Hobby Dungeon

 In the last blog post, I talked about how I recently built a temple board for use at the Alberta Mordheim Open event coming up this weekend. It is a 'fixed' build, by which I mean that you can't move around the terrain on the table. I have always had mixed feeling about this kind of terrain. It allows you to create more intricate and interesting builds, but it limits the flexibility and use of the table. If you are a narrative gamer like I am, you better have a lot of reasons to return to that location. So, today I want to talk a little bit about my narrative justifications for this build (outside of creating it for people to use at a cool event). Honestly, it is really easy to work the same terrain into multiple worlds or campaigns, but I wanted to have my own fluff to justify it. I'll start with Mordheim, as that's what it is initially going to be used for. Mordheim: The Temple of Morr In the Old World, Morr is the human god of death. Seen as someone who protects...

I have built a new board for Into the Dungeon Fest, which is going to be happening in just over a week from today! I wanted to contribute to the Mordheim event and put something together that would be interesting for players. I had some styrofoam, so the initial plan was just for some ruined walls - the temple idea came later. I put this board together in just over a week, which is standard for me - I go from no hobby effort at all, to 3 or 4 manic hours a day until the project is done. I don't want to be too granular about my process, but the styrofoam was actually pretty soft and flimsy, so it required a lot of supporting. Luckily, it didn't melt when I hit it with hot glue, so I was able to mount it onto the table. I also spent several hours chopping and gluing floor planks into place. I watched the entire first season of True Detective during this build - strangely, it helped keep me sane. This all went around the statue, which was made of a Buddha who's he...

To keep Karthlands fresh, I came up with a mechanic to actually progress the narrative beyond winning and losing. Each battle that takes place will have some impact on the map, as a zone of influence spreads from the different factions. This isn't a perfect system as not every faction will be in contact to begin, but it will help create movement and direction for me to follow. That leads us to today's battle report, between some Grenfell Isles scouts, and the Blue Lady. I am once again using my own ruleset, Skirmish Game to make this a quick narrative battle. Five Grenfell scouts, traveling through the wastes to avoid the suspicions of the Karthlanders, are seeking a mountain pass down into the Karthwoods. They take rest at what appears to be an old ritual site, where monolithic stones surround a dead tree at their center. As the Islanders begin to settle in, the notice a rattling sound. As they peer into the white and blue, they see frozen bone and steel rising from...

 Two posts in one day? After my last post exploring my lack of energy for the Karthlands setting... I went and made a new map for the setting. Taking my original map and building it in an actual map editor!

Now that the hobby dungeon (my basement) is officially open for business again, I find my mind being pulled in so many directions. After Mike's excellent post on his blog In the Obelisks Shadow about hobby burnout, I'm doing a little bit of reflection about my current projects and my own burnout. I started the Karthlands campaign as something to keep my mind busy while I was moving. I had no access to models and paints, but I needed to keep the creativity alive or I would have gone mad. So for me, that led to making plans. I fleshed out a world and factions, I made a map and I prepared to tell stories there. It occupied a big space in my mind, and I was constantly looking for ideas and inspiration. Once I got set up in my space, I got right into it and started playing my first Karthlands battle reports. I've done a few now and they have already coloured in big sections of the world for me. But here is where the trouble begins. Now that I have my space back, I ...

 For me, there is a clear line between hobbying and playing games. Sometimes those activities blur up against each other, but they've always felt pretty distinct to me. Playing games requires presence of mind. I usually do a lot of prep work, writing lists, print reference sheets, building custom scenario terrain, packing things up to travel, watching battle reports and learning how to play new games. So when I show up on game day, even though I'm not a competitive player, I carry all of that work with me. I also want to be present for my opponent. They have made the time to play with me, and I want us both to have a great experience. Hobbying on the other hand - the scraping, gluing, painting, bashing, and building of the toys we use to play - is a meditative experience for me. There are times when I'm more conscious about what I'm doing, and this is especially true if I'm working in little chunks throughout the week. I find breaking up my hobby time l...

This was a fun one. As I played this game, I took a quick video each turn and "live" posted it to Instagram with details. All that is since gone from IG, but I thought I would recap the battle with a bit of narrative - this one certainly changes the direction of the campaign ideas I had!     Heading southward from the crags, Orin takes a detour to meet up with a few more wardens before heading west again towards Karth. After dealing with the ogre, his priorities have shifted - no longer ranging and scouting - it has become imperative that he share the news of ogre attacks with the Earl. If ogres are moving south again, it will take a lot more than a handful of scouts to keep them from ravaging the people of the Karthwoods and disrupting the trade of the north. Orin and his entourage come down a hilled path into a valley with a river running through it. They are spread out along the trail and marching briskly, but at ease, enjoying the slightly warmer clime below the ...