. I’ve spent more on dice in the first two months of 2015 than I spent all of last year, and most of the three plus decades before that. That isn’t to say that I won’t buy more die this year, but I don’t have to buy them all in the first quarter.

10GreenSets 11YellowSets 12RedSets 13BlueSets 14PurpleSets 15OrangeSets 16Black-BlackSwirl-WhiteSets 04-WizDicePackage 05WizDiceDrawstringBag 06DrawstringBagAndFancySet 07DiceSortedByType 08DiceSortedByMatchedSets 09PartialSetOrangeGemDice

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Map Request (Challenge)

On Tuesday, March 3, 2015, I posted on my G+ page a desire for the OSR mapmakers to map the Phuktal Monastery.

This picture so captured my imagination that I immediately started wishing I had a cool map and thought how and where I could work this into my campaign.

I shared the image and wrote on my G+ page:

I’d love to see how many of the OSR mapmakers interpret this. +Dyson Logos +matt jackson {Profile deleted before 2/11/2019] +Simon Forster +MonkeyBlood Design +Michael Prescott et. al.

This does remind me of a map by Dyson, but I am not placing it at the moment.

I have some ideas and am thinking where I would put this in my campaign.

+Dyson Logos went all “challenge accepted” and started drawing this.

He then posted an update.

Then, he posted a rough scan of a floor plan for a multi-level series of maps.

Next, he shared a more detailed update.

I was not expecting the immediacy with which Dyson dove in the day after my post. I must have caught him at the right time. I was not a member of his Patreon, so I decided to do my small part. I see that members of his Patreon can suggest maps, so I think it fitting that I signed up. I only wish I could afford more and sign up for all the cool map makers at the same time. Perhaps, I can give a month or two here and there to each one.

I am excited to see the conclusion of this map. I have enjoyed Dyson’s many maps and his latest megadungeon effort. I think it is cool that I am a member of the Tenkar’s Landing Crowdsourced Sandbox Setting that resulted in the island and is now moving on to designing the town of Tenkar’s Landing. Dyson drew the town back a year or two, but from what was posted the other day, he is drawing a bigger town for that effort. I have been so busy with changes at work, a convention, and preparing for my efforts at the 2015 April A to Z Blogging Challenge, that I have not had any ideas come to mind for the town.

Thanks Dyson! Very Cool!

Gyrphax

Gyrphax is the largest dragon in my brother Robert’s campaign. He did this piece in high school, a few years before his current campaign started, or rather he started it in high school. It is pen and ink in the stipple style, that is, it is all dots.

He had the dragon and the slain warriors done quickly enough. But it took him a couple years to finish the rest. It is about 18 x 22 inches. He would be working on it and look up and blink his eyes wide, because after a while all he could see were dots.

This is a bad picture of a print I had on the wall in my home office. I wanted a picture before I had to move it. They are closing our small office with three employees and we will be working from home. I had to re-arrange my home office and move it from the wall where I had it. I now have it in a corner where it is more visible in my peripheral vision when I am at my desk.

My brother does not Facebook or Google Plus, so you won’t be able to reach him. He is very talented in many ways. If he ever finishes any of his stories, he will also do the book cover and any other art.

This image is his copyright, all rights reserved. I just wanted to share it here to show off his talent. A few days ago, I shared his maps using pictures of photocopies. If he wants me to take it down, I will.